The Office – Stress Relief Review

February 2, 2009 at 5:57 pm (Review, T.V.)

Well a bold move by NBC seemed to have paid off really well. There was no new episode of The Office this last Thursday. Instead they followed the Super Bowl with a one hour episode advertised as being full of guest stars. Not being one for big guest stars, I was a little worried. Fortunately these guests (Jack Black, Cloris Leachmen, and Jessica Alba) were confined to an in show movie. But more on that later.

The basis of the episode was Michael finally realizing that he is the main cause of stress for all of his employees. Of course it’s not as simple as someone walking up and telling him. Dwight, as safety officer, decides that real life experience is the best way to teach his fellow Dunder Mifflin-ites (like that? I just made it up) how to survive a fire in the office. During the chaos Angela and a cat create one of the funniest moments ever on the show, that literally had me laughing out loud (the first of many times this happened this episode). The ensuing panic causes Stanley to suffer a heart attack. Of course once Dwight exposes himself as the mastermind behind the whole thing, he is quickly reprimanded for his actions and is called to New York for a serious hearing with CFO David Wallace. It was interesting to finally see someone penalized for their ridiculous antics in the office. The scene at Dunder Mifflin Headquarters is absolutely hilarious. The end result is Dwight having to issue a public apology and have it signed off by all of his co workers. Of course his apology is as devoid of emotion and sincerity as humanly possibly, meaning that no one wants to sign off on it. This keeps Dwight busy for the rest of the episode, trying to come up with ways to trick people into signing off on his apology.

Michael on the other hand, tries to relax all of his employees, thinking that Dwight is the reason for all of their stress. Of course Michael is the reason for everyone’s stress at work, and the truth finally comes out during a guided meditation (that I am pretty sure reveals Michael’s hidden drug use). Michael decides that the reason everyone is stressed around him is not because of his complete incompetence, but because his employees don’t have the courage to say what they really think of him, leading to one of his best/worst ideas ever; The Roast of Michael Scott.

Meanwhile Jim and Pam are dealing with the issue of Pam’s parents going through the begging stages of a separation. Pam’s Dad is staying with her and Jim, resulting in Mr. Beasley talking with Jim about the issue more than Pam. When he makes it known that he plans on separating from his wife (my writing would be a lot more clear if these characters had names) causing Pam to think that Jim said something to encourage her Father to split with her Mom. Jim of course freaks out from this, as does Pam. I was worried that they were going to add more Pam and Jim relationship issues. Something I am pretty sick of. While all of this is going on, Pam and Jim spend their free time at the office watching a pirated movie with Andy. The movie stars Jack Black, Jessica Alba, and Cloris Leechman. This is where the guest stars come in, these brief glimpses of the movie. While watching the movie, Pam and Jim make comments to each other regarding Pam’s parents issues, causing Andy to think that the pair are incredibly deep, and see and understand things in movies that he could never understand. Once again Ed Helms proves to me that he is one of the best actors on the show, and that his character is one of the funniest. His small parts in the background of the bigger story are hilarious as Andy becomes more frustrated that he doesn’t see what Jim and Pam do, and more impressed with them for seeing it.

The Main event of the episode though is, of course, the actual roast of Michael. Everyone is hilarious in this scene. Angelia comes out in full force, Oscar rants in Spanish (“I consider myself a good person, but I am going to try to make him cry” he tells the camera), Pam makes fun of Michael’s….manhood, and Andy performs an absolutely amazing song. Even Dwight lashes out at Michael when he calls Dwight an idiot. Jim, sadly, actually was the least amusing. I think somewhere inside him he still feels for Michael, and knows he (generally) has the best intentions at heart.

Overall the episode was one of the funniest in a long while. It had me laughing out loud again and again. If anyone thought The Office was losing it in the last few seasons, episodes like this remind us of what the show is all about. I hope the writers keep it up.