The Office is playing out, here in its fifth season, like a meticulously mapped out drama.  While not the funniest show on TV anymore, The Office is the most character-driven comedy of our time, and it's a pleasure to watch the writers take their characters and make them evolve in new and interesting ways.  Tonight, Michael, Andy and Oscar took a trip up to the Great White North, while Jim and Pam continued their love ballad.  Two episodes removed from Amy Ryan's departure, Michael Scott is displayed an enormous amount of pathos.  He's a complicated guy, that Michael Scott.  At once inept in so, so many ways, while also displaying the skills that have allowed to keep a job that it doesn't feel like he should reasonably hold. 

David Wallace decides to send Michael up on a business trip to Canada as a sort of de facto apology for transferring Holly.  He is accompanied by Oscar and Andy, and the three enjoy an interesting night on the town up in Winnipeg.  Pam informs Jim that she is failing one of her classes, which means she'll have to stay up in New York for another twelve weeks of classes.  This is a devastating blow for Jim.  Meanwhile, Ryan attempts to win Kelly back.  He succeeds, though it was far easier than he imagined it would be. 

Jim and Pam's saga is back to a happy place, but let's not assume it's all rainbows and unicorns from here on out.  I don't believe that Pam really misses Scranton.  She misses Jim, and there will soon be a very pronounced feeling of regret within Pam.  Failing at something you proclaimed to be your dream is not something to be taken lightly.  Jim and Pam should have outgrown Scranton and their jobs at Dunder-Mifflin by now.  Perhaps just having each other is enough, though I have a strong suspicion that Jim's house-buying plan will provide some major conflict.  It will, for better or worse, resign them to a life in Scranton, and I'm not sure either of them want that.

The trip to Canada was the focal point of the episode, however, and it provided a great setting for some excellent character work.  Oscar gets entirely too little screen time (though you could say this about any of the supporting cast on The Office), and he served the role of Andy's conscience.  Andy probably had the best lines tonight, and we peeled away some of the layers of his being.  He's a good guy, legitimately so, and this led to some nice moments between him and Oscar.  I like how the writers paid it off, though – Andy is a simple dude and, though the opportunity for an epiphany was there, his cluelessness won out.  Oscar gave him the opportunity for self-realization in regards to Angela, but Andy did not figure it out.  The Wasp-iness repression is ingrained in his being, buried so deep, that even Long Island Iced Teas can't fully break him out of his shell.

And, then there's Michael.  I've always said that Michael has always held an aura of melancholy, but that was greatly accentuated tonight.  Nothing like some meaningless concierge sex to make you realize how much you miss someone.  The writers on The Office are uncompromising Michael sadists, tossing him under the bus at each and every turn.  Holly was a bright light after the terrifying Jan saga, and stealing her away was a cruel blow.  That final phone call to David Wallace sums up everything we need to know about Michael.  He is good at his job, an impressively effective salesman, but he also lacks that filter.  Michael is childish in his indignation, unable to frame his sadness in an adult way.  He had to belittle the airplane and the hotel before getting to the truth of the matter.  I believe Michael actually does think the trip sucked, and that the concierge juxtaposed to Holly was only part of it.  That lack of self-awareness can be one of Michael's strengths, but all too often it crushes him.  



The 11 Best Quotes of the Episode

“I am ashamed of your naked face, I must cover you with my jacket.  You are now sexy in your culture.”      

“Meaning I will try to get other dudes laid.”

“Harry and the Hendersons!”

“Do you have a bag of baby poop in there, too?”

“The concierge is the Winnipeg equivalent of a geisha.”

“Yeah, with a hot slab of Canadian Bacon in your hands.”

“Are you drunk?”  “This is Andy Bernard.”

“Last I checked, that's not an office building in the andromeda galaxy.”

“It's true what they say – Long Island Iced Teas are stronger in Canada.”

“Do you want me to do more pushups?  Then you have to break up with Darryl.”  

“She's taking us back to first base.”  “What's first base with Angela?”  “I get to kiss her on the forehead.”


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of NBC)