And I think the episode provided one of the great Oscar moments, with his, “Wha–? Why wouldn’t you say that to her?” line after Michael insults Pam in front of the would-be intern.

Oh, and finally…the Pam graphic design tag at the end strikes me as important in a number of ways. For one thing, we’re being reminded that the sky is the limit for Jim (as Michael reminds us), but it may not be for her. Loved the episode.

Anyways, I really enjoyed the episode last night, right after watching. Mostly because, um, yeah the end. That kiss just makes me happy thinking about it. But not much comedy. The rest of the episode was good not great. Michael nor Jim was how I expected would be in this episode, but both slightly in character.
I love that you saw how it was a set up for the finale, which I didn’t see until I read it. So… good job on that.

And I am way behind on spoilers for the finale, mostly because of a broken computer, and so, I loved your spec!

And, I’m thinking that maybe we wont see the engagement…it seems pretty unlikely that Jim (or Pam!) would propose at work, or in front of the cameras. Wouldn’t they want it to be more private than that? Hopefully I’m wrong – I’d love to see it! But I do think they’ll stay together – but I’m sure there will be some more drama…I’m just hoping the drama will be in S5.

I think it was Allyson who mentioned Philly Jim? I totally thought the same thing! I think eventually when the show ends, Jim and Pam will leave. I don’t know that there will be an engagement from them this season (not that I would mind if there is one ) but I don’t think they will break up either.

My favorite part of this episode were all the Dwight and Angela scenes. Its funny b/c I don’t think the scenes would have been played much different if they were a couple, KWIM? They were ususally pretty careful around the cameras not to be seen.

Can’t wait for next week!!!

Anyway, regarding Jim and Pam, I definitely don’t think they are going anywhere, but there may be some rough patches ahead as they both try to figure out who they are and what they want. That’s fine, though, IMO. It’s so much more realistic than the back and forth, sleeping with other people, contrived plots that usually plague television couples. And I think it’s unreasonable to expect that they’ll be together forever being absolutely happy about everything in their lives the entire time. It will be interesting to see what they choose to do professionally, but neither of them is in doubt about wanting to be together, and I don’t think that’s going to change.

My favorite quote of the night was Kelly’s, “I’m dating Barack Obama!”

Thoughts on the finale:
*i don’t think they will be engaged by the end of the show. I actually think that they will get engaged over the summer or sometime next season and it will be off camera. The writers have been good about letting JAM have a personal relationship without the cameras around and I think they’ll continue. And if Jim still wants to talk to Pam’s parents I don’t see it happening in the next week. (side note: its totally plausible that they get engaged after about a year of dating, i dont think thats unrealistic)

*Toby’s not going anywhere. Maybe Ryan.

*I bet Jan is preggers and is given her job back at corporate…but how stinkin funny would it be if Kelly was pregnant with Darryl’s baby! To see Kelly as a mom…amazing.

This week is going to be torture!!

Oh and have they moved in together yet? I know they talked about it but we have no evidence of it…

I think Jim will get a new job/promotion and Toby will stay because Jim won’t be in the office with Pam anymore.

I’m with all of you. I don’t think Toby is leaving either. That would be too obvious.

I don’t think anyone has speculated this yet. My feeling is that the writers have set it up for Ryan to get demoted and sent back to Scranton and they offer Jan her job back with a much higher pay and benefits and she takes it because her lawyer advises her that she wouldn’t win the lawsuit. I just cannot see Jim and/or Pam leaving the Scranton branch because it would totally mess up the office dynamics and they’ve already sent Jim away once. Any thoughts on that theory?

I hate to speculate because I’m not good at it, but if I had to guess based on this episode I’m thinking that Jim and Pam are going to end up in NY together…I think that the kiss last night was to show how much Pam wants Jim to succeed, and how strong their connection is. Plus, I really believe that part of her being Fancy New Beesley is that she’s meant to be with Jim. Also, Jim’s just landed a big sale, and we’ve already seen again and again that David Wallace likes Jim, and it’s pretty safe to assume he would have gotten the corporate job over Ryan. Ryan is having a major meltdown. Plus, the whole Graphic Artist program in New York…It all seems perfectly logical, but these writers are much smarter than I am and always end up surprising me…And I’m never disappointed with what they come up with.

OMG…Next Thursday is NEVER going to get here. haha

I have hated nearly every second of this season, and often contemplated giving up completely, but i LOVED tonight’s show and it really reminded me of why i love this show and why i keep coming back. I thought it was genius and i felt it was really written with the fans in mind. There were a lot of call backs to previous episodes which i really appreciated and i think Gene and Lee hit the nail on the head with this episode.

You wanted to be reminded of funny, okay, Creed calling Angela ‘Pumpkin’ and asking if she was going to “ditch this bitch.”, Andy crashing the golf cart, “Thank you Dateline” are three. But what about the heart and the sweetness of this episode? Jim and Pam FINALLY reminded me tonight why i am obsessed them (i’ve spent most of this season wishing they would just go away after spending years being a die hard fan), i FINALLY got what all the Dwangela fans are on about…

I ALWAYS think the opposite of the fandom which is why i normally stay out of it, but i felt like i had to stand up for this episode, cos it jumped straight into my Top 5 eps. I laughed and i awwwed and a ‘OH MY GOD’ed many times through this episode. I laughed more than i have in other episodes (Dinner Party was excruiating for example), my attention was kept the whole time. Two thumbs up from me.

Michael deserves Jan. Karma has a funny way of meting things out….

I want to kiss Jim too….. :>)

I can kind of see where some people are coming from with not finding this a hilarious episode but I loved it. It was a lot of set up, but what’s wrong with that? I think Beach Games and some other good episodes were also setup. That’s part of what I love about The Office – a lot of times there’s no immediate payoff to character/plot development. Some of the Season 3 episodes about killed me! I thought there were some really funny and poignant lines, most of which have been cited above already. One that hasn’t though – “Thank you, Dateline.” The delivery was perfection. I love you Steve Carell!

JAM are definitely fine. There’s NO WAY the writers are going to alienate the JAM fans out there, plus this episode made it more than clear how much they’re both into each other. It would be beyond jarring to mess things up with them. Pam’s quest to find a fulfilling career has nothing to do with ditching Jim. Everything will be fine.

I, too, am convinced that Toby is not the one leaving. There’s no way they’d just give it away like that. Where’s the joy in knowing already who it is? As far as the future of Jim and Pam, I’m sure everything is going to be fine. We’ve already heard spoilers and such that they’re not breaking up and considering how things have been I feel like it would be cruel and unusual punishment for all of us sitting at home if they just broke up out of nowhere.

I can’t wait for next week. Seriously. Can’t. Wait. I almost want to avoid all spoilers and go into the episode fresh. We’ll see how my resolve to do this goes throughout the week. I may not be able to take it.

*The way Pam’s holding her face when Michael is talking on the mic.
*The fact that Kevin is gambling petty cash money…for the second time.
*Loved the Jim/Pam phone call.
*Dwight’s rant about who’s in charge when Michael is gone and his build up about the consequences only to find out that the consequences of them leaving is him saying “I’ll tell on you”.
*Jim feeding Andy his beer as Pam returns from the Job Fair.
*Darryl responding to Michael’s put down with, “Hey Mike, what college did you go to?”

* “…youth-enize this place.” – Michael
* “Everybody, I’m dating Barack Obama!” – Kelly
* “My grandfather would be spinning in his urn if he knew that I was out here with a Dartmouth boy. You take that shirt off right now or I will take it off for you sir.” – Andy
* “I finished my work months ago” – Creed
* “I will tell on you” – Dwight
* “And then you sneezed in my tea” – Pam
* “She will do you” – Michael
* “Kiss her, kiss her good.” – Michael

And those are just on my first viewing.

I thought this was a great episode. The tension of Dwight and Angela in the office, but not doing anything was brilliant, unexpected and so not sitcomy. Loved it. Can’t wait for next week!

The Jim/Pam Mega-Smooch!

I mean, come on! Just appreciate the happy stuff and you’ll feel so much better!

I’m more convinced than ever that Toby doesn’t leave. Jenna was just on The Tonight Show and said that a cast member leaves. I can’t imagine who it will be but I just don’t think it will be Toby. I want to believe that it’s Ryan, but BJ was one of the original 5 leads so I don’t know if it will be him or not.

Check out Office Tally tomorrow morning for the scene from next week’s episode that she showed on Leno tonight. Funny stuff.

i’m hoping the writers are setting us up to be totally fooled and blown away by the finale…making us wonder if Pam is looking for more and if Jim will stay selling paper…and not talking about Ryan and Michael/Jan. I think they will have the big storylines next week, and hopefully JAM will get closer to an engagement. My finale guess – Ryan is the one that leaves, Jan is pregnant, and surprise engagement, with a “yes”. (And maybe some JAM drama to start S5.) I think they’ll leave JAM on a good note. Right. RIGHT?!!!!

I’m nervous for Jim and Pam. I wasn’t until the tag. That tag gave me a bad feeling. I hope the writers aren’t predictable and break them up. I’d like to see a couple actually make it on a show without breaking up and getting back together.

Creed’s ‘pumpkin’ comment might be the funniest line of the night.

I was aggravated by the Angela and Dwight storyline tonight. Just as you said. What was the point?

as far as next week, i’m trying to avoid all spoilers and previews. just more fun for me when everything is a surprise.

but in my completely uniformed or tipped opinion/prediction, jim popping the question and waiting for a answer is how this season is going to end.

As for that engagement talk… I think Jim and Pam will be engaged by the end of the season. Pam clearly loves Jim and supports him 100%. He supports her 100% in return. They are each other’s motivation for something better. They don’t need to be apart to figure out that the best thing that ever happened to them is each other. It will, however, be very interesting to see how they reconcile where they work and their careers with their hopes and dreams with each other. The Office writers haven’t let us down so far, I’m going to trust them on this one.

I’m ready to get my ass kicked.