Thu, 20 November 2008
From TVGuide.com (because NBC.com didn't bother to update their "next on" page):  FRAME TOBY | 11.20.08 | 9/8c TV-PG  Dirt is dished over a dirty dish: Tension boils over when a mysterious someone leaves a culinary mess in the office microwave. Meanwhile, Michael has trouble accepting that personnel changes were made without his knowledge. -------------- FLEEEEEEENDERSOOOOOOON! As always, leave your comments below and join Kevin and Me in the TWSS chat room after the show.
Category:general
-- posted at: 8:34am EST
Comments[39]
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Couldn\'t agree more with Aurora... What\'s with Jenna this season? Besides the Hitler/Chaplin line, I haven\'t enjoyed a moment of her this entire season. Her performance this year is a far cry from the days of walking over hot coals. In fact, I would argue that the coals were her last convincing portrayal of her character. Why does it seem like everything is spiraling down the drain this season?
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Wow, I don\\\'t agree with the negative Jenna Fischer posts at all. If anything I think her acting gets better and better. There\\\'s never a hint of \\\"false\\\" or \\\"fake\\\" in her lines. Her exuberant \\\"You bought me a house\\\" was filled with so much unabashed joy that I truly believed that Pam was in love. I say, kudos Jenna Fischer! And on a similar, note although I don\\\'t think I\\\'d ever want my fiancee to buy a house without consulting me, I gotta say I think Pam was more in love with the gesture than anything else. No way on God\\\'s green earth would Roy have EVER even thought about buying her a house, let alone turning the garage into an art studio. This was about Pam feeling like Jim loved her enough to do something pretty damn extraordinary, even if it was old-fashioned of him.
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Usually when I don\'t like an episode at first viewing, it tends to grow on me upon the second or third re-watch. But this had the opposite effect. I liked it the first time I watched it, but with each viewing, I became more and more unhappy with the over dramatic Toby set up, the new Pam Beesly and Dwight\'s flights of fancy. As for Jenna, I\'m going to give her a shout out. She\'s always been fabulous as Pam. She\'s made the character her own, and it\'s unimaginable that any other actress could portray Pam in any other way; however, as mentioned above, I do not like the new Pam Beesly. I\'ve always wanted her to gain courage, but I sense that she\'s an entirely different person now. I hope that instead of standing up for a clean microwave - which is annoying as hell yes, but sooo petty - that she\'ll stand up to Angela for calling her a \"hussy\", or for \"holding faxes\" or saying \"I see how you look at Michael\" when accused of being an office mattress. And good \'ol loving Jim - he\'s so besotted with her that he\'ll probably never speak up to her, making him as oppressed in his love for her as she was oppressed under Roy. Are we ever going to see a stronger Jim? Is it always going to be about Pam and this fanciness? The first deleted scene from this episode really sealed my unhappiness with her. How can anyone defend themselves against a staff of argumentative Scranton Dunder Mifflin-ites by saying \"I did more in one week of New York than I ever did in three months in Scranton\"? The hurt on Jim\'s face - shushing him up. I get that she needed to speak up, but the way she did it didn\'t win any points with me. I know most will disagree. But this is not the Pam I\'ve cheered for. There - I\'ve said it.
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I definitely agree with Brandy; Pam\'s response to the house was, I really think, more for the fact that Jim was willing to go there and take such a permanent step for her. I imagine it would be hard for Pam, on some level, to trust an engagement ring (even one from Jim), but a house? With an art studio? That\'s unmistakable devotion. And Debbie, I totally agree about Pam\'s transformation. It isn\'t that she\'s become more confident, it seems like she\'s almost become a different, much colder, person. (I\'m inclined to blame the change in hairstyle.)
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gooooood point jennifer! what the hell DID happen to resolve the microwave issue!? and YES YES YES - having JIM being the culprit would have been great! two seconds before jim lifted the garage door, i said, \'he better have made it an art studio!\' and voila! but it still doesn\'t redeem the whole buying a house without her opinion/consent. not cool, jim. this isn\'t the 1950\'s! overall... terrible episode. \'it\'s a clinker\' came to mind. :/
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I haven\'t posted for a very long time and I hate that my first post back may be negative. I guess I was the only person who really wanted Pam to not be thrilled abut the house. When she gushed that it was perfect I groaned. Of course I hated that Pam who clearly wanted to be engaged and let Jim know it but they still waited for Jim to propose. Ick. Am I crazy? I though this was the new Pam.
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Not to repeat everyone else\'s thoughts, but here\'s my two cents: I agree that there were a ridiculous number of over-the-top plot points in this episode. Last season, Michael driving his car into a lake and kidnapping a kid were absurd enough; before this week, I couldn\'t have imagined they\'d come up with something even more stupid. And this time, there wasn\'t even any humour thrown into the mix to take our minds off of the fact that this would never realisitically happen. Probably THE worst episode ever.
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I truly wanted to love this episode but Jenna Fisher made that impossible. She doesn\'t act,she merely recites lines.I\'ve seen more passionate acting in community theatre. I work at a girls college. Most young women do not walk around so expressionless and dull.Plus all the blinking gets annoying. She gives neither the audience nor Jim a reason to love Pam.The scene where she\'s thanking him for the house is like a bad Jr. High play. I sincerely hope they get a new Pam for next season. Kudos to John Krasinski for doing his best against her boring portrayal.
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Goodbye Toby was such a knockout episode and for that reason I was expecting nothing less for Toby\'s return. What a freaking let down! I\'ve liked the other not so funny episodes this season because of the character/storyline development. This episode lacked both.
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I\'m agreeing with Paul here...didn\'t Toby break his neck? I guess he had a \"full recovery?\" When someone asked him about Costa Rica, he just said it was hot and he had no friends. WHAT ABOUT BREAKING YOUR NECK ON THE ZIP LINE????? I didn\'t even realize the microwave thing wasnt resolved until I read this site today. Now I\'m thinking...\"OH YEAH!! WHAT ABOUT THAT!\" I miss \"The Office.\" No, I miss \"The GOOD Office. \"
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Wow. I am really surprised that not many people liked this episode. I found it actually to be quite satisfying. From Michael\'s reaction to Toby\'s return to the microwave situation to Jim showing Pam the new house, I felt the ep was very character driven and realistic. And while framing Toby for drugs may have been a dark turn in contrast to the first two attempts, Michael admitting to the frame job shows that he has the tiniest bit of conscious towards his sworn enemy. Kevin, this was not the worst ep of the season. \"Baby Shower\" is due to the intense clashing of tone, whereas this ep was consistent.
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I liked this episode. Dwight gets alittle farfetched, but that\'s Dwight. Just ask Jim\'s old roommate; he didn\'t even believe Dwight existed. Michael\'s still got a hefty amount of cash in his pocket from his business trip and bought a healthy salad to frame his arch enemy....typical Michael. Wow, Pam stepped up and put the obnoxious Ryan back in his place. Jim and Pam finally have a home. Ryan breaks up with Kelly. Toby is back! This episode had a lot of different plotlines, but I enjoyed all of them. The episode wasn\'t FULL of laughs, but it made me feel good and that should be the ultimate purpose of any show. It\'ll be sad that we won\'t see one next week.
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You know, all the comments by folks here on ways to \"fix\" the episode were ALL better than what was actually done (e.g. Michael framing Toby for the microwave incident). That\'s a sad testiment to the episode. I\'m certainly hopeful that the producer\'s cut improves things and thus becomes the de-facto standard version of this episode.
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I listen to the podcast every wee and I\'m new to posting a comment. Hello everyone!! I got a few laughs out of this episode. (Mind you I came home late and was a bit tired when I watched it. So will have to watch it again.) As much as I liked Michael\'s reaction, initially, to finding out that Toby was back, I thought the whole fight/let\'s frame Toby was WAY over the top, even for Michael. And who carries $500 in cash with them, seriously. Wasn\'t Michael in debt too? Just throwing that one out there... The Ryan and Kelly thing, sorry makes me ill to watch. I know that she\'s nuts and probably deserves how Ryan treats her, but can someone really be that desperate? If Ryan doesn\'t like her at all, why get back with her? And, if he doesn\'t really want her, what makes him think that Darril wants to fight for her? I guess he was right about saying that he \"couldn\'t do better than Kelly.\" On a positive note about that story line, I did like how he just threw all the information at her about leaving to Thailand and she not having anytime to react to it... CREED was my fave, I have to say, when the cops came in searching the office for drugs. Him standing up with his arms up and then hidding in the conference room, THE BEST.. I\'m a total JAM fan. I thought that PAm\'s initial reaction was a bit weird. That maybe she didn\'t like the house. But when she said \"you bought me a house...\" that melted my heart. Nice save there... It was an okay episode. I wouldn\'t make my top 10 list...
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This episode was unwatchable. The whole concept of planting drugs on Toby was cruel and way beyond even Michael (he does grudgingly try to weasel out of it). Jim and Pam have become rather syrupy and cliche. The writers squandered an opportunity to inject some tension into their otherwise pristine courtship with the purchase of the house. I guess I understand that Pam got disillusioned with the whole “Bright Lights Big City” ruse after her 12 weeks in New York. But still, I would imagine that she’d be a little miffed that Jim made such a big decision without consulting her. Especially after her whole “I’m going to be my own woman” speech to Roy in S3. And Kelly and Ryan - two words - yeeeech.
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Oh - And one more thing. Can I say that I thought they were going to have a big thing at the end where JIM was the culprit for the microwave. How funny would that be? Then when he showed her the house, they could have gone into the kitchen and made some comment/joke about cleaning the microwave....
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First off, I\'ll say that I\'m a sucker for The Office, so I can find things I like about every episode. So although this wasn\'t my favorite, there were some good parts: the cold open (that\'s how Michael would react, I think), Michael\'s note from Pam to Toby, Pam\'s \"I guess that\'s why we have a temp\" line, Creed\'s talking head about nothing, and Dwight\'s \'perfect crime.\' The first deleted scene offers some more insight into the microwave plot, for those that wanted more of that. I thought that Michael might blame that on Toby to get everyone against him, but that might have been a little obvious. When did Toby heal from being in the hospital? He talked about the beach and stuff, and said it was amazing, didn\'t he? Wouldn\'t a hospital stay detract from the amazing-ness of Costa Rica? FLENDERSON!!!
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I agree with Kate-- I don\'t like the fancy new Beasley. She used to be quiet, friendly, and unsure of herself; now she\'s arrogant and aggressive. I miss the old Pam and Jim, who could do no wrong in our eyes. I liked the ideas behind this episode, but it didn\'t come together well. The microwave plot was a good idea because it\'s a typical office problem that everyone can relate to, but why did they have to turn Pam into a meanie to do it? Three seasons ago it would have been Angela making the complaint and Pam passing it off as no big deal. Then Toby coming back--great chance for comedy with Michael (and there was some) but how could Michael never have been told Toby was coming back? Unrealistic. But perhaps worth it to see him yell \"Noooo!\" The house plot felt weird. I\'m glad Pam liked the house, but I wish it was more of an ideal situation where Jim buys her the perfect cute house (Perhaps with a terrace that she could put flowers on?)
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Eh. I don\'t know... it just feels like the episode A plots haven\'t been going anywhere lately. They might be more-or-less amusing of themselves, but they ultimately leave me feeling empty and unmoved. Back in the day (season 2, and even season 3) the A plots would make a point, about the characters or office life, or whatever-- and sometimes even blend with the B plots, which was usually incredibly satisfying. Now it\'s more about the gags than the characters, it seems. However, I must say that Pam\'s ultimate reaction to the house left me with a delicious warm feeling. It was a *real* moment, it felt earned to me, and it was lovely to see an earnest Pam replace the snarky New York Pam for a few minutes.
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Seriously? Really? Worst episode ever? Weak? I don\'t know I laughed out loud a ton here! I mean yeah it was over the top but Toby\'s leaving was like the Devil and evil being gone forever from the Office!! Haha. Now, he\'s back AND replacing Michael\'s love Holly. His reaction is childlike but that\'s Michael. I thought it was funny. I didn\'t like the end resolution of the microwave but I thought we were given the resolution: IT\'S THE MEN. And Meredith obviously :) Finishing up my thoughts but I was curious when I saw the immediate negative feedback regarding the episode.
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Yay! My first comment here. I liked this episode. The microwave story line actually had me laughing for one simple point: Not one month ago did I do the exact same thing at my office! The microwave was nasty. I cleaned it. Then left a note from the \"microwave cleaning fairy\" saying that if you spill things, clean it up. then people kept asking me if I knew anything about it and I\'d say \"I have no idea\". Then I told my husband about it (a la Jim/Pam) only to have my husband think I was crazy for caring so much! The Creed moment when the cops came in was classic. The look on his face was priceless. I loved the scene with Jim at the house and him having the art studio. It was so sweet. HOWEVER - I do have one point to bring up. This is now like the 3rd or 4th time this season that they have used the same gimmick: Oh gosh, things aren\'t going great for Pam and Jim, oh Pam\'s upset. She\'s going to say something and its going to be the beginning of the end....oh. Just kidding. She loves it...they\'re happier than ever..... Find a new gimmick guys!
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Please don\'t crucify me for saying this, but I really liked the episode. I have always enjoyed the disdain Michael has for Toby, so to see an entire episode devoted to their relationship was amusing. Yes, Michael was a bit over the top but he\'s missing Holly and I perceived his actions as a way of grieving for her. And I found some validity to Michael\'s hatred of Toby - Toby is definitely not Holly. And I\'m happy to have Pam back in the office, but I\'m not enjoying the fancy new Beasley. Maybe it\'s because we haven\'t seen too much of her this season, but she seems so cold to everyone. To quote Karen, \"Pam is kind of a bitch.\" I miss the old Pam who seemed more compassionate towards her co-workers. But I did enjoy her attitude towards Ryan. Overall, I felt there was lots of heart in this episode and I\'m looking forward to what\'s next.
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While this episode has some classic moments (Jim trying to pull the clown picture off the wall was hilarious!), it was very weak, and I agree one of the weakest ever. I was able to suspend my disbelief that Michael had no clue about pot & that he mistook a bag of salad for a bag of weed. But nothing about any story line makes sense. Why make a huge deal about the microwave, only to not finish up the point of the story? Why did they bother ever bringing Ryan back as a temp? (ok, the temp line was funny). His running off to Thailand was stupid...why not just have him leave when Pam returned? The \"former volunteer sheriff\'s deputy\" line from Dwight is really old (plus, didn\'t Dwight feel horrible for hiding Michael\'s evidence of drug use? Now, he\'s FRAMING Toby of DEALING drugs?). Pam\'s reaction to the house was weird & stilted, even somewhat at the end, although the end was really good. It feels like someone who was moderately interested in the show wrote this episode without any serious consideration to past events (WHY WON\'T THEY REALLY DEAL WITH THE HOLLY SITUATION!!!?!?!). Thankfully for me, the Creed talking head amongst other moments saved this episode, at least making it watchable. Otherwise, I was sorely disappointed.
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I hate to say it but this may end up being the worst episode in Office history..i still cant believe how this season has turned out, the fact that Jim and Pam will probably end up married just makes me want to throw up, I blame it all on NBC and the fawning fans and podcasters who want this show to be a romantic comedy, it\'s dumb and completely ruined the idea of a sitcom documentary. I have been a die hard Office fan ever since the British Office and I don\'t think I have ever been this pissed off.
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First, any episode with \"Toby\" starts with a strike against it. Unfortunately, unlike Goodbye Toby there were few moments to savor. Dwight\'s story: huh? No resolution to the microwave storyline: stupid Art studio reveal: cute, but a loooong way to get there Fake weed: awful Ryan leaving: finally Two nice moments: Creed\'s talking head to stall for time Andy - \"we never keep secrets\" If anyone needed punching it was anyone who was fighting with Pam regarding the note. As good as \"The Outburst\" is, it\'s a sad day when a webisode outshines a regular episode of the show.
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i agree, this was a truly terrible episode. it wasn\'t funny or dramatic, just awkward. honestly, michael and dwight deserve to lose their jobs for what they did (not that I want to see that!)-- I hate seeing characters that I like do something that is crossing a moral line. Michael usually has a sense of ethics to him, and his \"change of heart\" and admission isn\'t dramatically paced to offer him any redemption here. it also bothered me that pam and jim allowed the camera crew to follow them home for this intimate moment. the show has been very clear about acknowledging the camera crew this season, and now it\'s straining credibility for jim to allow them into his new house with his fiancé. Only redeemable thing about this episode is the confirmation that Ryan is leaving. HE SHOULD NEVER HAVE COME BACK after going to jail, and nothing whatsoever has happened with his character since he\'s been back. The writers even avoided a David Wallace/Ryan confrontation in favor of a MUCH more improbably David Wallace/Holly confrontation. Perhaps the worst episode since season 1. Actually, maybe Chad is right and this is the worst ever. THIS EPISODE SUCKED!!!!
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I love Mindy Kaling’s writing, and I think she’s adorable but I really didn’t like this episode. Sure the JAM stuff was am-azing, but the whole Toby thing was ridiculously over the top and completely unrealistic. Meanwhile Ryan is a caricature and not remotely funny with it. I feel like the microwave plot would’ve been great as a main story, they could’ve really developed it as a ‘who’s the culprit and who wrote the note?’ thing. It seems to me that they think that big stories are more but actually, the best episodes of the show are those based around small office nuances.
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I like to think of Michael as the 14 year old in a man\'s body. Oblivious to what is appropriate or inappropriate, sometimes ignorant, sophomoric sense of humor, but in the end he always has his heart in the right place. In this episode while he did have a last second change of heart with the Toby prank, I felt it went too far for his character and was not as much funny as just mean. Even Dwight came off as too dark, they have to leave some ounce of likability in him.
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There were definitely problems with this episode. One of the great joys for a newly married couple is your first house. For Jim to just buy his parents\' house without including Pam in the process is not a good way to get started. And although I must admit I got a touch misty when he showed her the garage, I\'m not sure that would be enough to make up for doing all that without her input. And I have never wanted to punch Michael in the face as much as I did tonight. This was a dark psychotic Michael that has reared its\' ugly head before, and it is never fun to watch when he does. I wonder if maybe Toby got on the phone with David Wallace immediately to let him know of the \"prank\". Didn\'t like that at all. Loved Dwight\'s talking head at the end. I agree with other posters so far that this was not a very good episode. And for Toby to be back for a week without Michael noticing makes no sense to me at all.
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Just watched the episode, the chat room isn\'t working for me so I decided to write here. You know what? I liked this episode. It was very enjoyable. Maybe it was because I was still tickled pink by the blindside of Randy on Survivor, but I really liked this episode. Of course, it is in no way comparable to seasons 2 or 3, but it was good for what this season has been. I loved the cold opening, and I loved Ryan. Especially when he goes and talks to Pam, so funny. See, unlike you guys, I like Evil Corporate Worm Ryan.
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Pre-Drunk the Cool-Aid Review: \"Hey TWISS\'ers\" Really trying to be positive here, but this episode seemed a little too surreal for me. First off I guess Michael is that stupid, and where does he get 500.00 and was it CaNNaDDaian money? At least Toby could have taken Ryan\'s advice and \"Hit him,.. Hit Him... Dwight becomes more disconnected with reality each week...Pretty far fetched for even him...Tiffanys and the real perfect crime was the writers earning a paycheck and making us watch this weeks episode\" No-one would do that to a co-worker and it\'s as believable and awkward as \"Fonzie crashing into the wing Stand\" or as Oliver being a real Brady cousin\" Maybe what really happened is; the writers were hitting the stash way before Michael ever got to it\" Even Kevin Malone would say \"this plot\"; \"Two Thumbs Way Down\" On a happy note at least J-AM has a crappy house to live in. I sure hope this show is like the market and has tanked only to rebound in the near future to reach it\'s previous heights. I am still hopeful but Thursday Frankie C thought this was a stinker....
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