That was a close one...

It had seemed that The Office had jumped the shark.

That each character was caricaturing itself to the point of absurdity.

That too many characters had come and gone, and that the wrong ones stuck around.

That the writers were grasping at straws, trying to reach loyal and virgin viewers and failing both.

Indeed, it seemed that The Office was mid-air, slow-motion floating into a smash cut of disaster, a quick dive off the cliff to obscurity that is normally reserved for a long, agonizing tumble down the steep rocky face of mediocrity.

And then this happened.

Thank you, whoever was responsible for grabbing the writers' collective neck scruff, placing their face firmly and squarely into the pile of the past few episodes, and shaking firmly, saying "No!" in a stern command to reform.

Pam and Jim needed that. They were getting too cocky.