The Scranton Strangler has come! Watch out everyone, don’t waste time working, worry about the local strangler who seems be lurking around the corner. Of course the entire office staff is busy watching the local news about a crazy person on loose rather than doing what they are supposed. As the phone rings, Kelly makes sure to put it back down so that she can focus her attention on the present news at hand. I personally don’t blame them, how many times have we been distracted by the Cornell Crime Alerts while studying for our prelims? Wait, I’m not even going to answer that.
Erin invites Michael to a party that her and Gabe are hosting and Michael pretends to be very busy. So busy that he keeps mentioning all the “things” that he has to do when in reality he really doesn’t have anything going on. Michael later admits that he is completely free and is a complete Gleek despite being unable to name an actual character on the show.
As Erin goes around inviting everyone to the Glee party in Gabe’s apartment she gets a mixed sense of reply from everyone. Kelly mentions how the show is actually rather irresponsible. I mean one episode Mr.Schuster does not know how to choreograph and in another he suddenly does. Oh, the glee fans probably don’t love Kelly too much this episode but for the rest of us out there, amen Kelly.
Angela and Dwight are also not the biggest fan of the show but decide to attend because it is a convenient night for them to have intercourse. Of course they would use the opportunity to do something promiscuous. The best invite is one of the most awkward ones when Erin invites a rather uncomfortable Andy who can’t stand seeing the love of his life with some a rather lifeless lanky body otherwise known as Gabe. In any case the conversation between Michael and Kevin seems to be even more awkward when Kevin mentions how everyone has to go to the “bosses” party. By boss Kevin was referring to Gabe not Michael and of course Michael feels threatened by what seems to him, a rather lewd comment. When Michael wants to question people about who they think the boss is, everybody runs away making him nervous.
A nervous Michael show’s up at Gabe’s apartment for a pizza making night where he feels rather threatened by Gabe and therefore starts judging Gabe in every way possible. Gabe has rather worldly taste including his soundscape that Jim is fascinated by. But of course Jim doesn’t have the time to appreciate Gabe’s peculiar musical abilities because he has to devote his time to a rather restless Cici. Cici at this point is reverse cycling, which basically means that she stays up all night and sleeps during the day. This means that Pam, like every mother, gets little to no sleep.
As Pam is trying to figure out what to do with the baby, Erin is busy warning everyone about how the show is starting. With everyone gathered, it definitely seems to be a glee party. Michael comes in and tries to make a scene and assert his authority by mentioning how low the sound is. He then decides to have a separate glee party where the music is cranking. Kelly does not seem to care and is rather pissed that people are not watching a show but is discussing it. Michael on the other hand is absorbed watching the show by himself with Pam and Cici in the room. When Pam tries to get rid of him he mentions how she should take the gun in his office and shoot him if her ever starts acting like Gabe.
Of course who can forget Andy Bernard. He goes around observing Gabe’s things and is stopped by Ryan who knows everything Gabe’ asian collectibles. Andy suddenly seems even more uncomfortable. When Daryl comes in, Andy confesses that he is confused as to why Erin likes Gabe. Daryl then let’s Andy know that if he were a girl he would choose Andy and would blow his mind. To this, Andy is actually rather reassured.
Pam at the same time is also reassured that Cici is not a devil baby when Dwight of all people comes in and get’s Cici to sleep. Dwight, being the youngest Schrute, took care of all the family members. Dwight has various methods to take care of the baby and does it rather well. Pam is relived that Dwight is actually helping Cici.
Meanwhile Erin tries to get Michael and Gabe together while Andy tries to get more information about Erin. When she finds out that Andy likes Erin, Phyllis realizes that she must find out whether Erin and Gabe have slept together, something personal but for the office cast it doesn’t matter.
At the same time Dwight and Pam seem to have a bonding moment where Pam has finally found a solution to her baby problems. Everything seems to be going perfectly till Angela comes in and tells Dwight to meet her in the car in two minutes. This does not disgust Pam because she completely ignores the dirtiness attached to Angela’s comment as all her attention is focused on keeping Dwight with Cici. When Pam tries to remind Dwight of their friendship he politely tells her, “ But you married my worst memory.” With Jim being right there, you can imagine how awkward the situation might be. To make it even more awkward Dwight requires pizza and beer to be fed to him by Jim himself. Poor Jim has to comply. All the things our parents do for us. Tsk Tsk.
In the other room the cable suddenly goes out which essentially ruins the Glee party. Andy suddenly throws up, Jim is feeding Dwight and Kevin eats in a bed watching everything going on. This party cannot get any weirder but of course it does. Pam goes to beg a naked Angela to let Dwight stay with the baby and even though Angela lets him go, she wants to know whether Dwight wanted her. This was one of those Angela and Dwight should be together moments!
One of the best scenes happens towards the end between Erin and Michael. Erin goes out and mentions how important it is that Michael and Gabe get along, to which Michael yells “ Why, I’m not your father”. A crushed Erin looks on and suddenly the Michael that we all love comes out. He tells her “ Alright go to your room young lady” and become authoritative. Both of them act like father and daughter that made for a scene that actually almost had me in tears. Michael also goes to Gabe and lets him know to take care of Erin.
This entire episode reminded us that as annoying as Michael may be, he is one of the few people in the world who really has the ability to deal with a multitude of weird people and really understand the feelings that every individual has. The fact that he steps in to be Erin’s father when he knows that’s what she thinks of him was because of the empathy that Michael has. Only he can understand the reason behind why a lot of people do the things they do because he is truly out there.
The episode was particularly funny this week as it highlighted the absolute insane characters on the shows. Not one character has boundaries that they don’t overstep. Whether Phyllis is prodding into Erin’s sex life, Pam is begging a naked Angela or Creed is speaking fake Chinese; we are reminded that the characters are why we watch the show. Gotta love The Office! Six more days until we see our favorite people again!!!
Best Quotes:
Michael: “ What is Glee, some sort of television program?”
Erin: “ There is this thing on glee called mash up where two things that don’t go together make one great song. Take Gabe, take Michael you make Gabe-Mike. Best Friends”.
Dwight: “ Of all feelings to base a show around, Glee?”
Phyllis and Kelly:
Phyllis: Who is that?
Kelly: Finn
Phyllis: Who is that?
Kelly: Rachel.
Phyllis: Which one is glee?
Kelly: Please stop talking.
Original Author: Aishini Thiyagarajan