This week on The Office, Jim stole Dwight’s stapler and Dwight, perhaps in a culmination of four seasons of anti-social behavior, stabbed Jim in the carotid with a letter opener – resulting in, thanks to the direction of Buffy the Vampire Slayer-creator Joss Whedon, a Japanese cinema-grade geyser of blood that Michael then slipped on for a few extra laughs.

Okay, that never happened. I mean, Whedon did direct the episode, but nobody died. Unfortunately. I say “unfortunately,” because something really needs to happen soon to save The Office from itself and orgies of violence are almost never dull unless Jean-Claude Van Damme is involved. The hour-long episodes that started this four season were a drag, both literally and figuratively, but even the return to the half-hour format offers little hope since the fact that the show has no direction is becoming more and more apparent with each new episode. Consider this week’s episode:

Stanley – the “urban” sales rep, as Michael would call him – decides to take a new job at the Utica office when Jim’s ex, Karen Filippelli, poaches him from the Scranton office. Michael reacts interestingly to this news; while he is emotionally distraught over the breaking up of his office family, he’s more concerned with the breaking up of the familial illusion he’s created for himself in this environment. One can’t help but wonder if he is the child of volatile divorce, since he’s so desperate to keep his image of what a healthy office is together.

To get back at Karen, Michael, Dwight, and a reluctant Jim travel to Utica to pull a few pranks that include silly string, gasoline and rubber stink bombs, and Molotov cocktails. Dwight also seems intent upon stabbing security guards in the eyes with pink chalk. Seriously, when will this guy shoot up the office? Are the producers waiting until the season finale to give us what we’ve long been expecting?

By the episode’s end, Stanley agrees to remain at Scranton and admits to the camera that he never intended to leave either. Stanley just wanted a raise, and wonders aloud if maybe Michael is some sort of genius given how he called his bluff. That’s it. That’s the whole episode. Oh, there was some humorous stuff about an exclusive “Finer Things” club run by Pam, but that proved just as pointless. That’s actually the problem with so much of The Office these days: It’s pointless. It’s funny, yeah, but where is it going? Now that Jim and Pam are together, there’s no dramatic through-line to tune in for each week. Dwight’s quest to reunite with Angela is certainly entertaining enough, but is Dwight a strong enough character for viewers to cling to the same way they did “Jam”? All that’s left is Michael to keep us interested and, in the end, as amazing as Steve Carell is, he’s not enough; Michael’s character needs to evolve, and he just isn’t. At least not this season.

The US version of The Office proved for three seasons that it could succeed where the British version never dared going – full episode orders and past two seasons – but it needs to quickly reevaluate its ability to survive indefinitely in what might be an unnatural state for the show. We’re barely a quarter of the way into the latest seasons, so I’ve got my fingers crossed this won’t be the last one I tune in for.

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