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With Michael having given his two weeks notice, things are even weirder around the office than usual. And most of those things are Michael. He hasn't given much thought to what he's going to do work-wise after this, but after meeting a candidate to replace him, he decides to start his own paper company. He tries to poach most of the Scranton branch employees, without success, but when new boss Charles catches him altering Dunder Mifflin order forms to read "Michael Scott Paper Company," he has Hank the security guard escort him out. But even that exit has too much dignity for Michael, so he sneaks back in, makes a last-ditch effort to get people to follow him, and gets kicked out again. But this time, Pam follows him. After getting the new copier working, apparently she feels like she can do anything -- including being Michael's sales force.
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!Michael is holding court in the kitchen about how he went to Corporate and ended up quitting, but he keeps getting bogged down in insignificant details. "He finally has a story we really want to hear," Pam THs in frustration. "And he knows it." Finally Michael gets to the point where he said, "You have no idea how high I can fly." Everyone's a little disappointed that he wasn't more harsh. "You guys have thought about this a lot more than I have," Michael chuckles, more accurately than he realizes. Oscar THs, "I love a good quitting story. It makes me feel like I have control over my own life. Gives me hope. Maybe I'll have one of my own someday." Or maybe not. "But I dream..."
After the credits, TH Jim relates some disturbing news: "Surprisingly, there is a very big difference between Michael trying and Michael not trying." The latter Michael, as we now see, wears his tie loose, goofs around a lot, and drinks scotch and Splenda in the bullpen. Stanley suggests Michael go into his office and make some calls about jobs, but Michael's expecting to hear from a headhunter at any time. "A really good headhunter will storm your village at sunset with overwhelming force and cut off your head with a ceremonial knife," Dwight says helpfully. Just then Charles emerges from the conference room to assign Michael the project of going over a client list. Michael accepts the assignment, but crumples the paper as he backs into his office. Classy.
Later, Andy finds Michael in the kitchen as he's sampling Phyllis's leftover pasta (and then spitting it back in the container). He gives Michael a wrapped farewell gift and says he hopes they can work together again someday. When Michael asks about the gift, Andy he admits it's a bottle of wine. "I already have wine," Michael grumps. Try it with some Splenda, maybe.
A middle-aged guy named Isaac shows up at reception, there to interview for Michael's position. "For regional manager, I've decided to go with an outside hire," Charles THs. "For obvious reasons." Ouch! Isaac sits to Michael, who's just hanging out on the reception couch, and says he's come all the way from Philly because there aren't that many places hiring. "It's brutal out there," he says. That seems to somewhat penetrate Michael's scotch and Splenda haze.
There's a new copier in the office, still half-wrapped in blue plastic. Kevin harangues Pam about when it's going to be ready, and she blows him off. Except she does it by engaging him in a battle of wits, which is kind of like getting into a knife fight with a burrito. She THs about "wear-and-tear," which in this office includes things like Creed putting coins in the air vents to pay for his copies, Angela's cat Bandit chewing on the power cord, and Kevin spilling an entire cup of coffee on the glass. But here's the new one, although it's not set up. "So my day just got a little more interesting," she says, holding up a giant manual.