Before we get into the main plot, the cold open involves another Jim prank…and it’s an awesome one. He tricks Dwight into thinking a fax is coming from his future self (maybe Dwight teams up with Hiro from Heroes in the future). Future Dwight tells Present Dwight that the coffee is poisoned. Guess what happens? Look at the above picture. I love the look on Stanley’s face…the “I’d smack you if I wasn’t just about to start my crossword puzzle” look.

As stated above, Jan tells Michael that the Scranton branch will be shutting down. The news spreads quickly throughout the Stamford branch as well. The Stamford-ites seem to take it quite well, with the exception of Jim. And, of course, Andy takes extreme pride in the Scranton-ites’ misfortune. “In your face. Suckaaaas!”

“I have a plan, and I am going to save our jobs.” Michael goes to New York try to convince the CFO to keep the Scranton branch. It’s too bad that it wouldn’t have worked if the CFO was there.

Michael and Dwight’s waiting activities include practicing what to say (“AH!”), sharing a one liter bottle of Gatorade, looking through the trash, reclining in a car filled with Funyons, and just walking/sitting around doing nothing.

And then…the twist! It turns out Josh, regional manager of Dunder Mifflin Stamford, has accepted a senior management position at Staples! Jan goes into overdrive and suddenly Stamford is to be absorbed by Scranton instead of the other way around. IN YOUR FACE, ANDY. Hopefully Andy and Karen will bring Call of Duty with them. I think Creed would be good at FPS’s. Jan offers Jim the second highest position at the new Dunder Mifflin Northeast. But I thought Dwight had that spot. I guess Dwight will be pushed to number three. I’d like to see his reaction to that!

Let’s take a look at character reactions to the news of the branch closing and then “re-opening”:

• Kevin, Angela, Phyllis, Roy, Michael, Dwight: Worried. Joy.
• Pam: Acceptance. Acceptance.
• Ryan: Pleased. WHY?!
• Stanley: HAPPY! Ugh.
• Jim: Wow. Wow.
• Andy: HAPPY! ARGHHHHHHH!!!!
• Karen: Ok. Ok.
• Josh: Staples! Too bad, suckas!

One of the funniest parts of the episode is the ending with Michael and Dwight hearing of the good news. They think that they were the reason why Scranton was saved. Take a look at their celebration in front of the CFO’s empty house in the picture above. “Yeah, baby! We did it! How did we do it?” “I don’t know.”

“Nice dress Ryan.” Kelly has invited the entire branch to her Indian community Diwali (aka “Hindu Halloween) celebration. Just like all the other episodes dealing with ethnicity, Michael goes over-the-top in his need to recognize racial differences, calling Kelly one of his “most ethnic” employees. It’s pretty funny that Michael goes out of his way to create special occasions out of very ordinary situations (remember when he mentions “05-05-05″ party that happens every billion years?).

The first part of the episode is very reminiscent of “Diversity Day.” We hear a few black jokes directed at Stanley:

Michael: You know what, Stanley? Come Kwanzaa time, I have got you covered, baby.
Stanley: I don’t celebrate Kwanzaa.
Michael: Wha-really? You should. It’s fun.

I’d like to know where Michael got all of his Indian posters for his “Indian Culture Seminar.” Maybe he got Dwight to go to a ethnic supermarket or something. And I loved Michael’s slide show of famous Indians: Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Apu, M. Night Shyamalan, and Michael kissing Carol (wait, that doesn’t sound very Indian). So what do we learn from Michael’s seminar? Three things: There are billions of people just like Kelly, there are at least three famous Indians, and Diwali is just like the Lord of the Rings.

Is it just me or does Andy look like he’s doing a move in the Thriller music video? That’s all I have to say about the Stamford drunkards.

I found Kelly’s sisters really funny for some reason. There’s something hilarious about little kids making fun of a full grown man who has no control over anything in his life (both at Dunder Mifflin and with Kelly). I do like how he is saving his money to travel and to buy an Xbox. It’d better be an Xbox 360 or he would have to save up that much. Michael spitting up all the Indian food all the time and pretending that it was spicy was funny too.

This episode had elements of The Cosby Show just like the previous episode, “Grief Counseling.” Remember when Theo gives brain teasers to Vanessa and Rudy and makes them do chores for him? Here, Dwight gives brain teasers to Ryan. Unfortunately, Ryan seems to have heard them and knows the answers as well as Dwight does. Dwight’s “Plan Voodoo” = failure (Survivor reference!).

It seems that Ryan has been at Dunder Mifflin for a year and has yet to make a sale as a salesman. This leads me to believe that he has not done anything as a temp. To make his first sale, he seeks the advice of Dwight, who seeks to recruit Ryan into the Dwight Army of Champions.

Dwight, for some reason, takes Ryan to the Schrute family beet farm to see Cousin Mose and to “vanquish fear!” Tasks at the farm include stealing a beet seed from Dwight’s hand, planting said beet seed in “bull cr*p” (just as Dwight plants his seed in Ryan…lal), answering questions like “what is the Dharma Initiative,” wrestling Mose to the ground, and getting into a coffin that is supposed to be filled with animals. This must be why Dwight is the best midsize paper salesman in the Northeast?

While Michael waits in line for what seems to be over an hour, Pam is forced to take notes on what Michael is doing all day for corprate to analyze. I’m sure it wouldn’t take much analysis to find out that Michael is a complete idiot.

Following Ryan’s eventual failure at the his first sale, Dwight and Ryan seem to be friends (or friend-like) after Dwight reveals that he just wanted to be friends with him, after failing with Jim. I’m sure Ryan still thinks Dwight is a nut.

Dwight: Just think, that temp agency could have sent you anywhere.
Ryan: I think about that all the time.