[Apocryphon]

It could also simply be the writers being inconsistent with their own character, or maybe having a guest writer or director for that specific episode.

To add to the previous comment, Michael was also well known for making bad choices that did damage to his own life.

[wgerard]

Yeah, I mean of course that’s a possibility. I looked it up, and apparently Steve Carrell wrote the episode in question. It’s not too wild to imagine that he used the opportunity to present his own character as more than just a bumbling oaf.

But then again, Michael having an inconsistently high emotional IQ is a recurring theme. When he’s in “sales mode”, he’s really good at making an emotional connection with people and making them feel like they’re buying from a friend.

I dunno. It’s an interesting conundrum the series presents and obviously doesn’t dig into too deeply since it’s a sitcom. Michael is sometimes unnaturally attuned to someone’s feelings and other times extremely oblivious to them.