TV Verdict

Hey Office fans, this week we’ve secretly replaced Erich Asperschlager with Folger’s Crystals… let’s see if anyone notices.

Michael Scott, back at his old job, is finally starting to heal the wounds left by the messy merger of Dunder Mifflin and the Michael Scott Paper Co. He’s noticed, since returning, that everyone around the office is much more focused on actually doing work. This, clearly, cannot stand. So using his old Michael Scott Paper Co. office (the utility closet on the first floor, located in between the restrooms), he’s created a hangout destination for his employees. It’s a cafe. It’s a disco. It’s Cafe Disco (not to be confused with a “disco cafe.”)

Essentially, Cafe Disco is a place where workers can go and dance to mid-90s club music, drink espresso (“expresso”), and generally escape from any sort of productivity. Like any of Michael’s ideas, the rest of the office is slow to embrace Cafe Disco; the new secretary, Kelly, seems to be the only one behind him. Her persistence, however, is what eventually turns Cafe Disco from another failed Michael Scott idea into a crazed success.

Much of this episode is spent watching people dance. While there wasn’t a lot going on storywise, there was enough insanity to make this episode feel right. It was like peering into some weird high school dance from 1994: Andy and Kelly Kapoor were having a dance-off, Kevin was making out with some chick in the corner, Michael Scott was doing everything he could to avoid dancing with dudes, and even Meredith showed up to skulk around in her usual drunken haze. Funny stuff.

There were two minor subplots this episode. The first involved Dwight giving a massage to Phillis after she throws out her back in Cafe Disco. It was quite creepy, especially how Dwight slowly turned Phillis into a horse (he actually feeds her a carrot at one point). Less interesting was the subplot involving Jim and Pam’s plans to drive to Ohio to get a marriage license. We all know that NBC is going to milk Jim and Pam’s wedding as the event of the television season, so I had great doubts that they were actually going to elope like this. Still, it ate up screen time and they eventually decided to ditch their plans and just dance the night away with everyone else.

“Cafe Disco” was a hilarious episode that was about 75% dancing. I’m not sure how many shows could actually get away with something like that, but The Office nailed it.