The Office – Business Trip

NBC

(Season 5, Episode 7)

So the new love triangle is really starting to get on my nerves. Not because I don’t like it, but because I do. That said, I really hope it doesn’t go on much longer. The post anger management Andy Bernard is still a weirdo, but he can be a helluva guy, as shown here. I liked the unique character split this week as it explored some new relationships. As Andy said, he’s worked next to Oscar all this time and it took a trip to Winnipeg to really get to know him.

Considering the size of this cast, the possibilities for creating new and interesting relationships between the characters are nearly endless. And there’s still so much more I’d love to know about Meredith, Phyllis and Creed. Especially Creed, but at the same time he works so well now with these short bizarre glimpses into his world and psyche.

As for Jim and Pam, is it too perfect for TV writers to leave it alone? Tonight, after torturing us that she will be trapped in New York for another twelve weeks … there she was. I love the idea of finally getting her back in the office, as that dynamic between her, Jim and Dwight was the heart of the office comedy in the first season and it would be nice to get back to that.

In fact, rebooting things back to the first season almost seems to be the order of the day. Ryan will be moving back over by Kelly now that Pam’s back and now they’re involved again (loved Daryll practically dancing out to his truck at the news). It looks like Toby will be returning as HR rep soon, as well. All they need is for Roy to come back and win Pam’s affection again and we’re virtually back at square one, with the addition of Andy.

I was a little worried when Michael said that he loved Dunder-Mifflin because here you can yell at your boss and not get fired. This is Michael. If he says it, it’s almost inevitably guaranteed to not be true. Could we be looking at an unemployed Michael? Of course, what’s bad for Michael would probably be great for the show. I would imagine he’d get his job back eventually, but you could ride an unemployed Michael for months before it gets old, I would think. Plus we’d probably get to see how much Jim would screw things up trying to walk in his shoes. Which could create tension between him and Pam. Huzzah!, I just wrote the second half of the season. You’re welcome.

Back to Andy, though. I like Andy and it genuinely bothers me what Angela is doing to him. In a way, also, it’s still a bit shocking considering what kind of a person she is supposed to be. Here she is planning a ridiculously lavish wedding, and yet she’s not only got Dwight on the mind (and now a part of the wedding) but in the sack. It’s genuinely heartbreaking that Andy is so clueless, missing the fact that Dwight was with her when he drunk called her. I’m waiting for the day he figures it out. We know Andy has anger issues he’s learned to work through, but that might be worth a relapse.

I think she doesn’t even see Andy as really human. He’s just a means to an end, which is to keep things exciting between her and Dwight. She loves Dwight when his dander is up, and what better way to keep it up than to marry his new arch-nemesis. I don’t know what she’d do if Andy was out of the picture and it was just her and Dwight again. Especially if it became public knowledge that she was seeing him and there wasn’t even a need for secrecy and codes and the like. I think Angela is deeply damaged goods.

Clacked by Jason Hughes
on Nov 14, 2008 @ 19:47 EST5EDT