The Office "Branch Closing" (2006)

The time has come. Scranton branch is closing and a select few employees will be sent to work under Josh at the new Dunder Mifflin Northeastern branch. Or so Jan had originally planned. Turns out Josh takes a job at the major competition (Staples) and sends the whole plan into a tailspin. I was hoping Jan might slap him she seemed so angry as he told her point blank that he wouldn't be overseeing the merger. Now we haven't seen much of Josh in the episodes this season, but he always seemed friendly to his employees and we always hear what a good boss he is. Jim is right in that Michael never would have done that. Michael may be selfish but his constant need to be liked would never allow him to screw over his employees like Josh did. Now we don't know how much leaving affected Josh but we're not shown anything to the contrary that he cared some of his employees would lose their jobs over this move. I guess in big business you do only have to look out for yourself, but just looking at how broken up Michael is over losing his job and the jobs of his co-workers, Josh in comparison just doesn't seem to care. Maybe Josh wouldn't make the best king of the stupid universe after all.

I was a little disappointed in Jim this episode. When he hears that the Scranton branch is closing he doesn't seem to give it any second thought. I found his callous attitude a little unnerving. I realize he is stinging from the rejection by Pam but those people were still his friends. And even with the rejection he still holds some feelings for Pam, so why would he not seem to care that a lot of them will be losing their jobs? He's more worried with finding out who will be coming to Stamford than about the hardship that two-thirds of the office will be facing with the loss of their jobs.

I can't be too mad at him though as a lot of people in the office don't seem to care that their time with Dunder Mifflin is coming to a close. Maybe Jim knew that's how they would take it. Stanley is looking forward to retirement and Pam is hoping to stop answering her home phone "Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam." Michael however immediately breaks down and his "we're screwed" announcement to the office isn't exactly the pick me up the staff was looking for. I realize he was more motivated about losing his own job but it was noble of him to go with Dwight to make a protest at the CFO's house. I would have loved to have seen that confrontation but I guess Michael was lucky enough to be taken out of action as everything ended working out in his favor. It was depressing to see him break down on the side of the road about having failed but his and Dwight's elation at having succeeded and their confusion as to how was a nice comical moment.

Of course Pam is also curious as to who will be coming from the Stamford branch once it is revealed that they will be closing and not Scranton. Is that hope in her voice? I'm glad Pam and Jim will be reunited but I'm worried she's happy about the return and he is so hesitant to return to Scranton. I know he had a rough time before he left and he's just grown comfortable is his new home but I thought he might be a little excited to be back in Scranton. With his invitation to Karen to come to Scranton, we're in for a bit of a shake-up in the PB & J relationship.

Favorite moment: Karen's reveal to the camera that she was glad that Jim invited her to Scranton. She also admits that she's into him and I'm hoping this takes off soon as we're almost at mid-season and I already know how it will end. I like Jim and Karen together, but of course I'll always root for PB & J. I just want to see them together as much as possible before the inevitable conclusion.