The Office: Season 6, Episode 8: "Koi Pond"

The Office: Season 6, Episode 8: "Koi Pond": 7.1/10

I am very intrigued with where this season could be going. I have just finished reading a review of this episode on The A.V Club and they basically have this theory that what the show is doing is slowly having Jim become Michael. They think Michael was probably more like Jim (in that people generally liked him) before he became boss and that his need to be liked has turned him into the boss he is today. While Jim does not have the same need to be liked as Michael does, Jim has insecurities that are significant as well and that we are going to see a slow transformation into how Jim becomes more like Michael. This is not my theory; it is The A.V Clubs'.

I'm not going to subscribe to this as of yet because I do not think that the series is going to take the Jim stuff that far and I do not think that Steve Carell is going to leave while the show continues. Despite this, I think that what they are doing with Jim is pretty incredible and I will get to the reasons why in a minute.

Overall I think that this episode was a bit messy. Like Curb I think it tried to cram too many things into the episod or it was not structured right or something. While the last 10 minutes were really something, I feel like it was too crammed. I like that they took Pam out of the office for the episode to let the Michael/Pam's mom story btreath a bit. I do feel that they spent too much time on the B story and I wish more time had been spent on the A one. Pam is a bitch. I guess I'll give her some slack because she is pregnant but her reaction to being mistaken for Andy's wife was entirely uncalled (although Andy's revenge went too far as well). They spent too much time on the final meeting involving Pam and Andy pretending to be a couple. The last scene with them was pretty nice though even though I cannot for the life of me figure out why Pam has a problem with Erin since I absolutely adore her.

The A story line was a bit repetitive in places. Also, apparently the entire office decided to become douches for Halloween. Something I am loving about this season so far with Jim in the co-manager position is that he is being put in difficult positions. It is very interesting to see him have the reactions that Michael can have to things when he is put under pressure. He can be awkward and it is a different experience seeing someone else besides Michael in that position. I thought the way he spoke to Angela when he said "I wasn't talking to you" was the most angry I have seen him in the shows' run. He cannot control anyone. The office employees are in control and not Michael and Jim because of the way Michael has conducted the office over the years. I cannot wait to see where they take Jim this season. He wants to try to succeed on his own and I hope they show us whether he can or not.

During the episode I though it is going one way and then it took a turn. A great turn. I did not think the Michael "breakdown" or whatever we want to call it was serious enough but it was still a slightly jarring turn of events as his joked about himself directly leads into him trying to joke about his lonliness (probably testing out a new way to handle it for himself) and it backfires immediately as none of the office members find it funny and Michael certainly is unable to joke about it either. By bringing in the next unexpected turn of events, the episode unfortunately throws this revalation to the side for the rest of the episode.

The realization that overshadows Michael's "breakdown" is a very interesting one. We see that Jim could have saved Michael from falling into the pond but he actually stepped back. Wow. Was it just a natural reaction or was it deliberate because of the way Michael had treated him earlier? They imply it was on purpose. Either way I was really surprised when the episode revealed this but I was again dissapointed in the way it is shoved under the rug. Michael says "Jim is jealous of me" and this realization maks him ok. Everything was wrapped up way too quickly in this episode but I do think that a lot of the issues in the episode will be addressed again very soon particularly everything involving Jim and his new position. Not a perfect episode but a flawed one that has great moments and begins to explore some really fantastic potential that the season has set up for us.