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JoeJoeJunior wrote:

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Really enjoyed last nights episode. My official prediction as to what will happen:

By the end of the season/beginning of next season, we will see the the sales of Dunder-Mifflin Scranton decline drastically without Michael's presence (since they've already pointed out during several earlier episodes that Michael has to have been doing SOMETHING right since the Scranton branch was the only one doing well) and the branch will be closed. Subsequently, the Michael Scott Paper Company will become more successful and end up moving into the Dunder-Mifflin office space, and Michael will re-hire Dwight, Phyllis, Oscar and the rest of the gang, and we'll be back to the status quo except with the Michael Scott Paper Company instead of Dunder-Mifflin.

I can almost go with that.

Almost.

I don't think we're going to lose David Wallace and corporate. I think you're right up until the branch closing. I think before they close the branch they'll tender a buy-out offer to Michael with the caveat that he come back and run the Scranton branch.

Michael is working (somewhat) right now because he's hungry. If he were the de facto owner with a large payroll I don't think he'd be successful. The corporate safety net is what allows him to be the goofball that he is. If he were in charge he'd be more interested in being liked than making profit and MSPC wouldn't last long. Besides, it's the Corporate Crap that makes The Office what it is - humdrum boring office work. Can't lose that part of the show in the long run.

Mrs Krista Boogie wrote:

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David Wallace likes and respects Michael no matter how much of a goofball he is. He'll ask him to come back and I predict a comeupance for Idris's character.

I'm not sure about the "likes and respects" part of your statement. Understand I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, either. I think Michael is a true enigma for Wallace. David knows Michael is an idiot but he also knows he's a great salesman - he just doesn't understand how those two things can coexist in the same person. Wallace knows Michael's branch is the most successful one, and that, too, fries his brain a bit, and I think he dies a little bit inside when he has to acknowledge Michael's success - not because of his personal feelings for or about Michael, but because he can't reconcile that this type of person could so effectively manage an office. He doesn't dislike Michael, but I don't think he would want to hang out with him. He knows Michael is a good person, but that doesn't necessarily garner respect.

Bottom line, though, Wallace is the CFO. That means that his job is to make sure the company not only survives, but thrives. And if that means he has to have Michael on his team, then so be it. I think David's enough of a businessman to put all personal feelings aside for the good of the company in the long run. And, of course, in true corporate style thinking, what's good for the company is good for David Wallace. He needs to be able to keep DM afloat and make profits continue to rise in order to have another success on his resume. (I'm assuming he already has successes on his resume or he wouldn't be CFO.)

Taking all of that into account, I can see Charles not being fired, but simply being pulled back to corporate in NY. Since Wallace is able to look past personality differences (be they with him personally or between others) and see the professional qualities of an employee I can buy that Charles wouldn't be fired. I can see that Idris would stay on as a recurring cast member as Melora Hardin was in the first season. Wallace can tell Charles to more or less leave Michael alone, but Charles could still be the Regional Manager, constantly exasperated by Michael. That, to me, was actually a great dynamic before they brought in the romance angle between Jan and Michael. Don't get me wrong, the Jan/Michael train wreck was great to watch, but once we got that we sort of lost the employee dynamic.

I've enjoyed every ep of every season, even the "lesser" eps have great moments on rewatching. And the slower eps are necessary to make the better eps, well, better. But my interest has once again been piqued now that we have this MSPC/DM rivalry going. I'm excited each week to see what will happen next. I'm not sure we'll see a resolution this season. It could be that MSPC continues to operate through the end of the season and when next season kicks off we simply see Michael back at DM and we get a synopsis from the cast in talking head moments. Or it could be that next season we see MSPC flourishing and we get to witness, over several weeks, DM negotiate and tender offers to try to get Michael back to the fold. Whatever the outcome and however they show it, I think this show has found its legs again and, barring any writer's meltdowns in the way of plot, that we could have another two or three great seasons of The Office.