Life In The Office

Well, here is The Office, hurtling towards the finish of Steve Carell’s legendary run as Michael Scott after the bomb he dropped in “Garage Sale”.  We all now know that Michael is leaving Dunder-Mifflin and heading off to Colorado with Holly. Will there be an emotional send of? Which made me think of something. Michael has long gotten on the nerves of his subordinates in all manner of styles. But would the show become a love fest now? Has love with the perfect woman and a major life change to come leeched away Michael Scott’s penchant for childishness and jerky behavior? As evidenced by “Training Day”….. um….. nope.

It all starts innocently enough. Michael is sitting in a hotel bar, waiting to meet his replacement, DeAngelo Vickers. Pretty soon Michael makes small talk with a stranger across the bar who is played by Will Ferrell.  After talking for a bit and wondering where the guy they were supposed to meet is, they phone separately only to discover… wait! They’re waiting for each other!  After that is resolved Michael invites DeAngelo back to the office. Then, while filming his first talking head, DeAngelo is interrupted by a silly Michael and the two men chase each other around the office like children. I liked the scene for a number of reasons. Will Ferrell is a real card and watching he and Carell together is a pleasure. But what I also liked is what the scene didn’t say; That although Vickers comes across as goofy and as uninhibited as Michael, he definitely has a harder edge, as we see later.

The next day Michael introduces DeAngelo (I’m willing to bet money that Will Ferrell personally came up with that name) to the rest of the office and he starts off by ticking off some facts about himself; he loves the American Southwest (quite a bit), he has a peanut allergy (now, I can sarcastically write “Foreshadowing!!” here, but I honestly had no idea that would come up later), he is just as comfortable at a ballgame as he is at the opera, etc. As he speaks we see a disgruntled Dwight’s face and he explains in a talking head that he is crushed by not having been considered for the manager position. Will he get over it? No, but life goes on, he explains and then adds, sadly, “Not for me.”

After Kelly tries to “meet cute” with DeAngelo, Michael is seen explaining to the group how he and the new manager were together for all that time at the bat without realizing who the other person was. Everyone thinks this is embarrassing, with Angela capping it by saying “That story makes you sound stupid.” But seconds later, when DeAngelo recounts the same tale and gets a laugh, Michael is annoyed. Uh oh. Then Andy mentions how he carries around “Hi my name is..” cards for just that sort of situation and gets a big laugh from DeAngelo. He labels Andy the office funny guy which pumps up Andy’s ego a bit. Poor Andy… you have no idea what’s in store for you.

Michael then introduces Jim and Pam (“aka JAP”… lol…) and they show DeAngelo a picture of CeCe. He mentions that he has four of his own and Jim and Pam think they have an in with the new manager. Poor Jim and Pam…you have no idea what’s in store for you.

After we see from Michael’s expression that he was not in fact pushing for Dwight to be manager as Dwight mistakenly believes (uh oh, again), we are treated to a full, all out brown-nose circus as the gang tries to to kozy up to the new manager. Daryl mentions that the Southwest is one of his favorite regions and that the desert is one of his favorite ecosystems (oh, God) and Kevin, sporting a toupee (it’s NOT Ashton Kutcher, it really is Kevin) asks if he likes bald people. “I hate them.” says Kevin. Then Angela, much to Oscar’s amusement, mentions that her boyfriend is a state senator. Wow, it doesn’t stop. Michael is puzzled. Then, when DeAngelo asks Erin to answer the phone without saying her name (“Dunder Miflin. This is.” says a puzzled Erin… lol…), Michael objects in a passive aggressive way. But DeAngelo insists and Erin is completely boxed in after being bailed on by Gabe. When the phone rings again, Erin, being stared at by Michael and DeAngelo, answers by saying “I’m so sorry.” and hangs up. Yow. Cringe scene number one.

DeAngelo asks Andy to make him laugh and Andy starts by telling an “African American” joke but cannot finish. After DeAngelo is called away Daryl asks Andy to finish the joke and a desperate Andy says “Help me!”

DeAngelo has set up what is seen by Ryan as the ultimate power move. He has a barber come in to shave him and calls a meeting at the same time. Not to be outdone, Michael runs out for supplies and tells Erin “Shave me.”  And here we arrive at my cringiest scene of this episode. As Erin attempts to shave Michael without a towel and with what appears to be a lady shaver, Jim and Pam inexplicably attempt to show DeAngelo pictures of Cece. “You know what,” says DeAngelo, “enough about your baby.” A mortified Jim and Pam try to explain but DeAngelo says “No, I know what you’re doing. Just quit it.”  OUCH. Ouchie ouch ouch. Oh boy, I covered my face when this happened. But I blame JAM. Apparently all of their time in that office has deadened the ability to use common sense. Why would they push that hard? Oh boy… lol… but I liked that the writers did that. Jim and Pam are not perfect and should not be seen as such. It’s good to see faults. But, MAN, that was a doozy. The meeting continues with Michael becoming more paranoid about his managing style as DeAngelo asks how he could be better manager for the group. Yep. How stupid of me to expect Michael Scott to be anyone else but Michael Scott.

After Andy tries a joke on DeAngelo that bombs, he almost kills himself trying to lean on a table in the kitchen, which amuses the new manager. It just gets worse for Mr. Bernard. Then, a box full of DeAngelo’s stuff arrives and he starts to redecorate Michael’s office which messes up the “Fung Shuey”. Uh oh, Michael is in full Michael mode now. Hell hath no fury like a Michael scorned. Or Scarn, which is more appropriate.

After Andy is forced to go into a total pratfall bonanza to make DeAngelo laugh ( “Drink some hand soap.” insists DeAngelo to an emasculated Andy, WHO DOES), we see Dwight get the embarrassing news from Gabe that Michael never recommended him for the manager job. More ouchies. This episode is just full of ouchies.

That sets us up nicely for the last scene, which is another cringefest. As DeAngelo lectures the group on the best whale watching spots, Michael comes in with, incredibly, little Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (remember DeAngelo’s peanut allergy?). Oh My God. This is another classic d*@k move by Michael and should easily be in his top ten of all-time. (We should make a list. This has got to be Number Five at LEAST.) DeAngelo is horrified.

Quick sidebar, if I may. One of my son’s favorite cartoons is a show called Kick Buttowski (I admit, my wife and I like it a lot, too). There was an episode about a down and out wrestler named Papercut Peterson, who Kick and his buddy Gunther befriend. Papercut explains that papercuts are like his Kryptonite, which prompts Kick to ask him “So, you named yourself after your only weakness?” Anyway (bear with me), later on, when Peterson is winning a match that would get him back his wrestling academy that he lost, he is sneakily given a papercut. Before falling out, he exclaims “A papercut! My only weakness! Just like I said earlier!” That always makes my son laugh and I wanted to yell that out when Deangelo reacted to the PB&J sandwiches. But of course I didn’t, ’cause that would be crazy.

ANYWHO, DeAngelo explains that he will not die from being exposed to peanuts, but does not want to be uncormfortable. The last time he was itchy for three days and missed the O.J. verdict. As Michael tosses sandwiches to his astonished staff, DeAngelo says “You’re getting nut particles all in the air!” and bats a flying PB&J down. He then retreats into the conference room and calls for everyone to come in for a meeting after he’s closed himself in. But Michael tries to keep everyone from entering. Jim explains that it’s the new boss and they have to go. After everyone shuffles in but Dwight, Michael assumes that his old right hand man is still on his side. But he discovers that the hurt Dwight is no longer his crony and he goes as well. Michael is despondent but DeAngelo does something that he clearly did not have to do. He comes back out and actually solicits Michael’s advice on how to start a meeting and tells him that he will be missed. DeAngelo offers a hug but Michael refuses. But after DeAngelo turns away Michael awkwardly hugs him from behind. DeAngelo returns the hug as best as possible and we see Michael, struggling with losing the only power he has ever had, start to come to grips with this change. After DeAngelo asks what the “Native American girls” name is, we get a great closing shot of Michael going into his office and closing his door as the meeting resumes.

The epilogue features Jim and Pam still trying to win DeAngelo over by having him meet Cece, who is adorable, as DeAngelo says. But after Jim and Pam exult and think they are back in, DeAngelo says, in a talking head “I’m telling you, that baby could be the star of a show called “Babies I Don’t Care About”. Lol.. Oh, JAP. Just stop it. This won’t end well.

“Training Day” could not possibly live up to the classic that was “Garage Sale” but this was another very good episode in a great string of hits that will close out the Michael Scott chapter. Though it made me, as usual, cringe, it was nice to see that the main character didn’t suddenly change his stripes.