Launch Party

Well, I've been meaning to get to this for a few days but haven't had the time. This will be in chronological order, so I'll take it scene by scene. That might make it kind of long, but I want this to cover everything.
So, ladies and gents, without further ado, I give you my opinion on 'Launch Party'

Alright, right off the bat, this was my favorite cold open ever! Out of all four seasons. It tops even the the one where Jim comes in dressed as Dwight. It was sincerely funny. I love that everyone is in on it too, not just Jim and Pam. Kevin's "You gotta believe," is classic. Very, very funny. Also, it was kind of nice to see them in the conference room doing something semi-productive.

Meredith is back. Hooray! I have to admit, I didn't exactly notice her absence terribly. Still...good to see she's back. Do they normally put a cast around you for a pelvis fracture? Her open interest in Jim was sudden an unexpected but I almost fell out of my seat laughing. It makes sense that she doesn't know about Jim and Pam, considering she was gone when they were outed by Toby. Jim's face is awesome after he signs her cast, as is his frightened 'mmmm-hm' when she asks him to sign. He looked so ... violated. XD
Question: Does he sign John Krasinski or Jim Halpert? I can't tell. It looks lke John Krasinksi to me.

Even after all the drama associated with Dunder Mifflin Infinity, Michael still doesn't seem to get it that he and Ryan are not friends. He calls Ryan his 'brain-child'? Does he know what that means? He didn't think Ryan up. Still though, the brain-grandchild thing is pretty funny. Classic Michaelism.

Dwight is sporting a brand new crop of stubble-growth trying to look like an infant beard. Right away I recognized this as evidence of his heartbreak over Angela, but apparently some people think he's trying to look like Ryan. Hello? Ryan? No. Angela broke up with him. Roy grew a beard after Pam called off their wedding, if you'll remember. If you need further proof, go to nbc.com/The_Office and watch the deleted scenes. Dwight admits his new look is because of Angela. I hate Dwight with a beard, but since I'm fairly confident it is not permanent, I'll laugh and put up with it. Can't blame him.

The sub-plot revealed here in Dwight trying to outsell a computer is brilliant. It is absolutely genius. Finally, I feel like they're getting back to dear old Dwight, who's been not himself the last couple of episodes.
Angela's antagonistic behavior toward his stragey is excellent. I love her, "I don't care, and I wont," lines. Poor Dwight, believing that somehow if he wins this Angela will come falling back into his arms.

Also, I love Michael's funny new nicknames for Angela. "What's that, pipsqueak?" and "Okay, wow, easy boosterseat." They are excellent! I love how Angela is coming into her own this season. This episode particularly. But more on that in a moment.
Pam's talking head on the Dwight/Angela conflict is a little unnecessarily, but still remotely funny. The funny part about the entire thing is her noting that they are both already prone to unpleasantness. Still...I would have been fine if they didn't add it in. I suppose they were just trying to remind us that Pam is in the loop when it comes to their rocky relationship. And maybe also to give Pam more than one line in this opening scene? I'm not sure.

Stanely opening the website page just to listen to the music is so amazingly funny I can't even stand it. Then it gets even funnier when he starts to stubtley bob his head in Stanely-style dancing. It was a surprising moment for his character, because this is something so out of the ordinary for him.
I didn't like Phyllis' line. They couldn't have just let Stanely dance a little? I would have been just as annoyed as him with her. I don't like Phyllis in this season.

Ryan's business platitudes are very funny if you've ever worked in business like that. If not, they're kind of ... annoying and they make him look even more arrogant than normal. Also, who is Thomas Dean and why is Ryan doing a talking-head in his office? That came out of no where and in my opinion was unnecessary.

I do like that Andy and Dwight are friends now. It was tiring to have them constantly at each others throats in Season Three. It's much more comfortable now that they are somewhat of a team.
Let me say that I sincerely liked this scene between Andy, Dwight, and Jim. It was exactly what the first two episodes lacked. It is like the old Office.
Jim making fun of Andy was priceless. Sometimes I think I forget that Jim and Andy have a history. They worked together in Stamford for a while so naturally Jim would still be inclined to make fun of him. But my favorite moment is Dwight's 'Just ignore him.' Spoken like an old vetran, spoken like someone who's had to endure Jim for a very long time. Dwight has an even longer history with Jim and he knows how to cope with these moments. I loved that. It was one of my favorite moments of the entire episode, even though it only last a few seconds.

Next in the episode is the 'Lunch Party' disaster.
Okay, let me just say I really find Phyllis annoying. She is too ... I don't know ... okay so I can't really find the word I'm looking for her. I don't like that she's growing a spine. Her 'How to deal with difficult people' bit was fairly stupid, but at least it gave a chance for Angela to shine. That alone makes all Phyllis' new boldness worth it. Again, more on that later.

Okay, so you should know that there are a lot of things I think about what happens next: which is Jim going to Pam with a prank.
First of all, I love that Pam doesn't immediately jump on the idea. She shows her decency by reminding him that Dwight is going through a break-up, and maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea. It's a kudos moment for her that, for me anyway, reminds me of why I like her so much.
Then Jim's 'and he's being super annoying' is validated with the bull-horn (excellent reaction jump from everyone, by the way) and she is on board.
The second thing that I feel about this scene is comforted and reassured. I have been extremely worried that the new JAM romance would repress all pranks henceforth, since it seems to have done that in the first two episodes. I was go glad to see them getting back to their roots with this seriously excellent prank. I would, however, really like to see Pam initiate one or do one on her own. In season three they established a sort of independence to her, especially when Dwight took over. She was able to have fun on her own without Jim there. Even though they are together now, I'd like to see Pam retain some of that independance. It would be nice to see her carry out her own mischief.

Poor Dwight. He doesn't even realize that two plaques is not better than a pay raise.

Okay, the scene with Michael in the way too-tight shirt is pretty good. It makes Steve Carell look like he has womanly growths up top. I like that he mad Oscar go in there for that. Hey! By the way! Whatever happened with Oscar? At the end of the season he said she was looking for a way out of his relationship and that he might try girls for a while. So? Did he go straight?
Also, I like that Kelly knows about losing last-minuet weight. It would make sense. She probably has some sort of eating disorder.

Jan, who does not appear physically in the episode, reminds us that even though she had a mental breakdown at the end of Season 3 she is still the sane one in the relationship. It was good to be reminded of that. Of course she would not want to go to a corporate party! She was fired!

For those of you who like JAM moments, there was a cute one shortly after Dwight begins to see how hard it is to beat a computer. I admit, I did like the silent exchange between Jim and Pam on the subject of going to New York. It was sweet and adorable and showed that their relationship is really on a unique level. It would make sense for these two, who have known each other for years but are just now dating.

Alright! Finally! Angela's shining moment! This is possibly my favorite scene of the entire episode. I love it. Angela's down-talking to Phyllis. Is is so rude and so nasty, it's irrisistable. I can't get enough of Angela these days. I love how snarky she's become. Angela in the past has been a fairly unimportant character, though her relationship with Dwight did boost her ranking of notice. This season it seems like we've really seen Angela evolve and she's now one of the more important characters. It is clear she has a very fiery temper and since Phyllis is so annoying I loved watching her get zinged by Angela. I did not like so much Phyllis throwing in the towel (so to speak) and throwing the ball of sticky-notes at her.

I was really kind of surprised to find something brewing between Darryl and Kelly. At the suggestion of it, I might have been repulsed, but after watching it I'm actually open to the idea. Kelly is supremely annoying, but I would be comfortable with her finally in semi-good relationship. I think her always pining after Ryan will get really old really fast.

Jim getting suckered into going with Michael is funny-ish. I will admit, I was kind of disappointed. If Jim was gone then that would be the end of Jim/Pam moments for that episode. I admit it, I'm a sucker for the sentimental moments. I am more of a fan of the JAM comedy moments (pranks, inside jokes, w/e) but I do love the cute moments. Micheal making fun of Jim saying goodbye to Pam was kind of painful. It was one of those 'please just shut up' moments.
But Pam's look after Jim leaves and DunMiff/sys: 'I didn't realize we could use the leads from staples' is sheer evil. I love it. Heh.

Thank goodness Angela took that bull horn. It was getting extremely annoying.

Okay, Jim and Micheal going to NYC.
Micheal trying to use Green Eggs and Ham instead of Oh the Places You'll Go is genius. It's so like him and the two books really have zero in common.
The best part about it is the online party invitation, which Micheal thinks is to go to a real party.

Since this is waxing longer than I planned I wont elaborate much. It was brilliant. Bravo.

Okay, does anyone else find Dwight beating the computer a little amazing? I mean ... I thought the computer would win hands down. I guess it just shows how truly excellent Dwight it at what he does. It makes me wish that we could have seen Dwight as Regional Manager for more than one episode. I have no doubt he would have made a better (though perhaps just as eccentric) boss. His sales brilliance alone should make him eligable for all sorts of promotionary benfits. But I guess corporate knows he's easy to placate. I mean ... two plaques in lieu of a pay raise. Ugh.

Since this is pretty much the halfway point and I've been spending too much time on this right now, I'll stop here. I promise to continue tomorrow.