The Office "The Convict" (2006)

Well two episodes into the new Scranton/Stamford mix and we've already lost another red shirt. I'm sure this doesn't bode well for Hannah who now is apparently bringing her baby to work and has the playpen set up in the bullpen. But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. This episode was written by the creators of the original British series, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, and it certainly shows that their brand of humor is easily transplanted to the United States. One of the Stamford transfers is an ex-convict which is discovered by the accounting staff when a government check is received. Of course it turns out to be Other Walter, or Martin (Wayne Wilderson) as he prefers to be called here, who Michael admonished Kevin for guessing was the culprit. I thought the episode would then follow Michael attempts to prove that he was okay with Martin working in the office until he eventually drives him away but the episode took a much more humorous path.

The comparison of prison to an office setting works so well and is an effective plot device to drive the second half of the episode. Michael takes it personally when his employees consider time in the big house to be preferential to spending times in the hallowed halls of Dunder Mifflin and makes it his mission for the episode to disprove that theory every chance he gets. I've noticed in the British series that David Brent (Gervais), who is the equivalent to the Scott character, is always concerned with maintaining morale in his branch going so far to lie to his employees. Scott is concerned with this as well, because he sees it as a poor reflection on his management, and entertainment, style. It's funny because he does bring joy to his employees, usually at the expense of himself, but they do enjoy themselves so needling him. It's ironic that he does succeed on what he sets out to do and that is to keep the employees happy. It's probably not what he envisioned when they are most content poking fun at him but it does bring them a certain satisfaction. Take for instance the session led by Prison Mike, everyone enjoys needling him on to making even more ludicrous claims about prison life but no one, aside from Angela, doesn't seem to be hating the experience.

Of course it ends with Michael locking them all up in the conference room until they choose to admit that Dunder Mifflin life is better than prison. He needs to learn when to leave on that high note (sorry Other Walter brings out the Seinfeld comparisons) and not let his immaturity and stubbornness take over when people refuse to accept his point. I was impressed with how Toby handled the situation by pointing out to Michael that the employees are only teasing him about preferring prison to the office. It was nice to see Toby be able to appeal to Michael's sensibilities and bring a resolution to the conflict.

Another conflict we get some resolution to is the PB & J affair where Jim resumes his office prankster duties by having Andy attempt to court Pam. While he wisely chooses to keep Karen out of the loop with the Pam prank, I'm glad to see Pam take it all in stride in the end. I was worried she would be angry that Jim would have her as the focus of a prank but it was good way to melt the ice that was ever so present in the previous episode and shows that they seem to be back on track to that great dynamic they had last season. While I'm sure there will still be some tension now that Jim has admitted, to the camera crew at least, that he and Karen are a couple, I'm glad that PB & J can still put those differences aside and remain friends. Obviously I think they belong together, but the wait is more than worth it as both of them continue to grow as separate individuals and their relationship when it does happen will be stronger for it. That acknowledging smile at the end of the episodes speaks volumes regarding how they're back to communicating on a non-verbal level and highlights the bond between the two of them that can withstand any obstacle.

Favorite moment: Andy's offer of a date to Pam sounds like something straight out of Pam's worst nightmare. It is all thanks to Jim's influence and feeding Andy all the wrong information regarding how to woo Pam. She is left utterly speechless after he makes his little proposal and I'm sure no words would have been sufficient to express the true horror she just experienced. It's nice to see Jim pull the wool over Andy's eyes every once in a while but let's get back to some classic Dwight pranks. Of course, getting the both of them together would probably be the ultimate.

Andy: Pamalamadingdong. Listen, you're cute. There's no getting around it. So, I don't know if you like country music, but I was thinking maybe one of these days we could drive out to a field, crank up some tunes, smoke a few Macanudos, maybe even toss a disc around. Atwhay oday ouyay inkthay, Ampay?