After last week's trip to the NYC nightclub [1], this episode of The Office [2] took us back to, well, the actual office. I'm generally in favor of the episodes that take place inside Dunder-Mifflin, but this one was a little strange for me — draggy in parts, then funny, then draggy again.

I do love me some Stanley, though, and this episode was a great showcase for him at his prickly, disrespectful best. His contempt for Michael really showed through. Speaking of contempt, Ryan stopped by the D-M offices with some harsh words for Jim, and Andy and Dwight displayed their manliness (sort of) by fighting over Andy's car. And we got to learn Pam's middle name and see her in her granny glasses, so those are both points in the episode's favor.

What did you think of the episode? Definitely check out Savvy's relatable moments [3], and to see some of the things I liked and talk about your own favorite moments, just .

• Michael slathering his face with Vaseline to make a face-print outside Dunder-Mifflin was so funny, I almost wish the writers had made it a continuing thread throughout the episode. Michael's been bugging me these days, but his delusions of grandeur always amuse. "Look, kids! Your daddy left that facehole!"
• Another great part from the opening was Kelly babbling incoherently about Will Smith, Michael looking at Pam to translate, and Pam translating perfectly.
• As far as I'm concerned, the writers can continue with the Pam/Jim fake proposals for quite a while (Pam/Jim proposals = the new Dwight pranks?) as long as there's a real proposal coming at some point. But anyway, Pam's middle name is Morgan, and she would energize Jim if she would just accept his proposal to . . . get him some coffee.
• Michael's comments on Pam's backup glasses were about what you'd expect ("I can't hear you. It's just noise coming out of an ugly scientist.") but what really got me was Kevin's reaction. Wouldn't have pegged him for a guy with a librarian fetish, but I kept rewinding to hear him ask Pam to tell him "these are due back Thursday."



• So, Stanley's never been the biggest fan of Michael, or his job, or Dunder-Mifflin in general, but has he ever been this outright insubordinate before? I forget that, considering how brilliant Michael tends to think he is as a manager, he's actually terrible at confrontation.
• Loved Angela's hilarious Mad Lib, filled with enticing and juicy adjectives like "good" and "tall" and "nice." Whoa, nice? That's a walk on the wild side, Ang!
• One of my favorite moments of the episode was Michael asking Daryl how he and his street gang ("Warriors . . . Newsies") dealt with conflict. At least Michael was wise enough to not actually use the "fluffy fingers."
• Jim's officially on notice — w-w-w-what? Toby just trying to raise a little hell before fleeing to Costa Rica, or what?




• While the whole subplot with Andy's car mostly fell into the background for me, I did enjoy his "say yes. say yes now. 5-4-3-2-1 say yes" fast-talking swindle. Dwight may not have the girl, but at least he got the car (or the profits once it sells on eBay in a fierce three-way bidding war).
• I think the best thing about the episode was Phyllis telling Michael his idea was the dumbest thing she'd ever heard. Even if the whole episode was a setup for that one joke, I think it was worth it.

Photos courtesy of NBC [4]