Spoilers for this episode beyond the cut.

Things that happened

It’s Phyllis’ wedding! Or, at least — and somewhat disappointingly — the lead-up to Phyllis’ wedding! So while we don’t get to see everyone dressed up, we do get to see twin bachelor and bachelorette parties wherein several things happen!

First, Jim and Karen are apparently okay. They talked through the whole “Jim not being over Pam at all” thing which seems, you know, questionable. Jim certainly doesn’t seem to understand how it’s at all possible that Karen could be okay with him still being into Pam. But he’s cool with it because, hey, she’s pretty cute. To make matters even more confusing, Pam is so into Jim at this point that she is pretty much reduced to babbling: about sleeping (“Rem cycles!”), dating and even Ben Franklin.

In related news, Ben Franklin is in this episode. Because while the guys get a stripper for their bachelor party, the girls somehow end up with Jim in charge of ordering their stripper and he gets them a Ben Franklin impersonator. He is unquestionably the highlight of the episode and potentially my life.

Other stuff: Michael almost gets fired, Andy’s nowhere to be seen (but he’s joining the cast so he should be back soon), Bob Vance never once says “Vance Refrigeration” and we get a fantastic George Foreman grill callback.

Things that were good

• That Benjamin Franklin guy. Jesus Christ. What a tour de force performance. From hitting on Pam by telling he doesn’t REALLY have syphilis to convincing Dwight he might be the REAL Ben Franklin, this man will probably be referenced on Benjamin Franklin’s wikipedia page by the time you read this.
• Todd Packer. This American Office has had like a bazillion more episodes than the British version and I still think we’ve only seen Packer a couple more times than we saw Chris Finch. He works best in small doses, sure, but at least make him a plot point more often. I like it when he shows up!
• The stripper gave Michael advice that rhymed and that was, to me, delightful.
• Roy. I swear, that DUI and that beard were, in many ways, the best things that have ever happened to him.

Things that were not so good

• I really wanted to see the actual wedding of Phyllis and Bob Vance. Is that going to happen next episode? I want to see all the cast dressed up and for Kevin’s band to play and, maybe, just maybe, for Pam and Roy to get drunk and complicate everything again.
• Karen is just crazy at this point and not at all appealing. Jim, the choice is so clear! Karen hasn’t said anything funny for like three episodes now!
• I am struggling to understand the mechanics of a tear-away blouse. Does it have… snaps? Is it Velcro? Need to do more research.

Worth watching if…

I think this was one of those episodes that works better if you know these characters, because it wasn’t so much here-are-some-jokes funny as it was laugh-at-some-of-this-subtext funny. I wouldn’t use this one to introduce someone to the show and it was all so very hampered by my never getting to see the cast all dressed up and at a wedding, but I dug it regardless.

In Five Words

Benjamin Franklin should be President.