Michael brings Andy, Dwight, and Oscar along to a company shareholder meeting at which he believes he is being honored. Back at the office, Jim struggles with motivating Ryan.

“It’s like what high school kids take to prom on TV.”

As Oscar simplifies the company’s bankruptcy situation to Michael, a company-owned limo arrives at the office to pick up Michael. He brings along guests Andy, Dwight and Oscar, who intends to berate the board of directors for its reckless spending habits.

Ryan begins to slack off more than usual and becomes defiant in light of the Dunder Mifflin’s hopeless situation.  Jim learns that Ryan has been telling the office that he is “not as much in charge” as Michael. Jim spends some time in a familiar stance, peering through the blinds of the kitchen deciding how to make an example out of him.

At the meeting, Andy tries to talk Oscar into publicly standing up to the board. To Michael’s surprise, he and the board are booed when they enter the stage. Tension in the room is high as the crowd shouts out insults and accusations at the board members. The CEO finally thanks Michael for keeping up profits at his branch despite the financial slump. Michael is clearly disappointed by his 10 second shout-out.

Michael tries to defend the company being accused of criminals by saying how nice they are for giving him free food and a limo. As the board leaves the stage for a break, Michael lingers in front of the crowd and promises that the company will solve all of its problems within 45 days as well as going carbon neutral. David tells Michael back in their executive suite that there is no plan at all.

Jim finally takes action against Ryan and tells him that he seems distracted. He walks Ryan to his own private workspace so that he can concentrate: the closet, complete with a desk and computer. Ryan apologizes as Jim shuts the door on him. The rest of the office are stunned that Jim is taking initiative.

“I know a Mexican guy…he knows mathematics as well as bull-fighting…”

Michael invites Oscar upstairs to share his accounting ideas with the board. Oscar freezes up and expresses that he feels they are in the best of hands, embarrassing Michael. When a congressman on the board of directors calls Michael an idiot, he retaliates and is banished from taking the limo back to Scranton.

“Limos are for people who make the company money, not people who lose it…”

Michael bolts from the suite and quickly regroups with Andy, Dwight, and Oscar. They leave the meeting early with a bottle of liquor swiped from upstairs and jump into the limo before it has a chance to leave without them.

Topical, hilarious, and progressive in character development, “Shareholder Meeting” is one of the best episodes of the season. Jim finally expanding his role in the office as he should several episodes ago, and using Ryan as an example, was brilliant. As was the direction as he began to contemplate how he would do so (eyeing Ryan from behind the blinds as Michael would). It was bold to put Dunder Mifflin in such an awkward, hated position this episode, yet seeing Michael reward himself with the limo (especially with a simplistic, righteous justification in his voiceover) was perfectly uplifting. I can’t wait to see how they resolve one of the darkest arcs the show’s seen.