First off, special thanks to Judge Erich Asperschlager for swooping in to help review The Office last week. His fish puns were a delight. He was also right in saying that if you want to follow a major story arc you need to watch every other episode. While “Koi Pond” centered around Michael falling in to a white collar body of water, “Double Date” gets back to the more pressing matter at hand: Michael dating Pam’s mom.
Their relationship all started with a night of drunken desperation after Jim and Pam’s wedding. Michael and Mrs. Beez soon turned into a couple, sending Pam in to a fit of rage two episodes later. Now, Pam is finally starting to come around to the idea as she and Jim go on a double lunch date to celebrate her mom’s birthday.
“Double Date” opens with Dwight delivering fresh New York bagels (from New York?) to everyone in the office. It’s a clever ploy to stock up on favors in hopes of one day turning everyone against Jim. What he doesn’t anticipate is Andy’s extreme manners; when the guy gets a gift, he sends a “Thank You,” when he gets a favor, he instantly returns it. Throughout the episode, these two try and one-up each other with kind gestures and favors (Andy: “What if Dwight dies and I still owe him something? That is a recipe for a ghost.”). Andy brings in Mexican food for everyone’s lunch, Dwight insists on assembling everyone’s tacos. I love it when these two compete with one each other.
The main purpose of the episode, however, was to resolve this conflict with Mrs. Beez. Pam’s white hot anger from “The Lover” has subsided only slightly. She still tries to get out of the lunch by faking a paper shipping emergency (prompting another episode shattering one-liner by Creed!). Once her mom enters the episode, and they all go to lunch, Pam begins to see just how sweet Michael Scott can be. Maybe Michael will actually be good for Mrs. Beez, aside from the casual references to them being the “Scott family.”
Their lunch together went surprisingly well. Michael had balloons set up at the table, he made her a ridiculously childish scrap book, and Pam and Jim were beginning to warm up to the idea of Michael dating Mrs. Beez. Then Michael found out how old she was. I don’t know how he couldn’t have already known this, if they were supposedly pretty close for so long, but his revelation at the table is hilarious. Michael suddenly develops an interest in extreme sports and travel in a strange attempt to validate her youth. Next thing you know, he’s dumping her on her birthday.
The last act of this seemingly crammed episode featured Pam accepting a flippant offer from Michael to hit him. He makes the offer, along with a handful of other random proposals, hoping to somehow make up for hurting Pam (and her mother). Pam jumps on the opportunity to punch her boss, and they decide to throw down after work, off company property. This is the sort of plot point that could have probably been stretched to occupy an entire episode, but here it’s just thrown in as another funny moment in an already awesome installment. I especially liked the coaching Pam gets from Toby, and the wager Kevin makes on the non-fight (in case Michael wins somehow). In the end, the set up paid off and Michael got what was coming to him… and somewhere along the line he developed a limp.
“Double Date” was a solid episode that tied up another dangling plotline, and continued Dwight’s march to overthrow Jim. The minor characters didn’t have as many moments as in past episodes, but even when they popped in (like Ryan with his lame black & white photography) it was great. With this story resolved, the only thing left out there is Dwight’s plot to eliminate Jim as co-manager. So I guess you’ll hear more on that two episodes from now?
Stray thought: How sweet was Michael’s description of his future-life flashing before his eyes?
Fri, Nov 6, 2009
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