“Cocktails” Spoilers Below:

Things that happened

It’s a cocktail party! Which equals one of my favourite Office things: seeing the cast all dressed up. We don’t get to see all of them in this episode, as the cocktail party in question is open to Dunder Mifflin managers only, which means only Michael, Jim, Dwight and Karen (As Jim’s significant other) get to attend. Also attending: Jan, making her glorious return and proving her worth with a number of truly awesome moments and perhaps the best talking head scene of the episode.

See, Michael and Jan have opted to use this party as an opportunity to make their relationship public. This does not go terribly well, as Michael uses every occasion to mention to everyone that he and Jan are lovers. And Jan, well, is totally embarrassed by the fact that she is with Michael Scott. She’s also strangely turned on by said embarrassment, making her a very complicated woman.

There’s conflict between the two as they adjust to public life, but in the end things seem somewhat stable. Michael loves her and Jan is somewhat okay with that.

In other party news, Karen spends all the episode pranking Jim. She convinces him that she has dated pretty much every guy in attendance. You would think the fact that he so easily believes that would be somewhat offensive to her, but it’s not. Instead she just laughs. She’s getting weirder ever episode. In the end, Jim ditches her to go play basketball with the CFO. Those aren’t his initials. Common mistake.

Also, Dwight wanders around the CFO’s home and checks everything for structural integrity.

In non-cocktail party news, the rest of the Scranton Staff seize the opportunity of Michael leaving the office early and head out to the local pub, Poor Richards. Great character moments ensue, but the main event is Pam and Roy. After what seems like nice bonding, Pam decides now is the time to tell Roy about the whole making-out-with-Jim-at-Casino-Night fiasco. A revelation that he does not… take well. He’ll be paying for his reaction for at least seven years.

So, at the end of the episode our relationship status is as follows: Pam and Roy — broken up again! Michael and Jan — Still Together but Shaky! Karen and Jim — Still Together in a Baffling Way.

Things that were good

• I loved Dwight’s subplot this episode. Sure, it was wackiness, but it was well-executed wackiness that fit the character. There was something about seeing him up on that roof that was just inherently funny.
• Jan. What a tour de force she is. Playing a character who could legitimately have a relationship with Michael requires just the right balance of delusion and raw sexuality and Jan pulls all that off with just a small tough of unhinged insanity. And it’s all very subtle. Really.
• I don’t think Creed has ever had a line on this show that wasn’t funny (reprise).
• Roy and his brother. I like to imagine that Roy, when he’s not on-screen, is actually a character on some other, more ‘traditional’ sitcom, where he and his brother hatch schemes and screw up and it’s all very funny to the canned studio audience. Just thinking about the idea of jet skis in Scranton is funny.

Things that were not so good

• Aww, Toby, you’re so sad.
• This Jim and Karen thing is overdrawn. She was a likable character when she first appeared, but now she’s just the great big ball of insecurity and awkwardness and her and Jim haven’t shared any chemistry since, well, Jim told her he wasn’t over Pam. Which I think is by design, but it still makes for some weird scenes.
• Was that a… cliffhanger? Are Jim and Roy going to fight? Because Roy is really adept at throwing things and I imagine Jim is a bit of a wuss!

Worth Watching if…

You find the idea of someone buying and selling jetskis in Scranton, PA hilarious. Or if you like watching characters check the structural integrity of a Victorian House. Or if you want to see some of the most subtle, nuanced performances on television today. You pick one.

In Five Words

Like a brilliant imploding star