The Office: Test The Store

What Happened, Yo!:

-It is the test launch day of the Sabre Store and Dwight has been pulling out all the stops in an effort to impress Nellie. He has Erin dress up as a hipster and camp out all night to drum up some positive buzz and gets Kathy to flirt with the bloggers. Meanwhile, Ryan has been working on a big presentation. Trouble brews a bit when Jim talks to Pam on a phone different from the Sabre Arrowhead Phone he had been given and the sight is captured by bloggers. More trouble brews when Ryan has a massive panic attack right before the presentation, and despite efforts by Jim and Dwight to talk him down (Dwight acts like Kelly and Jim acts like Ryan's mom), Ryan can't handle the stress and flees back home to Scranton. Jim is forced to do the presentation, even though Nellie is sure he'll ruin it. Jim puts on the presentation, and though it's rough at first, he quickly gains momentum and the presentation gets massive applause by the crowd in the store. For his success, Nellie makes Dwight her Vice President.

-Meanwhile a group of seniors try to enter the store and Dwight gets Erin to chase them off, fearing they'll scare away the youth audience they're seeking. Erin then leaves for a while to talk to one of the old ladies and they seem to connect. The old lady tells her to forget about Andy if he would reject a girl like her (I'm mentioning this plot thread because I read an interview that indicates this will be an ongoing plot thread).

-Back in Scranton, Andy shows up to work with a black eye, after getting punched by a 12-year-old girl who (with some other kids) had been bugging Pam. Based on his story, the office becomes worried that there's a gang problem, so Andy gets Toby to teach self-defense. But when the girl and her mom show up to apologize to Andy, the rest of the office ridicules him. When Kelly (who used to be a 12-year-old girl bully) starts attacking Toby as part of the class, Andy steps in and gets punched again. The office laughs again, but he puts them in their place by saying he was trying to protect people and then goes off, where he feels better after taking some pain medication and a bottle of wine.

I Like This: Test The Store was another mainly strong installment in this revitalizing Florida arc. Jim and Dwight have always made a great combination, and they worked well together here, as they first tried to help Ryan, and then tried to put on the presentation without him. The entire presentation scene was great, and I enjoyed the way that they actually allowed Jim (And by extension, Dwight) to be successful, even with the ridiculousness of the presentation and let Dwight's quest to become VP end in success. Of course, there's bound to be complications coming up, but for now Dwight's triumphant and it's a good thing to see. I also liked how the show handled Ryan, tackling him in a way that's consistent with his character history and making his panic attack after being giving some legitimate responsibility funny and realistic to the character. I also liked Erin trying to be a hipster, or at least Dwight's version of a hipster. (Her pronounciation of Zooey Deschanel was excellent.).

But...: The stuff in Scranton was mostly weak with a few exceptions (Creed, Kevin's line about the bathtub of electricity, Kelly attacking Toby). And once again, new series regular Nellie is less of a character and more of a plot device.

The Bottom Line: Test The Store is another strong episode that shows how good this Florida arc has been for The Office. Hopefully they can keep up the momentum as we head into the last parts of this arc and the last part of the season.

Grade: 84% (Great)

Memorable Moments

-Nellie: "I came from dirt. No, lower than- what's lower than dirt?" Dwight: "Loam, mantle, magma, outer core, inner core?" Nellie: "Yes, thank you, Loam. Bloody loam I came from."

-Dwight: "Dossier on bloggers. Bloggers are gross. Bloggers are obese. Bloggers have halitosis. (Looks at Jim) You're gonna love them." I should be offended by this, but I'm not.

-Dwight: "Packer, you'll be the sexual predator who has come to prey on the trendy teenage girls who are obsessed with the pyramid."

-Erin: "Uh, yeah. I already bought my Pyramid, but I don't wanna leave yet. I haven't had so much fun since seeing (looks at cards) Zoo-ey Des-chanel at the Catcharella music festival."

-Kevin: "I woke up at 4 AM by accident, in time for the paper to be delivered. Guess what? It's not a kid on a bike: it's a man in a car!

-Jim: "Is there anything I could do? Maybe pretend to be Chuck?" Dwight: "You could've pretended to be Chuck. I begged you to pretend to be Chuck. But you chose to be yourself and you can no longer be Chuck!"

-Toby: "In a real crisis situation, you're not gonna have time to think so just remember: I.A.A.T.G.: It's All About The Groin."

-Dwight as Kelly: "Ooo Ryan, huh. You're so smart. You're smarter than Mark Zuckerberg and those google guys all combined. Heeheehee." Ryan: "You're so ignorant. You barely know what you're talking about. So ridiculous. You really need to read a couple books." Dwight as Kelly: "What's a book?"

-Dwight: "Why are you just standing there? Go to a nearby store and get him a yellow or green sports drink!"

-Jim gives the presentation: "Time. Space. Gender. There are no rules anymore. All boundaries are breaking down in the wake.. of the infinite future. The only thing tha- the only thing that remai- the only thing that remains are the things that have stood the test of time: love, values, and of course: the Pyramid. The strongest shape ever constructed. A shape that fits all other shapes inside of it. No, that's-" Dwight: "It's true." Jim: "This is the future because this is the past. I've been through a lot of issues in my life. I've seen drug addiction, unemployment. I've been in a relationship that tore my heart apart without me ever being able to understand that it was love that drove tha pain. When I was 10, my parents took me to Disney World and I cried the whole time. I was not able to comprehend the bauty that was before me. I just wanted to go home. This is what the Pyramid will do to you. It has the USB Port. Wireless!... will be available in 2013! You can play anything from Chuck to Cars 2. With the Pyramid, you have the connection to everything.. in time and space". (Stands for a second before being cued to spin and fall to the floor. Ryanappears on the Pyramid screen). Ryan: "Sabre:  It's time to come home."

-Dwight: "Ok, Ok, I'll be the first to admit it: we could've integrated more Chuck into the presentation."