“The Banker” ~ Donna’s Recap
Hmmm… “The Banker”, where to begin? I hadn’t read anything on this new episode before viewing it, so I took a moment right before it started to at least see what the caption was. Here it is, in case you missed it:
“When a potential buyer arrives at Dunder Mifflin, Michael, Dwight, Andy & Pam team up to win his favor by highlighting their top-drawer contacts. Meanwhile, Michael reflects on memorable moments at the office.”
Now, it’s the last sentence of the above caption that is important here. When I read this, it didn’t dawn on me that they were talking about an old-fashioned clip show!
I’ll admit that at first I was a bit intrigued. The Office-fan in me recognized that this was a definite first for the series. And, it was sort of cool to see all the old clips again. But honestly, that good feeling was short-lived.
The problem is, haven’t all of us Office-fans seen these clips a thousand times? Who hasn’t seen the “Casino Night” JAM kiss more than once? I know I’ve seen it so many times, it’s downright embarrassing!
This is the age of YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook. And as my friends on the LITO forum mentioned, we’ve all seen these old episode clips shown better on the internet. Set to music even!
It just seems like a giant step back for a show that has always been hip & unique. Does having a clip-show mean The Office’s glory days are behind them now? It’s almost as if the show is saying, “remember how great & funny we were?” Dare I say it… Are we talking “jump the shark” here?!
Now, it’s possible I’m reading too much into a few simple clips. I’ve been known to overreact from time to time. 
However, I’d be willing to bet that I’m not the only person out there who still loves the show, but felt a bit uneasy watching this episode.
Ok, enough of that. Let’s get to the actual plot of the episode.
In the cold-open, a potential buyer is interested in the flailing Dunder-Mifflin paper company. So, they send Eric (the banker/fact checker) to see if the company is worth their interest. Michael and the staff decide to try to make their branch seem worth it by adding some “cosmetic tweaks”. As Michael explains, “The same principles I’m applying to the office are the ones that have made Lady GaGa a star. Or, any number of drag queens.”
Some of those “tweaks” include: making Dwight pretend to be Computron, the smarmy, annoying supercomputer dispensing random facts about pro sports, Michael pulling up in a Corvette and parking it in the “Employee of the Month” spot, Michael greeting the banker on a Segway, international-buyer Pam greeting him by saying “hello” in three languages, and the most bizarre tweak… planting a fake Stanley.
Not surprisingly, Eric is not impressed with this dog & pony show they’re putting on. He insists on seeing the HR rep to move things along. Michael tries to pass off Dwight as Toby. At first, Eric buys it. Trying to be friendly, he asks Dwight/Toby, “Your boss is quite a character, huh?” To which an annoyed Dwight/Toby replies, “He has more character in a simple flake of his dandruff than you have on that entire snowbank on your shoulder.” Oh boy!
In comes Toby who introduces himself as the real HR Rep., and sits down with Eric to go over the company’s standings, etc… This is where the rest of the old clips enter the picture under the guise of Toby trying so hard to tell the banker what he wants to know without lying, but without really telling the truth either.
For example, Eric asks Toby, “Does the company have any open liabilities?” We see Toby squirming to answer this question, and the clips representing some of the possible “open liabilites” at the company; Michael hitting Meredith with his car, the bat loose in the office, Dwight’s fire, etc…But in the end, Toby’s answer is always a lie to protect the company.
The other questions/ clip starters, Toby is asked include: “Are people on the staff generally happy?”, “What about sexual harrassment?”, “How much time/ resources are wasted?” & “Is anyone retirement age?”.
Of course, Michael can’t help himself. He has to interrupt Toby and Eric’s meeting. Indignant at the cold-facts questions he hears Eric asking Toby, he tells him, “this is a building where friends become lovers, and lovers become sexually adventurous”. This starts off the clips of all the office relationships over the years: Dwight/Angela, Michael/Jan, Ryan/Kelly, Kelly/Darryl, and of course… Jim/Pam. There was even a JAM montage of clips from season 1 to now.
Obviously, all the questions asked by banker Eric could provide a wealth of comic material in the form of old clips. But as I stated earlier in my recap (ie: rant), for me it misses the mark.
The episode winds down with Eric leaving while the gang is going overboard wishing him goodbye. Michael explains in the talking-head that in a way he feels sorry for the banker. “He has to decide what we are capable of. How do you do that?!” It’s always been clear to everyone that Michael is the office’s biggest cheerleader. To him, it’s truly a family. It’s touching to see that even in the face of such adversity (corporate folding, branch up for sale, possible loss of jobs for everyone) he has not lost his faith. Yes, he’s delusional, but you’ve got to give him props for that.
They close the episode with the old “Lazy Scranton” video where Michael and Dwight rap about Scranton.
So, overall this episode was a “miss” for me. I didn’t hate it, but I was disappointed in it. What are your thoughts? Sound off in the comments, and come and check out the LITO forum too. And as always, thanks for reading! 
Donna
January 24th, 2010 01:51
As it was my wedding anniversary, my husband and I went out to dinner and didn’t get back until after 9:30. So I watched the episode online Friday morning. I was so glad that I didn’t cut our dinner short in order to rush home only to watch a bunch of old clips. I thought the premise was good, and every show has a flash-back episode in it’s history at some point. So while this wasn’t the best ep; I didn’t really mind it too much. I was expecting a bit more after such a long break. I hope the rest of the season picks up. The birth episode is on the horizon so I’ll just wait, with bated breath, for the arrival of Jim and Pam’s baby and to see what direction the writers are taking the company in.
January 24th, 2010 04:01
Nicely done, Donna; a stellar recap of a less-than-steller episode. Like I said on the forum, if I had known it was going to be a clip show, I would have adjusted my expectations downward, and not been so disappointed. But as you point out, that promo line clearly states “Michael reflects on memorable moments.” Uh-oh, “clip-show city,” here we come!
What the heck, though. I had fun reading your recap, so I can’t complain. This show is STILL entertaining me one way or another!
January 24th, 2010 11:43
Oh, and by the way… Happy Anniversary, Suri!
January 24th, 2010 12:10
Thanks Bob.
January 24th, 2010 13:02
I don’t know, I personally have seen every single episode numerus times. So I have seen every single clip that they showed, BUT they did throw in about three that were not in past episodes, deleted scenes maybe. Anyways, what was in the actuale episode was kind of funny, but Jim was not evan in it, at all. So for me it was a definite miss. But, I still love the show and will tune in next week.
Nice recap donna.
January 24th, 2010 19:46
You know, I really liked the episode. What are we, Season 6? Good timing for a highlight reel.
January 24th, 2010 21:57
I’m glad to see that this episode at least brought out some new posters to LITO. Welcome Harrison (I think I’ve seen you post before) and Jake Spurlock. Please come back and comment often.
January 25th, 2010 14:21
Sorry, I’ve been crazy all day (some would argue for a lot longer). Donna, I REALLY enjoyed your recap. I love reading something that seems effortless and uncontrived. That was really good. I enjoyed it much better than the episode, like Bob.
Hey Harrison and Jake! Any relation to Morgan Spurlock of “SuperSize Me” fame? Hey, we need another Supersized Office episode, so give him a buzz for us! Impressive credentials you have there, Jake! Glad to have you and Harrison (Ford?) joining in!
January 25th, 2010 16:59
Made me wonder if this meant The Office was gonna end soon or if it will be on for even longer.
January 25th, 2010 21:00
So great to see new names in the comments section. A big LITO welcome to Harrison, Patrick & Jake!!! Stop on by the LITO forums guys (links in the above recap). We’d love to add you to our crazy mix.
January 26th, 2010 11:59
What is up with the office lately? It’s like the show has lost the writers that make the show great. Every episode is getting worse and worse. Last week’s episode of old clips was a complete rip off. I watch old episodes everyday and the last thing i want to see with a new episode is old episodes. I hope they turn it around. It almost seems like the show is dying down and about to go off the air completly. I hope not.
January 26th, 2010 13:45
Dustin, the new episode scheduled for February 4th looks like it could be really good. I wasn’t too thrilled with last week’s “clip show,” either. But I think starting next week, the show just might pick up again. Hey, I HOPE the show’s not dying, because I’m scheduled to write next week’s LITO recap, and I don’t want it to sound like an obituary!
January 27th, 2010 15:32
Wow, we gots some new folks here! Hey Dustin and Patrick! More commenters. This is very cool!
Yeah, that clip show was a tad lame. If any show lives on in Youtube foreverness it’s the Office. The ‘net embraced that show from jump. So we REALLY didn’t need a clip show. Like Dustin said, I see old episodes everyday in syndication and on the www, we certainly don’t need to see pieces of them in a “new” episode.
January 27th, 2010 17:34
What the heck is going on? There’s not a new episode this week either! Do they really need two months off for the holidays?
January 28th, 2010 09:37
You are SO right, John. Here we are, waiting patiently through this hiatus, and then they hit us with a “clip show.” Greg Daniels, what the heck IS going on?