The Office – Kelly Kapoor, the face of Sabre’s future?

Great cold open on last night’s episode of The Office. Not desk made-out-of-wrapping-paper or relocated-to-the-bathroom iconic, but a top-notch collaborative effort. I never would have thought to boil Spanish down to breasts and testicles, but then maybe that’s why I’m not branch manager of a paper company in Scranton. Could be the reason.

The Sabre “Print in All Colors” initiative made for a solidly enjoyable plot woven throughout the fabric of last night’s episode. I do wonder why Darryl has suddenly become a player in this game after seasons of seeming indifference toward him, but wondering about that doesn’t stop me from enjoying his inclusion. While I’ve been disappointed in Craig Robinson’s many movie roles, I have always enjoyed his character on this show. Is he better in the warehouse, facilitating their participation in the office nonsense (the warehouse crew now seems to be MIA)? A little bit, but only because he acts as a bridge. Darryl himself is fun upstairs or down.

Kelly is one of my least favorite characters on this show, but Dwight recruiting her for the training program was good TV. Kelly’s fine until she opens her mouth, or invites Ryan to be a part of whatever she’s doing. By the way, Indra Nooyi is Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, the 50th largest American company according to this year’s Fortune 500 … born and raised in India. You know, for future reference or whatever.

Oscar totally should have signed up for the program. First of all, it came up between him and Jo (Kathy Bates) when she sat down for an impromptu Q&A in the office back whenever that was. And he’s, you know, competent. Oscar’s explanation to Dwight for why he and Stanley were demurring was stupid, but then I know that I’m in the minority when it comes to my disdain for Kelly. So I’ll leave it at that … and say that I hope acceptance into the Executive Minority Training Program means Kelly’s leaving the show. Now I’m done.

Plus I loved the Japanese warehouse guy that Dwight plopped down in front of Gabe. In Japan, he was Heart Surgeon #1 … steady hands. The joke about how little regard we have for other nation’s educational systems never gets old.

And that made for a strong episode. The rest? More of the junk that The Office has been sharing with us this season. Pam and Jim are still off as a duo (“I married him for his money,” “The jokes on you” … well, it’s not on us), and Michael was really creepy throughout his entire time with Donna (Amy Pietz). And even if in the end Pam turned out to be right, what was wrong with her during the episode? Oh sure, keep sexually harassing the client sitting in our office. Because you never know what a couple’s meeting story is going to be. Is she out of her mind?

The only things I laughed at in that story line were Michael referring to his “Shrek-green eyes,” and Jim referencing “the Schwab guy” in discussing how he and Pam should approach all of their sales pitches together. I assume that was from when a Schwab guy was trying to sell them on an investment portfolio. Not a bad place to take a lesson from.

“How do I apply?” – Dwight
“Ah, you have to be a minority.” – Gabe
“Uh, glasses wearers, cholera survivors, geniuses, non-organic family farmers … the list goes on and on.” – Dwight

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Apr 30, 2010 @ 10:00 EST5EDT