I've already read several qualifying reviews of last night's Post-Superbowl Office episode, “Stress Relief,” each of them basically saying the same thing: that the episode started strong, felt disjointed, puttered out early, and had no use for its celebrity “guest stars” Cloris Leachman, Jack Black, and Jessica Alba. (That term's a little generous, since you could have blinked and missed Alba. Especially with that hair, she may as well have been replaced by a well-dressed mop.)

At first I was inclined to agree with the other reviewers. Usually, I err on the side of critical with The Office, because it has set such a high standard for itself over the years. But after sleeping on it, reviewing the episode for a second time, and still laughing as hard as I did last night—I'll say with confidence: The Office is back at the top of its game.

I still think that the episode could have done without the Mrs. Albert Hanaday subplot. It's obvious that NBC wanted celebrities to promote to the residual Superbowl audience. The pirated film about a Harold and Maude-esque affair between Leachman and Black was too easy, too cheesy, and too dependent on the trauma-inducing image of a nude Cloris and Jack making out. But I thank the writers for keeping these unneeded celebs out of the real world of The Office. They did their best with what they had, and the rest of the episode definitely made up for the stilted old lady lovin' gag.

On to the good stuff: so safety officer Dwight (Rainn Wilson) turns a new corner in Crazytown, setting a trashcan on fire to test the Dunder Mifflin crew's safety skills. Everyone commences to freak the f--- out, as Dwight yells unhelpful procedural hints for how to get out alive. Oscar climbs into (and falls through) the ceiling, Angela's cat does the same, Jim and Andy make a battering ram out of the hated copier, and Kevin shows his true colors and uses the pandemonium as an excuse to break into the snack machine. Truly one of the craziest, gut-punching hilarious scenes I've ever seen, on The Office or elsewhere.

The sequence sets the stage for the plot that carries the rest of the episode: Stanley has a heart attack (or “was attacked by his own heart,” as Dwight puts it), which prompts Michael (Steve Carell) to try out different methods of employee stress relief. He first tries a CPR seminar, then a meditation hour, and finally (when he realizes that he's actually the stress-maker) a Comedy Central-style roast of himself. The CPR scene was classic Office idiocy at work, with Kevin “calling it” on the lifeless dummy, and Dwight actually cutting its face off and making himself a Hannibal skin-mask. “Now Dwight knows not to cut off the face of a real person,” Michael justifies to David Wallace. (If the writers keep pushing him toward the deep end, I'll have a hard time believing Dwight not getting fired for these antics. But until then, I'll be LOL'ing.) And somewhere in there was a sub-plot about Pam's parents getting divorced, which was sad-turned-sweet for the fiancés, but sort of yawn in relation to the rest.

Where the episode may have lost some viewers in the multiple plot change-ups throughout the hour, it kept me hooked with some of the most brilliant lines we've heard this season.  “I've got to make sure that YouTube comes down to tape this” was my personal favorite, but there were several runners-up for that honor, which you can find below.

This episode, for all its outrageous humor, was actually full of pathos and some (tempered) self-revelation for Michael. He commands his employees to bring it on at the roast, thinking he's in for veiled compliments about his “womanizing” ways. But the Dunder Mifflin workers take their free pass and run with it, and Michael's total lack of thick skin makes him ill prepared for the onslaught of biting mockery. Some highlights: Kelly would rather kiss a wood chipper, Meredith attributes her alcoholism to Michael, Oscar gives a scary tirade in Spanish, Jim laughs at Michael's many malapropisms, and Darryl gets Michael to admit that he doesn't know the name of a warehouse worker who is also named “Michael.” Pam is the standout roaster (Finally some payback for the long-suffering receptionist who was once forced to say, “Please don't throw garbage at me.”) when she shyly recalls seeing Michael naked and “his thing is so small” that “if it were an iPod, it would be a Shuffle.” Boom! Roasted where it hurts!

And it really does hurt. Realizing he doesn't command as much respect as he thought, Michael holds back tears and runs from the room, spending the next day morosely trying to feed non-existent pigeons in the park. But “Stress Relief” follows a familiar Office design: Michael gets what's coming to him, he retreats in a brief moment of pained comprehension, and bounces back oblivious (and offensive) as ever.

Which means that Michael turns his mopey “personnel [sic] day” into a comedy-writing workshop, and comes back (in a turtleneck) with quick-fire comebacks for everyone who took a stab at him the day before. (“Oscar: you're gay. Boom. Roasted. Andy, Cornell called: you suck, and you're gayer than Oscar. Boom. Roasted.”) He finally gets a laugh from the guy who almost died from his own irritability (“Stanley, you crush your wife during sex, and your heart sucks.”) causing a chain reaction of chuckles throughout the workers.

Everyone shares a laugh at their own expense, and the stress finally melts away—or at least returns to its normal (high) level. And I laughed at The Office more than I have all season long.


Best In Show

Best Quotes: “Save Bandit!” – Angela
“STAY F---ING CALM!” – Michael
“Stanley, Barack is president! You are black, Stanley!” – Michael
“Call it.” – Kevin
“No arms or legs is basically how you exist right now, Kevin. You don't do anything.” – Michael
 “Now Dwight knows not to cut off the face of a real person.” – Michael
“That's what he said! Right, guys? ‘Cause of gay?” – Michael
“I've got to make sure that YouTube comes down to tape this.” – Michael
“A turtle. A fridge. Anybody from the warehouse. A wood chipper. Kevin. A candle. And Lord Voldemort. Anyway, happy birthday, Michael!” -- Kelly
“What's a text?” – Creed
“Stanley, you crush your wife during sex and your heart sucks! Boom! Roasted!” – Michael

Best Scene: The opening fire scene, no contest! I was laughing so hard at the fire-scare mania that my eyes were basically closed in tears and I was having trouble catching air. It felt like my heart was attacking me… with joy. A close second: Dwight cutting the face off the mannequin and reenacting Hannibal.



-Meghan Carlson, BuddyTV Staff Writer
Image courtesy of NBC