Things to remember to tell Michael Scott if ever my path crosses with his: Southern Hospitality’s not always meant to be taken literally, Christmas is actually the closest the Irish have ever gotten to Christmas and Bobby McFerrin isn’t an Irish poet but don’t worry, be happy all the same.
Michael didn’t get everything wrong tonight. No, tonight’s St. Patrick’s Day episode was one of those rare nights when Michael managed to stumble onto the right approach for a tricky situation. Of course, it took him until 8:30 at night on St. Patrick’s day to figure it out but he did manage it.
I doubt any of us were all that surprised to learn that Michael booked himself some plane tickets after Jo (Kathy Bates) casually made a remark about offering him a place to stay if he ever found himself in the Tallahassee area. But then again, we know Michael a lot better than Jo does. She had no idea he’d take her so literally and after learning that Michael was planning on camping out in her guest house, she had to drop the sweet act and give it to him straight. After that it was all business. And by all business, I mean she was fixin’ to pull an all nighter and everyone else who wanted to prove themselves worthy of their jobs was to follow suit.
That lasted until well after dark. While Jim managed to steal Dwight’s excuse of having a late meeting with a client, and Andy and Erin had gone home sick, everyone else toughed it out until Michael finally went to Jo and told her that he was happy with his employees’ job performances for the day and was letting everyone go to celebrate Irish Christmas. To cap that off, he told her he wouldn’t be coming to visit her and that he looked forward to their professional relationship. If there was a better way to deal with the situation, I can’t think of one.
A bonus to Michael’s story arc tonight was the brief appearance by Packer! Who better to participate the drink-a-thon that is the American form of celebrating St. Paddy’s day than Todd Packer?
Tonight’s episode was full of other nuggets of information. Like the fact that Erin spent a few years in the hospital when she was a child and that she lives with her foster brother, a very touchy-feely guy who busted in on Andy’s attempt at a sick-date with Erin and proceeded to grope her leg (under the guise of tickling her foot). While Andy and Erin’s date didn’t go as planned, it did end with a sweet kiss on the cheek and some adorably awkward smiling. To add to that, Andy was wearing his sister’s field hockey skirt, which he was trying to pass off as a kilt in honor of the holiday. I’m pretty sure kilts are more of a Scottish thing than an Irish thing but Andy being in drag for his first date with Erin still seems strangely fitting nonetheless. Consider it fodder for the story Andy plans to tell his kids on how he met their mother (CBS plug!).
Darryl may be learning that the grass isn’t necessarily greener on the side of the fence with the tiny TV. After speaking up about ways to improve shipping printers and paper, Jo offered him Jim’s old office, booting out the peon that is her assistant (I seriously think that guy may just be the saddest character in the entire show at this point and that’s really saying something). While Darryl was happily humming The Jeffersons theme song as he moved his stuff into his new workspace, he was probably rethinking the perks of his placement as he was stuck with everyone else, staying late. As much as I love the idea of Darryl being around more, I’m thinking he’ll be headed back to the warehouse eventually (and happily.)
Speaking of workspace, in Jim’s brief absence, Dwight constructed a three-desk setup, appropriately titled “Megadesk.” He was able to do surveillance, play video games and work at the same time. Megadesk had to be dismantled upon Jim’s return and Dwight spent the duration of the episode trying to guilt Jim into taking more time off to be with his new daughter. Blasting “The Cats in the Cradle” was surprisingly effective for Jim, even though he knew what Dwight was doing.
And the quote of the night goes to Michael:
“I want to have been married by the time I would’ve turned thirty.”
