"Business is always personal. It's the most personal thing in the world."
The Office 3.16 - "Business School"
I sort of love that while Ryan's criticisms of Dunder Mifflin are based on its lack of vision, his own myopia is so openly on display in this episode. He's bringing Michael to speak to his class because it will give him a bump up a full letter grade, and he's right to wonder whether he'd be stupid not to do it or stupid to do it. But he's thinking about Michael Scott, walking trainwreck, and how Michael might embarrass him; he's feeling superior about the ways his education are making him better than Michael and better than Dunder Mifflin. What Ryan has done, though, is set up his own boss to be skewered, and in public, and personally betrayed a man who takes everything personally. And in the end, for all of Ryan's business theory, when the rubber meets the road, Michael is a bizarrely talented salesman, and Ryan hasn't even made a sale, and he also started a fire trying to toast a cheesy pita, and once Ryan breaks the code and burns his bridges with Michael, Michael is not afraid to share that fact. It's not good strategic thinking, and now he's sitting in the back with Kelly.
And on the subject of nearsightedness, oh Pam, total self-delusion does not look good on you. She's trying more, but she's still not trying enough--settling for comfortable and safe with both her art and her love life. Oscar and his partner's criticisms were the kind of truth that cuts like a blade, because the art is just the surface manifestation--she lacks courage and honesty not only in what she draws but in who she is. It's a terrible thing to have to face, and I have never loved Michael more than I did when he waxed enthusiastic about Pam's drawing of the Dunder Mifflin office, the place where she's been quietly smothering herself for years, and gives it a bigger meaning than she ever could by herself.
The bat in the office was hilarious, and rightly a subplot rather than the focus of the episode. Dwight's glue trap was great, but the best was Angela's clear plastic rain scarf, because her reaction was not entirely unwarranted--poop was raining from the ceiling. Although, Dwight, shooting your neighbor's dog is NOT OKAY, even if you do think it's a werewolf. He's got such an overactive imagination, such a vivid interior life, and it's such a contrast to his bland, doughy exterior and his job.
Also, I do believe that no matter what supermodel he's dating this week, Toby is still a little hung up on Pam. He's just adorable.
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I am working from home today, because my clothes dryer is making a sound like DYING and needs professional help, and I'm also about to get what I suspect is going to be a really terrifying estimate for tile repair in my tenants' bathroom. And I was going to bitch about something I always bitch about, but that's repetitive, so I decided to mix it up a little and will instead bemoan the fact that I am terrified of heights, and changing the light bulbs in light fixtures in my 10-foot ceilings is an ordeal straight out of a horror movie for me. There's something about the combination of height, the fact that I have to use both of my hands, the fact that I'm handling a fragile glass fixture, and looking up with my back bent while balancing on a ladder that practically gives me a heart attack every time. And that's using the Gorilla Ladder, one of the greatest ladders known to man. Or at least to man with limited storage space.
Also, people! I rely on you for up-to-the-minute fandom news. And sure, many of you have been going on for weeks about The Black Donnellys, and it's been awesome this and great characters that and you should watch this show blah blah blah. But nobody told me that Paul Haggis of due South fame was behind it! *sets season pass*
