Ok, for all of you out there who were none too excited about last week’s premiere episode, “Dinner Party”, this was the episode you were waiting for. “Chair Model” delivered!
The episode picks up about a month after “Dinner Party” took place.
Michael and Jan are no longer together (shocker! they seemed like the perfect-couple ~lol). And, after drooling over a chair model in an office furniture catalog, Michael decides he’s ready to date again and enlists his co-workers to help him meet someone.
First, he approaches Kevin to see if his fiance Stacy has any girlfriends to fix Michael up with. That’s when we find out that Stacy has dumped poor Kevin! He doesn’t elaborate at this time, only says, “it’s a bitter situation”.
Then Office sweetheart Phyllis pipes up and says she has a friend to fix Michael up with. All Michael wants to know is “if a rowboat could support her without capsizing”. Phyllis disgusted, just stares at him, ever-shocked by his crassness. But Michael, undaunted, continues on saying, “It bothers me that you’re not answering the question”. In effect, forcing poor Phyllis to admit that “no” a rowboat could not support her friend. Just so, so wrong! Cringeworthy and hysterical. Two traits that make The Office our favorite obsession. 
Oh, and it doesn’t stop there folks! Now, Michael moves onto Oscar. Or, as he so lovingly calls him, “Oscar Meyer Weiner Lover”. Michael figures that even though Oscar is gay, he must know some women to fix Michael up with, right? He tells poor Oscar, “I bet you have a bunch of girl-like friends who trust you implicitly because of your condition”. Wow! I mean, even though I feel like I know the character of Michael Scott pretty well, this kind of dialogue still shocks me a little bit. As a fan, you know Michael is going to say stupid, rude things in a way that is absolutely hysterical. And yet, I’m still suprised at just how low he can go.
His co-workers begrudgingly come up with some names of eligible women for him. My favorite is Kevin’s offering to Michael. Her name is Wendy, and she’s a hot and juicy redhead. Sounds good, right? Um sure, except that when Michael called the number Kevin left, he found himself talking to not a woman named Wendy, but “Wendy’s” the fast-food restaurant. Only slightly derailed by this realization, Michael placed a food order and hung up. lol
Finally, Dwight steps in to rescue his mentor. He decides no woman will do except the chair model of Michael’s dreams and sets off to find her saying, “as God as my witness, she shall bear your fruit”. Michael’s reply? “Sounds good! Go get her.” lol But alas, there love was not meant to be. Dwight uncovers that the model in the catalog was killed in a car accident and was, “dead as any dead animal who has ever died”. Michael is shocked and begins to grieve for the woman he never knew, much to everyone’s disbelief and annoyance.
During all of this, there is sub-plot taking place where another business in the same business park as Dunder-Mifflin is renovating their offices and all the construction vehicles are taking up the close parking places. Our gang at DM is forced to park in a satellite parking lot, which according to Andy is at least a ten minute walk to the offices. Kevin clocks it in at thirty minutes. lol Either way, no one is happy about it, except Michael who has a reserved spot up front so he doesn’t give a “shornt”. Kevin and Andy decide to take the parking issue up with the other business owners themselves, or as Kevin so cryptically refers to them, “The Five Families”.
Meanwhile, Michael is excited to hear that Pam has a date prospect for him. Or as he so excitedly puts it, “No question about it, I’m ready to get hurt again”. He agrees to meet Pam’s landlady, Margaret, at a coffee shop. He’s wearing a red carnation, (very “You’ve Got Mail” of him) and is told what outfit to find her in. However, when he sees Margaret he is not attracted to her so he tries to pretend that he is not the man she is looking for. Unfortuanately, at that exact moment, his hot chocolate is ready, his name is being called over and over and the man is handing him his order. Awkward!
This poor woman then has to sit through what is probably the worst blind date conversation ever. It starts out not too horrible. Michael describes to her what type of qualities he is looking for in a woman and he’s saying all the right things, “I just want someone nice and sweet, someone I can share an experience with” blah, blah, blah. But you know it’s all B.S.. But for a split second, you can almost see in her eyes that she is feelin’ him, that she is buying into some of what he is saying, that is until he tells her how much he enjoyed their conversation, that it was like, “talking to the sweet old lady on the bus”. And, there it is! Probably the single worst thing to say to a woman looking for romance. Michael Scott always bats a thousand! lol
Back to the parking issue. The meeting with the “Five Families” is set. Andy, who is very nervous, opens with, “Andrew Bernard is the name of me”. Annoyed, they are all ready to leave the meeting until Kevin pipes up and lays it all on the table, “we want our parking spaces back”. And just like that, he gets his wish. Cut to Kevin’s talking-head where he delves into a little more of his Stacy breakup trauma and finishes up by simply saying, “it’s just nice to win one”. Kevin, our resident Office goof, shows a nice bit of emotion here. Kudos to Brian Baumgartner for giving this scene such heart.
OMG! And speaking of heart….
Back at the Office after his disasterous blind date with Pam’s landlady, Michael makes it clear to Pam that the date was not a success. Jim comments that the terrible fix-up, orchestrated by Pam, might mean her eviction from her apartment. This nicely segues into a discussion about Pam moving in with Jim, etc…But our bold new Pammy asserts herself nicely and tells her love that she “will not move in with anyone unless she’s engaged”. Jim is not thrown off one bit by that little revelation. In fact, he tells her that a proposal “will happen” and lovingly warns her that “when it happens it’s going to kick your ass Beesley, so stay sharp”. *swoon* & *squee!*
But wait! Stop the presses everyone! What’s that look in Pam’s eyes?! It’s not happiness that I’m seeing! WTF?! Now this is just my obsessive opinion, (ok and one or two of my Office-obsessed friends too) but, me-thinks the road to engagement will be a rocky one. Dare I say it…when Jim asks her, could she possibly say, “no”?! Yes, I feel your hatred after that one LITO-readers, but rewatch that scene and tell me that isn’t fear in Pam’s eyes? Ugh, it makes me sick to think about it…
Especially after the next scene, where Jim has a talking-head and flashed A RING to the camera, saying he bought it a week after they started dating….Just…OMG, an ENGAGEMENT RING…crushing, romantic, heartbreaking, AWESOME!!! How can you not love that guy? Let’s just hope I am totally wrong on this one.
And, now we have Andy and Kevin returning from their meeting of the “Five Families” as Office heros. Close to the building parking is now assured! Andy is especially thrilled with himself, saying that he didn’t do it for himself. Oh no! He did it for “the little guy, Joe six-pack. That guy shouldn’t have to wonder where he’s going to park”. You go Drew!
The day ends, and the workers go home. Pam and Jim are walking to their cars, when suddenly, Jim stops and goes down on one knee. Pam sees him and freezes, shocked (I know I held my breath!). Could this be the moment?! Here, in this dirty satellite parking lot?! ha ha. No, sillies. It was just Jim being Jim and playing a prank on Pam. He just simply wanted to know if she would help him tie his shoe. Her reply? “I hate you”. Perfectly JAM-tastic scene.
And finally, our show closes with Michael needing closure from his non-relationship with the dead chair model. Dwight takes him to her grave site (eww!). And the two of them sing songs and frolic into the night, remanissing about something that never was. Michael mourns, “she was so innocent”. Dwights reply? “She was stoned apparently”. ha ha
And, there you have it folks! Overall, I loved “Chair Model”. But, who cares right? What’s really important is what you think! Sound off in the comments section, or delve even deeper into it by jumping into the LITO forums “Chair Model” thread.
Thanks for reading! ~Donna
I loved this episode, probably ten times better than the dinner party because it reminded us all of what we love, the OFFICE! best scenes involved michael at the coffee shop and the godfather montage.
I loved it. I thought “Dinner Party” was ok (there is no such thing as a BAD office episode!), but “Chair Model” was just a phenomenal episode. Well done!
Oh, and I just watched the first deleted scene….fantastic! We need more “super-sized offices” so we can get more of these great scenes in there!
Fantastic recap Donna. There were so many great Michael quotes in this one and I really enjoyed Andy’s little sianara dance to the construction worker’s in the parking lot. Oh, the JAM stuff was great too. But dare I offer another opinion. I think that the look on Pam’s face when Jim walked away was either the realization or the contemplation of the fact that Jim might have actually been serious about the upcoming proposal, even though they seemed to be in the middle of one of their witty banters; which are usually never serious (you know the saying, there’s truth behind every joke). Also, how cute was the scene when Pam tries to grab the card with her mom’s name on it away from Jim?
I loved the show! And that last scene with Jim and Pam…I almost had a heart attack…as did Pam…(she doesn’t want to get engaged, people)…and that makes sense since she was with Roy in high school, engaged and then lived with him for the longest time. She wants her freedom and although she loves Jim, she needs her independence right now…maybe that will be the spin-off, sorta like when Jim was in Stamford with whole new characters and done simultaneously…ooooooooo I think that’s it!!!!
Fantastic recap Donna. There were so many great Michael quotes in this episode. I also loved Andy’s little sianara dance to the construction workers in the parking lot.
I agree that the performance by Brian was excellent; poor Kev.
Dare I offer another opinion on Pam’s reaction. I think that her change of expression came from either the realization or contemplation of the fact that Jim might have actually been serious about his impending proposal. During the conversation it just seemed like their normal witty banter which is usually not serious (i.e. DM Infinity “Now that we’re public, is the magic gone?”). I think that Pam became serious because she was wondering if indeed it was all a big joke, or is he really planning on proposing (you know what they say, there’s truth behind every joke). Of course, we got to see Jim’s talking head and we know the real answer to that question. I don’t really know if it’s a reveal as to what Pam’s answer will be when the actual proposal happens. Just a funny note, after the seen when Jim gets down on one knee to tie his shoe, my 12 yr. old son said, “Jim is so mean.” I kind of thought it was funny that a 12 yr. old could realize that you don’t joke around about stuff like that.
I was all giddy watching the JAM moments last night. When I first saw her expression as Jim walked away and had that moment of dread, “would she really say no to Jim after everything that happened before?? Would she do that to Jim AGAIN??”
I don’t think she would. I also think that Fancy New Beesly would speak up to Jim about getting engaged. I don’t see her as sitting quietly by only to break his heart, again.
JMO though
The recap was great! Very in depth. One of my favorite parts of the episode was when Michael tried to hide from Pam’s landlady at the coffee shop. It seemed familiar to me and I know why…because the British Office did the same thing! I love how the American version weaves in little bits of the short seasoned British version into their stories– even now in their 4th season.
The death of the chair model was great. And Michael’s reaction to finding out was classic.
I sorta got the same reaction to Pam’s expression on her face when Jim was talking about proposing. I hope when and if the time comes she doesn’t say no. I just think that is a story arc we’ve already walked down and don’t need to walk down again. I understand her being independent and strong…but it’s JIM HALPERT for cripes sake! I know I couldn’t say no! Haha, but good episode all the same!
Thanks for the very thorough recap, Donna. You must have been up ’til the wee wee hours, recapping for the LITO-ites. What dedication!
It looks like I’m in the minority here, but I think this episode was flawed by a few scenes. It was good but not great. I blame it on poor editing; the first deleted scene SHOULD have been left in. They could have cut the graveyard sing-a-long at the end.
I totally had a different reaction to the Pam/Jim thing.
I don’t think she’s going to reject him again (she can’t, it’d ruin the show and this great arc) and I think at the end she didn’t seem upset or in any way negative to Jim’s possibly proposing.
She also said she didn’t really like her apartment after Jim joked she’d be kicked out. I saw that as “fishing” to start that “let’s move in together” conversation, then Pam said she wanted to be engaged.
I remember Pam’s reaction after Jim asked her out – she was happy. They are still happy, as indicated by the opening of this week’s episode (or at least I’ve seen nothing to indicate the relationship is on the rocks). So a proposal would be welcome.
Maybe I’m wrong, but if Jim gets dumped again, I’m done. I cannot stand the though of the show without Pam and Jim.
Ha, Ha I thought my comment got lost and so I typed the whole thing over again from memory. It probably just got thrown into the spam filter for a while since I’m using a different computer and forgot to put my name and e-mail address in the fiels and that’s why it’s under “Anonymous”.
Don’t be so sure about Pam not wanting to get engaged, afterall, she is the one who said she would not move in with someone unless she was engaged. I saw the look in her eyes at first in the office and thought “she better not say no”, but she redeemed herself when they were walking…she wants it, too!
oh jeez, wicked awesome episode as usual. i loved the michael stuff and all his cringeworthy moments and the jam stuff, but my favorite is kevin and andy in this one. kevin is my favorite and to see him as something more than comedic relief was awesome. they really fit all three story lines into one normal length episode real well too, i was impressed.
I’m not agreeing with you on Pam not wanting to get engaged. To me, it seemed like Pam thought Jim was joking, and when he told her he wasn’t, at first she still thought it was a joke, then reality hit her and she realised she needs to be ready for the proposal. When he got on one knee, you could see her get excited, and she would have let out a sigh of relief or something, not the exchange that they gave each other.
I personally loved this episode, and it was much better than Dinner Party in my opinion.