the office: business ethics

Tonight's episode, "Business Ethics," was surprisingly uncomfortable to watch. Normally, the show's humor is awkward, but tonight it was personal. Holly, the new Human Resources representative, follows protocol and submits a proposal that Meredith be fired for sleeping with their supplier and getting discounts on the office products. And then what happens? Holly gets yelled at for not getting signatures for an ethics seminar, even though she did something much more than that. It was still a great episode, and I agree with Alan Sepinwall's assessment that this episode was heavy with reaction shots. There was even a moment where Dwight reacts to the camera in the same frame and only a nanosecond after Jim reacts to the camera. Crazy!

Some notes that Alan mentions in his post... Jim's prank on Dwight was one of the best of the show. As Alan put it, "Jim exploited Dwight's self-righteousness, his obsession with rules and his love of both facts and "Battlestar Galactica" all at once." He also drew my attention to -- how had I not noticed this before? -- the fact that Kevin's nickname for Ryan has evolved from The Fire Guy to Fired Guy to Hired Guy. Nice.

A pretty solid episode, but nothing too exciting. One of the few episodes, if not the only, where Pam doesn't make an appearance. I missed my PB&J tonight. Rating: B.


Highlights from the episode:

Michael: People expect a lot from these meetings. Laughter. A sudden twist, surprise endings. You need to be Robin Williams and M. Night Shyamalan.

Andy: Here's an ethics bomb for you. Would you steal a loaf of bread to feed your family? Boom! I took Intro. to Philosophy. Twice.
Dwight: Trick question. The bread is poisoned. And it's not your real family. You've been cuckolded by a stronger, smarter male.
Andy: No... that's not how it works...

Michael: When I discovered Youtube, I did not work for five days. I watched Cookie Monster sing "Chocolate Rain" about a thousand times.
Holly: What was the dilemma?
Michael: Whether to tell you or not. And now I'm glad I did. I feel cafarctic.

Holly: Why the [Outback Steakhouse] coupons?
Meredith: I don't know, and maybe it's a girl thing, but after we did it and he gave me those coupons, I just felt good about myself.

Michael: (after throwing out Holly's bought lunch to take her out for a meal) Dunder-Mifflin's treat. Actually, you're not a client so... just split it? (to the camera) Ethics.

Jim: (clocking Dwight for "time theft" for having personal conversations) Did you see Battlestar Galactica last night?
Andy: No, I did not. Is it any good?
Jim: It's so-so. It's got all kinds of monsters... and Klingons...
Andy Is it anything like the original Battlestar Galactica?
Jim: You know what's weird? It's practically a shot for shot remake.
(Dwight -- and myself -- crumples a piece of paper in anguish)
Jim: The story's kind of bland. It's about this guy named Dumbledore Calrissian... and he has to return to the ring back to Mordor...
Andy: That doesn't sound right...

This last quote? My absolute fave. The writers of the show are fans of Battlestar Galactica, and I love how often they publicize the name of the awesomest show that ever awesomed. Dumbledore Calrissian?!? AMAZING!

And speaking of awesomest awesome that ever awesomed... I bring you TheOfficeQuotes.com. Awesome!