Wow. No wonder all the other viewers think early Michael is such a jerk!

@avclub-b944505fecb12eeb3d3a515109931c74:disqus

I must have missed that one. What was said?

It's weird going back after the finale and seeing how young all the characters look - Jim & Pam especially.

"Health Care" is one of the most underrated episodes. I guess it was somewhat overshadowed by the one before it, but everything about it - from Michael hiding in his car calling the Scranton coal-mining museum, to Dwight's interrogation of Jim in the conference room - is hilarious.

He definitely has one of the most fascinating character arcs in the whole show's run.

I can't watch Kevin in this scene without remembering his failed attempt to be Australian in "Product Recall." "Alligators… kangaroos… dingo babies!"

That slow shake of his head that Ryan gives Pam during their meeting with Michael is probably the most painful moment in the first episode. Novak sells it perfectly.

I love Michael's list of the four people who have most inspired him: "Bob Hope, Abraham Lincoln, Bono, and probably God would be my fourth…" I love the subtle recurrence of Lincoln in these first couple of episodes as someone Michael loves because he instinctively senses Lincoln is someone he's supposed to love. Part…

Oh my God, am I a WOMAN?

Agreed. It has some of the sharpest writing and acting of the first season. I remember the night I first watched it, thinking to myself, "This is one of those episodes, in ten years we'll be reading tributes to it in TV Guide as one of the greatest television episodes ever made." We talk a lot about the unsteadiness…

The first three to five seasons of The Office are probably my favorite television comedy of all time, narrowly edging out Parks & Recreation.

This, exactly.

The way you described "Paranoid Agent," it actually sounds awesome.

Ahh. I just watched the "narcocorrido" music video in Breaking Bad Season 2 (yeah, I'm way behind), and now every time the Spanish language is mentioned, I hear jazzy but ominous Mexican music.

mawwiage

Whoa! That must've been awesome

No, this was in college. Raised by fundies.

A very subtle "Macbeth" reference. Perfect.

This one, "Homer the Great," "Lisa's Rival," "Bart vs. Australia" (the first traveling episode), "A Star is Burns," that one with Principle Skinner… so many classics.