The Office: Customer Survey

After his sad breakup with Holly, Michael copes by telling everyone in the office that they are engaged. Everyone is gathered in his office congratulating him and they make him call his mother to tell her the good news and he finally breaks and tells everyone that he was joking. Kelly had bought a bridesmaid dress already and so asked Michael if he would give her money for the dress but of course he didn’t. I wonder if Michael ever told Kelly she could actually be his wedding, or did she just assume like she has in the past.

Jim and Pam have decided to spend every minute of their day on the phone together, using a really small Bluetooth that no one can notice. They don’t tell anybody so sometimes they will be talking to each other but everybody around them thinks they are talking to themselves. I loved this storyline because I loved seeing Jim and Pam being cute together and it really showed how much they are missing each other. I loved when Kelly told Dwight to get out of her nook while Jim was there and Pam yells “That’s what she said, that’s what she said!” But the Bluetooth can also be a problem because while Pam is at work, her guy friend who we’ve seen her with a lot this season comes to visit her and ask her to stay in New York. He tells her as a true friend because he doesn’t want her to leave so soon after finally getting to study art, he thinks she needs to stay and continue her career in New York. After he tells her this and leaves, Jim and Pam don’t say anything to each other. It left me pretty worried, but he does have a point. I hope she goes back to him, or maybe Jim could go work at corporate in New York.

The main story line in this episode was a big mystery. Every year Kelly conducts customer surveys for all of the salesmen and this year, Dwight and Jim got surprising results. They both did horribly; people said Dwight was abrasive and Jim was arrogant. It was very shocking because Dwight is the top salesman and Jim is always very personable. Jim was mainly upset because he wanted a bonus to help him buy his parents’ house for him and Pam, and Dwight is just upset because he knows he is amazing and he is sure he is being sabotaged. When Jim tells Pam that he didn’t do so well on his customer surveys, Pam says it’s probably because he spent the whole year flirting with the receptionist. Michael decides that he must need to manage Jim and Dwight more personally and makes them pretend like they are on the phone together and that Dwight is the salesman and Jim is the customer. Jim tells Dwight that his name is Bill Buttlicker and puts him on hold and tells him that he is hard of hearing and makes Dwight scream at him. It is a hilarious scene and Jim is just egging him on while Michael takes it very seriously.

Dwight is paranoid all day and thinks that people are listening to every conversation he has with anyone and ends up confronting Kelly about being the person who is conspiring against him. Jim thinks Dwight is crazy but then starts to think he might be on to something when he tries talking to Kelly about her relationship with Darryl and she answers with one word and then leaves. Pam points out that you can never have a conversation with Kelly without it lasting 15 minutes at least. Jim asks Ryan if he knows why Kelly might be mad at him and ends up noticing that Ryan has a mug just like Andy’s that has their faces on them. He finds out that the mugs are from a party that Kelly had over the summer and Pam remembers that Jim didn’t go. Jim starts putting things together and realizes that he and Dwight are the only two people in the office who didn’t go to her party. The two of them confronted Kelly and told Michael and she finally admits that she messed up the customer surveys because they didn’t come to her party. Michael can sympathize with her because he has a huge problem getting people to come to his parties.

I actually didn’t like this plot; I thought it made Kelly seem like such a small person and I don’t believe she would do something like that just because two people didn’t come to her party at least 3 months ago. I thought it would’ve been better if it had been Ryan who screwed them up or if he had helped Kelly mess them up because he would at least have a real motive. But, it still had some funny parts to it, like Dwight and Jim’s fake phone conversation. And I liked seeing Jim and Dwight actually work together for a change. They seemed to enjoy each other a little bit.

Andy finally booked a person who will make a tent for their wedding and all the walls and the ceiling will be gray, per Angela’s request. Angela lets him book it under certain conditions: it must be placed in a hand-plowed field, have a barn that you can see the stars through, have antique tools to look at when you roll over, and it must be in a 5-8 mile radius. Andy finds the perfect place…Schrute Farms! I didn’t understand why Angela would want to get married there and I still really don’t, but when they met with Dwight to talk about the wedding, he was extremely excited about it as well and they kept exchanging small mischievous grins. Why does she keep stringing Dwight along?

All in all, I thought there were many funny and cute parts, but I definitely was not in love with the episode. I feel like there may be too many deep story lines this season so it is hard for them to move the stories forward while maintaining the unique humor of the show. I hope they step it up a little bit and start adding more humor and maybe moving the stories along a little quicker.

Favorite Moments:

• Michael throwing away Kelly’s bridesmaid dress receipt


• Jim: “You wouldn’t know it by looking at her, but Pam’s a Goldigger.” Pam: “ Hey, New York ain’t free!”
  
• Pam: “What color mustard is his shirt, yellow or Dijon?”


• Kelly: “Dwight, get out of my nook!” Pam: “That’s what she said, that’s what she said!”


• Jim and Dwight’s fake phone conversation
  
  

What to look for in the next episode:

• So Pam should definitely be back by now! What will happen…will she stay in New York or come back to Jim?
  
• Is Michael going to go back to Jan? Will we hear about Holly again?


• What about a replacement for Holly? They didn’t mention that at all this episode.


• Will Angela really go through with the wedding? She obviously still has feeling for Dwight.