What I’m Watching: The Office

The Office: Season 6, Episode 2 “The Meeting” (B+)

This episode is a major improvement over last week’s not-so-great installment. Ultimately, fewer characters are involved, but the two (or three) major storylines work very well. It’s reasonable that Michael would be worried to see David Wallace running a closed-door meeting with one of his employees, although you’d think Wallace tread more cautiously to avoid another MSPC-type debacle. Michael’s plan with Andy to get him into the meeting under the table was pretty hilarious, particularly because Andy hammed it up so much and it was so clearly a ridiculous, unnecessary gesture that made no sense at all. Michael’s ultimate botching of the situation when he feared for his job was amusing but frustrating, and while I would have liked to see Michael take on a bigger role, I’m sure it will be interesting to see Jim in an actual leadership position (that even Charles Miner could acknowledge) and how he co-manages Michael. It’s likely that not much will actually change save for the titles. Dwight’s dismay right before the last commercial break was superbly funny. Dwight’s storyline in this episode, for that matter, was very entertaining in part due to its untraditional partnership between him and Toby. It makes sense that Dwight would want to expose a lack of productivity in order to bolster his own image in the company, and Toby’s somewhat lazy “do the right thing” approach fits in well with that mold. The ultimate resolution that is absolutely ridiculous and gives Toby a lot of paperwork to fill out was pretty funny. Pam’s episode-long search to cross people over her guest list wasn’t nearly as effective as she planned, and the typical responses from Ryan (definitely, probably) and Meredith (I’ll text you that morning for directions and eat the most expensive dish, except ribs) were pretty priceless.