Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews

• The Writer – Greg Daniels
• Director – Ken Kwapis
• A brief synopsis – Jim is at another branch (Stamford), Pam has called it off with Roy, Ryan is now a Junior Associate Salesman and Dwight is more firmly in control.
• The best line – Jim: I can’t say whether Dunder-Mifflin paper is less flammable, sir, but I can assure that it is certainly not more flammable.
• The best moment – Roy’s drunk driving picture on the screen showed exactly what Pam was heading for if she hadn’t put an end to it.
• The best storyline – Jim’s in Stamford, and hey, isn’t that Ed Helms and Quincy Jones’ daughter?
• Notable guest appearance – Helms as Andy and Jones as Karen are great adds to the show, a process which will become typical as time progresses.
• Would Michael have been reprimanded? – Definitely.  Fired is more like it.
• Grade – C-

Easily the worst show of the run so far, opening with full force a new “Would Michael have been reprimanded?” category.  The whole outing of Oscar is horribly written with the emphasis solely on awkward, wrong and incredibly dense.  Yes, Michael would have screwed this up, of course.  Nothing would have happened past Jan’s appearance in the real world.  Oscar would have been gone for the day (and possibly for good) with a hefty sum of money to show for it.  Strange thing is, everything else in this episode works.  Karen’s dead on impersonation of Jim is classic.  Jim enjoying the view (read: miserable) of his new branch while Pam is suffering through her new view of Ryan in Jim’s spot is great stuff.  Even Kevin’s reaction to finding out about Oscar is funny.  About the time that Dwight went after Oscar for “touching” Angela, the show went entirely off the rails.  Oscar’s character deserves better.  Very disappointing for a season opener, much more an episode of The Office.