The Office: Surprise!

The Office was full of surprises this week – some good, some bad.  First off, there was a nasty surprise for Michael.  Mr. Flenderson is back!

Michael discovered during one of the plenteous November birthdays (people always forget to stagger their sin) that Toby was back at the Scranton branch.  He’d actually been there for a week, but Michael hadn’t noticed (ha!).  Michael was none too happy about this and screamed “No!” no less than 3 times.  He then proceeded to text 911 to David Wallace (apparently no one answers his calls if he doesn’t text 911).  But David Wallace wasn’t playing nice.  Unless Michael had a serious complaint – other than he hates him – Toby was there to stay.

Being a reasonable person, Michael took Dwight’s advice and decided it would be smart to frame Toby so he could fire him.  First he tried to get Toby in trouble for sexual harassment by sending Pam to him with a note saying to hug and kiss her no matter how much she protested.  Awesome.  Too bad Pam opened the letter.  Second, he tried to get Toby to punch him by knocking over his Costa Rica photos and taunting him.  Kelly and Ryan – taking a break from their busy and totally work appropriate PDA – decided to cheer Toby on.  But no right hooks were served.  Finally, Michael had to resort to drastic measures.  He was going to plant drugs on Toby.

Because Michael is clearly a drug connoisseur – remember the Alicia Keys concert? – he went back to the refrigerator delivery guys to score some weed for the bargain price of $500.  Then he planted it in Toby’s desk.  But things got a little too hot when Dwight decided to call in the cops for a sting.  It looked like Toby was heading to some serious trouble – even more than Michael was comfortable with – when Michael was dealt another surprise.  The grass wasn’t marijuana, it was caprese salad.  Priceless (or you know, really, really expensive).

Kelly was also treated to a nasty surprise this week, when Ryan decided they should break up.  He was going on a trip to Thailand with friends from high school – or a high school – and didn’t want to resent her for missing out.  Some classic Ryan fast talking ensued and Kelly agreed to have sex with him one more time and then give him any extra cash she had.  So it was a pretty expensive week for Kelly too.

Third nasty surprise of the week was a mess Pam discovered in the kitchen microwave.  Irate over the splatter, Pam wrote an anonymous and deliciously passive aggressive note from “sincerely disappointed.”  It was a little Angela-esque, but boy have I been there before.  Just wait until you and Jim live together, but more on that later …

The Dunderites, however, found Pam’s note more obnoxious than the spill – except Ryan who wanted Pam to clean it up.  She thought the temp should do it.  Touché.  The culprit has yet to be uncovered, and the microwave was last seen filthy.

But the surprises weren’t over for Pam.  This week Jim closed on his parents’ house.  It’s got sexy shag carpeting, classy wood paneling, and very chic creepy clown art permanently affixed to the wall.  What girl doesn’t dream of a house like that?  It looked like Pam was heading toward her second nasty surprise of the week.

Bolstering his courage, Jim took Pam to the house and showed her all the fine amenities.  She was looking a bit skeptical.  Then he showed her the garage which he’d converted into an art studio (adorable levels sky-rocket).  To further burst the adorableness ceiling, Jim started apologizing for the less than ideal condition of the house and for not asking her about it first.  But he didn’t have to finish, because Pam loved it.  He bought her a frickin’ house!  And she’s cool with it as long as they don’t have to sleep in his parents’ room.  No, no, they’ll just board that up, and forget it ever happened.

But I’m sure this was one surprise Pam won’t ever forget.

Season 5, Episode 8: Frame Toby (originally aired November 20, 2008)

For more on The Office, click here.

Thursdays, 9/8C on NBC

Photographs courtesy of NBC