I love Pam Beesly as much as I love Buffy Summers.

Pam may be the show's answer to Tara. Two insecure persons growing more confident in themselves and their abilities. And I find it very easy to have a lot of sympathy for Karen, who after all hasn't done anything wrong.

And I (ETA: also) got the impression that Jim and Karen were both trying to get the corporate position for themselves. So, undermining Michael in the sense of competing with him but not in the sense of trying to bring him down.

I love Pam Beesly as much as I love Buffy Summers. There. I've said it. And I'd say it again.

Say it as many times as you want. The same comparison came to my mind.

I didn't think Karen looked bitchy so much as...I don't even know how to put it.

she definitely looked bitchy to me, but i certainly didn't blame her. Jim's a great guy and she already knows he still has feelings for Pam. so having Pam come out and say she has feelings for Jim and then say that she knows he's in a relationship and follow that comment with a "whatever" and i would be pretty pissy too. in fact, if i were Karen i probably would have had to say something. so i have to give credit to Karen for just sitting there and letting Pam have this moment.

Are we to understand that they called him? To undermine Michael? Or ...?

I started thinking about that this morning. i'm guessing they called him, but i don't think it was undermining so much as knowing they were probably more suited to the corporate position than Michael. honestly, i can't even believe the higher ups would even consider Michael for a corporate position.

i can't even believe the higher ups would even consider Michael for a corporate position.

Yeah I'm wondering about what's going on there. Is it just a plot device or something else? Maybe they think he'll do less damage in upper management!

I kind of would have liked a talking head of Karen or Jim at the end. for the awkward. but I guess next week will be the fall out.

Maybe they think he'll do less damage in upper management!

A few bad managers around here have been transferred/promoted into positions where they have nice titles but don't supervise anybody. They might be thinking along those lines, getting Michael into a position that plays into his strengths. If he has any.

A few bad managers around here have been transferred/promoted into positions where they have nice titles but don't supervise anybody.

Don't they just fire people for incompetence?

Don't they just fire people for incompetence?

BWHAHAHAHAHA!! That's so cute! You can tell that David's been out of a traditional office. fire people for not doing their jobs? That doesn't happen anymore!

Especially in government. These people tended to be excellent technicians tossed into management with (1) little or no training in how to manage, and (2) personalities that didn't translate well to supervising people.

There's also the bad managers left to continue being bad managers. Largely because they manage(d) to keep impressing the higher-ups while the people they supervise(d) were on the verge of mutiny.

And I'm using the phrase "bad manager" here to refer to those bosses that seem to have an instinct for alienating the people they supervise.

Too bad Michael seems to be a good salesman. Stupid Peter Principle. He would be double-disaster in the corp. offices in New York!

And I feel really bad for Toby, too, Fred.

Oh, man, The Office for the win!

Pam just rocked in this episode, rocked so much. From wearing her hair differently to being super-snarky to WALKING THROUGH FIRE and then finally, FINALLY speaking her mind--this is pretty much the episode I have waited all season for.

Jim's face was like the verse of Pam's during Casino Night--wide-eyed and shocky, like they never expected to hear what they're hearing.

The thing is, I kind of sympathized more with Jim--he put himself on the line not once, but twice, and then got rejected both times. I thought it was ridiculous for Pam to expect him to put it all on the line again , even if she cancelled her wedding. It was her turn to make the move, and she waited so, so long to do so.

But I feel for Pam too--the way she has gone through life, she had never really said *anything* until Jim came along and they both snarked behind everyone else's back. So for her to stand up for herself, her feelings, and damn the consequences--for *her* to put it all on the line--shows just how much she's grown. And it was important for her to do that independantly of Jim, and narratively for them to have some space, because she needs to be independent for herself and not as a result of Jim, or thinking her independence is a result of Jim.

And Karen. Man, what a sucky thing to deal with. The first thing on her mind is whether Jim is going to leave her, which is why I don't think that was bitchiness on her face. I think that was fear. She has good stuff going on, and now it's going to be undermined because of things that aren't bad, not really, and things that aren't in her control, but still suck for her. She knows that something is going to change for her, and it's not fair, but it's how it will happen.

This was a good episode, in that I only had to fast-forward through one part--the bit where Michael was trying to force others to walk along the coals but couldn't man up to do it himself.

Also, I don't think that Karen and Jim calling about the job were about undermining Michael. I think it was more Michael's unwitting gall of "I'm the most qualified," which I think would be so insulting if I were Jim or Karen.

Gosh, what an ep. Do we get another 40 minutes next week?