The Deposition (4×08)~ Donna’s Recap
Well LITO readers, that was it! That was the last new episode that we will see until this writer’s strike ends. Let’s all hope that the writer’s get their fair due sooner rather than later. Just the thought of the holidays without a new Office Christmas episode… Ugh, it breaks my heart! So please, if you have not yet written a letter saying, “bring my show back”, do so ASAP! Here again is that address:
Mail letters to:
Jeff Zucker
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112
And if you want to know more, go to www.unitedhollywood.com or www.deadlinehollywood.com . Thanks!
This week’s episode centered around Jan suing Dunder Mifflin. She is claiming that she was discriminated against (think: “the twins“) and unfairly terminated. Sounds like a good case right? Definitely! But, alas you’re forgetting her witness is Michael Scott. Oh yeah, that.
Despite Jan’s diligent coaching, Michael still struggled. In the car ride to corporate, Michael is memorizing his “lines” like a little kid studying for a test. To help him remember “pattern of disrespect”, he repeats, “my friend Pat took a turn. Dis-ra got new specs”. lol Jan looks both proud of him and pained at the same time.
Then there was the actual deposition. Oh my! Cringe-worthy doesn’t even begin to describe it. Michael starts off great. Jan is beaming, she is so proud of him. Then it goes horribly (and comically) wrong. The legal jargon has Michael flustered. When Dunder-Mifflin’s lawyer questioned Michael “if he was directly under Jan the whole time” of their relationship, the “that’s what she said’s” started flying! And, when asked why he thought Jan was fired, he replied “The twins. To be delicate, they hang off m’lady’s chest, they make milk…”As he dug himself deeper and deeper, he tried to retreat to the bathroom and take water breaks, but there was no escape for poor Michael. And to make matter’s worse, his arch-enemy, Toby, was witness to the whole painful thing!
Just when you thought it was over for Jan’s case she pulled out her ace in the hole, Michael’s diary. In it was the evidence she needed that their realtionship did not become “official” until after they filed with corporate. But Mikey-no-likey his diary becoming “evidence” that everyone in the deposition and corporate got to read (including Toby & Ryan).
My favorite part of this scene is when Dunder Mifflin’s lawyer says to Jan’s lawyer as they thumb through the diary, “Mr. Scud, just who is this Ryan woman? It says here she’s just as hot as Jan, but in a different way?”. OMG! Now, long-time Office fans know that Michael has had a man-crush on Ryan since waaay-back, but it’s still manages to be shocking, disturbing and hilarious all at the same time.
In the next scene, everyone involved with the deposition is at lunch silently reading through their copies of Michael’s diary *cringe*. This painful, awkward moment is punctuated with Michael asking to sit with Toby at the lunch table. Toby reaches out to Michael, telling him of a painful moment in his own life to offer empathy and friendship. Michael hangs his head in sadness. You as a viewer really start to believe that Toby and Michael might be carving a new path. But alas, it is not to be. Michael (his inner second-grader in full control) pushes Toby’s lunch tray off the table and walks away. And I for one, laughed out loud (my inner second-grader in full control also). Come on people, did you really think they’d become friends there? No, me neither! lol
Meanwhile back at the office, the warehouse workers got a ping-pong table and Jim and Darryl are enjoying friendly games. However, their women, Pam and Kelly, are squaring off over a not-so-friendly game…smack talking.
And Kelly is definitely winning. She delivered some hilarious trash/smack talk lines tonight; “Were Jim’s parents first cousins who were also bad at ping-pong?” & “I don’t like your boyfriend (picture Kelly singing and dancing around to Avril Levine’s song of the same name)…because he sucks at ping-pong” and my favorite, “The floppy-haired girl you date won a point.” Just soo great!
In the end, Jim and Darryl leave the ladies to their own fight and decide to play upstairs in the break room, where Pam has set up a practice table for Jim. Oh! And I almost forgot, Dwight kicks-ass at ping-pong! He has a cute scene practicing with Jim. And in the final moments of the show, you get to see him and cousin Mose rockin’ the pong table. Apparently, Amish beet-farming (and general creepiness) is not the Scrute’s only talent. 
In the end, Jan does not win her case, but she and Michael still seem as solid as ever. It’s touching really how well their disfunction works for them. I’m so glad the writer’s made Jan crazy and put her in Michael’s path. It’s made for some real comic gold.
And, speaking of the writers…don’t forget to write that letter! Seriously people, can we go a whole season without new episodes? Yeah, that’s what I thought!
Let me know what you thought of “The Deposition”. Sound-off in the comments.
~Donna
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November 15th, 2007 21:16
There was the scene right before a commercial break where the lawyer lady asked Michael if Jan’s negative performance review was credible. I sat for the entire commercial break in awe of how multi-layered this show is…and it’s all because of the writers of course! If Michael had supported Jan and said “yes, it is credible,” he would have been admitting that he isn’t a very good manager after all, and if he had said, “no, it isn’t credible,” it seemed that his and Jan’s relationship would suffer from that. I could not possibly imagine what the rest of the episode could hold. Anyway, I was disappointed when we didn’t receive a straight answer for that after the break, but still was in awe of the complexity of the situation. And again, there was another “realistic” moment between Michael and David…I was waiting for something stupid to come out of Michael’s mouth but I was so happy when I was wrong. Just for these reasons it makes me so sad this was our last one for a while. How can NBC NOT give in when they see the talent they are restricting? WOW this was a long comment but I just had to share my moment somewhere and what better place than this?
Thanks for the review Donna! Your points always make me think deeper into the episode. and SORRY FOR THE NOVEL
November 15th, 2007 21:55
Are you kidding Gargs? I love it. Write away! I hadn’t realized that Michael did not reply to the lawyer’s question. I’ll have to watch it again and see because now I’m curious too… And I agree about Michael’s “real” moments. They always surpise me. How about at the end when he knew that Jan was lying when she said she only brought the diary b/c he showed the topless Jamaican picture? “You expect your company to screw you, but not your girlfriend.” Wow, I thought they might be done after that. But instead, there they were driving home together discussing where to get some dinner. Just so, so wonderful! So real…
November 15th, 2007 22:45
I have always been a staunch advocate of 30 minute “Office” episodes. Imagine my surprise when “The Deposition” was almost over, and all I wanted was for the show to go on and on… for at LEAST an hour! It was THAT good.
Now, all I want is for the show to return. NBC will hear from ME! Thanks for the contact information, Donna, and a great recap.
November 16th, 2007 00:39
oh man, i cant believe we wont get this for a while now… after such a good one too. i thought it had a real great blend of the serious and comic moments, and really played with our expectations of things that would happen.
the michael and jan, and michael and toby, and michael and david… threw me for a loop which directions they took those. and who knew pam could get so riled up by trash talk? crazy stuff, and excellent stuff… stand strong wga
November 16th, 2007 04:48
Come on now Bob, they’re always that good! I’ll tell you what I dislike about the 30 minute episodes. It leaves so little time to delve into the secondary characters. We barely saw Oscar, Angela, Kevin, Meredith… Come to think of it, did we even see Creed and Phyllis this episode? I loved the Michael/Jan storyline. And the smack talk scenes were great with JAM and Kelly/Darryl(Delly? lol), but Im always left wanting more. TWSS. And now thanks to NBC not yet settling with our writers, I might not get it. Argh!!!
November 16th, 2007 09:14
One of the moments that stood out for me in this episode was when Michael and Jan are waiting in the waiting room at the main Dunder Mifflin office and Ryan asks Michael to talk as friends. Michael is so happy about it that the instant let down when Ryan starts lecturing him about what he’s going to say (in a not so friendly tone) is written all over his face. Poor Michael. I also liked that at lunch Ryan sits with a bunch of similar scruffy looking types. The trash talking was awesome. Pam got schooled! And then they both sucked at ping pong…Another excellent episode and not quite long enough!
November 16th, 2007 09:37
Meghan, Poor Michael and his unrequited man-crush on Ryan! That was definitely one of the cringe-worthy moments from last night’s show.
bbourns17, I hear ya! It’s going to be terrible next Thursday with no new episode. Write those letters people!
November 18th, 2007 20:36
Is it just me or does it seem that Jim is on a slow path downward? The scenes in this episode and the last really show Jim losing control, while Pam gets stronger and stronger. Pam badgering him to play, Jim looking “beat”. I think Jim is really thinking hard about his life and seeing years and years at DM, and THAT is sobering. Now that he “has” Pam, what is he reaching for?
November 20th, 2007 18:11
Dave, I don’t know about “downward”, but I see him coming to the realization that he needs a change. Sort of like Pam’s journey last season. Just my opinion of course.
November 20th, 2007 18:55
I don’t know, I really sense a looming crisis for Jim that will escalate and cause fricition with Pam (and others as the birthday plan showed.). I mean he’s an intelligent down-to-earth guy who needs more in life, dare I say it, that “just” Pam.