“Scott’s Tot’s”-Kevin’s Recap

Sorry for the delay, everyone. It was a little busy this weekend. Wow. This episode inspired some really contradictory feelings in me. There were quite a few things that I liked about it. Some really good gags, some comedic sleight of hand and some pretty good direction by B.J. Novak. But this episode really hamstrung my favorite character on the show and committed, in my eyes, a major crime. It made a really smart character look like they were really stupid.

In the Cold Opening, which I liked better on the second viewing, Michael brings Andy in to tell him about complaints from his co-workers. It seems that Andy has been speaking in baby talk. He mentions a number of words and phrases that Andy has made into baby words, most humorously, “Woad Iwand”. A taken aback Andy tells Michael that there has been criticism of his Elvis voice. The opening ends with the two exchanging platitudes in their respective voices and Michael getting the final “You’re welcome, baby.”

As the first act starts we see Andy enter Jim’s office to tell him that a “pernicious” case of the Monday Blahs has infected the office and only an “Employee of the Month” program will turn the tide. Jim thinks this is a great idea. When he asks Andy who had just taken a seat if there was something else, Andy pops back up, says ‘Nope!” and leaves. This amuses Jim (and me as well- I love absurd little moments like that).

Next we see Erin trying to clean up Michael’s e-mail folder (which, if I may be allowed to say, reminded me of this). When Jim enters Michael hints at his latest goof (”What if I told you I had done the worse thing ever?”) but we don’t get the full story until later. Michael dismisses Erin and says “I miss Pam”, which is less than kind. Michael apparently is not happy with Erin, which kinda came out of nowhere. Michael then commends the “EOTM” idea (as I will refer to it henceforth) because he thinks he should win it. Jim tells him that he is not eligible because it “would look bad.” Oooohh, Fore-shadowing.

Next we see Andy meeting Dwight in the hallway to tell him that Jim and Michael seem to be going for “their” EOTM idea, to which Dwight says “YOUR idea”. In Dwight’s talking head that follows he explains that he wants Andy to think it was his idea to keep Dwight in the clear.Then he looks at his watch and says, cryptically, “In approximately 6 hours Jim will get a phone call from David Wallace. He will be fired.” Wha? Oh boy.

In the breakroom Erin browbeats Pam into looking at an itinerary that says “The Michael Scott Foundation”. After Michael enters Phyllis asks what are “Scott’s Tots”. This kills Stanley, sitting in the back. “Has it really been ten years?” he asks, in between laughing. In a talking head a still laughing Stanley shows us a newspaper article about Michael pledging to pay the college tuition of a bunch of third graders. Back in the breakroom Pam is horrified, telling Michael that he has to go to the school and set things straight. In a funny talking head Michael, proudly displaying some of the mementos from the kids in the class, says “I’ve made empty promises in my life, but hands down that was the most generous.” That’s good stuff. I love when Michael says a sentence that is completely contrary to itself. Michael disses Erin again and Pam forces the two to go together to the school.

In the kitchen a clearly disingenuous Dwight greets “Jimmy” with lame compliments before abruptly switching gears and imploring Jim to stop the EOTM program before it starts so as to avoid the phony gladhanding by everyone in the office. When Jim says “Let me guess, you think you should win it.” Dwight pulls out a chart with different classifications and “randomly” assigned numbers for each employee. Then he suggests a cash prize. Jim starts by saying “In an ideal world…” before Dwight interrupts with “In an ideal world I would have all ten fingers on my left hand so my right hand could just be a fist for punching.” Wow. Dwight then cleverly manipulates Jim into taking the chart to Toby, further distancing himself from the car wreck to come.

Next we see Michael and Erin at the school. A student wearing a Scott’s Tots shirt runs up and Michael greets her warmly, remembering her full name and her talent for playing the sax. Impressive. The three pass by the “Michael Scott Reading Room” (?!?) and then head up to the class (Erin dragging a heavy suitcase on wheels) where Michael is greeted by cheering, clapping students and teachers. Oh good. This should clean up nicely.

Things start to happen quickly in the second act. Michael is treated to a Rap/Dance number by the students, a tearful hugging thank you by the teacher and a speech by one youngster who says he avoided the drug game by remembering his ‘guardian angel” and thanking Michael for giving him the chance to become “the next President Obama” - which brings Michael to tears.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (I am obligated to write that in every recap), we see Dwight taking twenty dollars from each employee to give to the eventual EOTM winner. Dwight says, in a talking head “Five minutes ahead of schedule. Right on schedule.” I love that. Later, Jim stands before his office mates and prepares to name the winner. He says a little corny line that Pam is a little embarrassed by (and Dwight laughs too hard at, off camera). Then Jim reads the little chart and determines that Employee number nine is the winner. After Andy makes a little Beatles reference he consults his Emloyee number chart and discovers that the winner is… Jim Halpert? Oops. Naturally this is met by a storm of criticism from his co-workers and we finally see the true deviousness of Dwight’s plan as a stammering Jim tries to clear things up. What? Jim gets days off? What? Jim wins MONEY? Yikes.

Back at the school. Michael comes up to make a speech. He starts to fess up and then, in a great bit of comedic psyche-out, the bell rings. Michael is literally saved by the bell! “Should we go?” he asks. Nope. It’s a double period. D’oh!. No bailout there. Well, Michael continues to fumble around in a super-cringer fashion before he reveals that he cannot pay for these kids to go to college. The reaction is what you would expect. Michael tries to explain to the angry throng that he didn’t intend for this to happen and then we have our second great comedic psych-out in this ep. As Erin pulls the heavy suitcase over to Michael, he explains that you can still go online to get your college education and laptops are a perfect tool for such a thing. As everyone eyes the suitcase expectantly, Michael zips it open and reveals… laptop batteries. This fires everyone up again but Michael shouts them down with a few “Hold on”s before saying “They’re lithium!” Lol… This doesn’t work so well, either.

Back with the gang, Jim is facing a similar problem, being shouted at by a bunch of angry people. Once again, we see the writers mirror Jim’s experiences with Michael’s, albeit from different causes. Pam suggests that the runner-up should receive the prize and Andy, after figuring out who that is, says ‘Son of a bitch. It’s Pam Halpert!” (still kinda weird hearing her name said that way.) Again everyone is upset (Phyllis - “No offense, but how the hell is that possible?”) and Jim says ” Guys, this must be some sort of elaborate scam”. Then a delivery guy walks in and it is at this point that this episode goes off the rails for me.

Over on the Life In The Office Forum site, the lovely and talented Hot Dog Fingers (aka Suri - who in a funny coincidence is lovely and talented as well) remarked that this episode really annoyed her. She felt that Michael’s tuition stunt was cruel and she tired of Dwight’s attempts to discredit Jim and the attitude that everyone in the office has with him. None of that bothered me. I felt that Michael didn’t INTENTIONALLY mean to dash those kids college dreams and actually, he aided them just by suggesting that he would pay. And yeah, the office gang jump on Jim really quick. But when one of the grunts becomes management, this is bound to happen. I was ok up until this particular point. But then that delivery guy comes in with a cake and delivers it to Jim. A cake emblazoned with his picture and the words “It could only be you!” which further infuriates the workers. HDF said that this whole thing made Jim look stupid, not to the other people but to us, the viewers. And I totally agree, in terms of the cake. Up until then Dwight had a fool-proof plan. So many other people had their fingerprints on the details that Dwight could easily absolve himself. But now, a guy comes in with a cake that only two people could have ordered. Dwight and Andy. And who else would benefit from Jim getting put through the ringer but Dwight. Who the hell else? OF COURSE it’s an elaborate scam, Jim! What the hell? How could YOU of all people not see that? If the writers want to show Jim as confused, unsure, jealous, resentful, lacking confidence, whatever, in this new job, that’s fine by me. But don’t make Jim Halpert STUPID all of a sudden. He’s as smart as a whip. How, suddenly are Jim AND PAM, who is just as smart, incapable of seeing through this? That is totally ridiculous to me. I mean, I love stories when someone has an elaborate set-up and pulls it off or at least comes close. Good villain stuff. But when you practically hand the main protagonist a huge clue and he doesn’t see it, you’ve lost me. This may be the main reason why I HATED, HATED, HATED Basic Instinct. Because Michael Douglas’s character, even when faced with monumental clues and evidence, STILL can’t figure out that Sharon Stone is the killer. He was so stupid in that movie. I came out of the theater and wanted to punch someone. And they did that to the character of Jim Halpert. I mean, by episode’s end, he STILL hasn’t figured it out. Come on.

At least the very next scene is funny. Dwight leaves messages complaining about Jim with David Wallace, doing pretty good impersonations of Kevin, Stanley and Toby. If he had done a Meredith one, that would killed me.

Next we see Michael and Erin semi-fleeing the school. One of Scott’s Tots comes out and confronts Michael. Michael, in a sweet attempt, tells the kid that he’ll buy his books if he can somehow pay for school. When told that it is a thousand dollars, Michael is taken aback. That’s $200 dollars a year! Uh, no, Michael. It’s a $1000 dollars EVERY year. Michael reluctantly makes out the checks, dating them in the next four consecutive years. “That’s a lot of zeroes.”, he says.

Jim receives a phone call from an infuriated David Wallace. “What the hell is happening there, Jim?” he demands. As Jim scrambles to close the door, David reams Jim out, which was hard to listen to. Dwight goes into Jim’s office later and slyly takes his pen listening device, planted in “The Lover”. Dwight goes to the stairwell and listens gleefully as David practically threatens Jim’s job. But then, to Dwight’s horror, David softens and apologizes, blaming Dunder-Mifflin’s recent money problems for his anger. As David asks if they are still on for dinner the following weekend, Dwight yells “Oh, you’re kidding me! Dammit!!”

In the car ride back to the office, Erin is singing the rap song chorus that the kids sang, much to Michael’s dismay. He mentions, sadly, that he has destroyed fifteen young lives. But Erin mentions alternatives and tells Michael that the principal told her that 90% percent of Scott’s Tots are on track to graduate, which is 35% better than the rest of the school. This cheers Michael up and he finally commends Erin, telling her that she is doing a great job. After asking what she wants from this job and finding out that she always wanted to be an accountant, Michael reveals that when he hired Kevin, he was applying for a job in the warehouse. “I sorta had a feeling about him”, says Michael. “I have a feeling about you too.” Then Michael and Erin sing the “Hey Mister Scott” song as the third act ends.

Now, we get to the capper. A bummed Dwight says goodnight to Jim and Pam (I cannot believe that they still haven’t figured it out!) and is just sitting there when Ryan comes up, saying that he knows about Dwight’s diabolical plan. When Dwight tries to dismiss the idea, Ryan reveals a booklet with the title page “My Diabolical Plan” by Dwight K. Schrute. “I found a copy of it in the copier tray”. A silly, but funny, gag. When Dwight asks Ryan what he wants, Ryan reveals that he wants the same thing as Dwight. Together, the two pledge to destroy Jim Halpert.

A pretty good ending. And I know that. on the surface, this looks really bad for Jim. But when I was a kid, Marvel used to put out a comic called Super-Villain Team Up. In it Doctor Doom or Magneto or the Red Skull or some other Marvel baddies would team up and try to take down Spider-man or Captain America or do something terrible to everybody else. Invariably though, ego or greed or the the need to save their own ass would derail any plan that they would come up with. So, although this Dwight/Ryan (dare I say it?) alliance would seem to be very dangerous for Jim, it is as equally bad for Dwight and Ryan.

So, in conclusion, I liked a fair amount of this episode… right up to when the cake showed up.

-Kevin