Spoilers for “Phyllis’ Wedding” below.

Things that happened

It was the episode I was expecting last week! Which meant everybody was dressed up! And drinking! And even dancing! And from The Dundies to Booze Cruise to Casino Night, these are always the best kind of Office episodes.

In this one, Michael is oh so excited because Phyllis has asked him to be in her wedding. (It was the easiest way for her to get six weeks off for her honeymoon. [That is a very long honeymoon.]) His job is to push her wheelchair-bound father down the aisle. But, after much preparation and making it half way down to the alter, dear old dad stands up in a great sentimental display of what Michael calls “bullshit!” He then embarrasses himself further, trying to one-up the priest (and failing) and then attempting to give a 40-minute reception speech (and failing). He ends up kicked out of the wedding and, despite his pleading to makeshift bouncer Dwight — the subject of a Jim-crafted prank; he’s on the watch for “wedding crashers” –, he is not allowed back inside.

In other news, Pam gets kind of annoyed when she realizes that Phyllis’ wedding is essentially her wedding — the one she called off in the summer. Even the band is the same, as Kevin and Scrantonicity do an amazing job of covering Police songs. And even one by Jewel. That’s Pam and Roy’s song, you see, and after he has yet another sweet conversation with his ex-fiancee and asks her to dance, she seems to be warming up to this new, bearded version of Roy. As Jim looks on, the two of them leave together.

Meanwhile, in the background, literally one thousand hilarious things are happening. This was like a Where’s Waldo? episode of the office, because there was just so much going on that it was hard to keep your focus on Waldo. Or, in this case, the plot.

In the end, people dance outside and Michael gets a kiss and there is a little bit of Karaoke and, really, it made me forget all of my troubles in this harsh, workaday world.

Things that were good

• Everything!
• I liked the cold open a lot. It is nice to know that after all the turmoil of Stamford and Andy and Dwight quitting for a week, we’ve once again reached the status quo wherein Jim plays elaborate and ingenious pranks on Dwight.
• That they announced Bob Vance as “Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration” in his wedding. That was the callback I was waiting for.
• Kelly Kapur. What a tour-de-force performance in like two total minutes of this episode. She had a wedding dress emergency! She would totally get drunk and tell someone she was pregnant! She almost caught the bouquet!
• Toby. Even if it was a hooker, he was still happy.
• The various slowdances to the Jewel song outside the church. This episode struck the perfect balance of comedy and sentiment, as all the best Office episodes do.
• I cherish every clip we see of young Michael.
• I want to watch this episode again.

Things that were not so good

• Nothing!
• Well, very little. Hardly anything.
• The Michael moments this episode were so awkward that it was painful. I’m normally pretty good with the cringe-worthy stuff, but this was over-the-top at points. Erin thinks someone should just punch Michael in the face and, in this episode, I couldn’t disagree.
• I love the out-of-office episodes so much, but they really do stretch the whole this-is-supposed-to-be-a-documentary premise, don’t they? I can’t even imagine the amount of audio-visual equipment they would have needed to pull off filming this episode documentary style. But maybe they’re just really really good.

Worth Watching if…

You’re putting together a best episodes ever compilation of any kind.

In Five Words

You Were Meant For Me

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