Episode 12 - Scott's Tots
14 February 2010
Review
Synopsis: Ten years ago Michael promised to pay for an entire third grade class’s college tuition. Now they are about to graduate and he has to admit he doesn’t have the money. Dwight’s latest scheme to get Jim fired involves setting up an employee of the month programme and then rigging the results.
The Good: Dwight’s diabolical plan was a clever idea from the writers. With several tweaks I would be discussing what genius they had in coming up with this scheme. Dwight uses Andy to suggest the employee of the month idea. Then he uses Jim’s own words against him to raise money for the cash prize and rigs the results to leave Jim and Pam as the top two employees. With Jim looking genuinely confused, everyone else actually buys into this idea and David Wallace calls up to chew Jim out.
Even better than Dwight’s cunning plan was that reasonable man, David Wallace, of course didn’t let this silly misunderstanding affect his relationship with Jim. The use of Dwight’s recording pen (606) was good continuity as was his alliance with Ryan. Putting those two together could be a lot of fun and both have understandable motives for wanting Jim gone. Dwight’s impressions of other employees (as “they” called David Wallace) was a fun touch.
As ever Michael behaved as you would expect him too. Particularly the grin he gives the camera when Scott’s Tots begin their appreciative rap\dance performance. You can see that he wishes he could be loved and admired like this every day and isn’t afraid to buy it. “I’ve made some empty promises in my life but hands down that was the most generous” he points out without a hint of irony.
Erin is as likeable and believable and as naïve as ever. It was a nice touch for Michael to remember the names of most of the children, a hint of the actual care he puts into his relationships. The fact that more of Scott’s Tots stuck in high school because of his promise was an interesting fact to point out. It could be used as a hint at how Michael is able to manage a successful branch when all the others have fallen away.
The Bad: Otherwise the Michael plot was a fiasco. First and foremost the flimsiness of the details undermined the story. If Michael had promised tuition money to these children then their parents and the school would have contacted him and got a cast iron guarantee years before. Assuming Michael just kept lying to them, they still look stupid for not seeking assurances. With that fact in place the whole plot became difficult to take seriously. When Michael admitted the truth I was surprised the children didn’t leap up and start yelling at him. I thought their reaction was actually unconvincingly calm.
Details aside the story was never going to please me because the humour was based around the car crash value of waiting for Michael to get crapped on. Plus if you take seriously what he did then it is a horrific betrayal which might get into the papers and tarnish Dunder Mifflin’s reputation. Michael’s sudden affection for Erin at the end didn’t ring true either after constantly dismissing her all episode.
As for the diabolical plan. The first huge gaping hole was that Dwight handed Jim the performance chart which he had worked out himself. The chart included subjective assessments such as “participation” and so if Jim should have known immediately who was to blame for the Halperts coming out on top. Add to that the fact that a cake arrives with Jim’s face on it. Again, Jim should know instantly that only Dwight would go to such lengths and expense. In fact Oscar, Pam, Phyllis and Stanley at least should be able to see that Jim would never want a cake like that. Why was Jim even included if he is a co-manager? You have to question the writers on this; they came up with a clever idea but didn’t execute it well enough. It wouldn’t have taken too much effort to put Dwight in the clear.
Comic Highlight: I haven’t heard this joke before and its simplicity amused me. Andy, finally showing some backbone sticks up for his use of baby talk around the office. He even manages to manipulate Michael by pointing out that some people don’t like Michael’s Elvis voice. He then sucks up by telling Michael that he thinks the voice is excellent. To which Michael replies in the Elvis voice “Well thank you. Thank you…a lot.”
That’s what I said: A mess. A perfect example of when the implausibility of a story undermines an entire episode.
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