Life In The Office

What to say about The Search? Yes, the entire episode hinges on a number of unlikely happenstances and it is a little light on laughs… but I must admit I kinda liked it. And it had it’s sweet moments. So…. not a tier one episode by any stretch… but not a complete dog either.

We open with the attention starved couple of Ryan and Kelly announcing to the entire office (except Jim… who is off filming a movie. AH… I mean… on a sales call. Yeah) that they are getting an amicable divorce. This puzzles everyone as no one knew they were even married until three seconds before the announcement. When faced with the possibility of remaining married Ryan makes the split nasty and asks for a show of hands for who’s on his side. Nada. Then Kelly asks… and gets the same result. Not a bad cold opening.

Next we see Jim heading out on a SALES CALL (wink wink!) but being slowed down by Michael, who is bugging Holly about their relationship. Michael is being super-presumptious by assuming that he and Holly should be together but Holly is trying to hold back from dating again in the workplace. But the fact that she doesn’t even seem angry at Michael for leaping to this conclusion is an answer in itself. Michael leaves with Jim, bummed by Holly’s refusal to commit but before Jim leaves he cutely hints to Pam that he has put one of her doodles up on the office fridge.

As they leave Holly comes out and watches them go. Erin scowls at her and in a funny talking head, tallies up Holly’s attributes in four categories, using her personality, sense of humor and both ears. Poor Holly. Only a 16 out of a perfect 40. One of those ears really held her back.

After the sales call Jim and a still depressed Michael are driving back to work when Michael, having a mini-hissy fit, announces that he must go to the bathroom NOW. Jim pulls into a gas station and we are presented with not one but two plot devices (with another to follow). As Jim is waiting for Michael, he receives a call from his mother in law saying that not only does little Cece have a slight fever but she is also locked in the car. Oops. Now, I’m a parent and I know what kind of panic you can fly into when it comes to the welfare of your child. But Jim  can’t even wait for Michael to get out of the bathroom before he zooms off. It’s a bit much. And then, Michael has conveniently left his cell and wallet in the car, which REALLY makes no sense to me. Jim calls Pam and informs her of Michael’s situation and then heads off to his movie shoot ..AH… I mean the doctor. Erin and Holly form an unlikely search party and are joined by Dwight, who calls the two “Space Orphan and Princess Nincompoop” and commandeers the rescue operation. Actually, that would be a good name for a cartoon.

Here’s another plot device; Michael, who is from the area and has worked there for God knows how many years, is lost. Ok. And, as Jim said, they are ten minutes from the office. So it’s not even, like, a few towns over. Wow. There is a funny gag though,  when Michael asks to use the gas station attendant’s phone. Michael stares at it and says “You don’t have any of my numbers on speed dial.” Lol… That’s a good gag. I don’t know about you but having numbers on speed dial is hell on remembering them. If I don’t have my phone sometimes I have to really stretch to recall some numbers. I thought that part at least made sense. But I also must admit, after all the plot devices, I still went along with it. Reluctantly.

Here’s another sort of plot device but it’s more of a personal thing, I guess. Pam notices that her cartoon of a Sabre copier that Jim put on the fridge now has a couple of captions written underneath. Now, besides the fact that the captions are just not funny, everyone, against Gabe’s complaints, agrees to be in a caption writing contest for a Pam drawing. This struck me as being so odd. Anytime the entire office agrees to do something, I mean such wide ranging personalities like Stanley, Creed, Meredith… ANGELA, for God’s sake… it just feels forced to me. It doesn’t feel true. You can’t get these people to agree on the TIME much less to all do something together. This was my complaint about Cece’s christening and Andy’s play and about this. It just doesn’t ring true for me. BUT… I went along with it. Boy, this show is lucky I am in love with it.

Anyway, when Pam presents a drawing of two dogs on a tiny tropical island to the group, Gabe comes in and steps all over their fun with rules. But the gang circumvents said rules by instant messaging their captions to one another.  Clever. We used to talk to each other like that on my old job when their were complaints that the art department was getting too rowdy. Then everyone started wondering why we were so quiet. You can’t win.

Outside (in a very unconvincing looking “Scranton” in February), Dwight, Holly and Erin are searching for Michael at the gas station. Dwight thinks he knows which way he went but Holly displays an uncanny ability to track Michael’s movements. We see Michael at a pet shop, trying to bum a lunch at a hot dog stand and then eventually grabbing an ill-gotten meal at a Chinese restaurant. Holly is right behind him the whole way, subconsciously aware of what guides Michael. Dwight and Erin are amazed. There’s another funny gag when the three leave the Chinese restaurant. We see a picture of Michael on the wall holding a sign with the word Thief emblazoned across it. The camera pans down and we see a picture of Creed doing the same thing. I bet every restaurant in Scranton has a picture of Creed on the wall of shame.

Back at the ranch we see that, because of a slow Phyllis, Gabe has uncovered the IM caption scheme. He prints out the entries and, though everyone else loves them, denigrates each joke. Finally, he reads one that insults him and everyone agrees it’s the winner. The joke involves one of the dogs peeing on the palm tree which could be a skinnier Gabe and the unlikely writer is Angela, which is actually a funny touch.

Outside Erin and Dwight are looking for Holly to find Michael, but she insists that her success thus far is a big coincidence. When she suggests, after being pretty much berated by Dwight, that they go up on a tall roof and look down to see him, Dwight refuses. Being old arrogant Dwight, he fails to follow what he himself and the audience has noticed; that Holly is attuned to Michael in a deep, subtle way. Dwight goes off on his own but Erin, perhaps finally acknowledging that there is something special between the two, follows Holly up to the roof of a tall, nearby building. It turns out that Michael is up there as well, trying to see Dunder-Miflin. Holly must now accept what we all know to be true; that the two belong together. As they embrace and kiss, Erin arrives and actually smiles, finally sold on the union.

In the episodes coda, we see Gabe reading more entries in the caption contest that just skewer him, culminating in a Phyllis joke that involves one of the dogs banging his mom. Lol.. WOW. I’m glad it was 10:00 at that point… lol..

I cannot say, even with all the plot devices and forced situations, that I disliked this episode. In fact, despite my many misgivings, I enjoyed it. Boy. That’s when you know you love a show.

-Kevin