The Office s07e18 review

Remember Chris from the UK Office? He was awful but I believed him as a character. Brent telling him to 'fuck off' was one of the greatest moments of TV ever. Todd Packer is just annoying. I know he's supposed to be, but he's too over the top to be believed.

But, sadly, most of this episode was about Packer coming back to the sales force after many years on the road. The whole office (bar Michael) hated having him back. They tried to tell Michael how awful he was but he was having none of it until right at the end where Packer insulted Holly. Michael has shown increased self awareness in the past few episodes. In 'Threat Level Midnight' he accepted mockery of his film with good grace (eventually) and here we're shown Michael rejecting Packer - a man he's looked up to since season one. This is all because he's leaving at the end of this season and they need to give him a happy ending. I think its working well. Dwight and Jim teamed up (always fun to watch) to get rid of Packer which worked, we think, so looks like Packers gone.

The real humour for this episode came with Pam getting a new computer for reception. Erin was happy at first but soon saw that the rest of the staff were jealous. She gave the computer to Andy, who had to give in back to Erin. Andy was upset so he and Pam conducted a scheme where Andy would break his computer, she would order a new one but they'd make it look old. It was a simple plot but it worked well, Pam giving some great lines. 'I'm full on corrupt!' 

This wasn't a great episode, there were a few laughs but I'm finding it hard to have the willpower to talk about the episode at any length - never a good sign. Packer came and went, Jim and Dwight had some moments but that's about it.

SIX THUMBS UP

watch the Office, yeah? The Office: Season One, The Office: Season Six all that