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Michael's all excited about the festivities to celebrate his 15-year anniversary with the company, but that's about to go on the back burner. After all this time that he's been reporting directly to David Wallace, the company finally fills the position once held by Jan and then Ryan. Michael's new boss is Charles Minor, played by Idris Elba, and he's got even less time for Michael's nonsense than David Wallace does. Which, considering that David Wallace suddenly has no time for Michael at all, is very little time indeed. Michael's already resenting having a boss at all, but when Charles cancels his 15th-anniversary party, Michael throws a conniption and storms off to New York to confront Wallace in person.
Meanwhile, Jim has had the bad luck to pick this day of all days to respond to a dress-code memo from Dwight by wearing a tuxedo to the office. So Charles immediately thinks he's an idiot, and oddly enough, everything Jim manages to say to him only reinforces the impression. And in a C-plot, Kelly and Angela have competing crushes on Charles. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out.
When Michael gets to Corporate, he reads Wallace the riot act about his service and sacrifice and how he deserves more. Wallace concedes Michael's point, gives in, gives him everything he wants. So Michael quits.
Seriously.
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!In the conference room with Michael and Pam, Dwight is suggesting ways to celebrate Michael's 15-year anniversary with the company, beginning with a 15-minute round of applause and a 15-minute "moment" of silence. Michael likes it, but Jim has his doubts. "Is it classy enough?" he wonders. Oh, and Jim is looking super-classy, in a tuxedo and his hair in Big Haircut mode. Apparently he's been pushing the "classy" angle all day, at least judging by Dwight's impatience with the word. "You're just agreeing with him because he's wearing a tux," Dwight protests to Michael. Oh, and lest you get any ideas, the tux isn't to mock Michael's 15th anniversary: it's to mock Dwight's recent memo about the dress code. We don't get to see the memo, but I'm sure it strongly encourages heavy reliance on puke-tones. Back in the meeting, Michael keeps shooting down every idea Dwight has, until Jim rephrases one and he loves it. Dwight gets up and storms out, which the others agree is not classy. "Déclassé," Jim adds. Can't get more classy than bringing the French.
Idris Elba, whom viewers of The Wire will recognize as Stringer Bell, presents himself at reception and tells Pam he's Charles Minor, and he's there to see Michael. Pam pages Michael and unwisely puts him on speaker so the guest can hear him say, "Minor? I hardly know her!" After waiting for a laugh that never comes, Michael comes out to greet Charles almost literally like royalty, demanding a round of applause from the troops in the bullpen. Michael wants everyone in the break room for a surprise, and as Dwight escorts Charles back there, Jim tells Michael he wishes he knew the new boss was coming in today, so he could have brought a change of clothes. And maybe the eggbeater he usually combs his hair with. Michael not getting Jim's embarrassment, then goes and herds everyone from the break room -- where Dwight is boring everyone with a history of Scranton -- into the conference room for the real surprise: a spread of bagels cut into Cs, in honor of Charles. "Took me all night," he boasts.
Michael THs that he met Charles at Corporate last week, and they had an instant connection. Indeed, there's a little silent footage of Charles being introduced to Michael and shaking hands with him like a normal person, which to Michael probably feels like an instant bond. Plus, as Michael adds, the last people in that job were Jan, "My lover," and Ryan, "My best friend." So he's looking forward to the relationship with his new boss. I'm sure it will combine the best of the two.