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Against their own wishes, Jim and Dwight have taken over as heads of the party planning committee, and their first job is trying to make it up to Kelly after forgetting her birthday. So far they're both doing a shit job of it. At the same time, Andy is looking for a new relationship, and unwisely decides to pursue a client of Stanley's. The best thing we can say about that is that Stanley's smart enough to get clear before Andy crashes and burns.
The real news is with Michael, who's on a speaking tour of the branches because David Wallace wants him to share the secrets of Scranton's success. Or he wants Scranton to have more success as a result of Michael's absence, one of the two. Pam is going along as his chauffeur/assistant, and is pretty nervous about seeing Karen at the Utica branch. That is, until Karen turns out to be married and pregnant, and able to convincingly simulate a happy reaction when Pam tells her she's engaged to Jim. Michael, jealous of the heaping helping of closure Pam just enjoyed, realizes that he wants the same thing with Holly. So it looks like the road trip is about to be diverted to Nashua. To be continued.
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!Michael is messing around with the PA function on his phone that he just found out about, which has the effect of broadcasting every unamusing thought he has into the bullpen in real time. Imagine if Michael had a Twitter account and insisted on reading it out loud at all times. Except that it's more annoying than it sounds. Finally, after listening to Michael call Toby out as a bed-wetter, Jim enters Michael's office, pretends to look for something under Michael's desk, and surreptitiously snips the wire with the scissors he tucked into his back pocket. "I'll look again tomorrow," he says, leaving Michael to get back to happily broadcasting his stream of consciousness, but only to himself. Win-win-win!
Michael and Pam are at a motel! But extreme care is taken to show that they're staying in separate rooms. After a deceptively brief look at them sitting silently at a breakfast diner, Michael does a parking-lot TH in which he first claims that he and Pam have eloped, then that they robbed a bank, and finally that he has been sent on a speaking tour of the other branches (save Nashua, of course) to share the secrets of Scranton's success. The other two were more likely. Pam's struggles with his luggage in the background are becoming more noticeable, and Michael says he likes to pack heavy. "He brought a sled," she says. She's come along as his driver/assistant, for the travel and for the time-and-a-half overtime for 72 straight hours. As he gets into the back seat, he complains that she's not dressing the part of the hot assistant. That would appear to be too damn bad.
Kelly slams through the office, telling both Jim and Dwight to screw themselves. "You forgot her birthday," Phyllis explains to them. "It was yesterday." Uh-oh.
Dwight and Jim give a joint TH in which they each give their version of how they ended up as joint heads of the party planning committee. Well, you know the history. You should also know that they both hate it. Andy Kelly THs about how disappointed she was yesterday. "I think sometimes people are really mean to the hot, popular girl."
In the car, Pam asks for permission to turn on the radio, but he's being a prima donna about needing either silence or Sam Kinison to prepare. She complains until he offers to talk. She assures him that she's fine humming to herself but then he talks anyway, asking if she's nervous about seeing Karen at the Utica branch, and if that's why she's wearing makeup today. "No!" Pam protests. "I'm not wearing...that...much..." Dammit, Michael's obliviousness always gives out at the worst times. She THs about how she doesn't like the idea of someone hating her. That includes both Al Qaeda and Karen.