The Office 5x22 'Broke' Discuss & Grade SPOILERS

[Locutus of Bored]

Vague and misleading (the second part is barely mentioned in the episode) plot description below:

Michael's new company struggles to make early morning deliveries while the office tries to get their expense reports in on time after Angela enforces Dunder Mifflin's policy.

I'm surprised there wasn't a topic for this one yet.

Best episode of the season so far. Excellent.

I'll avoid being too specific until more people post, but you can still figure out most of what happened if you read my comments below, so if you don't want to be spoiled don't read them.







I'm impressed that for a story arc where you pretty much knew what the outcome would eventually be, that this had me on the edge of my seat throughout the last half of the episode, literally cheering for the twists and turns, hoping Michael wouldn't screw it up or Dwight sabotage it. It wasn't even an out-and-out hilarious episode, though there were a few good laughs, it was just a straight up contest between the characters you love and those you love to hate (or just hate outright).

After weeks of Jim looking like a tool, he comes through in a big way several times throughout the episode. Even Ryan came off humbled and likable in this, and Michael redeemed himself completely by showing loyalty to the people that stuck with him despite getting them in this mess in the first place. I love where they're going with Pam too. Just all around a great development and should make for some interesting changes on the show.

Really, I think this was the best possible way they could have ended this arc.

 

[Roger Wilco]

^^
Jim's scene where he made Dwight discredit himself in front of the new boss to ensure he doesn't mess up Michael's deal was great. For a while I thought he might sell out Michael Scott Paper to get a better standing with corporate - I'm glad he didn't.

 

[Docbrown777]

No, you're done.

Yeah it was pretty good. I found myself cheering too. Saying, "come on Micheal keep it together just a little longer. Don't screw it up." This story arch was good. That's what they need to do to keep the series fresh. Keep mixing stuff up like that.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

^^
Jim's scene where he made Dwight discredit himself in front of the new boss to ensure he doesn't mess up Michael's deal was great. For a while I thought he might sell out Michael Scott Paper to get a better standing with corporate - I'm glad he didn't.

Yeah, I expected him to interrupt before Dwight spoke up, and perhaps convince Dwight that the deal was in his best interest, but the way he dealt with it was pretty damn smooth and funny as hell.

No, you're done.

Yeah it was pretty good. I found myself cheering too. Saying, "come on Micheal keep it together just a little longer. Don't screw it up." This story arch was good. That's what they need to do to keep the series fresh. Keep mixing stuff up like that.

"No, you're done" was a great send off to an annoying character.

I was doing the same thing, telling Michael out loud not to screw it up to the screen.

 

[Samurai8472]

I'm surprised there wasn't a topic for this one yet.

I fell asleep after dinner and a long week of beginner C programming classes and Cisco tests.

With that said, i'm watching on HULU

"Nothing to fear, i'm just a 44 year old guy with a paper route"

 

[Vic Sixx]

I liked it, better than usual. I thought Michael was portrayed more competent than normal. He came off pretty slick at the end.

 

[Mr Light]

I was shocked to see the story resolve before the finale but it was very well done. My favorite moment of the night was when Dwight is about to derail everything and Jim runs after him. I thought he was going to tackle him or something but NO he lets him tell Charles and then discredits the source by forcing Dwight into one of his insane rants. That was brilliant! While I enjoyed this story I'm glad it's over and the office is whole again and Charles is gone. This storyline has completely erased the B List characters from the show who are all my favorites.

 

[TheBrew]

That was pretty great... and they get to keep the hot new receptionist!

 

[Mr Light]

While the idea of Pam professionally competing with Jim is interesting I'm going to miss her as the secretary and as Michael's put-upon assistant.

 

[Tim]

What did the Korean labeling on the side of the van say? I'm betting there was another joke in there. I thought it was hilarious how that woman kept getting into the van and the team finally just gave up and let her ride with them.

 

[T'Bonz]

I enjoyed how they resolved this storyline. And I like Pam being something other than a receptionist.

 

[Geck]

While I've missed the minor characters too, I thought this storyline was the freshest the show's felt in a couple of years. The growth in Pam especially has been awesome to watch, and I'm excited to see her in sales now. I was literally cheering at Michael's negotiating scene with David Wallace...always happy when he gets a chance to prove how competent he truly can be.

 

[TheBrew]

While I've missed the minor characters too, I thought this storyline was the freshest the show's felt in a couple of years. The growth in Pam especially has been awesome to watch, and I'm excited to see her in sales now. I was literally cheering at Michael's negotiating scene with David Wallace...always happy when he gets a chance to prove how competent he truly can be.

Yeah, I was expecting the worst, but Michael kicked so much ass. I was on my feet cheering as well.

 

[Tiberius Jim]

I thought the episode was one of the best of this season. Jim's talking head "comment" about Charles' ass-kissing was hilarious, as was the complete turn around in Minor's opinion of Dwight.

What did the Korean labeling on the side of the van say? I'm betting there was another joke in there. I thought it was hilarious how that woman kept getting into the van and the team finally just gave up and let her ride with them.

I loved that part too. The funniest thing was that it was a different woman each time.

 

[shivkala]

I hope they remember Pam's triumph with the copier and make it a point of contention between her and the new receptionist. I could see nuPam cursing the machine or something and Pam coming to its defense.

 

[Broccoli]

It was a satisfying conclusion to the story arc, but, personally, outside of Pam becoming a salesperson, the arc seemed very throwaway.

I was getting really sick of the "Crap on Jim" that Charles kept doing. It seemed very childish of Charles to keep belittling Jim continuously (although, I admit, Jim did stumble into it at times). I did like how Jim finally was able to shine as David likes Jim (a fact I am glad the writers didn't forget).

Also, I don't get why David Wallace always gives Michael the benefit of the doubt and constantly puts up with Micheal's antics. I know that, apparently/somehow, Michael is a good sales person (and, by proxy, manager), but I cannot see any CEO giving what he gave to Michael so easily, regardless on how "good" he is.

Also, what was the exact settlement? The 60 thousand and their jobs back? Or one or the other. Also, was Charles fired outright or is he simply going to be transferred? They were never clear on that.

Charles is suppose to reappear in the season ender. I wonder how that will play.

 

[Mr Light]

I understood they got their jobs back but no money payout, and that Charles was transferred (why would they fire him?). I just thought of another side-story that was completely lost in this arc; Kevin as the secretary! Would have liked to have seen more of that!

 

[David cgc]

^ Charles wasn't transferred, he just went back to doing his job as Jan (and Ryan's) replacement in New York. He was just subbing in as manager at Scranton until someone new could be hired. Wallace mentioned that he was still living in a hotel, after all.

Also, I don't get why David Wallace always gives Michael the benefit of the doubt and constantly puts up with Micheal's antics. I know that, apparently/somehow, Michael is a good sales person (and, by proxy, manager), but I cannot see any CEO giving what he gave to Michael so easily, regardless on how "good" he is.

Well, it was in Wallace's best interest to make the Michael Scott Paper Company go away as quickly as possible, since the Scranton Branch was starting to crap up under Charles on its own, and MSPC was leaching away their business. While they couldn't do it forever, they could definitely make it to the next earnings report, when, as Michael pointed out, all the investors would be very curious as to why DM's best-performing branch had suddenly taken a nosedive, and then things would snowball from there as investors started bailing out and going for the more consistently performing office-supply companies.

Getting Michael and his bizarre, controlled-chaos voodoo-savant management back was an added bonus, but the main reason Wallace caved was that they needed to reabsorb the customers Michael had poached.

I am a little curious if Michael is still going to answer to Charles or if they'll just make him directly accountable to Wallace to shut him up. Considering that none of this would've happened without Charles' attempts at micromanaging Michael (ignoring the rule about not fixing what isn't broken), it'd be the smart thing to do.

 

[Harvey]

I'm more curious to see if the show will be able to retain Idris Elba, who was credited as a "Special Guest Star," and is starting to break into the mainstream after cult popularity on "The Wire." He may be mostly an off-screen presence now.

 

[Captain Craig]

EXCELLENT

I echo so many others, best episode of the season. This season has had more than its share of mediocre episodes but this latest arc had the show back in top form.

I'm glad to see some character growth finally. Pam as a salesman and not the receptionist. Very few characters have actually grown professionally in the 5yrs of the show. Jim leaped Dwight in the 'nonexistent' position of #2 and Ryan's promotion/fall are the only two that happened.

Curious to see how long this new receptionist sticks around? The cynic in me feels like with a few eps to go in this season that they will find a way to reset status quo to Pam as receptionist.