The Office: Cafe Disco

Last week Michael tried to keep his tight-knit Michael Scott Paper Company clique together on their return to Dunder-Mifflin, but faced a mutiny from everyone else. In the end, Pam lost her clients, Ryan was demoted to temp, and Erin was subject to Michael's famous pretend firing. What's going to happen this week?

Play.

0:00 - That's right, not even a minute in and I need to comment. As much as I love Jim and Pam, I equally love how often Dwight is used to take them down a peg. Having the new secretary excitedly yell about winning an art contest already had me laugh. Then you add in Dwight's understated, yet maniacal, laughter and things get even better. Nice to see him pull off a successful, non-life threatening (see: raccoon in Holly's car) prank.

0:03 - Comfort in discomfort? After the awkwardness of Michael, Pam, and Ryan re-integrating into the branch, we have the awkwardness that has always come from Michael being there. This time though, he is armed with experiences rather than just expectations. He had lunch with the Michael Scott Paper Company employees, and he wants to keep that going at Dunder-Mifflin. Yeah it's uncomfortable, but in a comfortable way compared to any Charles-Jim interaction.

0:04 - Jim and Pam tying the knot at the court house in Youngstown, Ohio on a whim? Nope, no way, not buying it. The producers might have been able to slip out of the Beesly-Anderson wedding, but it's not going to work this time. Classic authoritarian Dwight though, "I'll take your silence to mean that you are all hiding something."

0:05 - "When I was in charge, this place was like Dave & Buster's." Good to see Michael has graduated from Chuck E. Cheese ("The Injury"), might have had something to do with choosing "littlekidlover" as a username on dating sites.

0:07 - These are the scenes that make The Office what it is. A rapid fire "around the world" with a number of characters tossing ideas and lines to each other. First with Michael's "I'm your big daddy" comment, then with the description of Cafe Disco. Also, I was writing TONS about Erin, the new secretary, so I decided to name her a Tivo Roster Key Addition, earning her a post of her very own.

0:12 - Uh oh, speaking of secretaries, the one at Vance Refrigeration gives off a lot of Phyllis vibes. "Can I give him a message before he gets off?" Yikes.

0:13 - I love that Michael's only tandem dance move is to twirl his partner. It's perfect.

0:14 - Michael after Phyllis hurts her back in Cafe Disco: "We need to get her out of there, because no one is going to want to go in there with a woman writhing around on the floor...(notices camera)...wait, wait, but most importantly, we need to get her some medical attention ASAP. Stat!" I missed this vindictively friendly version of Michael Scott, I'm having "Michael's Birthday" flashbacks and I like it. Plus I'm referencing Season 2 a lot, no wonder I'm enjoying this so much!

0:16 - The extended cast strikes again. Michael forgot the golden rule of the dance party: guys go when there are girls. Kelly and Erin start dancing, enter the lustful employees of Vance Refrigeration, and I think we're snowballing towards a party.

0:16 - Michael is eating lunch alone in his office and we get an understated reminder of his loneliness. "Might as well be dinner," he says, before shoving his sandwich into his mouth. His post-Holly depression was set aside to make room for the Michael Scott Paper Company, but we shouldn't forget that was his whole reason for making the move. Forget the concierge in Canada, MSPC was his rebound after Holly. And as we know from "A Benihana Christmas":

Michael: Why do I feel like crap?
Jim: You just had a rebound.
Michael: I had a rebound.
Jim: Yeah. Which, don't get me wrong, can be a really fun distraction, but when it's over? You're left thinking about the girl you really like, the one that broke your heart.

Last week during "Casual Friday," we saw Michael try to keep that MSPC love going with Pam and Ryan only to lose everyone else in the process. Now he's trying to bring the same tight-knit attitude to the whole office, it's not working, and the loneliness is creeping in.

0:16 - Wow, this must be a crazy minute. Jim cutting a bouquet of flowers from the parking lot? This quickie wedding is doomed, DOOMED! It just felt so wrong and cheap rather than inventive and romantic.

0:17 - Creed was eating a chicken drumstick in the bathroom. It took me a second to realize how weird that is, that's how weird Creed is.

0:25 - What a great Dwight episode. He nails a prank in the cold open, gets to launch a mini-investigation into Jim and Pam's map to Youngstown, and now his Schrute family horse remedy is working on Phyllis. Also, why was it so difficult to see how perfect Andy and Kelly are for each other? I mean, probably not in a good way, but in a way that keeps them away from everyone else. Andy has shown he can handle high-maintenance from his time with Angela, and that was high maintenance matched with insanity! I see that dance-off being the beginnings of great things.

0:26 - Yes! Kevin! Turns out something good came from that valentine's day mixer.

0:27 - Boom! Called it on Jim and Pam. Don't think for a second that Phyllis and Bob is the only big wedding we're going to get. Just don't put Michael in your wedding party, the extra vacation time isn't worth it.

0:30 - Did I already mention the beginning of great things for Kelly and Andy? Cause that scene of her trying to pierce his ear WAS a great thing.

Okay, well I enjoyed my time at Cafe Disco, as everyone seemed to (even Angela, or at least the foot she was waving to the music). I've read some concerns about a "throwaway" episode right before the finale rather than one to ratchet the tension, but I still don't think people would be willing to go back in time to get rid of "Cafe Disco." Plus, there may not be a lot of overt tension, but things are bubbling under the surface. Michael's loneliness returned in a big way, only to be squashed by the miraculous success of Cafe Disco, but there's no way it'll keep up. You know tomorrow the clock will strike midnight and the disco will turn back into a closet.

Then there's Dunder-Mifflin, whose most successful branch just took half the day off to party. Michael used to be saved by his proven loyalty to the company, and the fact that David Wallace saw him as a good guy at heart. Now he has quit, stolen clients, and used the spectre of an upcoming shareholder's meeting to force David Wallace into letting him back into the company. This was a wonderful episode, and a cheerful one in the end, and I could easily see popping in the DVD after bad days in years to come. Still, just because they had a good day in Scranton doesn't mean the finale is set up to be dull. Things can't stay like this, so enjoy the good vibes while they last.

Status: "Ding, ding, ding." Three thumbs up.