C.R.I.M.E. A.I.D. Review

Last weeks episode was everything an Office fan needed to get back into the swing of things. There was Dwangela drama, Holly and Michael mischief, and a returning character from Dunder Mifflin’s past.

What does a company do after it is robbed mercilessly in the middle of the night? Well, as Angela put it in last weeks episode of The Office, you “raise money for things you need, by buying things you don’t want.” And that’s exactly what Dunder Mifflin did. Or tried to do, at least.

So, how did the Scranton branch get robbed exactly? “There is no such thing as sex without consequences,” retorts Michael. After him and Holly get-it-on after hours in the office, they forget to lock up the building, leaving the robbers and “lookie-loos” to steal checks, laptops, and Kevin’s surge protectors. To repent his mistake, Michael decides to hold an auction so the company can raise money to buy those supplies again.

Amidst all of the hullabaloo with the robbery, Andy and Angela finally decide to set a date for the wedding. Dwight, broken-hearted, turns to Phyllis (the only one who knows about the affair) for advice. She tells Dwight that Angela is marrying Andy because “Angela’s not much of a risk taker, and Andy’s not much of a risk.”

So, Dwight gives Angela an ultimatum: either break up with Andy by 6:14 PM or forget Dwight forever. Angela coldly rejects his ultimatum and leaves Dwight hopeless, frustrated, and angrygrateful towards Phyllis for “giving advice and helping him.” To show his thankfulness, Dwight bids $700.01 (one cent more than Bob Vance or Vance Refrigeration) on a hug from Phyllis that she auctioned off at CRIME AID. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to beat the $1,000 bid on the hug, but it was certainly out of character for Dwight to do something that nice. Unless he was just trying to get Angela jealous.

On PB & J’s (the new phrase I am using for Pam and Jim) end, Jim wins a night at the bars with the warehouse guys. Out of nowhere, Roy walks into the bar. Instead of showing hostility towards Jim, Roy gives him a congratulatory handshake after Jim mentions him and Pam are engaged. But, after Jim tells Roy about Pam’s escapades with her friends in the city, Roy replies “Huh, I thought you were a friend.”

Cut to Jim driving to see Pam in New York. But just when the audience thinks the cliché romance is beginning, Jim makes a U-turn on the highway. “I am not that guy. We are not that couple.” Thank goodness. Or we might as well all watch Grey’s Anatomy.

What do we love about the Office? Like this week’s episode, “it has an uncanny ability to mix genuinely emotional moments with some of the sharpest, darkest comedy on TV. It really shouldn’t work as well as it does, but like those crazy Top Chef recipes that I’m convinced no human could actually enjoy (tequila ice cream, really?), The Office manages to mix the contrasting flavors perfectly” (TVSquad.com).

It’s the perfect mixture of satire and humor.

The next Office episode is on this Thursday at 8 PM on NBC.