Dunder Mifflin Infinity

In its second episode of the season, The Office this week takes the time to show us what has become of Dunder Mifflin's former temp made boss, Ryan, as well as give us an update on nearly every single one of the romances we've been introduced to over the years. But, as important as all of those relationships are to fans of the show, there is still plenty of time for regional manager Michael Scott to take his incompetence to new heights as staff continues to demonstrate the every day awkwardness the NBC sitcom does so well.


The show opens with the newly revealed couple of Jim and Pam spending some time together in front of the vending machine. Thinking they are alone, Pam bids her secret boyfriend goodbye with a brief kiss on the cheek. This does not go unnoticed, however, as corporate HR representative, Toby, is nearby and witnesses the brief romantic encounter. Driven partially by jealously, this leads Toby leave a memo on Michael's desk requesting to give the staff a lecture about appropriate public displays of affection among staff members in the work place. When first Michael takes offense to this lecture, thinking it's regarding him and Jan, followed by Angela insisting that the lecture isunnecessary , Toby reveals that inappropriate behavior was from Jim and Pam, forcing the two to reveal their relationship to the office. As the rest of the branch celebrate, Toby again grows depressed.

Later Dwight meets with his secret girlfriend to make amends for killing her cat out of what he believed to be mercy in last week's episode. In an attempt as a touching gesture, Dwight offers Angela a feral trap he caught on his farmland he named "Garbage". Angela grows angry at Dwight for not understanding what she is going through and Dwight again abandons the cat in a nearby office after Angela leaves.

Soon after, Ryan finally returns to the Scranton branch for the first time since being hired at the corporate office in New York. Sporting an expensive suit and a hip new beard, Ryan busily pounds away on his Blackberry before finally greeting Pam and the rest of the staff. Happy to see their former co-worker, Kevin and Andy Bernard quickly join Michael in teasing the former Scranton temp as they had grown accustomed to over the years, only to have Ryan explode in their faces in a temper. The three quickly back down but Michael, in his office, insists to the camera that Ryan was just putting on a show for the rest of the staff.

In the conference room, Ryan begins his presentation to the Scranton workers. The presentation is based around the future of Dunder Mifflin and called "Dunder Mifflin Infinity". The concept is a streamlining of the company to a more web-based and tech-savvy company to help move the company forward into the future and evolve with the times. After the meeting Creed expresses his concern to Michael in private about how this new direction will only result in "old people like them" becoming obsolete. Although Michael insists that he is not old yet, Creed assures him that he is old enough.

As Creed and Michael talk we are given a brief Jim and Pam moment as Jim finally tells Pam that he discovered that Dwight and Angela were dating months earlier. Pam then reluctantly admits that she actually has known about Dwight and Angela for years. This is interrupted when Phyllis enters the break room in order to express her concern that Pam distribute calls fairly among the salespeople, despite the fact that she is "sleeping with one of them". Jim claims that this was the very reason why they wanted to keep their relationship a secret in the first place.

Later, Ryan meets with Michael to discuss the future of the company. Though Ryan continues to explain to Michael that Dunder Mifflin is changing with the times and moving towards the future, Michael is resistant and insists that the old ways of business are still the best. Following his difficult meeting with Michael, Ryan is then forced into an even more uncomfortable conversation with Kelly, the Scranton employee that he is apparently still dating. Ryan insists that he is serious about being with Kelly and Kelly tells him that he better be sure of it because she is pregnant. We immediately find out in her interview that she is lying.

As Ryan and Kelly fight about their relationship, Dwight and Angela appear to move forward with theirs as Angela asks Dwight to dinner. Dwight is excited, thinking that this is a gesture of forgiveness.

Finally the final office couple is seen as Jan stops by the office to have lunch with Michael. After a brief yet incredibly awkward encounter with her replacement, Ryan, Jan and Michael both complain about the new boss. When Michael expresses his concern about the company getting "younger", Jan suggests threatening an "ageism" suit. Michael is intrigued by this suggestion, especially after he finds out the definition.

The next day Creed enters office sporting a new jet-black spiked hairstyle along with a new wardrobe in an attempt to pass himself off as a much, much, much younger person.

Later that day, Ryan enters the conference room thinking that he is going to give a tutorial on the new company Blackberries but finds the staff already sitting down waiting. Apparently Michael has already called an immediate staff meeting in order to discuss the issue of age discrimination in the work place. To prove his point he begins by talking about the old lady from Titanic and the "Where's the Beef?" lady but eventually brings in his guest speaker, company co-founder RobertDunder. His attempt to use the company namesake as proof of old people's worth backfires, though, when Mr. Dunder ends up rambling on about his old friends and other various stories. As the staff slowly begins to nod off, Michael abruptly escorts the old man out of the meeting.

Later that evening, we encounter Dwight and Angela's dinner. Unfortunately for Dwight, Angela only asked Dwight out to dinner in order to break up with him, since she can't forgive him for killing her cat, Sprinkles.

The next day, Michael presents his plan to Ryan. Michael's plan involves putting together expensive gift baskets full of the best candies he can find in Scranton and taking the baskets to all of their former business partners in an attempt to win them back using old fashioned business methods. Despite the fact that Ryan, along with the rest of the staff, think that the idea is stupid and a waste of time, Michael commits to going to each business regardless. Heartbroken and in need of company, Dwight begs to go with Michael on his "quest" and Michael agrees.
Ryan sees Michael with the gift baskets. He wants to send them to the clients he lost over the year. Staff is resistant. thinks is stupid. Michael wants to go by himself to prove everyone wrong. Dwight begs to go along and Michael finally allows him.

As the two set off to deliver the baskets Ryan, after finishing arguing with Kelly upon discovering that her pregnancy was a lie, tells an awestruck Kevin and Andy about his life in New York and the various celebrities he has run in to. When Jim explains how he is less than impressed with Ryan's somewhat arrogant attitude, Kevin and Andy make fun of him for not understanding how to be cool, offering that maybe he needs to attend "Awesome School" in order to learn.

Out in the field, Michael and Dwight meet with their first ex-client and unsuccessfully try to win him over with the gift basket while, back at the office, Ryan asks if Pam would be interested in redesigning the "Dunder Mifflin Infinity" logo. Pam is excited with this potential opportunity.

Michael and Dwight soon are meeting with their next ex-client. This time they try even harder to prove the importance of a personal touch to business, showing detailed knowledge of the owner's personal life and family. The potential client still insists that a gift basket is not enough and Michael is forced to talk aboutDunder Mifflin's upcoming website and new business model which, much to Michael's dismay, sparks his interest much more than any of the attempted personal gestures.

Discouraged, the two Scranton employees head off to the last business but,when the online navigational system of the car gives Michael unclear directions he accidentally drives the car straight into a lake. After a needlessly stressful escape, the two head ashore. After the tow company drags the car out of the water, Michael and Dwight complain about technology and decide to head back to their last ex-client and reclaim their gift basket.

Back at the office, Pam shows Ryan the samples she made up. When he asks to see them over dinner, it becomes clear that he is just trying to ask Pam out on a date and she informs him that she is currently seeing Jim. Ryan nervously walks off, hiding his face from the camera and avoiding eye contact with Jim who witnessed the entire conversation.

Meanwhile, Michael and Dwight make it back to their former clients office and, after throwing an unbelievably inappropriate fit in his waiting room, leave with the remains of the reclaimed gift basket.

As The Office enters its fourth season with Jim and Pam finally together, it seems to be grasping wildly to find some sort of drama to fill the void left by the inevitable pairing of the main characters. Nearly every crush and inter-character romance was addressed in this episode as if the writers are trying desperately to find any sort of possible substitution for the Jim/Pam drama that has been such a staple of the series. This apparent struggle, however, is barely noticeable when the show still has such a large and incredibly talented supporting cast to draw from. Despite the fact that this season may be without the same romantic tension that filled the previous years, it still has enough developed characters to move the story forward and deliver enough good laughs to keep most Office fans satisfied. S04E02) The Office is a lot like the New England Patriots. I know that sounds strained, but hear me out: like The Office, the Pats are a cut above the competition. They have a great collection of role-players that excel at usually thankless positions, and they have a few break-out stars who are smart enough to realize that their success hinges very much on those role players. The coaching staff, like the producers of The Office, are second-to-none, never settling and always striving to do better.

They're both so good at what they do, it makes their missteps all the more glaring. We all know what the Pats did wrong. To find out where tonight's Office went awry, you'll have to follow me after the jump...
Let me start by saying that your comments regarding the reviewcaps have been heard! We are going with a lot more review and lot less 'cap. So please, if you bought tickets to my next show with the express purpose of knocking me out and carving "This is what I think of your reviewcaps" into my chest, feel free to leave the knife at home (but, you know, still come to the show; I need all the support I can get!)

Tonight's show marked the return to Scranton by former temp and self-proclaimed wunderkind Ryan Howard. I have remarked in the past that Ryan is a completely unlikeable character (like, Sith Lord unlikeable). My dislike of him only grew tonight and I plan on mentioning several times what an evil little slimeball I think he is. I want to say upfront that my criticism of Ryan the character is not a knock on B.J. Novak; it's a testament to him! He's created one of the more delightful (not to mention believable) villains on television today. Every insult I hurl at Ryan should be counted as a compliment for Novak. I feel the need to state this because The Office's characters are so connected to the actors who play them that I get the feeling longtime readers might think my dislike of a character might also extend to his portrayer.

Before we get Ryan's return, we're treated to a Jim and Pam quick-kiss at the snack machine followed by a Toby memo regarding the rules of office PDA. I laughed out loud at this both for Toby's sadly obvious motivation for the memo and because I used to teach high school and I remember our laborious rules of what constituted "inappropriate" PDA. It's always funny to see a heavily codified policy extending to something that ought to be a common-sense ruling. While I used to have to deal with 15 year olds discovering each other's esophagi in the hallway, Pam and Jim's kiss was as innocuous as a peck from your favorite aunt.

Toby was obviously using his power as the HR rep to try and keep Pam and Jim apart. What it wound up doing was outing them (to a chorus of Andy's "Tunas!" and the predictable Michael overreaction). While I enjoyed the outing and also the follow-up joke (with Toby deciding to take a "wait and see" approach to their relationship), did anyone else feel that it was out of character for Toby? I mean, part of what makes Toby great is that he really is the only voice of reason in the office. I enjoy Toby's quiet, pained expressions whenever Michael is doing something wacky a lot more than I enjoy Jim's above-it-all eyebrow raises, because Toby knows better than anybody how inappropriate Michael is. If Toby falls prey to the general outlandishness that plagues the rest of the supporting characters, I think we lose something great with him.

Please indulge me all three quotes from how the staff responded to the news. Three of the funniest lines of the night:

Dwight: "They both can do better."

Angela: "Pam is the office mattress." (Not a dirty phrase in and of itself, but maybe the dirtiest way I've heard about how to describe someone as being slutty.)

Andy: "Guess who just became the best looking single guy in the office!"

Ryan then returns still sporting his Darth Malak suit and his "Sonny Crocket" kinda-beard. The gang greets him like a little-brother done good and he responds by being his rat-bastard self and snapping at them. While I understand that he needs to try and grab respect immediately, it still seemed an inappropriate way to respond to friendly overtures. Just another reason for me to want to slap Ryan two hundred times with Dave Gordon's tiny hands.

Kelly is her usual cute and needy self by wearing an overly eloborate dress and claiming to Ryan that she's been dating lots of (mostly black) guys. He's fairly apathetic to Kelly and in a last minute move of desperation, Kelly reveals that she's pregnant. Which leads to two classic Office moments:

1) The quick cut to Kelly shaking her head "no" that she wasn't pregnant.

2) Toby's strained response to the conversation in the cubicle next-door. See, isn't Toby a lot better when he's responding to trouble rather than causing it?

I can't let the Kelly/Ryan conversation go without mentioning that Ryan, defending himself to Kelly's accusation that he didn't ever care about her, says that Karen asked him out in an email. If you'll remember, it was Ryan who sent Karen the email, not the other way around. It's this kind of attention to rat-bastard detail that makes B.J. Novak a genius and Ryan Howard someone I'd like to see the real Ryan Howard hit repeatedly with a bat.

Ryan's main reason for being at the office is to bring it into the 21st century. Things are going to be faster, more dynamic, and younger! The centerpiece to the whole plan is the appropriately lame "Dunder-Mifflin Infinity", which includes *gasp* a website and *shock* blackberries! It's these kinds of moments that are, for me, the most biting and satirical. There wasn't much laugh-out-loud funny during Ryan's presentation, but it was so spot on the way the future is always kind of lazily connected to "computers." Whether or not Ryan's plan will actually work remains to be seen; the important thing is that his plan is exactly the sort of plan any young executive with a d-bag $200 haircut would think up.

Any implication that tonight's episode would be about subtlety was soon short-circuited, however, by Michael's fairly predictable response. Of course, he overreacts to the situation and sets out to prove that a website isn't the answer to the company's woes. No, what the company needs is good old-fashion gift baskets! He decides that he's going to take the gift-baskets (which looked great, actually -- I'm not sure exactly what chocolate turtles are, but I really want one right now) and win back seven former clients.

The staff thinks that the idea is ridiculous, with only the newly-broken-up Dwight, using the sales call as a surrogate for Angela, wanting to go along. Now, I've never been a salesman, but I didn't think that Michael's plan was all that stupid. We've seen in previous episodes that Michael, despite being a world-class idiot, is actually an excellent salesman (what this says about sales-people, I'll leave for the readers to decide). It seemed to me that the sales-calls coupled with the gift baskets might bring some clients back to the fold and prove to Ryan that the dinosaurs actually have a little something hiding in their walnut sized brain.

But alas, no. Aside from showing us Michael's eerily good memory for his client's personal life, the sales calls were a complete failure.

It was right about here that tonight's show lost me.

I remember reading once that Robert Reed hated that The Brady Bunch had become, in his words, a farce. Now, what Robert thought he was signing on to when he read the script to The Brady Bunch is not for me to decide (best leave that to the historians). What I do know is that I felt Robert-Reed-level frustration with The Office tonight around the 9:40 PM mark. Right about when Michael... drove into a lake because his sat-nav told him to.

Let me ask you a question: has this ever happened? Once? In the history of the world? I mean, even in a country filled with "Do Not Put Hand In Blades While Spinning" labels on lawn mowers and "Do Not Spray In Eyes" warnings on Windex, is there anyone, ever, that would blindly follow sat-nav instructions into a lake?

Because I don't buy it. I don't buy that Michael could be a functioning human being in the world and also be someone who would knowingly drive into a lake.

And if there's one thing about this show that I can't stand it's when we veer into this ridiculous territory! I know it's just a show, and I know it's a funny one (probably neck-and-neck with 30 Rock for the funniest on TV), but I don't think the show needs this kind of humor. It's at its best when functioning as a pitch-perfect satire of the American working environment. When it devolves into ridiculous farce, I'm reminded, "Oh, I'm watching a sitcom" and the things that make the show special are lost to the kind of morning-zoo wackiness that any-ole-team of writers could provide. That's not The Office I love.

Of course, I'm always open to other interpretations. What did you guys think?

Random Thoughts:

-- Does anyone else think that the other shoe has to drop soon on the Pam/Jim relationship? Every time they look at each other and smile lovingly, I can't help but feel like their happiness is like a red-shirted Star Trek crewmen who just beamed down to a new planet.

-- That being said, I'm almost rooting for their relationship to hit a bump. Pam and Jim happy together = boring. Pam and Jim painfully longing for each other = exciting. Sorry, but it's true.

-- Ryan trying to "downsize" Kelly and outsource customer service to India (even though -- and this is the beautiful humor that I'm used to from The Office -- Kelly is Indian) makes me wish he'd get a birthday greeting from Zinedine Zidane.

-- Who didn't know that Ryan was only asking Pam for some logo designs so that he could ask her out? It did lead to the best Jim line of the night, though: "I guess Ryan can't get whatever woman he wants."

-- On that note, I've been noticing that Jim seems completely at ease with his universe since getting Pam. I'm not sure how this makes me feel about the character. I remember Tim from the British Office having some ambition outside of the paper company and that part of the tragedy of his character was his slow acceptance that a paper salesman might be all he'll ever be. It seems that Jim, now that he has Pam, doesn't really care for much else. While Kevin and Andy admired Ryan for his new job ("You're so money and you don't even know it... but you do!"), Jim seemed perfectly satisfied with his life. Maybe this is the power of love, but, you know, is Dunder-Mifflin where anyone should really want to spend the rest of his life? I hope they explore this as the season goes on.
The Office: Dunder-Mifflin Infinity
We have all been waiting for Jim and Pam's big reveal, the reunion of Ryan and Kelly... but every "Office" moment may pale in comparison to tonight's unveiling of the new, more youthful and very black-haired Creed.

Wow. I actually thought I may have had a few too many Red Bulls after this one. The whole thing was weird, frightening and beautiful all at once. And is more Creed going to be a regular thing? For those complaining about these hour-long episodes, his expanded role might be worth the time alone.

Ryan also came back, and apparently so did "Miami-Vice"-era facial hair. What was more annoying: His texting abilities or the fact that his promotion has completely gone to his head? I think the word "douche" comes to mind. While he wasn't totally insane for asking that Dunder-Mifflin enter into the Internet era when it comes to conducting business, the fact that he picked on our favorite co-workers just made me want to hurl a gift basket at his head.

Only two things seemed to knock Ryan down a peg. First came Kelly and her fake pregnancy. The second was Pam -- and her lack of availability.

What was that about? Was Pam, with her new down-do just irresistible? It's hard to believe that after spending so much time in the Scranton branch that Ryan would just ask Pam out on a whim. Also, that's got to be against company policy in some respect.

Speaking of which: Toby spilled the beans about Jim and Pam. In fact, he issued a memo about it. That was his own PDA: public display of announcement. Kind of uncool, if you ask me. First of all, even though he's all about HR business, was this really his business to make public? Also, I think they should have dragged out the secrecy for a few more episodes.

Moving on, it's hard to believe that Michael can remember every teeny detail about a client's daughter's allergies, but he doesn't know to steer a car away from a lake. This is beyond his average boobery. It was also sort of a disappointing turn of events. The hissy fit over chocolate-covered turtles, as delicious as they are, was unnecessary. Instead, I wanted to see him score some business and deliver a gift basket of sour grapes to Ryan.

Also, are Dwight and Angela really through or will she hang onto him like Sprinkles' aging carcass? I hope Dwight keeps trying. She may have turned down Garbage, but nothing says "love" (he said it!) like a good old cash basket.

And finally, if anyone knows what Pierce Brosnan smells like, leave a comment. I'm curious! -- Rachel Cericola

By the way, congrats to Rob and Wendi, who both won "Office" swag. It's on the way!
"Dunder Mifflin Infinity" the episode is going to be so much better than "Dunder Mifflin Infinity" the wonky, arbitrary, convoluted and oft-times frustrating online fan participation gambit NBC rolled out a weeks ago.

The episode reunites Ryan Howard (That name has a familiar-sounding ring, no?) with all his old demons: the girl who fell in love with him, the boss who did too, the slacker salesman whose girl he once tried to steal, the psycho salesman who took him under his wing and the accountant who dubbed him "Fire Guy."


Much to the dismay of Michael and many of the employees, Ryan returns to the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin to bring the company into the digital age. Angela is still upset about her cat.

So in a fit of self-awareness the likes of which you'll not have seen since the Seinfeldian 30 Rock premiere that immediately precedes it, The Office will mirror reality when the new boss launches a company Web site. (They really didn't have one? I can almost believe that.) Seeing how folks relate to the smarmy former temp should be interesting.

But it's that last line in the summary that has me particularly intrigued. I mean, Dwight killed Sprinkles! Think what you would do if a loved one euthanized your four-legged friend. Now imagine you're a mean, vindictive, self-righteous person who hasn't spoken to their sister in 15 years over a fight you can't even remember.

There's going to be Schrute to pay, I tell you.

You won't see much of Meredith, as she's still recovering from the bumper-thumping Michael gave her last week. You know Kate Flannery did her own stunt there? Read her blog at TVGuide.com. You will see plenty of Kevin, I'm sure. You know, if you want an autographed picture, you have to send him one of yourself first. Check out his MySpace blog. Lastly, Angela Kinsey got a little home improvement help, courtesy of the folks at TLC and a new reality show called Take Home Handyman. There's photos and videos there that back up Kinsey's claim to being as sweet as she is funny.

As I've said, I hope the Jim-Pam saga takes a back seat. But if you've been hanging on every longing stare and pregnant pause between them the last two years, you probably want more. This should get you in the mood.