The Office: Season 5, Episode 22: "Heavy Competition"

The Office:
Season 5, Episode 22: “Heavy Competition”
Grade: 7.9

This episode could have been great if not for a crappy B Plot. I really enjoyed the Dwight/Michael stuff but not as much as I so thoroughly enjoy the Michael/Pam/Ryan interactions as the Michael Scott Paper Company. The cold open with the Cheese Puffs was so funny because it showed this group bonding together in their desperation to occupy themselves. They are becoming an adorable unit. The way that Pam and Ryan try to help Michael understand that Dwight was talking about him and Charles and that Dwight robbed their office was really great too because they are making him more aware of what is going on because their surroundings force Pam and Ryan to take an active part in Michael’s business. The other aspect I really liked was once again seeing Michael as a competent salesman. It’s always one of my favorite parts of the show to watch Michael actually succeed and be charming within his job and to show that he does in fact have skill. So to see Dwight make an ass of himself and Michael looking like the calm and collected one of the two was extremely satisfying and deserved on Dwight’s part. At first I thought that the color code on the back of the cards was too much of a stretch I had forgotten about Michael’s technique for remembering people’s names and I realized that Michael does indeed have a uniquely functioning brain. Anyways, this Michael Scott Paper Company is forcing Michael to be consistently on his feet and it is showing that he actually might be able to pull this off. His sales pitch was quite convincing.

I actually really liked the Dwight/Michael plot in this episode. It felt like filler at first to me but then I realized that the relationship between the two of them has now changed a bit I would assume because of this episode. I was surprised by how little it took for Dwight to betray his loyalty to Michael. But then I realized that Michael has never taken Dwight seriously and that by Charles showing Dwight an iota of respect and actually suggesting he has more responsibility, Dwight would take that over Michael any day. I was surprised that Dwight trashed the office but again I find it pretty realistic within the confines of the shows reality (obviously not in reality reality).

The issue I had with the episode that really brought it down quite a bit was the Jim/Andy plotline. It seems that they are struggling with Jim and his story at times and outside of the new Charles development, they seem to not know what to do with him. The Jim/Andy story took up way too much time, it was boring and it was predictable; really predictable. Instead of giving Jim nonsense stuff to do why don’t they actually address the fact that he feels the need to fuck around with people every day in a bland effort to avoid doing any work? Jim can no longer fuck with Dwight in quite the same way he used to because he needs to look good to Charles so now he is looking for less outlandish ways to distract himself. I feel bored by him right now. I love the Jim/Charles stuff. I just hope it goes somewhere and I hope that once it ends, the writers actually give Jim something to do instead of avoiding his issues. Hell, Pam addressed her issues. Yeah she may be regretting it but she is in a new environment and guess what? I legitimately care about Pam now. I’m serious. Even if they did Pam/Jim stuff I think I would really care. I am actually invested in her now. It might not last forever once she gets back to her normal routine but I honestly care about what happens to her. So while I really really liked the Dwight/Michael stuff and anything involving the Michael Scott Paper Company, the Jim/Andy plot took the episode down some significant points.

Moments:
- Andy making invisible music to his music tape.
- Dwight purposely ordering Michael the worst sandwich that the restaurant makes and Michael’s subsequent reaction.
- The opening with the cheese balls: one of my all time favorite openings to the show.
- Michael and his sales pitch to Harper Collins.
- Dwight driving and listening to Michael’s conversation at Harper Collins through the phone .
- Dwight and the shirt sleeves.
- Tall. Beets.

Quotes:
- Michael: (talking to Dwight on phone) I want you to listen to me, friend, and I want you to listen to me good. I'm going to come at you, and I'm going to come at you hard. I'm going to steal all of your clients, and then I'm going to kill them in front of you.

- Charles Miner: Michael I want you to stop pestering my salesmen and I want you to leave Dunder Mifflin alone do you understand?

Michael Scott: I.Understand. Nothing.

- Pam Beesly: Tell us what you're talking about.

Michael Scott: It's like a girl says she'll make out with you but then her boyfriend is waiting around the corner with a pee-filled balloon.

Pam Beesly: We can't help you if you don't just tell us what happened.

Michael Scott: I got hit in the face with a pee-filled balloon, Pam! Ok? I don't know how they did it. They filled the balloon with pee. A funnel? I donno! Is that clear enough for you!