Life In The Office

At the end of last week’s episode, “Crime Aid”, we see CEO David Wallace catch Holly and Michael kissing. This leads us directly to the premise of this week’s episode, “Employee Transfer”. Of course corporate would frown upon the boss and the HR Rep “canoodling”, so Holly must now be transferred back to whence she came, the New Hampshire branch.

I loved the cold-open of this episode because it centered on Halloween, and all the costumes. It’s always great to see what they come up with! Kelly is dressed as Carrie Bradshaw from “Sex in the City”. Phyllis loves Kelly’s shoes, which is great because she has to help Kelly totter around the office in the too-high heels of her costume.

Ryan Howard is all about the “re-do’s” lately. He’s temping at Dunder-Mifflin again and lusting after Kelly Kapoor again. Only this time, she’s not buying what he’s selling. He’s still got his ambitions though, he dressed as “Wall Street” character, Gordon Gecko. Kelly is confused (duh!) by his costume until he tells her “Gordon Gecko”. Then she brightens up and says, “Oh, from the insurance commercials!”. Poor, sweet, clueless Kelly!

Creed, Kevin and Dwight are all dressed as The Joker from the movie,”Dark Knight”.  Jim keeps with his tradition of understated costumes (remember three-hole punch Jim?) and dresses in his normal work-wear, only he’s wearing a name tag that says “Dave”. Andy is dressed like someone from the cast of “Cats”. Explaining his costume to Jim he says, “we were looking for a kitten”. ha ha! I love the “we” in that statement. Angela has the spinless dolt exactly where she wants him already. Shame she doesn’t love him.

Pam, still in NYC, is dressed up for her job as Charlie Chaplin. Unfortunately for her, no one told her that the staff doesn’t wear costumes on Halloween. She’s in all black, with a little black hat, a grease paint black mustache, and slicked back, jet-black hair. She explains to the camera, “I can’t even take off my hat, because then I look like Hitler”. lol

Back in Scranton, Holly is ready for her move back to New Hampshire. Michael has taken a personal day to help her move and they have enlisted the help of Darryl from the warehouse to help them. They also have a Dunder-Mifflin work truck which I still can’t figure out…Guess they are using it for “business”?

But, why are they doing this?! Moving will surely end their newfound love, right?! Well, apparently the topic of Michael moving to New Hampshire and/or Holly taking another job in Scranton did come up, but nothing really came of this chat. So, off they go to take Holly “home” with hope in their hearts.

The trip will take seven hours one way. Which is alot. But not in the minds of our new lovers! Holly and Michael have it all covered. He’s got a bag of yarn (for cats cradle, obviously!), cd’s he burned, and puppets. All the necessities to make a trip go by fast!

It starts off wonderful, Michael’s cd has “Life is a Highway” and the group is so pumped, they can’t help but sing along. It’s fun, and everyone’s all smiles as they cruise down the highway. You get the feeling that this just might work out after all for Michael and Holly.

Back at the office, Dwight is not about to take Angela’s choosing Andy over him lying down. Even though Andy is unaware that anything was happening between his fiance and the beet farmer, Dwight is still out to “get him”. He is ready to do whatever it takes to annoy Andy.

And just how does a person get under Andy’s skin? Well, a person could come into work wearing a Cornell University sweatshirt if they’re not an alumni. Everyone is well aware that Andy’s devotion to his alma mater borders on obsession. He rarely has a conversation with anyone without mentioning he went to Cornell. He feels having been a student there makes him “special”, and so much better than other people. So, if a person decides to wear a Cornell sweatshirt and they didn’t attend the University? Umm….That should do it!

Dwight is thrilled with Andy’s reaction. So, he keeps up the act. He’s got the Cornell sweatshirt, a coffee mug and a “Big Red” mascot bobblehead on his desk. Andy is trying to remain cool, but after seeing the bobblehead, he is distraught. Dwight tells him he is no poser, he is applying to the University to further his education. He says, “someday we’ll get together in Comstock Hall and laugh”.

Back in NYC, Pam is meeting Jim’s two older brother’s for lunch with Jim. But, before Jim gets there, she’s meeting with the brothers alone. Why? Pam decides to play a prank on Jim enlisting his brothers as sort of a bonding-thing between the guys and their brother’s new fiance. Pam is very excited. But when the guys get there they have their own ideas on how the prank should run. They want to prank Jim by making fun of Pam for being an artist. You know, things like “you’ll never make any money” and “it’s just a hobby, not a real job” sort of thing. Pam is less than thrilled but goes along because of the potential bonding thing. She wants to be the cool sister-in-law after all.

Back on the highway, the tunes are getting stale. After the fourth play of “Life is a Highway” no one is smiling anymore. They’re barely half-way and already the trip is wearing on everyone. Holly begins to cry. I’m sure she’s thinking if this first trip is this bad only at the half-way point it’s never going to work, right? Michael sees her tears and is confused. He says, in typical Michael style ”Are you crying? Allergies? Did Darryl touch you?” lol. That line was my favorite, I have to say!

Holly tells Michael that it’s obvious they’re relationship is not going to work out. The distance is just too much to overcome. But Michael is not ready to give up so easy. He tells her that “in the last ten years he’s dated almost four women”(lol) and she’s the best by far. He doesn’t want to let her go. Holly says, “don’t make it harder than it has to be”. Michael replies, “that’s what she said” (of course, even in the middle of a break-up, how could he let that pass by?)

Poor heart-broken Michael isn’t willing to say die yet. He begs Holly to “not do this”. Saying between sobs that, “I’m weak, I’ll go back to Jan and I hate Jan”. Darryl, is unfortunately front-row center for this little exchange. Desperately, he tries to call someone on his cell to keep from hearing or being involved in the unhappy couple’s exchange. But, unlucky for him, he got the voice-mail for whomever he called.

Back at Dunder-Mifflin, Dwight is relishing his role as Andy’s tormentor. But, Andy comes up with a way to put a wrench in Dwight’s plan. Calling Cornell, he becomes Dwight’s interviewer for admissions. In other words, if Dwight wants to get into Cornell like he claims, he’ll have to interview with super-alumni Andy first. And Andy isn’t going to let him get in. He says Dwight has “none percent chance” of getting into Cornell.

On the road to New Hampshire, the radio is blaring “Life is a Highway” for what is probably the hundreth playing. No one is singing or smiling this time. Michael has stopped begging Holly. The mood in the car is sullen and depressing.

In NYC, Jim has finally arrived at the lunch with Pam and his brothers. Unaware of their prank plan, Jim slowly gets upset as his brother’s take pot-shots at Pam’s chosen profession. Pam, aware of the prank, is nonetheless upset at what his brother’s are saying. After all, art is a risk for her. It’s one of the only risks she’s taken in her life (remember New Pammy?) and she’s a little unsure of herself still. What they’re saying hits close to home. Even though she knows it’s all a “prank”, she starts to get upset and you can see the tears in her eyes. Just then, Jim begins to get really upset at his brother’s behavior. So, they decide enough is enough. Jim has been properly “pranked” and it’s time to let him in on the joke. Pam looks at Jim and gets what’s really happening there. The brother’s are oblivious to Pam’s upset reaction to their planned prank. They’re thrilled with how she “performed” and think she’ll make a great addition to their family. Pam is happy about this but tells Jim that at Thanksgiving, they should prank his brother Tom about being bald. ha ha

On the highway, the seven-hour trip is finally over. Michael was supposed to stay with Holly, but decides not too. Holly hugs him goodbye. Back at the truck, Darryl tells him he’s sorry about the break-up but Michael tells him, “we’re not broken up”. Deep down he knows it, but he doesn’t want to believe it yet. Being a good friend, Daryyl encourages him to “sing the blues”. Ever confused, Michael only sings a blues beat. He doesn’t get that you’re supposed to sing about what’s making you blue too. But Darryl sees it’s making him feel better so he goes along with it. It boosts his spirits and we see Michael smile again.

In the closing credits, we see Andy come in to the office dressed as a farmer and carring a box of beets. He’s decided to give Dwight a taste of his own medicine and try to take over his beloved thing, beet farming! In the background, Angela is shaking her head, obviously not thrilled that her fiance is acting like that with her secret ex-boyfriend.

It seems to me that this situation with Angela/Andy/Dwight is quickly coming to a head. I can’t imagine this will drag on much longer. And, I have to say, I am excited to see how it’s all going to pan out.

So LITO readers, what did you think of “Employee Transfer”? I’ll admit, it’s not my favorite of the season, but it had a lot of great bits too. Weigh in and let me know!

~Donna