Its going to be a very good final season.  A few thoughts:

Its going to be a very good final season.  A few thoughts:

That is hilarious.  I'm still laughing to myself.  Perfect!

Right.

Oops.  One criticism:  you can argue that this has happened before, but last night it was glaring— the "A" story (Jim and Cathy) totally ignored the "documentary" camera crew.   As if anything was going to happen with a camera crew in the room.  And as if Jim would need to worry that anyone might think he was…

I did not expect to be in the minority here.  I thought this and last week's ep were easily and by far the best of the season.  I actually watched last night's twice, and laughed more the second time.

I don't get the hate for Tate.  She WAS funny in the season finale.  I think the producers were right.  Whether she could have overcome this season's poor writing is a different issue.

I liked it.  I was encouraged.  I laughed out loud.

Best ep of the season so far (but let's face it: we're mostly all grading on a curve at this point).
I'd go so far as to say this would have been an average ep in Season 7.

It'll only work if it's shot in B/W in front of a live audience and they dub in a laughtrack.  America is hungry for this now.

Josh Groban?

I think they also used the distinctive sound of an empty wine bottle when he crashed his bike in Stamford.

I agree except for the "definitely driving drunk" part.  I thought he might be, but there was a clue or two to indicate that he was putting on an act to help his early exit strategy.  In fact, I thought his obvious ache to get home to the family also argued against Jim actually being drunk.

I don't think there's any reason Jim, Pam and Dwight couldn't work post-Michael Scott.  I think it's just a writing thing.  There's no inherent reason they couldn't play off Robert or Andy (especially a resurrected "Jerk" Andy) the same way they did off Michael.

They let Jim be Jim a little.  It was a relief to finally see him get this kind of attention.  Next week he gets caught skipping work by faking jury duty.  Should be a good show ("should" be, we'll see).

They wouldn't strip in front of their co-workers.
Unless they thought RC wanted them to.  That scene showed what scared, soul-less rabbits do, and juxtaposed it to Jim getting fed up and bolting his domineering boss's party.  I thought it was pretty effective story telling.

There were a couple of low points, though.  The cold open left me cold—almost as bad as the "dog in the car" open from earlier this season.

Maybe the best episode this season.  Even the Andy/Erin arc was better. But the highlight for me was Jim vs. Robert California.  I found myself actually caring about Andy/Erin, and rooting for Jim to get out of the party, really feeling his frustration and serious desire to ditch California's dark little puppet show.…

Maybe they can write a sister for Pam into the story.  Dwight falls for her, they have their own "Niagara," and now Jim and Dwight are family.  NBC does a spin-off called "The Family," a documentary-style comedy that airs for a few seasons and is well-received.  Then the BBC does their own version, which lasts 8…

Awesome!