Office Watch: A Finer Thing

Several weeks into its new season, and The Office has finally figured out what to do with its PB&J combo: split them up. Well, not break Pam and Jim up romantically, but give them some physical distance and each their own storyline.

First, Jim, who was shanghaied into the A plot by Michael and Dwight, who were out to seek prank-filled revenge on Jim's old squeeze Karen, who's now regional manager in Utica (The Office is the best thing to happen to Northeast industrial cities since the 19th century) and attempting to poach Stanley away. Put in an awkward situation, he gets the chance to do something besides moon adorably next to Pam, and the results were divine. (I mentioned that I've been playing with hulu.com, my favorite feature of which is that it allows me to select and embed clips thusly.):

Nobody does deadpan horror like John Krasinski. But I was even more charmed by Pam's subplot--the Finer Things Club she organized with Toby and Oscar--which got at the sweet humor and touch of melancholy at the heart of this show. (Credit Mindy Kaling for the script, which was directed in a return performance by Joss Whedon.) I like that Pam's having landed her man hasn't made her life perfect--in "Local Ad," we were reminded that she still has her unfulfilled, and maybe unfulfillable, artistic ambitions--and the Finer Things Club was a nice expression of that.

That's what The Office is, after all; a show about people yearning for finer things, and the way in which they can and can't transcend their environment. You can eat your finger sandwiches and be transported to Tuscany for a little while, but eventually life and microwave popcorn intrude:

Pam's choice of companions was just right: Toby, the lonely single dad who may have joined up to be close to Pam, and Oscar, who provides a nice reminder that not every thinks PB&J are the most adorable thing since Hello Kitty. (It was Oscar, you'll recall, who made a bitchy comment about Pam at her art show.) Turns out Oscar is not an unqualified Jim fan, either: he bans Jim from the club because he thinks Jim will derail the discussion by constantly cracking jokes, and it turns out he's probably right.

Best episode of the season. Or maybe I'm just enjoying the chance to play with Hulu. What do you say?