Life In The Office

There have been many romantic entanglements over the years in The Office, Jim and Pam being the biggest one, obviously. But we’ve had Michael involved with a few ladies. We’ve had Dwight and Angela and Ryan and Kelly and so many others. So it’s not surprising to turn on The Office and see two guys going after one girl, or a girl trying to seduce a guy or a guy trying to seduce a girl OR a jealous boyfriend come in and complicate a possible romance. What IS surprising, however, is when all of that happens in the same episode. YIKES.

 

The episode starts off in catty fashion as Pam, Angela and Oscar share child (and dog) raising tales and then complain about each other in Talking Heads. Oscar can’t possibly think raising a dog is like raising a baby! Angela is such liar about Philip crawling! Nobody told Jim and Pam to have a another child! But then Andy comes in, amazed that his brother is buying a sailboat. “There’s nothing harder than taking care of a boat… am I right?” he asks the three. “Unbelievable!” they all yell in a Talking Head. Not bad…. just ok. But better stuff ahead…

Next, we are in Tallahassee and Nellie is wrapping up another week with our five visiting Office mates. Dwight tries to get her to, once again, name a Vice-President but Nellie declines. After eliminating a few who have no shot at the title, she then invites everyone to the hotel bar to unwind. “I’m not allowed to say it’s mandatory”, she says, “so let’s just say it’s compulsory.” Cathy goofs around with Jim in slightly suggestive fashion and an unsuspecting Jim says in a Talking Head that she has been fun and normal. He wanted to hang with Stanley but Stanley has become a “loose cannon”. We then see Stan in his candy apple red Camaro trying to pick up some ladies in the car next to them. Jim, in the passengers seat, slinks lower and lower, sneaking an embarrassed look at the camera.

Back at the (Scranton) ranch, Andy tells everyone that it’s five and it’s time to put your pencils down…… and now pick them back up because everyone is working late to service the accounts of the Tallahassee  Five. Apparently Andy should have been doing this but, as Pam says, he dropped the ball. After an awkward testicle related gag by Andy we shift back to Florida. Nellie and Packer are arguing about James Bond and Jason Bourne fighting as, Dwight, Jim, Gabe and Cathy listen in. Dwight, who has no social conversational skills whatsoever, grinds the debate to a halt saying that Genghis Khan would kill them both. He then proposes, instead of a drinking game, a game where the person with the most seeds in their pockets is the king and the person with the least amount of buttons in his pocket is the hunchback, who gets kicked for this apparent misstep.  Dwight gives his 40 buttons to Cathy, who in turn tosses them to Jim who in turn kicks Dwight hard in the shins. Lol… Dwight then watches, annoyed, as Packer and Nellie seem to get closer.

After Ryan orders a Chardonnay and the terminally clueless Erin orders a waffle (to no avail), she tells Ryan that she is planning to stay down in Florida. In a talking head the terminally opportunistic Ryan sees this as Erin wanting him to take a “why not?, last ditch, Kelly Ka-Who?” run at her. Ok, so there’s romantic entanglement number one.

Dwight watches a flirty Packer and Nellie and then tells Packer that he knows what he’s doing but it won’t work. The VP position is his. But Packer says “She is going to give it to me. As I’m giving it to her tonight. The cowgirl has found her saddle!” Which Packer follows with a hilarious pantomime of  rein pulling and horse whinnying. After Dwight bungles his saddle related retort, Packer tells him “You see how she’s all over me?” In a talking head Dwight says “If anyone is having sex with Nellie for personal gain, it’s me.” Oh boy. Entanglement Two.

Back at the office we are about to get number three. First the guys have an assembly line of order checking going, finishing with Daryl and Val confirming delivery. A bored Kelly screams “I’m dying!”. After Andy comes in with Jamaican food, (Phyllis: “If I wanted Jamaican food I would just hired a bunch of bodyguards and go there.” Lol… I guarantee someone will complain about that line. But it made me laugh), we see Brandon, Val’s boyfriend, bringing in the rest of the food. Daryl introduces himself and Brandon, recognizing the name, asks how he’s doing. “Good” says Daryl, only to hear “You must be doing real good since you’re f&*^%ing my girlfriend.” WHAT??!?!?!?! This absolutely floored me! Amidst a collective “WHOAAAAA…”, Val cowers in embarrassment. Kevin says “Dude, you didn’t tell me you were f&*%%ing Val. High Five.” Daryl denies and an angry Val confronts Brandon. But the damage is done. Andy tries desperately to rein all this in.

In Tallahassee, both Dwight and Packer are taking a sound effects laden run at Nellie. Jim bows out to head to his room. We see a clearly disappointed Cathy. We also see something that I did not notice the first time. After we get an outside shot of Jim sitting in his room watching television, we see Stanley and a blonde, the same one that was in the bar with him in the scene before, stroll by, arm in arm. That sly dog! I may be wrong. There may have been a FIFTH romantic entanglement in this ep….

There’s a knock at Jim’s door and Cathy, wearing a sleeveless tee, shorts and Uggs (?) tells him that her room is super hot and could she just hang out in his? A reluctant Jim agrees. She climbs on the bed and asks if the basketball game he is watching is March Madness, the NCAA college basketball tournament. Nice try, Cathy but as Jim says , that’s, um…. in March. No, he is watching a Miami Heat game, which makes sense. What’s even better is that an actual Miami Heat game was on national television the same time this episode was on. They were playing my New York Knicks and, well… this episode turned out better for me than that game did. A nervous Jim sits on the end of the bed and then slides down to the floor. Cathy shamelessly goes to the minifridge and bends over, her ass pointed at Jim. Entanglement number FOUR.

In the conference room they are trying to work but Brandon says to Daryl “I read your texts to Val.” A delighted Kelly says that we need to hear those texts to gauge the romantic interest in them. After Andy reminds her that she wanted to leave before Kelly says ” There is no way in hell I’m leaving. Something interesting is happening here. For once in my life I’m staying here, DARYL, READ THE TEXTS!” Lol… although this part is completely unrealistic (NO ONE directly involved in this triangle would sit through this, especially the young lady), it still made me laugh.

A knock at Jim’s door gets him up in a hurry. It’s Stanley (confirming my fifth romantic entanglement theory) saying that his mini bar is “oddly” out of rum. Stanley sees the situation, grabs his rum, teases Jim and goes, not noticing that Jim wants him to stay. So close.

Ryan and Erin enter the hotel kitchen, Ryan following through on his promise to get Erin that waffle. He tries to get a little sexy with her as Erin figures out the ingredients but someone comes in and the two (plus the camera) climb under a table to hide. They flirt quietly.

Daryl is reading his texts. “I have too much ice cream. Want some?” “Getting my fry on.” “The moon is huge tonight.” Seemingly innocuous but not to the assembled audience. Prompted by Brandon, he reads the last one. “You’re such a great friend. dot dot dot dot DOT.” Oh no, five dots. Kelly reads that as “I can’t say what I really want to say cause it would blow your mind”. An angry Val tells Brandon that “Daryl and me are ridiculous.” Daryl agrees, just trying to squash the whole thing.

Back at the bar, Dwight clumsily interrupts Nellie and Packer again but is stopped by a phone call from Jim, who tells him that he saw a bed bug in his room. Seeing Gabe at the bar, Dwight says “Freak, I need a favor.” “Well,” says Gabe “You have to call me by my real name. Gabriel Susan Lewis.” Lol. Dwight gets him to make sure Packer doesn’t sleep with Nellie and then races off to Jim’s room. He can’t risk bed bugs getting back to Schrute Farms. The 200 year old mattresses are their biggest attractions!

Upon entering Jim’s room, Dwight (not even acknowledging that Cathy is sitting on Jim’s bed) asks Jim to describe the bed bug. Since the rest of the conversation is, in my opinion, on par with any classic Jim/Dwight interaction, I must include it verbatim.

JIM: Brown, shiny, painful bite.

DWIGHT: Could be a bat weevil. Describe it’s mood. Did it seem sleepy?

JIM: Stressed. But to be fair, it was a tense situation.

DWIGHT: Fair enough, but after it bit you, did it run away fearful… or did it walk away smug, self assured?

JIM: So smug. Like he thought it was funny. Like this. (starts to march in arrogant fashion)

DWIGHT: That’s a bed bug!

JIM: Yeah.

DWIGHT: Everything’s a joke.

JIM: I know.

This scene made me laugh out loud and I bet they had to do a bunch of takes. I can totally see Rainn Wilson losing it when John starts marching like that. I LOVE a good Jim/Dwight scene. After that bit Dwight messes up Jim’s “greasy” hair searching for beg bugs and then makes himself into a human bed bug trap by increasing his body temperature and jumping under the sheets. “Is this really necessary?” asks an astonished Cathy but Jim will do anything to stay out of THAT trouble. Cathy excuses herself to take a shower and a happy Jim  deals with Dwight… until he realizes that Cathy is using HIS shower. Oh, no.

After Gabe sprays something into a distracted Packers drink, we see Dwight getting out of Jim’s bed, convinced that it was a false alarm. Jim tries desperately to keep Dwight in the room but he must get back downstairs. He tells Jim that Packer is planning on bedding Nellie for the VP job unless he does it first. “Is that really how you want to get the job?” asks Jim. Dwight calls Jim a “Chorus Girl” (????) and leaves him, just as a robed Cathy comes out of the bathroom.

Back downstairs, Dwight sees a wobbly Packer and Nellie dancing around. Gabe winks at Dwight and then Packer, who is clearly in bad shape, stumbles over to Gabe and vomits in his lap. Gabe yells “They don’t make these cords in boot cut, anymore!” and storms off but not before we see those wide legged pants. That broke me out laughing as well. If you give me three or four minutes of Gabe weirdness an episode, I am happy. What a bizarre character but he cracks me up. Dwight then sidles over to a disgusted Nellie and says “Ugh. Pathetic, huh? A real man swallows his vomit when a lady is present.”

Cathy is sitting on Jim’s bed ordering room service. Jim (his hair a bit neater) is back on the floor, staying away. She crawls over, showing Jim her leg and he pops up, finally done with this. “I’m very happily married.” he says and Cathy reacts strongly, saying she knows he’s married and asking “How little do you think of me?” An embarrassed Jim apologizes and sits back on the bed, thinking he misread. But Cathy climbs right next to Jim and says “I’m so cold.” Wow, you’re not kidding. Cathy went from being just a young homewrecker to a CRAZY young homewrecker. Anyone, if called out like that would apologize, beg forgiveness and leave humiliated. But she just kept going. WOW.

Back in PA, Andy and Pam check on a depressed Daryl in his office. Andy tells him to play it cool towards Val but Pam, who has a little experience in this area, tells him to go for it.

Back in the hotel kitchen, Ryan is blowing smoke up Erin’s butt and she tells him he should move down there with her. They could be roommates. They could get a dog. Go to the movies. And since Ryan is a guy and she’s a girl… maybe in six months… whoa. Instant gratification Ryan is not gonna wait six months. He blurts out “Six months? Ok, I’m in love with Kelly.” The two then sit awkwardly under the table in the now busy kitchen.

In the bar, Nellie asks Dwight to put his forehead against hers to see if he can read her thoughts but he keeps coming up with the numbers 7, 1 and 1 and yells to whoever in the bar that’s thinking of them to stop. But Nellie cleverly uses the numbers to form a proposition, as in “meet me in your room in seven minutes for a little one on one”. Dwight gives her his room key and is about to let her go after they share a kiss but then catches himself. Did Jim actually plant a seed? ( That needs re-phrasing.) Dwight asks for his room key back to write his number on it but then scrapes the bar to make it non-functioning. In a bizarre Talking Head he explains that the Schrutes never had to worry about how to get ahead. Win at all costs and don’t respect women were their tenets. But clearly, Dwight is a modern day Schrute, with a slowly growing soft side.

Back at the office, they finally get to the last order. Everyone is relieved and beats it out despite Andy offering his “Cool Down Fiesta”.  Alone with Daryl, Val apologizes and just wants to forget the whole thing. But Daryl, heeding the wisdom of Pam, says “Just so you know… me and you? I don’t think that’s ridiculous. Dot, dot, dot, dot, DOT.”  Daryl gives the camera a “Yeah, I said it.” glance and leaves Val, her face rivaling any look that Pam may have had when dealing with her feelings for Jim. I love the Daryl/Val storyline. It’s refreshing to see a budding relationship between a black couple on television and the writers have not made it as distractingly crazy as Andy and Erin. Good stuff. But I’ve got a feeling… how long before Daryl’s ex comes back? They made it a point to show her earlier this season…

Jim (his hair back to being completely neat) is exiting the bathroom when he sees Cathy’s robe on the floor and her under the covers. “Ok, it’s time for you go.” says Jim. Once again the increasingly scary Cathy tries to talk Jim down but he insists she leave. Just then the door bursts open and Dwight rushes in, wearing a dust mask and brandishing two spray bottles. “Where’s the bug?” he demands. Jim says “Awesome.” and points at Cathy. Dwight then assaults Cathy and the bed with whatever concoction he has in his bottles until she flees, wearing only a bra, panties ( I guess) and a bed sheet. Then Dwight tells Jim that he cannot stay in the room, the “place is a bio-hazard. Why don’t you bunk with Cathy?” Lol… Ah, Dwight.

In the epilogue we see Jim reclining on a bed eating some kind of chocolate desert (that Cathy ordered?). Hmm. But the camera pulls back and we see Dwight, eating a banana desert. Suddenly, Nellie is outside the door, not having any luck with Dwight’s room key. Dwight shushes Jim and, after Nellie says “I can see the light on under your door.”, shuts the lights. As Nellie sits outside whispering “Hello?” and “Dwight?” the two men share a smile and quietly resume watching television.

I really enjoyed this episode. I complain about episodes being all over the map but this was a GOOD all over the map, with a central theme. But this is only the middle of the Florida trilogy ( I guess. Not sure). I think things will only get more difficult for Jim and Dwight, unlikely comrades, as time goes on. Cathy is worrisome and seems capable of anything. Jim and Pam may face some tough moments. And there may be ramifications for Dwight having not bedded his boss. Erin has another week to make her final decision in terms of Andy. And, back in Scranton, Daryl must deal with his feelings and Val must deal with hers. All set off by one episode. Good stuff.