The Office-"Todd Packer"

Todd Packer returns on "The Office"
Credit: NBC

My brief thoughts on the next stop on the Michael Scott Farewell Tour are after the jump.

I've never been a fan of Todd Packer. I find the character insufferable to watch because he crosses the line between comedic and just an a-hole. To be fair, he was based on Chris Finch from the British version and he hasn't been given much of a chance to grow out of this character but I still didn't find him funny. An episode that focused on him returning to Scranton to get a desk job had no chance of being my favorite.

In this episode, I found Packer to be as insufferable as usual. He basically walked around the office insulting people in mean and nasty ways. I understand that I'm not supposed to like this character but that doesn't make him any less insufferable. I was glad when the office tricked him into going to Florida, hopefully this means that we will never see him again. This would be amazing, even if it is unlikely.

Even if the character Todd Packer annoyed me what did work about the plotline was the office's reaction to him being around. Jim and Dwight trying to play a prank on  Packer was one of the better parts of the episode. Since they had a common enemy they were able to take their funny prank pulling and use it on Packer. Except what happened is Jim pull the desk drawer prank on an oblivious Dwight. This was classic Jim and Dwight and it amplified what I like about both of those characters. There were other moments, like the Kelly moment "Ryan does it to me all the time" that worked and helped salvage the plotline.

This episode also served as a significant point of growth for Michael. He realized that he had moved on from needing to be friends with the douchebag. When Holly made it clear to him that he didn't need Packer it was a major step. He's grown enough that he didn't need him. He's become a more mature person over the past couple of episodes, which is necessary before he leaves at the end of  the year.

I found the Pam plotline to be cute comedy that worked in its own way. It was a fun little plotline that had some great moments. When Pam and Andy work together to destroy the computer is one of the funniest parts of the episode. The seen with Darrel trying to "negotiate" sick days with Pam was also great. As was the delivery of "Yup, I'm corrupt". The show has found a way to use Pam really well in the past few episodes and I hope that continues for awhile.

Overall, a problematic episode of the office where the focus was insufferable but everything around it was fun.

What did everyone else think?