For good or bad, you can never judge the quality of an Office episode by the cold open alone, since it tends to have little or nothing to do with the rest of the episode. Still, the image of Stanley struggling to do 26 pushups so he can go home early is funny, but the quiet voice in the crowd that says, “Alright, Papa Bear,” elevates it to the ranks of greatness—and I’m pleased to say that it does indeed set the tone for the rest of the show.
Like the best episodes, Happy Hour contains multiple plotlines as well as a few peeks into the lives of the supporting characters. This time it’s Oscar’s ongoing pursuit of warehouse-worker Matt. Unfortunately, Oscar’s been out of the game a little too long, and his idea of pitching woo is showing up to work early to exchange some quick words and sheepishly asking Darryl to invite his co-workers to an office-wide happy hour.
Oscar in turn invites the office out for an evening of fun and drinks to what appears to be a Chuck E. Cheese’s with booze. Jim tries to weasel out using his daughter as an excuse, but Pam, desperate for a night away from the baby, immediately takes Jim up on his half-hearted offer and invites a friend along as a possible hook up with Michael.
Meanwhile, Erin and Andy struggle with keeping their relationship a secret to avoid the drama that comes with office romances. Fearing their co-workers are on to them, they decide to avoid each other and eventually end up flirting with some of the other patrons, until Erin’s groping of a complete stranger’s leg (her concept of flirting is derived solely from television, isn’t that adorable?) gets Andy jealous.
Well, Pam has been pregnant for nearly 9 months in “TV time”, which means that it’s time for a classic pregnancy episode! The Office returns this Thursday after NBC’s 2 week hiatus for the Winter Olympics. What better way to come back than with a one-hour baby special? From NBC:
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