Michael's money woes were the talk of the office, but one of the evening's sweetest moments between pairs came when Oscar showed off his mad PowerPoint skillz while helping Michael understand his money problems (caused in part by purchases like the $1,200 Core Blaster Extreme). He stood by Michael as they conference-called Jan to tell her about Michael's plight (this after Michael called him a ''tool''). Jan's following phone tirade sent Michael running from his problems right toward a freight train, which he had much trouble hopping. (But he effortlessly got in an apropos shout-out to Soul Asylum and their hit ''Runaway Train.'' Right on!) Meanwhile, Dwight left the office to moan some more over Angela. Unable to stand any more of down-in-the-dumps Dwight, Jim ventured out into the hallway, sat down, and told him why he left Scranton (Pam) in another of the night's sincere, genuine moments. But those emotions can only last so long in The Office, so just as Dwight was about to reach out, Jim was gone — back inside to lay a breathtaking smooch on Pam. Yay, Office love! A concerned Jan rushed to Michael's side too (after throwing her Porsche keys at accountant-turned-valet Oscar). One more for sincere, genuine moments: She found Michael on his freight train bound for nowhere and vowed to stick by him as he had stuck by her. But it's a sitcom after all, so they walked off together, side by side, with Michael asking Jan to not sell her ''cute'' breast implants in response to their money problems. And Dwight's broken heart finally seemed to be on the mend as he returned to his desk and gave a ruler shove to the encroaching paper pile from Jim's desk.

But where do we go from here? There's been a great deal of character development (and tender moments) in the four hour-long episodes that have started off this season. Can they keep it up when they return to the 30-minute episodes next week? And where's the extremely competent, maybe even talented, Michael Scott of seasons yore? He hasn't been able to catch a break yet this season: He's broke, his snack baskets failed, and he's wrecked two cars. I sure hope he gets a chance to kick some smarmy, 5 o'clock-shadowed, former-Temp butt soon! And I hope it's not too long before we find out what broke up Scrantonicity!

What do you think? What did you like last night, and what are you looking forward to when the show goes back to 30 minutes?

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