More often than not, at least in these days, The Office has been disappointing fans. The magic of the first three seasons has been lost, but that does not necessarily mean the show still can not be good. Fnans have been hoping week after week for a stellar episode, and after the show's horrible last outing WUPHF.com, Office fans can relax, because this episode is what they are looking for.
China started out with a funny cold opening featuring Dwight doing everything with his feet. To prove how ridiculous it is, Jim challenges him to drink a cup of coffee with his feet, resulting in Dwight spilling it all over his shirt. While predictable, it was still pretty amusing and a pleasant return to form for Jim.
The A story for this episode, Michael arguing with Oscar over China's politics, was funny, but not the highlight of the episode. It was satisfactory to see Michael outsmart Oscar at first, as I've always found Oscar to be a little snob. But the conclusion of this storyline was great - Michael decides that China is not the important part of their conversation, but the conversation itself. Conversation leads to friendship, and it was nice to see Michael happy for himself for discovering this.
Before getting to the superior part of the episode, stating that the mini-storyline between Andy and Darryl was hilarious needs to be said. "Are you seeing this?" texts Andy to Darryl, who is standing five feet away from him. While adding nothing to the story, it was fun to see a friendly interaction between the two.
The best part of the episode was the B story in which Pam threatens to vacate everyone from the building because of Dwight's ridiculous policies such as saving power and reducing the toilet paper to half a ply. The reason it worked so well was because of all the twists, turns, and heart to be found. The first twist comes from Dwight finding out Pam was lying about the possible future building, and the second came at the end when the audience finds out Dwight deliberately let Pam win the argument. The latter came from a heartbreaking conversation between Pam and Jim in the stairwell; Pam is upset that she has been a failure at everything she's tried. While confessing this to Jim, Dwight overhears her and decides to let her win this one. It was a welcome return to the heart that is found in the early seasons of The Office, and it was heartwearming to see Dwight let Pam win. It's moments like this when we realize Dwight is not such a bad guy after all.
There seemed to be a general theme continuing throughout the episode; while the trivial things are sometimes fun to win, the deeper element is the friendship involved. Michael showcased this by attempting to form a relationship with Oscar and Dwight letting Pam win for her own good. It's the underlying heart found in this episode that let it stand above the others this season. It's certainly a welcome return.
China started out with a funny cold opening featuring Dwight doing everything with his feet. To prove how ridiculous it is, Jim challenges him to drink a cup of coffee with his feet, resulting in Dwight spilling it all over his shirt. While predictable, it was still pretty amusing and a pleasant return to form for Jim.
The A story for this episode, Michael arguing with Oscar over China's politics, was funny, but not the highlight of the episode. It was satisfactory to see Michael outsmart Oscar at first, as I've always found Oscar to be a little snob. But the conclusion of this storyline was great - Michael decides that China is not the important part of their conversation, but the conversation itself. Conversation leads to friendship, and it was nice to see Michael happy for himself for discovering this.
Before getting to the superior part of the episode, stating that the mini-storyline between Andy and Darryl was hilarious needs to be said. "Are you seeing this?" texts Andy to Darryl, who is standing five feet away from him. While adding nothing to the story, it was fun to see a friendly interaction between the two.
The best part of the episode was the B story in which Pam threatens to vacate everyone from the building because of Dwight's ridiculous policies such as saving power and reducing the toilet paper to half a ply. The reason it worked so well was because of all the twists, turns, and heart to be found. The first twist comes from Dwight finding out Pam was lying about the possible future building, and the second came at the end when the audience finds out Dwight deliberately let Pam win the argument. The latter came from a heartbreaking conversation between Pam and Jim in the stairwell; Pam is upset that she has been a failure at everything she's tried. While confessing this to Jim, Dwight overhears her and decides to let her win this one. It was a welcome return to the heart that is found in the early seasons of The Office, and it was heartwearming to see Dwight let Pam win. It's moments like this when we realize Dwight is not such a bad guy after all.
There seemed to be a general theme continuing throughout the episode; while the trivial things are sometimes fun to win, the deeper element is the friendship involved. Michael showcased this by attempting to form a relationship with Oscar and Dwight letting Pam win for her own good. It's the underlying heart found in this episode that let it stand above the others this season. It's certainly a welcome return.
