“Goodbye Toby” ~ Donna’s Recap

I don’t think I’m going to win any friends with this recap. I liked the episode, but was a little disappointed by it as well. Call me a victim of all the hype (and I’m sure that’s true to a point) but I expected…Oh, I don’t know… MORE? Just greedy I guess…;)

The episode started off with a funny cold open where Jim reprograms Dwight’s phones. Jim pranking Dwight is always a favorite in my book. Plus, we got to hear Pam say that Jim’s Dwight voice “sounded sexy” which is great because I know we all hope that JAM has this crazy-to-die-for romantic, love life. Any little evidence of that makes me happy!

Cut to Michael who is absolutely THRILLED because today is Toby’s last day at Dunder-Mifflin. Or as he puts it, “it’s only a matter of hours until his horribleness has left the building”. Michael wants his going away party to be special too. He explains in a talking-head, “if the devil were to explode and evil were gone for good, what sort of party should you have?” lol

The party planning committee has something ready for Toby’s going away, but Michael decides it just not enough. He wants bigger and better! He wants anti-gravity machines! And, he’s willing to dig into his own shoes (where he keeps his birthday money from his Nana) to fund the extras. Of course, Angela balks. She’s not interested in throwing his “foot party”. Michael doesn’t bat an eye at this announcement. Instead, he puts Phyllis in charge. And oooh boy, does that tick off Angela! lol If looks could kill…Phyllis is so happy, she’s glowing!

On the JAM front, Pam finds out she’s been accepted to the Pratt School of Design in NYC. It’s a three month course. She’s excited and so is Jim, even though he’ll miss her. She explains, “I wouldn’t go if things weren’t so solid with Jim”. So, win-win for JAM.

Next scene introduces Holly Flax, who is the new HR replacement for Toby. Michael hates her right off the bat because, “Toby thinks she’ll be great, so strike one I hate her”. Dwight, ever Michael’s minion, decides to hate her with out meeting her as well and he enlists Kevin, Meredith and others to “haze” the new girl. Or as Dwight puts it, “hazing is a fun way to show her she’s not welcomed or liked”.

Toby introduces Holly to Michael and he doesn’t even try to be nice. Being openly rude he says to her, “OMG, they hired a female Toby”. Holly, instead of being upset at Michael, turns to Toby and says, “what did you do?!” Hmm? What’s up here, is the new girl on Michael’s wave-length?! Apparently so, because when Michael replies, “He tortured me with his awfulness”, Holly retorts rudely, “I nearly fell asleep when he gave me a tour of the files”. Michaels eyes light up. He explains in a talking-head, “HR is a breeding ground for monsters. What I failed to consider is that maybe all monsters aren’t bad, like ET the Extra-Terrestrial”. Is Holly our ET? Maybe, or maybe she’s just an awesome woman from our planet?” Michael has a crush!!

Holly makes her way around the office, she meets Creed and asks him, “what do you do here?” Creed looks at her incrediously, pauses for a few awkward seconds .nd then excuses himself and bolts out of there. In his talking-head, he is flabbergasted! How dare she ask what he does there?! He explains that he thinks he does, “qua-something. qua, qual, etc…” He is trying to get to “quality control” and that fact that he doesn’t know that it just awesome! I love Creed!

In the next scene, Pam hands Toby a picture of everyone in the office. But Toby notices that someone is missing, his secret crush Pam. She explains that she was the one taking the picture. Toby is visibly disappointed and so Pam says that she would be happy to take a picture with him. Quiet, docile Toby then begins to bellow throughout the office, “does anyone have a camera”?! no such luck though! story of his life…

Jim calls Ryan to tell him about his huge sale from last week. Ryan is unimpressed and tells him, “congratulations on doing your job”. Ouch! Now Jim knows that Ryan is definitely targeting him for some reason. And we know that he needs this job (future with Pam, etc…) so this is obviously weighing on his mind.

Phyllis walks by. She has been trying to fullfill all of Michael’s demands for Toby’s going away party. Jim asks her to get fireworks. Phyllis explains that is not in the budget. Jim then gives her money from his own wallet! What gives you ask? Well, seems that Jim is thinking an office proposal might be apropo since most of their relationship milestones have occurred right there on Dunder-Mifflin property. Fireworks will make it extra special. He says in his talking head, “I’m going to propose tonight. Holy Crap!”

In the meantime, prankster Dwight has told Holly that Kevin is “slow”. This leads to some of the funniest moments of the show. Holly thinks it’s great that the company would hire someone like Kevin and she goes out of her way to be nice to him. All her interactions with Kevin show how patient she is and how easily luvable lump Kevin could be mistaken for being “slow”. Kevin of course, mistakes Holly’s interest as attraction. He says in his talking-head, “I’m totally gonna bang Holly”. lol

It’s now time for Toby’s exit interview and Michael is so excited. Seems he planned a cruel speech with a rock “gift” to match. But now Pam and Holly want to sit in on the interview. Michael is embarressed in front of his new crush to trash Toby so he winds up claiming the rock wasn’t the real gift and gets suckered by Pam into giving him his watch instead. You know that just about killed Michael, but he can’t offend his new lady-love right off the bat! It works, Holly seems impressed. She actually seems interested too.

Michael finds Holly sitting on the floor, trying to fix the lumbar -support on Toby’s chair. When he asks how she can sit in that position, she says “yoga”. Michael misunderstands her and thinks she said “Yoda”. He goes into full-geek mode, spouting off a yoda impression that would send most females running for cover. However, Holly seems intrigued. She even does a little yoda impression of her own. hmm…something is definitely brewing here…and it’s a little creepy!

Next scene shows us a video on YouTube with Ryan being arrested for fraud. Oh boy! Seems our wunderkind has had the fall we saw coming since “Night Out”. Michael is devastated, Jim and Kelly are thrilled! Oscar says in a hilarious talking head that, “the real crime I think was the beard”. lol No longer will Ryan stand in Jim’s way professionally. This clears the road for any doubts our Jim might have had about proposing doesn’t it?! hmm…

Toby’s going away party gets underway and it looks awesome! Phyllis has a carnival happening out there in the parking lot. There is a ferris wheel, a band, and the Vance Refrigeration guys (writers Gene Stupinsky and Lee Eisenberg) are cooking on the grills. Pam looks over and spots the fireworks sitting on the side. She is instantly suspicious. She gets giddy, smiles, and asks the documentary camera man, “Jim’s going to propose, isn’t he?!”. *squee!*

Still hazing the new girl, Dwight, Meredith and cousin Mose attempt to put a live racoon in her car. Michael spots them and freaks out. Now, he doesn’t want to haze Holly because he thinks he’s in love with her. He tells everyone, “Holly is the best thing to happen to this company since World War 2″! lol Holly is thrilled with Michael’s defense of her. It looks like love might be in her eyes as well.

Inspired by Holly’s reaction and his arch-enemy leaving, Michael joins in with the band to sing, “Goodbye Stranger” by Supertramp. Holly is impressed once again. It seems Michael has finally found a woman on his wavelength. I guess there really is someone for everyone! lol

But, alas it’s not to be. Kevin, who was sent out to the store for more supplies, calls Michael and tells him he has to come out and meet him at the store. When Michael gets there, he finds Kevin chatting with a pregnant Jan! *gasp!*

Yeppers, Jan is preggo. But, it’s not Michael’s baby. She opted for a sperm bank instead saying in a talking-head, “sure, if I was 22 and had lots of time to have lots of children, sure let’s let Michael have a shot at one of them. But, honestly I need to make this one count”. Ouch! Poor Michael…Jan is relieved that Michael finally knows and she invites him to come to her Lamaze class with her. Michael tells her that he’ll have to think about it and heads back to Toby’s going away-party.

In Michael’s absence, the party rolls along smoothly. The fireworks start and everyone looks happy. The camera pans to Jim who is reaching into his pocket and pulling out a ring box. Just then, Andy grabs the microphone and proposes to Angela! And after a few awkward pauses, Angela says “ok”. Andy is thrilled, Dwight is crushed, and Jim’s perfect moment is ruined. So, he puts the box back into his pocket and congratulates Andy who tells him, “Mr. Andrew Bernard - has a nice ring to it”. What a goof! lol

Toby finds Pam and with his camera in hand attempts to get a picture of the two of them. Pam’s smile seems forced. Afterward, Pam confesses that she is a little sad because she thought Jim was going to propose. *sigh*

Michael comes back and Holly fills him in on the proposal. She puts out the bait of getting together after work with Michael by telling him that she’s “still hungry”. He proposes going to a diner, and she accepts. Then, he cancels probably heeding Jim’s advice from earlier to take things slow. Kevin, overhearing the conversation, offers to take her. Holly still thinking Kevin’s slow, says, “ok, well I better go buckle him in”. lol Michael grabs his cell and calls Jan. He tells her that he will go to her Lamaze class with her. Poor Michael, missing an opportunity to connect with Holly on Jim’s advice. Sad!

Next scene shows Phyllis after-hours, cleaning up the rest of the party supplies. She tells the camera-man that she really enjoyed heading up the party planning committee. It was a real “high”. As she round the corner in the now-empty office, you can hear muffled noises coming from inside. *gasp!* It’s Dwight and Angela in the middle of…*ahem* being together! And Phyllis sees the whole thing. Oh boy! Newly engaged Angela, doing the nasty with her secret ex, and the witness is Phyllis?! Just awesome…

So, there you have it LITO-ites! It was a great episode. I guess I just expected something…more. What more do I want you ask?! I’m really not sure, it just wasn’t the “monster” episode I was expecting. Still, overall I give it a good grade. Lots of fun stuff happened and I will miss it over the summer. At least we have the webisodes and cast movies to look forward too. Stop back here at LITO often for Office-news when you need your fix. Thanks again or reading, and feel free to yell at me in the comments! ~Donna

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