I thought it was great too, but apparently this episode was really divisive.  Go figure.

"who in the office is even remotely sympathetic to or on Andy's side there? "

Even the text of the review itself suggests that Erik thoght that the episode was better than a C-.  That grade seems out of left field.

Manny is starting to become a real problem.  He's the flattest character on the show.  His one-note schtick was tiresome last season- I now cringe whenever he's in a scene.  Hopefully they use puberty as an excuse to develop his character into more than the "flamboyant old soul" character. 

I thought that it was hilarious that Creed was genuinely happy that Gabe was back- "Hey, it's the Birdman!"  The fact that Creed likes and remembers Gabe drives home how weird Gabe really is.  In an odd way, Creed's joy did more to establish Gabe's credibility as a character than most of what Gabe did in Season 8.

The other great thing about this episode (and this season) is that David Wallace is himself again.  He was one of my favorite secondary characters.

It wasn't ridiculous for a Dwight story.  Dwight has always been a borderline unbelieveable character, even in the glory seasons.

The Jim-Pam arc is doing something that t.v. shows rarely do- exploring what it really means to go from a job to a career.

The Dwight-Angela scene with his Aunt was more low-key than a large majority of the Dwight story lines over the past 5 seasons (during Dwight's transformation into full-blown cartoon character).

I agree.  I'm surprised how divisive this episode is. I thought that it was great.

I couldn't disagree with your review more.  This episode was the best Office episode in years, an easy A.  It actually felt like a vintage Office episode- it was funny, but it wasn't zany and it had a touch of realism.  The characters actually acted like people instead of caricatures.
 
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