I really enjoy the Pete and Erin banter here, and the time taken to reflect on Erin and Andy's relationship. You've hit on some pretty profound truths here with the idea that they were often best when they weren't together - they loved each other without necessarily being a good couple, which is a hard thing to come to grips with. And YES for giving Pete some real back story.

The accountants plot is fantastic and very much needed to stay close to canon - calling out Lipton was probably my favorite Kevin moment of the series.

There's a surprising amount of comedy in the mural plot - Dwight being turned on by a vengeful Pam is a little shudder-inducing but also pretty darn funny.

Also, something I hadn't really considered before that you highlighted in the mural section: a lot of this really is on Val for not attempting to deal with it and to a greater extent on Andy for not being there to deal with it. I feel like in canon the focus is on the fact that Jim wasn't there to help, and the fact that this is no longer about him being an absentee husband shines some light on how much the people with professional, rather than emotional, obligations here completely botch this. The situation really does end up escalating basically because there's no one with the capacity or willingness to discipline anyone at the branch right now.

This... is a more pleasant use of Brian so far. I will restrain a further rant there.

Author's Response:

Thanks for the compliments!

As I've said, I don't ship Andy/Erin, but I completely understand why many do.  They are really cute!  It just falls apart from an objective point of view, IMO.  Also, as I've said, Pete would have been more liked if they did more with him, so hopefully I offered on that front.

The accountants' friendship is pure and wholesome and probably the strongest pillar of S9.

And, yes, both the show and I reveal Dwight's "interests" when it comes to women.  His love to Angela makes more sense now.

What you've said about the mural plot fascinates me; I may have, unintentionally, revealed some cracks in the inner-workings of DM as a whole.  Toby wants to do something, but he's restricted by the very policies he enforces.  Val, despite her sympathies, considers it a non-priority because the productivity of warehouse takes precedence.  And Nellie is doing everything she can, but in a position like hers, she has very little control; she only assigned the project and has no authority over Frank.  Dwight is the only one who can help because he has grown throughout the show to have TOTAL disregard of power structure when it comes to vengeance, which isn't smart but it's tactical.

And yeah, Brian and the lunch will show up next chapter, but it'll be less uncomfortable, or more?  It's more uplifting, at least.

Thanks for the review, as always!