Episode 2 - The Meeting
27 September 2009
Review
Synopsis: David Wallace is visiting Scranton and has a meeting with Jim. Michael is paranoid about it and tries to get into the meeting. When he suspects Jim might be given his job, he tells David that Jim shouldn’t be given a management position. Jim confronts Michael and when Michael understands the situation he agrees to become co-manager with Jim. Meanwhile Pam’s attempts to get RSVPs to the wedding fail predictably. Dwight encourages Toby to investigate an insurance claim from Darryl.
The Good: In the season finale we learnt that the Buffalo branch was closing and it’s good to see the follow up on that. The work of looking after their clients has fallen to Scranton increasing everyone’s workloads. So Jim decides to further his career and runs up against Michael’s paranoia.
As usual the writers understand and exploit Michael’s character with humorous results. His paranoia about being left out is understandable and drags Creed, Pam and Andy into funny conversations. I laughed pretty hard at Michael sitting down next to Andy and with complete disinterest asking how his sales were. Andy asks “how are my sales doing?” as if it were a ludicrous question as he scrambles to find an excuse for his poor sales record. He then reveals that it is his flirtation with his cousin that has him distracted. As cheap a joke as that is it does fit with Andy’s sexually confused persona and he delivers it with believable foolishness. The Andy-Michael alliance then delivers the best joke of the episode (see Comic Highlight).
Michael’s paranoia leads him to believe David is considering giving Jim his job. It fits Michael’s simple minded understanding of how the company works to believe this. But he also explains his fear of losing Jim as a friend pretty well. In the end Michael accepts, essentially, a demotion in order to keep Jim and his “family” together. It’s typically magnanimous and typically foolish of Michael. It should set up the rest of the season’s story arc pretty nicely, as the two learn to live with one another. David Wallace was once more the kind understanding boss, putting up with Michael’s strange behaviour and being loyal to him. Dwight’s anger is entirely appropriate and understandable.
It made a lot of sense to see both Jim and Pam’s stories ruined by Michael’s attempts to help them. Jim tries to leave Michael in the dark but is forced to conclude that “he can do just as much damage in the dark.” Meanwhile Pam had understandably tried to avoid any of her bizarre co-workers from spoiling her wedding day. But Michael wasn’t willing for any member of “his family” to miss out on such a big moment and so offered two work days off so everyone could go. Poor Pam was left to deal with the Ryan’s and the Kelly’s putting their own interests before hers. And Meredith’s attitude will ring true with anyone who has tried to organise a party of any kind – saying she will just text Pam on the wedding day to ask for directions!
Finally Dwight’s story fitted his personality exactly. Saving the company money is what he believes in, he doesn’t like Darryl and he loves to investigate things. Interestingly, at least for a moment Dwight also managed to bond with Toby over railway engines. Dwight’s self confidence and ambition has led him to bond with several of his co-workers when the situation presented itself (521, 525, 526). The story itself was a little half-hearted but did end with a punch line which felt about right. Dwight and Darryl, both alpha males of deep contrast, filed complaints against each other, leaving Toby to do all the paper work. In a way it was what Toby deserved after he jumped to conclusions and yelled “Ass hole!” at Darryl’s sister.
The Bad: It wasn’t entirely clear why Michael made the decisions he did. Once David told him about Jim’s suggestion, which would have benefitted Michael, Michael doesn’t say anything. Was he afraid that he would no longer be branch manager and might have to leave Scranton? Or did he just think he couldn’t take back what he has said for fear of looking foolish? I think it could have been made clearer. It also seems odd that he and Jim are seemingly equals. Surely there needs to be someone with the final say in order to ensure decisions get made?
I think whenever Dwight teams up with another co-worker that plot gets less time than it should. Seeing the investigation unfold more fully here could well have led to many more laughs.
The opening joke about Michael likening a colonoscopy to homosexual sex was too cheap for my tastes. It fitted Michael’s personality and misconceptions but it was just a bit too lowest common denominator for me.
Comic Highlight: Michael’s plan to get into the David-Jim meeting is classic comedy. He will hide on a cheese cart which Andy will wheel into the conference room. It’s typically silly but also inventive and plausible. Andy, perhaps not even aware of what his role should be, throws himself into his task with gusto. Rather than just wheel in his makeshift cheese platter and leave, he decides to sell it a little. He proceeds to give a long, pretty professional sounding sales pitch for his cheese selection as Jim and David sit bemused. So much good comedy is about what is not said. Jim and David must be wondering why on earth he is bringing them cheese and Andy is completely in the moment. He leaves with a big grin, satisfied with how beautifully he pulled off the ruse. And he did, though did he really know why he did it?
That’s what I said: Another good episode from The Office. Their judgement of which of their characters to use in each story is excellent. The new authority structure should drive the plot forward.
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