Thoughts on The Duel

* While better than Moroccan Christmas, overall this episode was still...meh. Not what I expected for the first episode back after the Christmas hiatus.

* The cold open was hilarious!

* Severe lack of "JAM" in this episode, which I can only assume means many of the episodes coming up will be more JAM-centric. Let's hope so.

* "In charge" Jim was quite the turn on. Hubba hubba. I'd like to see him raise his voice more often. And did anyone else notice that he seemed to really be in work mode in this episode? Not just when he was acting regional manager and trying to get the Dwight/Andy fight stopped, but even in the break room he was working on some kind of paperwork. I've NEVER seen Jim work on anything in the breakroom (other than flirting with Pam).

* I'm torn on the fight scene. It seemed kind of anti-climactic in some way, but at the same time I guess that's classic Office. Dwight is a lot of talk but wouldn't actually hurt Andy, like with weapons. Right? Hmmm...

* Speaking of the fight scene, I LOVED when the camera was close up on Jim's face while Dwight & Andy were fighting. JKras gives the BEST camera faces. Perfection!

* I implore you to watch the deleted scenes, particularly the second one :

http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/clips/the-duel-clip-two/944661

This is one of the funniest deleted scenes I have EVER seen. And it solidifies my (admittedly biased) opinion that this show should be an hour long every week. Gems like this are left on the cutting room floor and that's just an absolute shame. "Darwin, baby. Darwin." will most certainly make its way into my daily lexicon.

*The whole thing with Michael and David Wallace was strange, awkward, and felt totally out of place. And not really funny except for Michael's "improversation" line. But as I read some of the synopses for upcoming episodes, I think it was a set up for bigger things down the road.

* When Dwight threw away the bobblehead??!! MY GOD!! I let out a huge gasp. I couldn't believe it. That simple act said soooooo much.

Favorite moments/quotes
-Creed's "You are welcome"
-Michael asking if Angela is crazy in bed and Dwight saying yes because she's "eager and flexible"
-Jim yelling at Dwight {{{body shiver}}}
-Oscar's realization of exactly where Dwight & Angela had sex in the office
-Meredith: "I call loser"
And my favorite...that entire deleted scene, from Phyllis' line, to Stanley's speech, to Kevin's talking head, to Dwight bit at the end about his great aunt. Pure comic gold that absolutely should NOT have been cut.

Of New Episodes, Songs, and Smut

Okay, this whole "Christmas break" or whateverthehell is going on needs to stop. Now. Is it possible to have withdrawal symptoms from not watching a television show? Seriously.

Well, the drought will soon be over as new episodes return next week. And I'm very happy to see that the next SIX weeks will bring us all new episodes, including the much-anticipated post Super Bowl episode on February 1st. In the meantime, I've been passing the time with almost daily fan fiction reading. I'm basically immersing myself in these amazing, crazy, unbelievable stories. I like the mix between inner monologues of things we did see, complete fabrications/guesses of things we didn't see, and the "alternative universe" stories about things that absolutely did not/will not happen. There are some incredibly talented writers out there.

And then there's the smut. Um...wow. Just wow. See, here's the thing. If you go to your local Barnes & Noble and pick up a copy of some trashy romance novel, the mental picture in your head of the characters, their demeanor & mannerisms is completely created by your mind. Five people will read the same book and come up with five different versions of what the main characters look like and how they might look...um...engaging in certain activities. But with Office fan fiction, we already know what Jim & Pam look like. How they act. What clothes they wear. Even what their house looks like. So what would be just trashy romance novel stuff becomes much more vivid. The effect is...well, it's powerful, my friends. It's powerful. And I Cannot. Get. Enough. *blush*

Also, in my quest to remove myself even further from reality (a-la Dwight's Second Second Life), I'm also searching You Tube for fan-created JAM videos. Most are rather yawn-inducing, but there have been a few that stand out to me. This one is my absolute favorite:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8JDQeCxzn0

The song is just lovely...and it's been stuck in my head for days. Now I cannot hear that song without thinking of Jim & Pam.

Well, less than a week until the next episode, called "The Duel". Saw a quick preview clip - looks VERY promising.