Close Call...Phew

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For 20 minutes, it looked like “The Office” was going to jump the shark. Yes, I know the branch on the British version was closed and it did OK for another season, but here it could have been real bad. We would have lost lots of the great supporting cast, and that would have been cruel. When I saw Kelly’s running mascara when she learned she might be fired and then her schoolgirl giddiness when she realized she and Ryan would still work together, I knew Mindy Kaling was an underrated actress.

So Jan walked into Michael’s office and said the Scranton branch was losing, and that some of his employees might be moving to Stamford. Jan let slip that Michael wouldn’t be one of them.

But when Jan went to give the good news to Josh that he was getting a massive promotion as head of the whole northeast division, he said he took a better job with Staples. Staples????!!!!??

Anyway, that meant Jan had to make some calls, which resulted in a takeback and a drive to the Scranton office to deliver the news.

Before she got there, Michael and Dwight went to the CFO’s house to plead for their jobs. Naturally, he wasn’t home, but they decided to sit on the steps and wait. Their little role-playing scene was classic.

Stanley. Poor Stanley. I felt for him when he said the only thing that gets him excited for his job is Pretzel Day. When he heard he would get a severance package, he looked like he’d just won the Powerball. I’m thinking he wanted to buy out the pretzel stand and make every day Pretzel Day. But oh, it was not to be, and that droopy face Stanley wears 24-7 came back. My heart cried a little bit.

It also felt for Toby, who had made plans to move to Costa Rica, but now has to wait until he’s 65. I know, Toby. I know.

And then it leapt upon hearing that Jim was one of the Stamford people moving to Scranton. Then I heard the “duh-duh-DUUUUUUHN!” when Karen made the decision to make the move to Scranton instead of New York. The love triangle of the century has been set into motion! Actually, it’s a love quadrangle, now that Roy has fully invested himself in getting Pam back. As long as there is no lovemaking in bear cages with a surgeon looking on, I’m OK with whatever direction this romantic geometry takes.

So as I leave you to prepare for next week’s episode, let’s join Michael and Dwight in their Dance of Delusion when they heard Scranton wasn’t closing. Naturally, they thought it was all their doing. Let’s just allow them to have their moment, shall we?