The Office had by far one of the best cold opens of the season. Daryl ponders, looking out of the window. Unfortunately, his grandmother passed away, and in comes Pam with a card “for the occasion.” His card turns out to celebratory. It reads things like, “Congratulations” and “moments like these don’t come everyday.” Poor Daryl ends up crying, which for me, was the funniest moment. Yes, his misery gives me the giggles – sue me.
The Valentine’s Day episode starts off with Holly and Michael, very publicly expressing their love for each other. As it turns out, they have been dating for a week, and they make sure that everyone knows about it. PDA (for Public Displays of Affection) is the title of the episode, and appropriately so. Michael is very satisfied by the situation, and he says something that I will now hold very dear to my heart, “Everything you want in life, you get. And you don’t have to work for it. It comes to you.”
Meanwhile, we find out that Andy now has a girlfriend, and Erin and Gabe are busy playing a Valentines Day game. Gabe leaves her a puzzle, which I don’t understand – everyone knows that Erin isn’t the brightest bulb in the office. It does give her a chance to employ Andy’s help. I love when the two of them are together.
Jim and Pam have a Valentine’s Day lunch to avoid spending time away from Cici. It’s funny how much a baby actually changes your life; Jim and Pam are proof of that.
Back to Holly and Michael, everyone is so pissed by their backrubs and public kissing that they act. They all mention how happy they are that Holly and Michael are back together, but the public displays are just not appropriate. So, of course, Gabe holds a office meeting about PDA. Michael sits on Holly’s lap. Everyone mentions how bad PDA can be, and only a little bit later, when Oscar asks Michael “Are you listening,” do Michael and Holly realize they caused the meeting.
Everyone tells Michael and Holly how annoyed they are by all the public kissing, tickling and poking. So, Michael decides to create a hook up zone. Everyone gets a little excited. Dwight then asks about the hookup zone policy on masturbation to which Michael promptly replies, “Pro.” Love the quick response.
Later on, however, Michael and Holly have trouble keeping away from each other. The tender-est moment comes when Michael confesses that he loves Holly and she feels the same way … a very teary moment indeed. However, the rest of the staff remains intent to stay away from the public display.
Erin and Andy move on to the next clue from Gabe, and the quest seems to get them closer and closer to one another. Jim and Pam, on the other hand, try to find a place in the office to have sex, but can’t do so.
The episode progresses to Andy and Erin, finding more clues. Erin’s quest ends by her catching an air kiss from Gabe (lame) and Andy walking away. Michael also realizes that Holly is going back to Nashua after a while, and that just breaks him. So much so that he loses faith in his relationship with Holly.
Afterwards, he tells her that he loves her so much that he wants to break up with her. Holly gets decisive, and she lets him know that no job can keep them apart and they will determine whether or not there relationship will work. They decide to finally move in together!
Jim and Pam exit a closet together, perhaps after doing the dirty-dirty. You be the judge.
The episode ends with everyone giving his or her thoughts on Valentine’s Day. Michael and Holly make it very clear that they’ll be doing the dirty later on.
This episode focused on Valentine’s Day without over doing it. It wasn’t sappy, and it wasn’t annoying. It was perfect, and Holly and Michael couldn’t be better for each other. I loved how not everyone ended up together (Kelly and Ryan and Andy and Erin). It makes the rest of us singles feel better.
Overall, it was a solid A-
Original Author: Aishini Thiyagarajan