| Man, Steve Carell really knows how to write an episode that utilizes everyone, doesn't he? Loved this!
At first, I thought it was starting out slow, with too much Michael talking to the camera. I thought the wilderness survival thing was a little bit weird since it seemed like there was no connection between Michael not being invited on camping trip and Michael being dumped out in the woods. I mean, if he made it back, was he going to call Ryan to brag? Okay, probably. But still...
I loved the Dwight was watching over him because that's such a Dwight thing to do. It was weird to see the Dwight montage of weaponry - I don't know why, but it just struck me as off (maybe cause he did the same thing in "The Negotiation?" I was cracking up when Dwight tackled Michael and dug the mushrooms out of his mouth. For whatever reason, Rashida's line from the DVD commentary about how Rainn and Steve are always getting inappropriately close and touching each other on the show popped into my head.
Oh Jim! At first, again, I thought the storyline started out a little slow. Cutting from Michael to Jim just combining the birthdays was jarring. But then, it started getting awesome. I love that he gradually started turning into Michael. He was trying so hard to be cool and likable, but it just wasn't working. Promising all those cakes and then letting Andy get to him. When he went into Michael's office, I was stunned - Jim wants to work?! And then when everyone was in the breakroom and pissed? Wow, I kinda excited to see him on the other side - Corporate!Jim was back and it was not pretty. He had great interactions with almost all the characters and I loved it!
The Jim/Pam stuff was kinda interesting. Some of it seemed tacked on, but I think that maybe Pam could see what was happening before Jim could. I think she wanted to see how it was going to play out, perhaps knowing that he needed to see how this was going to go on his own.
But the capper was the tag scene. Jim's silent revelation talking to Michael just propelled his character forward and I'm so excited to see what he does with that. Michael was actually really likable in that scene, diffusing the tension in a predictable, but sweet way (even if he probably didn't really understand why Jim just shut down). Steve and John have such great chemistry and I love when they just get to sit and both be normal in a scene. The two of them just laughing always makes me happy. |