[S1E13] There's Something About Hamburger Mary's

Best Quote: "I am trying to be more optimistic in life. I've got what, 20, 30 more years left? And my family history says I have less. Now, the old Stanley Hudson would have found something to complain about with this actress [Hilary Swank]. But that's no way to live life. Look at this healthy, sexy, pretty, strong, young woman. Come on people! She. Is. Hot." -Stanley Hudson

[S1E13] There's Something About Hamburger Mary's

It's smart storytelling. Jim himself is about to burst if he doesn't tell something. As a wise song once noted(Opens in a new tab), "When you love somebody and bite your tongue, all you get is a mouth full of blood."

But there's a stunningly perfect moment hidden in this episode that foreshadows Ryan's character arc, and kind of explains everything you need to know about him. I'm telling you, I think about this moment like once a week. It's amazing and telling and OK here it is.

This is perhaps the closest Dunder Mifflin comes to truly shutting down. As a person in media well versed with layoffs and cataclysms, there's something truly sweet in Michael's instinct to distract the office from the looming end (that, of course, never comes). He sparks up a murder mystery game of Belles, Bourbon, and Bullets, which seems like a mashup of Clue and Dungeons & Dragons. Meanwhile Oscar steadily reports bad news for the company. Jim tries to stop the shenanigans but Michael rightly yells, "They need this game."

Michael is on his way out and the brief, resplendent DeAngelo Vickers era is on its way in. You see the beginnings of Will Ferrell's overconfident oddball character. The introductory monologue alone is wonderful, strange character building: "Little bit about myself, I love the American Southwest, for starters. You may call them Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, I call them heaven. I have a peanut allergy, something I live with, it's a part of me. I've learned to cope with it. What else...I'm just as comfortable at the ball game as I am at the opera..."

Best Quote: "I am a huge Woody Allen fan. Although I've only seen "Antz." But I'll tell you something, what I respect about that man is that when he was going through all of that stuff that came out in the press...about how "Antz" was just a ripoff of "A Bug's Life," he stayed true to his films. Or at least the film that I saw, which, again, was "Antz". Thing is...I thought "A Bug's Life" was better, much better than "Antz." Point is, don't listen to your critics. Listen to your fans." -Michael

It's strangely beautiful and sad when Pam says: "The thing about Jim, is when he's excited about something, like the Office Olympics, he gets really into it, and he does a really great job. But the problem with Jim is that he works here, so that hardly ever happens." 041b061a72