The Office Conference Room - "Cocktails"

The Office
"Cocktails"
Original Air Date: Thursday February 22, 2007

We have a guest reviewer this week while the Conference Room remains closed for the rest of the summer. If you'd like to sign up to write a repeat review for "The Office" drop us an EMAIL!

[Submitted by: AKGroom]

“The Office” is a repeat this week, but I am certain that no one was disappointed. This week’s episode is “Cocktails” and it fills the entire 20 minutes (that is, subtracting the commercials) with exciting and witty entertainment.

The episode begins with Michael attempting an escape-from-the-straight-jacket trick that he recently learned at magic camp (open to all with “a little extra time after school”). After Michael the Magic’s failed attempt to astound and mystify the office staff, we learn that he, Dwight, Jan, Jim, and Karen are all attending a dinner party hosted by David Wallace, the Dunder Mifflin CFO. For Michael, this party is a chance for his relationship with Jan to finally be publicized. Needless to say, Michael and Jan, or MAN as I have so aptly deemed them, become the focal point for the majority of the episode. This is the first in-depth insight we as an audience receive into the insanity that is MAN and it is juicy. Melora Hardin does a fantastic job of portraying the slightly crazed woman indulging in things that are all wrong for her, while Steve Carrell pulls off the concerned boyfriend magnificently. While all of this is occurring, there is also Karen mentioning to Jim each man she has dated that is in attendance at the party. That aspect of the episode is really quite annoying, but that could be because I love to hate Rashida Jones’ character.

Meanwhile, while MAN is exploding onto the scene and Dwight is giving the Wallace’s colonial home a thorough inspection, Pam and the rest of the Scranton staff are enjoying a drink together at their popular hangout, Poor Richard’s Pub. Pam is finally coming out of her quiet, awkward shell and telling the world what’s what. She demands that Roy go to the bar with her; her reason simply being that if he is going to be her boyfriend, then he “has to do boyfriend stuff.” This is a liberating time for Jenna Fischer’s timid character and I could not be happier. Throughout most of the bar scenes, there are numerous shots of Roy and Pam acting as a true couple which is utterly disgusting to all of the JAM (Jim and Pam) fans, myself included.

The MAN situation has become tense back at the dinner party after Jan makes an effort to seduce Michael in the bathroom, only to be thwarted. A humorous talking head gives us Michael beginning about his potato salad and ending with his exclamation that “there’s something wrong with Jan.” Also, Dwight has begun entering places of the home that no guest was intended to go. For instance, the young son’s bedroom: Dwight really wanted to know where the child’s rocking chair was purchased…how awkward can one man truly be? Finally, after what seems to be hours have progressed, Jan and Michael are driving home. Easily one of the best scenes of the episode, Michael is in tears while Jan is trying to save herself by stating that she didn’t mean to say that they should not have become exclusive. After an awkward pause, Dwight, in a glorious moment in television, slowly pops his head out from the backseat and assures the pair by saying, “Don’t break up, you guys. You’re great together.”

Once again at Poor Richard’s, Pam and Roy are in the spotlight. Pam is obviously thinking nice things about Roy, based on the look displayed on her face. Soon, she feels the need verbalize her secret: she and Jim kissed. Upon hearing said secret, Roy goes into a wild tangent, throwing glasses into the mirror across the bar while his brother breaks a few stools. Although a little over the top, David Denman offers the audience a side of Roy that we all knew, but had never seen. Pam hastily exits while explaining that the relationship is over.

With a final, 18-second scene, we hear the line that will forever strike fear in Halpert-loving hearts: “I am going to kill Jim Halpert.” What will happen? Will Roy really murder Jim? Will there be any killing whatsoever? You’ll have to wait until the next week and see…or, you could just get the next episode on iTunes and find out much quicker.