Tonight’s episode of The Office had Pam feeling exceptionally insecure as she approaches the end of her pregnancy, while Darryl, Andy and Kevin rocked out in the warehouse, prompting Robert California and some of his friends to join them.
“I know it sounds nuts, but I think Dwight is the only one telling me the truth.”
Pam’s about ready to go on maternity leave, resulting in her replacement being brought in to begin training to temporarily fill in while Pam is gone. Cathy is attractive, which hasn’t gone unnoticed by the office staff, however, Jim refuses to admit this to Pam. If she were only marginally attractive, or she fell under the pretty-in-a-kind-of-weird-way category, Jim’s denial of her attraction might have passed. But Cathy was “objectively attractive,” as Jim put it during a talking-head bit.
Discovering that Dwight might be the only person willing to be completely honest with her, Pam teams with him to help her get Jim to admit Cathy is attractive. Of course, in doing this, she may have been setting Dwight on a quest to destroy her husband, but it never came to that. They started by taking Kelly’s advice at asking Jim who he’d fix Cathy up with. Realizing he was being given the “matchmaker test,” Jim, who figured out what was happening, suggested an average-looking friend, which rendered the results useless.
The more aggressive attempt to expose Jim’s attraction to Cathy had Dwight grabbing Jim’s crotch repeatedly to check for excessive blood-flow to the area. The results were soft. Meanwhile, Pam’s insecurity only increased, having seen Jim and Cathy giggling just prior to Dwight’s sexual assault.
The last attempt took Jim, Pam and Dwight to the pharmacy where Dwight attempted to use the blood pressure machine as a lie detector test. It didn’t work, but it did reveal that Jim has high blood pressure, resulting in Pam insisting they go to the doctor. And that’s what it all comes down to. Regardless of whether or not Jim thinks Cathy’s attractive, and Pam feels less hot because of her pregnancy, they love each other.
Kevin and the Zits
The B-story had Kevin, Darryl and Andy jazzing it up in the warehouse. Their music was ok, though Andy had scat-lyrics, which may be an oxymoron of sorts, and they were without a better band-name than Kevin’s “Zits” idea, but they were having fun. When Robert California found out what they were up to, he invited some of his friends to jam with them. Kevin, Darryl and Andy were eventually edged out, left to play the tambourine, or in Andy’s case, slapping his chest and stomach until he bruised. In the end, the trio left Robert’s new band in the warehouse and took their act outside.
Everyone else seemed to actually be getting work done. And we’re left to wonder if/when Pam will be leaving Dunder Mifflin for maternity leave, and whether this Cathy issue will ever be addressed again and/or resolved in a future episode.
Other notable lines and moments...
The cold open had Andy asking Erin to interrupt him with a fake “important phone call” during the meeting, so he could brush her off to make it look like he was putting the potential client first. Of course, Erin overdid it, told Andy his mother died and made a mess of the plan. This bit was similar to the time we saw Pam presenting Michael with sticky-notes with doodles on them pretending to be messages.
“That’s the best way to land a hot girlfriend. You just get her hooked on blow” - Gabe
“It’s one of the most common fetishes,” Gabe (on pregnancy)
“Helen Mirren was born Helen Mironoff. That’s right. You’re fake salivating over a Soviet-era Russian.” - Dwight
“No. I’m not going to tell my nine-months pregnant wife that I find her replacement objectively attractive. Just like I’m not going to tell my two-year-old daughter that violent video games are objectively more fun. It’s true, but it doesn’t help anybody.” Jim
“How’d I get this long triangle?” Creed, after Dwight distracts him with a Toblerone.
“Does your husband have very soft erections? Cause if not, I just grabbed a very soft penis for nothing.”
“Why don’t you go check out the sympathy cards, old man?” Dwight
“It’s important to go every month to get your prostate checked,” Dwight on going to the doctor. This was followed by a demonstration of how to perform a prostate exam at home.
