This episode we learn a lot more about "Ryan the Temp" and, in the process, his "mentor" Michael Scott. We have another week of games letting some more personality escape from the office drones, and a life-threatening situation that turns into an unexpected "who-dunnit?" There's a lot this week in looks of anticipation and reaction, and I'd say to keep an eye out for it but obviously there will be giant paragraphs below hammering you over the head about it when the time comes. So let's get started.
Play...
The moment the call ends Pam jumps in with, "Hey...you can just give her your extension *nod*" Which isn't passive aggressive at all.
3:33 - The A-story this week is centered on another budding love-triangle: Michael, Dwight, and Ryan the temp.
Respecting the Camera:
Michael: Howard, slash Ryan. Ryan Howard is sitting in my office and he has been a temp here for a couple of months and he has kinda gotten the lay of the land a little bit. Has had a few laughs along the way. And now he wants to know what I think.
Ryan: The temp agency *points at form on Michael's desk* wants to know what you think.
Michael: Shall we? Let us proceed.
This type of situation was one of my favorite running comedic devices on The Office (both British and American) and one that I haven't really seen utilized by other mockumentaries. The basic conceit of a documentary like the one the crew is ostensibly trying to shoot is that they are a fly on the wall for all this real stuff happening. They then will take all that real stuff and present it to the audience with some explanation of what is happening. Part of this is the talking heads that they have been shooting, and maybe there'll be narration too. Michael often undermines this by narrating events himself as he participates in them.
The way interaction typically works is that there is a level of mutual-understanding established and maintained by everyone involved. For instance, a "date" requires that all parties understand and agree that a date is taking place, otherwise the meaning of their words and actions is going to be impossible to accurately decipher. The "he/she thinks it's a date, but their date thinks it's something else" example is an easy one because it's so familiar in both drama and comedy. In fact there's a deleted scene from this season where Jim describes his worst first date being a time his date didn't realize it was a date. But anyway, you get the idea.
This makes Michael's attempted narration a double violation. He's violating the authorship the camera crew holds over their own documentary, and he's violating the involvement his co-participants have in their own lives. Here he says that Ryan has come to him to ask his opinion, and Ryan immediately corrects him that he has simply dropped off an evaluation form required by his temp agency. Presumably Ryan went in to Michael's office just to hand it to him and leave, but now has been roped into some kind of mentorship fantasy (Michael describes himself as Mr. Miyagi and Yoda rolled into one).
After reading off one question and answering it to Ryan instead of filling out the form Michael abandons the form entirely and transitions to some sort of job interview:
Michael: Five years from now what do you want to do? Where do you want to be?
Ryan: Ahh well, I'm interested in business.
Michael: Oh, good, ambitious. Excellent. Wanna be a manager?
Ryan: Ahh no, actually ah what I want is to own my own company.
Michael: That is ridiculous *chuckles*
Last episode we got a window into Michael's ambitions with his dreams of teaching his grandchildren to walk outside the bachelor condo he presumably raised an entire imaginary family in. Michael's expectations create an odd situation where he can outwardly appear to be settling when in fact these are just the best options he can imagine. His condo, his Sebring convertable, his low-level management position in a low-level paper company; for Michael these are all jackpots. Dwight's inspection dials back the excitement on the condo, but he is into the car and the job and that helps keep them hyped in Michael's mind. So Ryan suggesting that there's more to be had and he wants it? Ridiculous! He's just a temp! Being Michael should be the dream for him. Both because it means what Michael has is impressive (to someone cooler than Dwight) and it means someone might be willing to listen to him share his secrets of how to become him.
First up? "There are ten rules of business that you need to learn. Number one...you need to play to win. But you also have to...win to play." "Got it." "And I will give you the rest of the ten at lunch."
5:21 - A fire alarm leads to the evacuation of the office, including Angela shouting at everyone to keep their hands by their sides, Dwight yelling about how "this is not a drill, panic is warranted," and Michael sprinting out ahead of everyone else.
"Yes I was the first one out and yes I've heard 'women and children first' but we do not employ children. We are not a sweatshop. Thankfully. And, ah, women are equal in the workplace. By law. So, I let them out first? I've a lawsuit on my hands.
6:24 - Dwight arrives outside and tries to begin the headcount. As we've established, rank is everything to Dwight and so he can't just start counting co-workers to make sure everyone is out. He says that Michael is number 1 and thus sets out to find Michael so he can count 1. Michael is giving Ryan the second rule of business ("You need to adapt to any situation. Adapt. React. Re-adapt. Act.") off to the side and Dwight informs him that Ryan needs a number for the count-off. Michael tells Ryan that 1 is taken, so Ryan (logically) suggests 2 for himself, which freaks Dwight out as obviously he must be #2.
Dwight: He can be 14, Margery's not here today.
Michael: Well he needs a permanent number, right?
Ryan: No, I don't.
Here we begin to learn about Ryan's complete mental and emotional detachment from his job at Dunder-Mifflin and that he and Michael's situation is like a professional version of 500 Days of Summer. Michael is in true mentorship-love and Ryan wants to keep things casual cause he's hopefully not in this place for long. Now because of that stupid form Ryan is fending off being drafted into a nicknamed group (Dwight suggests "The Three Musketeers" and Michael changes it to "The Three Stooges") and being life-coached by a guy who is slowly inventing the 10 rules of business he already declared were absolutely essential.
Ryan: I don't wanna be like a "guy" here, you know? Like Stanley is the crossword-puzzle guy. And Angel has cats- I don't wanna have a thing...here. You know, I don't wanna be the "something" guy.
I guess now we know why he was so quick to throw away his medals in Office Olympics.
8:11 - Speaking of the Office Olympics, after flourishing in a leadership role last week where he got the remaining office to goof-off together, Jim is now organizing team-building games in the parking lot while Michael is off teaching Ryan how to business. Specifically Desert Island Books, Who Would You Do?, and Would you Rather. This also builds on the more intimate relationships that began as people came out of their shells during the 1st Annual Dunder-Mifflin Olympiad. Of course Dwight was out with Michael at his condo last week so we didn't get to see him play any games. How does that go?
Phyllis: The DaVinci Code.
Angela: The DaVinci Code! I would take the DaVinci Code...so I could burn the DaVinci code.
Dwight: Okay great, that's gonna keep you warm for like seven seconds. Question is there firewood on the island?
Jim: I guess?
Dwight: Then I would bring an axe, no books.
Jim: Well it has to be a book Dwight.
Dwight: Fine. Physician's Desk Reference.
Jim: Nice. Smart.
Dwight: Hollowed out. Inside, water-proof matches. Iodine tablets....beet seeds, protein bars, NASA blanket. And...in case I get bored, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. No, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Question did my shoes come off in the plane crash?
In fairness to Dwight he arrives after the game has already started, but still. Of course he would misconstrue the game to be about surviving on an island LOST-style rather than simply being a question about your three favorite books. Lost Dwight Trait: (no pun intended) something I love about this early version of Dwight is that he doesn't immediately force the conversation into a 90 degree turn. His initial understanding of the situation is just slightly tilted and by the time you realize/understand how it's misaligned he's already set off running at such a speed and maintains such domination of the conversation that the topic is now miles away from where it should be. Again, not because he was so wrong, but because he was slightly wrong with such rapid intensity.
8:36 -
Michael: Rule number four, in business image is everything. Andre Agassi. This car is an investment. Right? If I, ah, have to take out a client or I'm seen around Scranton in it...*taps on car* I love it. I love this car. *looks at Ryan*......do you like it? *looks down at ground*
Ryan:......yeah!
BRUTAL.
9:27 - Last week: Dwight (to Michael): What kinda shocks you got in this thing?
This Week: Dwight (pushing on the back of Ryan's car): Good shocks.
11:49 - Michael finds out that Ryan just got into business school and wants to be challenged with some business questions. Of course Michael's motivational-poster-based business education means he's ill-prepared to answer why people are rethinking the "Microsoft-model" or the cost-difference of signing a new customer over keeping an existing customer. You can see Michael's confidence as Ryan's imaginary mentor melt away, even as Dwight continues his hype-man routine by explaining that Michael didn't need college. Michael responds by immediately projecting onto Dwight. "You should go to business school like Ryan, maybe then you'd know what you're talking about."
Dwight begins horsing around with Ryan (well, more at Ryan than with Ryan) as he and Michael had been before. Dwight is still working under the conditions of Ryan being the know-nothing, the little-brother of their "Three Stooges" while Michael is transitioning to a sort of jealous awe. He admonishes Dwight for the way he's acting and finally drives him away with "you know what? He knows more about business than you ever will." In Dwight's rankings-based world-view Michael is a business genius (since he's above Dwight), so Ryan knowing more reshuffles the deck to put Dwight at the bottom of their group. So he storms off.
Again, Michael didn't really actively decide not to go to college or settle for not being able to, he just convinced himself he did the right thing and never really got challenged on it. "When I was Ryan's age I worked in a fast-food restaurant to save up money for school. And then I was- I lost it in a pyramid scheme but I learned more about business...right then and there than business school would ever teach me- or Ryan would ever teach me." After missing question after question he has one more puff of confidence as a final gasp. He lists off some other people who didn't go to business school, a bunch of NBA players like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. "They went right from high school to the NBA. So......so it's not the same thing. At all."
Next thing we see is Ryan and Michael in the backseat of Ryan's car as Michael leafs through his business textbooks asking for explanations. "You are so. Effin'. smart. You should be teaching me."
12:23 - The fact that "The Crow" is Dwight's all-time favorite movie is incredible. Also his strategy for coping with Michael's rejection is to start karate kicking a "Van Accessible" sign on the side of the building.
13:04 - Michael is now full-on confiding in Ryan about how he got into sales because he likes making friends but got promoted to manager and now can't be friends with everyone like he used to. I mentioned before how Michael's life is basically a person settling without ever making the choice to settle. It's rather sad that his talent for being a salesman got that taken away from him via promotion, something typically considered a positive development. Despite his love of business and habit of falling for pyramid schemes Michael doesn't exactly have ambition. It reminds of something Marge tells Homer on The Simpsons when he's fretting over Mr. Burns promising his dreams will go unfulfilled: "Homer, when a man's biggest dreams include seconds on dessert, occasional snuggling and sleeping in til noon on weekends, no one man can destroy them."
The trouble with Michael is he has no Marge to remind him what makes him happy. He doesn't really want to go to business school like Ryan, he just wants Ryan to want to listen to him. He doesn't even really want the car that he loves so much. Think about the two examples he gives to Ryan: entertaining clients and being seen around town. The car isn't for him, it's for other people. The other people are what he loves, but he can't see a way he can get them without the car.
Discovering Ryan was interested in business merely meant Michael was in possession of a desirable resource: business knowledge. Now that it's clear Ryan is already blowing past Michael's layman's knowledge of business his resource has turned worthless. And he already tried and failed to impress Ryan with his car.
15:53 - The transition to Jim's second game, Who Would You Do?, has immediately reached its inevitably awkward destiny with Kevin and Oscar immediately answering Pam. This sends Jim fumbling about the rules until he is helpfully distracted by more of Dwight's very public alone time. He is sitting in his car, windows all the way down, blasting "Everybody Hurts" by REM. Jim puts Stanley in charge as he and Pam skip off to mess with Dwight.
On their way back to the group they acquire Roy, who has wandered away from the other warehouse workers on account of them being "jackasses sometimes." Likely he found himself the butt of some uncomfortable joke, like when he and Daryl bullied Michael away back in "Sexual Harassment." They return to Who Would you Do? just as Michael and Ryan are also arriving. Michael is excited to hear what the game is: "I play this at home all the time while I'm falling asleep!"
Next up is Roy. Roy who has been engaged to Pam for several years. Roy who just left the warehouse workers for being insensitive jackasses. So we all know who Roy's going to pick!
Roy: Uhh, oh I got it! Uh what's the name of that, ah, that tight-ass Christian chick? The ah Blonde?
Angela: My name is Angela.
Roy: Hey Angela, Roy, nice to meet ya.
Like I said during "The Dundies" when Roy's level of caring for Pam's feelings is inexorably tied to how much he wants to go drink with Daryl, what makes Roy a great villain for The Office is he isn't a villain. He's a jerk and a doofus, but there's no scene where he's caught cheating by Jim and cites some sort of "guy-code" to keep it all secret. Unfortunately the lazy drama of secret infidelity works its way into The Office's storylines in future seasons, but not here. Instead it's easy to imagine Pam being annoyed at Roy's choice, them getting in a fight over something else, it coming up, him berating her for getting upset over a stupid game, and them not breaking up basically because they're too tired. All the usual frustration of relationship drama without the insult to intelligence for both the audience and the characters.
Michael immediately takes over leadership duties of the game, presumably because he's the only person immune to how incredibly awkward the game has just become. He picks Jim and the camera again zooms in on Pam who has gone from slightly-embarrassed confidence to slightly-nervous curiosity.
Jim immediately confesses his love for Pam and they make tender lov- wait no. "Kevin. Hands down. He's definitely got that teddy bear thing goin' on. And afterwards we could just watch bowling?"
These days it may not seem super subtle that Pam loves the way Jim has just defused the situation while Roy is locked in disgusted confusion. Of course this represents them being very different people and a terrible couple whose relationship is holding her back in a multitude of ways. The thing is, the fact we can pick up on this stuff is probably due to how subtle The Office is compared to its contemporaries. Other shows would've surely had an audible "eughhhh!" from Roy, maybe even with a few lines spelling out his confusion. Again, having a fiance who said and did things like that would likely make Pam realize, almost immediately, that this person sucks and she shouldn't marry them. But here she can't see Roy's reaction because she's too busy looking at Jim...which is a pretty good explanation for why their relationship is surviving actually.
Anyway, Michael self-selects for next turn (probably because he saw there was laughter to be had) and his choice? "I would definitely have sex with Ryan. Cause he, cause he is gonna own his own business." A few things. Michael just recently gave Ryan the Dundie for "Hottest in the office." As I said, he has spent the entire day in a veritable love-triangle with Ryan and Dwight. He stated his answer as "I would definitely have sex with..." which is exactly how NOT to answer in Who Would You Do? even when the person you name isn't standing right next to you. And finally, you'd have sex with him because he owns his own business? I realize this is Michael's attempt at re-purposing what he knows about someone into a compliment, but it really makes him look like a gold digger.
And of course Roy finally finds something funny: "You're all gay!" Yes Roy, HILARIOUS. I think I hear the warehouse guys calling you.
16:19 - As Michael is asking for the next contestant for the game he just re-killed Ryan gets a call on his cell phone: "Hey! No I can talk! I can talk. I can talk" he repeats as he quickly backs away to take the call, any call, anything but still standing next to Michael. This causes Michael to mention in passing that he left his cell phone inside and Dwight sprints back into the building to go find it and spitefully win back Michael's love.
Something that just occurred to me is that the genius of Jim & Pam's understated, under-the-radar romance really gets highlighted by the radioactive glow off of the big, showy, "love" stories between other characters. Dwight and Michael are the ones who engage in dramatic expressions of devotion, need, and affection. Along with the constant invasive presence of the camera, this probably helps pumps the brakes on Jim & Pam's romance progressing as they are surely looking at the craziness of big romantic gestures laid bare and thinking "yeahhh that's not a good look..."
Of course Michael isn't exactly impressed with Dwight's chivalry, leading to a classic bit of parsing:
Michael: *points to where Dwight just ran in* He is an idiot. The man is an IDIOT ladies and gentlemen!
Kevin: What if he dies in the fire and that's the last thing you ever said to him?
Michael: I didn't say it t-to him, I said it about him.
(Also, I have to give credit that this time I did notice Roy in the background waving the firemen back over to let them know Dwight went back in. Good job Roy. You have a soul.)
16:48 - Seeing as it's only been the men playing so far (well, we do see Stanley admonishing Kelly for not following the rules, but don't see who her pick was) the women of the office break off to play a few rounds of Who Would You Do? by themselves (minus Angela, of course). Meredith, Phyllis, and Kelly all pick Jim in a landslide and after tensely watching two Pam reactions it's finally time to see her pick.
After a struggle to find a suitable not-Jim she picks Oscar and follows that up with Toby. Much to everyone's disappointment. Especially the audience.
19:11 - The next few minutes don't go well for Ryan. Michael decides it will help Dwight search if Ryan calls his cell phone...using the number he just gave him while they were sitting in Ryan's car...the number he watched Ryan program in...and of course Ryan had faked that in the belief he would soon be out of this awkward situation. Michael calls himself and the phone starts ringing in his pocket. The ringtone is "Mambo #5" but if there's no way to tell if it's a leftover from the previous' year's Dundies when he sang his parody version, or if that was what inspired it to begin with. Thankfully it turns out to not have been that big of a deal as Dwight comes charging back out of the building a few moments later.
Michael is fawning all over him now, surely because it's on tape that Dwight's death-defying gesture was even more unnecessary than it appeared due to Michael's incompetence. The status quo gets restored for real though when Dwight reveals that he found the source of the fire:
Dwight: Apparently, in business school they don't teach you how to operate a toaster oven. Because some smart, sexy temp left his cheese pita on oven instead of timing it for the TOASTER THING! *lifts up charred remains of Ryan's cheese pita* HA! A-HA! *coughs*
Michael: Wowwww okayyyy. Well I guess they don't teach how to operate a toaster oven in...business school.
Dwight: (excitedly) That's exactly what I said!
Dwight begins his parody rendition of "We Didn't Start the Fire" as "Ryan Started the Fire" which Michael immediately joins in with as they dance around. And so "The Three Stooges" reform with Ryan squarely affixed to the bottom rung once again.
20:17 - Jim & Pam Stuff: The people in the office have been getting to know each other a bit more and becoming a bit closer the past two weeks via their game-playing. So this episode displays Jim and Pam's ongoing closeness by having them actively separate from the others a bit. I mentioned when they ditch the game that Jim started to pair-off and mess with Dwight. During the first game, Desert Island, we get a dual talking head with them after Meredith lists off her top five movies. Her list is basically a parade of hunks in shirtless roles and Jim is dismissively reciting them as Pam laughs along. He gets to the one exception, Legally Blonde, and Pam stops him. She kinda lik- but Jim cuts her off and emphasizes that the game is Desert Island movies, not guilty pleasure movies.
Jim: Desert Island movies are the movies you're going to watch for the rest of your life. Forever!
Pam: Goes to talk.
Jim: Unforgivable.
Pam: I take it back.
Jim: Unforgivable.
Pam: I take it back!
Jim: Good.
Now it must be lunchtime as Dwight and Michael continue singing because Jim's girlfriend(?) Katy arrives. She had called earlier and Jim filled her in on the game they were playing so she's all ready with her own Desert Island movies. Jim excitedly calls everyone over to restart the game for this new player.
Jim: Ladies and gentlemen gather 'round! We have one more participant. C'mon be polite. Be polite. Desert Island. Five Movies. Go.
Katy: Okay, umm. First. Legally Blonde.
Pam: *laughs*
(cut to Pam in a talking head)
Pam: I forgot what a super nice girl Katy is. Just, good for Jim! They are so cute together. And um, what an adorable car! *nods and smiles*
(cut back to the group)
Jim: Okayyy I think the game's over, people are like leaving. There was a bigger crowd last time. Do you wanna just go to lunch?
Jim and Katy flirt their way back to her car, Pam grabs Roy for a kiss that takes him completely off guard, Jim looks on unimpressed, and Katy looks on dreamily and mirrors Pam's glib remark with a happy, "they are so cute!"
20:57 - The episode ends with Ryan apologizing profusely while Dwight continues mocking him, this time teamed with Kevin. Dwight christens Ryan "The FIRE guy!" thus fulfilling the test of fate Ryan set out by declaring his fear of being "the something guy." Michael comes in with business rule #5: "safety first. Don't burn the building down" and promises to complete the list tomorrow (promising Ryan this mentorship hell will continue beyond today).
The final horror is that just as Dwight is re-secure in his ranking, Michael is re-convinced of his. Despite all the realizations he came to of his place in the world of business knowledge, and all his awe for the knowledge Ryan has already brought down from Mount Business School, Michael assesses the fire's cause like this: "Look, Ryan...is book smart. And I am street smart...and book smart."
So Michael and Dwight have gone the full loop right back to where they started, but we've learned a lot about Ryan in the meantime. Pam has gone from scared and jealous with Katy's phone call to embarrassed and annoyed by Roy's Who Would You Do? response, to full-on cockiness with Katy's Desert Island movie. And hopefully we've all noticed some new stuff in "The Fire."
=Rankings=
#3 Episode 4 - The Fire
