So the voice of reason in the new Dunder-Mifflin is Phyllis? The new integrated office, which really just means that Charles Miner is gone and Michael, Pam and Ryan are back, is in bad shape. Morale is low, tension is high, and there’s a lot of bitterness over the clients that The Michael Scott Paper Company poached from the salesmen at Dunder-Mifflin.
For most of this episode, this tension kept things pretty serious. In fact, about the only humor we got was in regards to some of the Casual Friday disasters (Meredith) in the office. But in typical Office fashion, it was so well acted and so realistic, that I bought into it completely.
Earlier in the season, I was lamenting that the reality of The Office world was starting to stray from the realism that the premise was based on. With the recent Michael Scott Paper Company storyline, things got back to what made the show work in the first place, the relationships between the characters.
With a group as brilliantly gifted as this entire extended cast, both as writers and actors, The Office truly shines when everyone is involved in what’s going on. The salesmen mutiny was just the type of storyline needed to re-establish a unified front in the office and get us moving forward again.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t until Phyllis voiced how Michael betrayed them all with his client-stealing by citing his own words that they were supposed to be a family that I realized what it was really about. Feelings were hurt on a personal level, and they really just wanted him to say he was sorry more than they wanted to create all this drama.
Or they just wanted their clients back and the rest of it be damned. I gave them too much credit. But to Michael’s credit, he made the right call in finally awarding Pam that sales job she’s been wanting since the very beginning. And it means we get to keep the new receptionist for now. As for Ryan, who knows what he’ll do. Me, I’m just glad to see the family back together again, dysfunctions and all.
Clacked by Jason Hughes 
on May 01, 2009 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
I thought Phyllis was being pretty bitchy to pull out the “I thought we were faaaaamily” routine when she was profoundly rude to her “family” member Pam in the breakroom and nobody bothered to even take note that Michael had certain reasons for a) leaving, b) being more loyal to Pam and Ryan, and c) not caving to the pressure of his sales staff.
Business is business. Pam/Ryan won those clients from the others, why should they be handed back blindly? Feelings were hurt, you’re right, but don’t discount Michael’s feelings in all of this. It’s easy to do sometimes because he can be so insufferable, but Michael’s actions are driven BY his feelings. See: he got more stubborn the more the employees refused to acknowledge that his return was good news.. whether it’s true or not, doesn’t matter. He wants to be loved and accepted, and when he can’t be either, he becomes stubborn and pushy.
Anyway, Pam left with him, showed him the kind of loyalty that means everything to him. For Michael, it’s easy to see why that would bring about a fierce favoritism toward both she and Ryan. Nobody else there even showed that they cared that he was back. Nobody showed him the slightest bit of respect, not even a kind word to welcome him back to the office (let alone a party, for an office that throws a party for everything). They were just immediately pissy. So, sorry, for me, Phyllis doesn’t get to do her little crying/whining jag about how Michael should feel bad about being “family” when she has no problem treating them like crap.
Yeah, it was all about the clients. Which goes to show you just how much the “family” stuff was a bunch of BS. So I didn’t feel bad for Phyllis, and her manipulation of the situation made me kindof hate her. But you’re right, they’re back together and dysfunctional, which is just how we like em.
I loved Merediths outfit for casual Friday. Thank God it was blurred out when she kept adjusting it. Dwight using Ryans coffee cup for his urine was great.