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CoconutPhone wrote:

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Kevin's story was funny BUT it had been done before: "Seinfeld" did the same basic thinking when Kramer was mistaken for a mentally challenged man after getting a root canal where the drugs slurred his speech.

I don't blame Jim for holding off at all. You want your proposal to be special and that would have totally tainted it, regardless if it's part of wacky Dunder-Miflin life. Not a deal breaker though since they're still together and he cna propose later. Angela's acceptance was GOLD. Loved that it was Phyllis of all people who caught her and Dwight together.

Agreeance on the Seinfeld pre-empt. Seinfeld did it much better though, because there were circumstances besides Kramer's weirdness that caused Mel Torme to think he was mentally challenged. It seemed really really fake to me with Kevin. He's slow talking and I hate his character, but no one would really think he's a retard, but that's how the show played it up.

I also agree about Jim holding off. I thought it was funny how Andy cut him off at the pass unintentionally.

Overall though, I thought this was a really weak episode. The biggest problem with The Office in the past couple of seasons has been the loss of subtle humor and the relatively realistic backstory. No competent HR person is going to honestly believe one of the accountants is retarded. No office party is going to feature a working ferris wheel, much less a party put together the day of. No one is going to break into a new coworker's car and put a live racoon in it. It was ridiculous, pretty much across the board tonight.

And Michael's over the top antics keep getting worse. I think he was more over the top tonight than in the Phylis' Wedding Episode (a feat I wouldn't have thought possible). Where he used to be awkward around women to good effect (like the purse girl in S1), now he asks like a mental patient stalker.

I didn't like the HR girl role at all, either. Once again, it's a matter of subtlety. Evidently they want to create some tension between Jan (who is not having Michael's baby, which was pretty funny) and a sane, likeable female character who seems perfect for Michael. But why not introduce her character with a touch of patience, rather than establishing right away that she's just perfect for Michael, the way that male/female best friends are just perfect for each other (though they don't realize it!) in every romantic comedy since 1980. The whoe thing just really seemed rushed for no reason. Why not establish her as a character that Michael realizes he has some interest in right away, but doesn't necessarily start stalking.
Ryan's predictable downfall also seemed sort of rushed, like they realized the script was too long so they decided to cut out parts to make it fit in an hour. But, then again, the whole episode seemed to rushed, like they were desperately trying to tie up loose ends and give every character a bit. It almost reminded me of some terrible sit-com reunion show filmed 20 years after the show went off air, and they try to cram in all the "where they are now" stories in too short a time period.

I still haven't totally given up on this show. I like some aspects of it, and I like some of the characters. The Office UK is my all-time favorite show, so I'll probably keep watching long after I should just quit. But it's really quite sad that The Office US has become such a bloated mess.