So, this is happening. The Office has sent part of the gang down to Tallahassee for a special project. This is one of the first big storylines the show has done in a while. Given how the season had been going, I think this shake up could be a good idea, but will the show stick the landing? Considering the group they broke off, Dwight, Jim, Ryan, Erin, Stanley, and Kathy, I think it could work well. "Tallahassee" was the first episode down in Florida. How did it play out?
When things begin, Dwight, who is hoping to make a strong first impression on the leader of this project, Nellie Bertram, intends to get everybody up bright and early. Speaking of Nellie, you may remember her from the episode in which all those guest stars were trotted out to interview for the job of the Scranton manager. She was the British woman played by Catherine Tate. Personally, she was my favorite of the outside candidates, so I was glad to see her back, especially with how disappointing James Spader as Robert California has been, although that hasn't really been on Spader.
Somewhat implausibly, Dwight has key cards for everybody's room, so he bursts in on them to wake them up. At least they got a few good jokes out of this. For example, Dwight goes to wake up Erin, and finds her sleeping upside down in the bed, as she fell asleep reading the mattress tag. She then joins Dwight in waking everybody else up. This whole bit was playing up to Dwight entering Jim's room. As he is on a weird sleep cycle due to his two young kids, he was awake early enough to stage an elaborate prank on Dwight. There is a bedsheet rope out the window, a suitcase filled with cash, and a note written on the wall intimating Dwight has killed Jim. Then, Jim fell out of closet pretending to be dead. It was quite funny, and made up for the whole Dwight having the key cards thing. Plus, given the chance, this was something Dwight would have done.
Then, everybody heads off from the hotel for Sabre headquarters, but not until Dwight buys a bunch of antacid for his stomach. Also, Stanley, in full Florida mode, drives up in his fancy clothes and a red convertible. He invites Jim to drive with him, and for them it's all fun and Kenny Loggins tunes. Oh, also Jim pretends that he has poisoned Dwight, and that is the reason for his stomach problems.
They get to the meeting room, which includes other employees presumably from other branches. Also, Todd Packer is there. As you may recall, Jim and Dwight pranked Packer to try and get him to head down to Tallahassee under the auspices he had a job there. The entire point of that was for Michael to not tell him because he insulted Holly, thereby showing Michael putting Holly over Packer. It was not a great end for Packer, so it was nice to see him back and obnoxious as ever. He landed on his feet, and he's looking to move up the ol' ladder.
Nellie takes the stage, and does her sort of female David Brent act, which isn't a bad thing. She brings something to the show that has been missing since Michael left. Meanwhile, Dwight is getting worse, and he soon realizes that he has appendicitis. However, when he finds out that the vice president for the project has not been named, he cancels his ambulance and decides to try and fight through his condition to win that job.
This is a perfectly reasonable thing for Dwight to do. He has always been looking for power, and he's not one to show any sign of weakness if need be. It was a storyline harkening back to the days of yore, when Dwight was a great character. Dwight's anguish as he tries to do something as simple as pulling down a projector screen was tremendous. Eventually, the pain is too much, and Dwight collapses while trying to climb a human pyramid.
Dwight is taken to the hospital, but not before making two phone calls, including one to Mose. The other warned somebody to kill Mose before Mose kills them. Who knew Mose had such a dark side? Dwight has surgery, and while he is recuperating he makes a call to his main ally, Erin, who tells him that Jim will be leading their presentation, and also that all the cool people are wearing their name tags on their legs. Dwight can't let this stand, and he can't let this opportunity pass, so he gets out of the hospital, IV drip and all, and tries to give the presentation.
Shockingly, the presentation doesn't go all that well. Dwight is a sweaty mess barely able to stand, and he keeps contradicting the Power Point the group made. However, he is able to save it, not with his discussion of menstrual cycles, but through his appeal to willpower winning out over everything else. As a woman who used her will to sleep with Hugh Grant's older, less attractive brother, Nellie likes it, and Dwight manages to endear himself to her all while bleeding through his shirt.
As the episode draws to a close, it becomes clear that Dwight and Packer are the lead candidates for the vice president job, even if Dwight has to cancel a post-op checkup in order to make a breakfast meeting.
There were some other good jokes in this storyline. I particularly liked Dwight's speech about how he holds a grudge against Pam simply because of one minor slipup when they first met. I also enjoyed Erin doing 100 jumping jacks for no season. Lastly, the background storyline about Stanley living it up in Florida was a nice touch. He's drinking and listening to music and all kinds of good stuff. Jim is drawn in, which could be interesting if those two start hanging out. Could be a nice storyline. In the tag, Famous Amos himself shows up to try and give a speech, but everybody just wants his cookies. It was pretty funny.
Overall, I thought the "A" story was really good. There was a lot of funny stuff, and it was another good, simple storyline that played true to the characters. It was a minor stretch, sure, but nothing too egregious from a television comedy. It certainly makes me think they can do this storyline well. They got off to a good start. I hope it continues.
Meanwhile, the office back in Scranton didn't suffer from losing the folks they did. It was so quiet that Creed got 12 plays written. Eventually, they realize it was so quiet because Erin had left the phone on voicemail. As soon as Pam turns it on, the phone rings, and then the question becomes who will answer it. Pam doesn't want to get relegated to being a receptionist again, so it becomes a war of wills between her and Andy. Eventually, Andy gives up and answers the phone. Then, the entire "B" story becomes about Andy enjoying doing reception work. He makes pizza bagels, he delivers mail, and he has a grand old time. That is, until Darryl convinces him he is only enjoying it because it isn't his job and he is just doing it for the day. With that, Andy reluctantly gives it up, but later he does answer the phone once more and ends up talking to a friend of Erin, because, you know, Andy and Erin and their romantic relationship.
It was a very simple story, but that was all the show needed. The episode was mostly about the stuff going down in Tallahassee. This was just a silly little diversion, but it was done well. I didn't really like the way it ended, but overall it was funny and enjoyable.
This was another really good episode of The Office. Once upon a time, that was expected. This season, however, that hasn't been the case. However, now we've gotten a couple strong episodes in a row, which is nice. I was worried about the show, but that worry is starting to face. This storyline seems to have revitalized the show, at least for a couple of episodes. Can they continue this once everybody gets settled into Tallahassee? Can the show keep finding new, funny, interesting things to do down there? Or up in Scranton? I certainly hope so. However, at the very least, "Tallahassee" managed to show that The Office can continue to provide quality entertainment.
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