Recap / The Office USS 5 E 17 Lecture Circuit Part 2

In the conclusion, Michael, who still carries a torch for Holly, diverts from his planned Dunder Mifflin lecture tour schedule to visit the Nashua branch just to see her (even though he was expressly told not to go to Nashua). Jim and Dwight hold the belated birthday party for Kelly. Kevin and Oscar learn some disturbing facts about Angela and her relationship with her cats.

Tropes:

• All Part of the Show: After Michael has a breakdown in the middle of the Nashua lecture and literally crawls out of the conference room, Pam gamely tries to recover.
  Pam: (somewhat stiltedly) That was weird, huh?...It's all part of the presentation...It was confusing, right? Because confusing situations happen to us all the time in our jobs...I'm just trying to bridge the gap between what just happened and the fact that I'm going to be doing the rest of the presentation.
• Crazy Cat Lady: The peak of Angela's portrayal as this. When Oscar, Kevin and Meredith watch her on her home webcam while she thinks no one is looking, they find out that she cleans her cats by licking their fur.
• Cringe Comedy: Michael's Nashua lecture, where he confronts Holly's boyfriend A.J., then has a very undignified breakdown in front of the entire staff. Coupled with Andy's near-assault of Julia in part 1, and Angela's scene with her cats, this is one of the cringiest episodes of the whole series.
• Don't Explain the Joke: Pam as she reads Michael's lecture script from index cards.
  Pam: (Southern accent) Sales is like a box o' chocolates—you never know which vendor you’re gonna get. (Beat) Forrest Gump.
• Exact Words: Jim asks Dwight to recount a birthday he remembers enjoying. Dwight begins telling the story of his own birth.
• Former Teen Rebel: Dwight discovers that Kelly spent some time in juvenile detention as a teen and confronts her over it. She admits she stole her ex-boyfriend's father's boat because she "thought it’d be really romantic, like Thelma & Louise, but with, like, a boat."
• Green-Eyed Monster: Upon learning that Holly is dating a Nashua sales rep named A.J., Michael is genuinely hurt and derails his own presentation to interrogate A.J. about the relationship. That A.J. is a fairly nice, unobjectionable guy just makes it more awkward.
• Idiot Ball: After having worked with her for over 4 years, and even with Kelly's personal file on them, neither Jim nor Dwight can spell her first name.
• "Ray of Hope" Ending: After reading and deleting the letter, Pam tells Michael that Holly still has feelings for him.
• Romantic Runner-Up: As this is the beginning of the arc that leads to Michael marrying Holly, A.J. ultimately becomes one.
• The Unsolved Mystery: We will never know the real content of "Dear Michael" document.
• Shout-Out:
  • The beginning of Michael's Nashua lecture is a dizzying hurricane of movie references.
    Michael: Good morning, Viet-Nashua! Sales. Sales is what bwings us together today. How do we deal with clients who say, "Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn… about paper" and get them to "Show us the money!"
  • Angela says her new cat's father was in Meet the Parents.
• Stylistic Suck: Jim and Dwight's attempts at hosting a party for Kelly as the new Party Planning Committee heads. The balloons are only filled up a tiny amount and taped over random spots in the conference room, and Dwight makes a banner that just says "IT IS YOUR BIRTHDAY." When they present her with a cake, it is a store-bought cake without any decorations on it. Even when Dwight does decorate it, he spells Kelly's name wrong.
  Jim: "It is your birthday, period."
  Dwight: It’s a statement of fact.
  Jim: Not even an exclamation point?
  Dwight: This is more professional. It’s not like she discovered a cure for cancer!
• What the Hell, Hero?: Michael finds a file on Holly's computer which is a draft letter to him. Pam is naturally aghast that he copied it onto a USB.
• Written-In Absence: While Holly is an important part of the episode, she's off on a corporate retreat, so Amy Ryan doesn't appear at all.