The Office recap: "Back From Vacation"

Yes! I think last night's episode, titled "Back From Vacation," was the best of the season so far. I'm not gonna lie - it tickled my funny bone.

Michael returns from Jamaica with a single Rasta bead in his hair, like he tried to get dreaded but that was all they could manage. That sight gag, which no character mentioned, is one of those hilarious little things that takes The Office to the next level. Once Michael gets re-settled, it takes him about 15 seconds to spill the beans that boss lady Jan accompanied him on the trip. And they slept in the same room. At night. And had sex. With each other.

Of course, Michael's bud Packer doesn't believe him (with good reason -- Jan is hot. What gives, I say? Why does idiot Michael get to ball his smoking hot boss in Jamaica? It's a wonder, is what it is. But more on that later.)


Jan could not be more out of Michael's league.

Anyway, Michael has a hot (HOT!) photo of him rubbing oil on a very scantily clad Jan (it had to be a body double, and if not I'm VERY impressed -- did I mention I think Jan is hot?), and e-mails it to Packer. But wait! He accidentally sends it to "Packaging" instead. E-mail forwarded, plastered across bathroom, Michael razzed for hitting "the corporate booty," etc. Hijinx, I tells ya. Zany hijinx.

Meanwhile, Jim and hot (but getting less hot with each episode for some reason) Karen are fighting, and Pam for some reason intervenes and convinces Jim to relent, and basically resolves their fight for them. Later, the camera catches Pam crying alone in the hallway. At which point, Dwight actually has a funny scene as he tries to console/hit on her. Hey, welcome back to sanity, Dwight! His first remotely plausible (and amusing) scene all season, I think. Whenever he stops acting like some kind of shell-shocked Full Metal Jacket extra and starts acting more like a real person, he gets funnier by leaps and bounds.

I also liked this turn between Jim and Pam. Could it be that a sitcom romance is actually, you know, complicated? Just like in, you know, real life? I think people my age are conditioned to the Ross-Rachel-style romance, where one was always dating someone else, they were mad at each other, etc. Come to think of it, Friends had funny moments, but it was a pretty stupid show. Congrats to me for figuring that out.

At the end of the show, Jan shows up to confront Michael for leaking the photo and getting them both in trouble. Or so I thought. It turns out Jan is there to explain her feelings for Michael. It turns out she has "self-destructive tendencies," and her therapist thinks she should indulge them with Michael, to whom she is attracted. See there? I knew it! Only psychological problems could have explained that away. This episode would have been much worse if they hadn't offered this exact explanation. Bravo. In the end, Jan tells Michael "I want to be with you," to which Michael responds "and I, to you, in addition, feel the same feelings that you are as well. " As they leave, he tells her "you complete me." Outstanding. I keep waiting for him to throw up on himself during a make-out session or something.

So there you have it. Best episode of the season. Keep it rolling. You complete me, The Office. You complete me.

Hyperlink:
- The Office [NBC]

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