Grid Effect

It is imperative for The Office that the writers have the Stamford and Scranton branches merge, as has been rumored. Not for the Jim-Pam romance saga to play out, but rather for the comedic benefit of everyone involved. Jim playing the straight man is the perfect counter to the absurdity that is Michael and Dwight. Without him to provide some levity the atmosphere at the Scrantion branch is almost as depressing as it is comical. I understand the concept of dark humor and all, but everyone playcating Dwight and Michael for 22 minutes with no real punchline tends to drag. This was the first episode I felt relieved whenever they cut to Stamford.
As far as the love triangle goes, I really do not want to see Jim and Pam hook up, get married, start dating etc. until the series finale. It does seem like the core audience of the show wants otherwise but when this happened on Friends it just killed the show. The writers started focusing on Ross and Rachel as opposed to comedy, and by the time the third season came around it was virtually nauseating to watch. I think the writers for The Office  are too good for this and I am optimistic that even after the merge it will be a while before Jim and Pam are an “item”, but if they go down that path their pretty much going to alienate the 18-49 male demographic, which they may or may not need.
(To be fair, by the time the fifth season rolled around Friends had put the finishing touches on the figurative castration of their three male leads. Something that is rather unlikely for The Office, given the context of the series. Never the less, having “Ross and Rachel” “Joey and Rachel” and “Monica and Chandler” be the focal point of essentially every episode was really unappealing).

High points of the show:

-Dwight conjuring up the co-worker robot and designing it for 3/4 the size of an average worker so he is easily controlled if he turns on the employees.

-Pam, Ryan and Kevin all passing off storylines from films as their own tragic stories, then Michael catching on when Kevin tries to use Weekend at Bernies.
-Dwight sharing the story of how he re-absorbed his unborn twin brother’s fetus.

-Michael storming out of the meeting room after Toby mentioned the bird that flied into the glass doors.

Low Points:

-The bird funeral scene, which demonstrated how awkward is not always funny.

-The under-utilization of Ed Helms.

Keep in mind that despite this being the worst episode of the series, it was still funnier than any other sitcom currently running. I just have high expectations, which is a good thing.