Welcome back! Yesterday we covered the first half of our top 10 office episodes and now we’re finally ready to post the final part of the top 10. Thanks for stopping by and feel free to let us know what your favorite episodes are in the comments!
5. Casino Night (By WiseSage)
Here is a question Office fans: at what point did The Office become a classic television show? There are a lot of opinions out there. Some say that the first Dundies is where the show makes its leap. Other’s might claim the first Christmas Party, or maybe the Booze Cruise episode. All of these are good choices, but the moment The Office became the show that it showed promise to be all through its near perfect second season is Casino Night.
The Office has always been very good at showing and not telling, which is why the cold open, involving Jim and Pam fooling Dwight is a perfect indicator of what the viewer is going to get during the episode. Their mutual attraction has threatened to boil over during the entirety of the show, and by the time they are playing poker against each other during the actual casino night, we as viewers are ready to explode. And the poker scene itself, in my opinion, is the most sexually charged scene in sitcom history. The beauty of that scene is that it is absolutely chaste, but sparks are flying (If you ever meet someone who believes that Friends is superior to The Office, please direct them to this scene, wherein Jenna Fischer and John Krasinski do in 5 minutes what Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer could not accomplish in 7 seasons). All of this leads to Jim’s heartbreaking confession of love towards Pam.
But the episode offers so much more than just Jim and Pam drama. Casino Night offers us peak Michael Scott as well. Whether it is his fantastic explanation as to what is appropriate material for comedians to use, or his attempts to juggle two queens on Casino Night, Steve Carell is at the top of his game in this episode. His performance includes, perhaps, the single best take down of Toby in the series, when after being told that the Boy Scouts were uninvited, he venomously tells Toby, “I hate so much the things you choose to be.” Its a perfect television moment.
Another perfect moment is the cliffhanger that ends this episode. After Pam rejects Jim by attempting to shove him back into the friendzone, Jim walks in on Pam talking to her mother about the night’s events. Jim and Pam move to each other and do what millions of viewers have wanted them to do for the whole season; kiss. Then black. Because the genius of this episode is that it gives the viewer a climactic moment that also functions as a beginning. With this cliffhanger, The Office sets up the core narrative for the next season; a season that is not only the best season of The Office, but quite possibly one of the best seasons of television, period.
4. Business School (By Raven)
Business School has A LOT going on. Its one of the best Michael episodes. It shows Michael’s passion for his company and the paper industry and more importantly his love for people and his friends. Its also one of the funniest episodes and there’s a lot to touch on. I’ll try my best to touch on all the highlights.
Ryan invites Michael to speak in his business class for extra credit and Michael proudly agrees. He views it as an honor and a privilege, since Michael is without a doubt Ryan’s biggest fan. Upon arrival Ryan delivers the introduction and we see Ryan drag Dunder Mifflin and announce to his class that the company is failing. He even says that upper management is the reason. Michael does not hear this, and continues his presentation with passion and excitement, (albeit, a lot of ridiculousness as well) until he opens it up for questions and learns Ryan has made him look like a fool. In return, he also makes Ryan look ignorant by informing the class that Ryan has never made a sale.
MEANWHILE…at the office, a bat is discovered in the office…chaos ensues as well as some of the best parts of the series. Jim makes Dwight believe he is a vampire, Dwight ends up trapping both the bat and Meredith in a garbage bag. Its a whole thing.
On the way home, Ryan is basically pleading for his job, assuming Michael is going to fire him, but instead, he does something worse:
Michael: Fire you? No, no no. You are moving… to the annex.
Ryan: To the annex? Where… Kelly is?
Michael: A good manager doesn’t fire people. He hires people and inspires people. … People, Ryan. And people will never go out of business.
That line right there is, in my opinion the essence of Michael Scott. “People will never go out of business”
Shortly after that he hurries to Pam’s art show. She had invited the whole office and was so excited and proud but most everyone dismissed her. Oscar and Gil came and basically were incredibly snobby about the entire exhibit, calling it “motel art”. At this time in the series (This episode was before beach games) Pam has settled for Roy and resumed their lackluster romance. So, of course he showed up and was proud that he was the only one from the office to be there, gloated about it, leading her to feel worse about it. (Note: supporting your significant other is a given and NOT something you should feel obligated to do and NOT something that you should be rewarded for. Ok. carry on)
We then see Pam start to take down her exhibit, BUT THEN, much like Captain America grabbing Thors hammer, Michael shows up! “Pam-casso!” He enthusiastically exclaims. He is genuinely in awe of her work. He stares in wonder as if he is looking at work done by Artemisia Gentileschi. Pam is noticeably confused, since everyone else hadn’t fully appreciated it, or even pretended to…then this beautiful exchange happens when he sees the painting of the Office building:
Michael: My God, these could be tracings! Ohh! Look at this one. Wow! You nailed it. [sighs] … How much?
Pam: What do you mean?
Michael: I don’t see a… price.
Pam: Um… you wanna buy it?
Michael: Well, yeah. Yeah, we have to have it for the office. I mean, there’s my… window, and there’s my car! That your car?
Pam: Uh-huh.
Michael: That is our building… and we sell paper. … I am really proud of you.
Pam: [hugs Michael] … Thank you.
We see Michael hang up the picture in the Office…
“It is… a message. It is an inspiration, it is… a source of beauty. And without paper, it could not have happened. Unless, you had a camera.”
3. The Job (By WiseSage)
There is an episode of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia called “The Gang Desperately Tries to Win An Award.” It is a, mostly, good-hearted send up of sitcom television tropes. Most notably, it lampoons the “will they or won’t they” trope. The Office, which is sometimes accused of abusing this trope, spends the first 3 seasons circling around the Jim and Pam romance, but in hindsight the writers choreographed the relationship so well, that it is impossible to view their story as a mere trope. And it is “The Job” that most excellently sets the Jim/Pam romance apart.
This is not to say that “The Job” is solely focused on Jim and Pam. On the contrary, the season 3 finale is a showcase for all 4 of our main characters. Dwight’s story is the least consequential to the over-arcing narrative, but it is a somewhat heartwarming reminder of both his commitment to Dunder Mifflin and his affection for Pam. His genuine emotion upon receiving, what he believes, is the promotion to Michael’s job is one of those moments that The Office does so well. At first it is hilarious, but after watching it so many times it becomes almost poignant. There is no doubt that Dwight loves Dunder-Mifflin and is extremely passionate about paper. On top of all that, this episode gives us “Schrute Bucks,” which we later find out are comparable to “Stanley Nickels,”
But while Dwight is fumbling his way through his first day as boss, Michael finds himself between a rock and a hard place. While he is convinced that he will be getting the titular “Job” he unfortunately does not understand that the job he is interviewing for is to replace his girlfriend, Jan. Michael and Jan’s relationship has been rocky, to say the least. In fact, earlier in this episode Michael is horrified to see her show up in Scranton, and he convenes his squad of Dunder-Mifflin women to give him strength to turn down her proposition. But, even though Pam, Phyllis, Karen, and everyone else give him useful advice, Jan’s reasons are bigger. Vance might consider season 5 to be Michael’s best season, but season 3 is the moment that we see Steve Carell put everything on the table in terms of acting, in order to make Michael into one of the best characters in television history. He is caring, good-hearted, believes in love, considers his office family, and is loyal to a fault. He also has no clue how to handle an LGBT person, or someone who has spent time in prison. No other actor could make someone as complicated as Michael Scott work, and yet by the end of season 3, viewers cannot help but root for the guy who is both good-hearted and swayed by a “boob enhancement.” It is a travesty that he never won an Emmy for his role as Michael Scott.
All that being said, “The Job” is successful because, perhaps more than any other episode, it nails the central theme of The Office. In my opinion, The Office is about the beauty of the ordinary life. This episode challenges that theme by threatening to take Jim away from the ordinary life and transplanting him to New York. The weight of that possible reality hovers over the entirety of the proceedings. Jim gets the haircut, he spends the night with his girlfriend, and gets sucked into the nightlife of NYC. And that is the genius; our antagonist is not a person, such as Karen or David Wallace, but instead the villain is opportunity. Think about that for a minute. In just about every television show that we watch, no matter the genre, we typically root for the main character to seize opportunity and better him or herself. But The Office is not about betterment of situation, because The Office does not condemn the characters situation. In fact, the moment we finally turn on Karen is due to her willingness to turn on Michael, and condemn Jan. Its the end point of a slow bubbling arrogance that Karen has displayed from the very beginning of her time in Scranton. And so the tension of the episode becomes about what Jim will do with his life. Will he leave behind the relative simplicity of Scranton, for the excitement of New York and its “higher” form of leaving (by the way, this is why Ryan was the perfect choice for the Job. No one is more disdainful of Scranton than he is).
What ultimately saves Jim is a simple token from Pam. A simple yogurt lid that reminds him of not only life in Scranton, but also of how much Pam cares for him and his well-being. I honestly believe that Pam is okay with Jim taking the Job, because she wants the best for him. But when Jim sees the yogurt lid, it triggers a flashback to the beach. He tells Pam that he left and that even though he came back, he never really came back. In Jenna Fischer’s second best moment on the show, Pam calmly replies, “Well I wish you would.” Jim does not need to leave Scranton, because all of the things he really cares about are located in Scranton. Which is why he drives back from the interview, and asks Pam out to dinner, which leads to Jenna Fischer’s best moment in the series. Its the perfect manifestation of the simple, yet beautiful, overcoming the excitement of the big city.
And then season 9 ruins all of this, but that is another story.
2. Niagara (By Raven)
“Pam…Sorry. Are you free for dinner tonight?”
“…yes”
“Alright then…it’s a date…”
“Im sorry, what was the question?”
And thus, the spectacular romance of Jim and Pam begun.
Throughout the series, Jim and Pam are the slowburn will they/won’t they friendship/relationship that we have all experienced at some point, maybe with a different outcome, or maybe a similar one …if you’re one of the lucky ones. See, to me, Jim and Pam are the ultimate relationship goals, and if you disagree, you’re just wrong.
Id even go as far to say that it has affected my personal love life in a bigger way than it should have…if he ain’t like Jim, I do not want him. But I digress.
Jim and Pam start out as best friends, and they are fully themselves with each other because romance wasn’t the foundation initially, which is important for a strong relationship. Romance, attraction, lust…that ALL fades, it comes and goes at some point, but friendship, is the ONLY thing ive witnessed in my lifetime that outlasts marriages/relationships. Friendship love is often unconditional, so when you fall in romantic love with your best friend, its something truly magical. What’s that cheesy ass quote? “Love is simply friendship caught on fire” and I think Jim and Pam are the perfect example of that, they took their time, they didn’t rush…even dated other people. But ultimately, at the end of the day, they just wanted to be with your best friend. That companionship that was missing from every other person…they wanted THAT.
Honestly, If you don’t have a relationship like Jim and Pam, I don’t know why you keep trying.
Niagara is the crescendo of Jim and Pam, and it does not disappoint. In a two part episode, we laugh, cry, yell, and question our life decisions. It’s very quirky at times.
In pure realistic form, everyone is trying to make the wedding about them rather than the couple. Jim had been to enough weddings to forsee this would happen, especially with his fabulous group of friends. But we’ll circle back to that in a minute.
Jim, at the rehearsal dinner, gives an extremely adorable speech:
Jim: I just wanna say how happy we are, that all of you are here tonight. And I want to especially thank those of you who have travelled from far away to be here with us tonight. Especially the Florida cousins, who obviously can’t take a hint. Four years ago, I was just a guy who had a crush on a girl, who had a boyfriend. And I had to do the hardest thing that I’ve ever had to do, which was just to… wait. Don’t get me wrong, I flirted with her. Pam, I can now admit in front of friends and family, that I do know how to make a photocopy. Didn’t need your help that many times. And, uh, do you remember how long it took you to teach me how to drive stick?
Pam: Like a year!
Jim: I’ve been driving stick since high school, so… For a really long time that’s all I had. Little moments with a girl who saw me as a friend. And, a lot of people told me I was crazy to wait this long for a date with a girl I work with but I think, even then I knew that… I was waiting for my wife. So, I would like to propose a toast. So if you’d all raise your glasses– not Pam for obvious reasons– but everyone else, if you’d raise your glass…
And right at the end there, Jim messed up. See, the fact that Pam was pregnant was supposed to be kept a secret from her old fashioned Nana. Nana was appalled and decided she would forgo the wedding, until Michael Scott steps in and saves the day somehow. It’s an epic moment.
Following a lot of other shenanigans that i cannot fit into one article, the day had finally come, but Pam was having many issues since, as aforementioned, everyone was making the wedding about themselves and not focusing on Jim and Pam as they should (I’ve noticed this actually happens at most weddings)
But Jim knew this would happen! He is wise and a romantic and just wanted to have a day, a moment with his best friend that is just for them. After comforting Pam and being THE LITERAL BEST, Jim announces that he has an idea, and they run off and leave everyone at the church. When they get back, they start the wedding, and their friends and family decide to basically crash the wedding (again by making it about themselves) by dancing down the aisle to chris brown’s song “Forever” which was apparently part of a viral youtube video, and pam had put it on the “do not play list” but they didn’t give an eff about nothing. Pam was chill AF about it though. Why? Because when her and Jim ran off they got married by themselves, on a boat, literally by niagara falls. OMG.
They are goals guys …I’m telling you.
Jim: bought the boat tickets the day I saw that YouTube video. I knew we’d need a backup plan. The boat was actually plan C. The church was plan B. And plan A was marrying her a long, long time ago. Pretty much the day I met her.
1. Dinner Party (By Vance)
There was only one episode that managed to make it onto all of our individual lists and that was Dinner Party. This episode is undoubtedly the funniest episode of the series and may very well be the funniest episode of any show. I honestly can’t think of another one that matches it. If you were going to show a single episode to someone who had never seen the show before then this would definitely be a top contender.
The episode is also really interesting in how it tells the story of 4 major relationships on the show without forcing anything. Everything is brought to us in a very real way.
First and Foremost, Michael’s
1. Michael and Jan
Obviously this is the main one because of the party itself and while it is funny to watch we also see just how unhinged their relationship becomes over the course of the party. They start play fighting but it quickly becomes an actual fight which culminates in 2 of the funniest scenes of the episode where they talk about whether or not they want kids and about Michael’s vasectomies(“Snip snap, snip snap, snip snap!”) and the final fight which leads to what I consider to be the greatest “That’s what she said” of the entire series.
These two are wild and very clearly shouldn’t be together but that just leads to their new storylines that happen in Season 5. Which, once again, is my favorite season.
2. Jim and Pam
These are basically our two protagonists of the episode, as they are throughout most of the show. They’re very clearly the most stable relationship shown in the episode and it’s because they basically band together through everything…except for the moment where Jim tries to leave Pam at the party but that makes sense.
Whether it’s the fantastic scene of the “Candle Workspace” or the exceptional charades scene, Jim and Pam have to overcome obstacle after obstacle of awkwardness and just wanting to eat and leave. Which, of course, is hilarious.
3. Andy and Angela
Andy and Angela are one of the funnier couples on the show but it’s unfortunately so funny because of how bad they are together. Andy wants to show love to someone and he’s trying to so hard to make that Angela. She’s just so cold and callous that she won’t really respond to anything the way that she should. This doesn’t deter Andy even during moments like when he hands her a flower and she just goes “What am I supposed to do with this?” or when he takes a lick of her Ice Cream and just slams it on the side of his car.
4. Dwight
My current watching of the office is probably somewhere around the 30th or 40th time I’ve watched it all the way through. Now, that’s including me just having it on in the background because that’s just the show that it is to me. But the more I watch, the more I realize just how important Dwight is to everyone. When you first watch it he’s either Annoying or just a foil to Jim half the time but then as you get further into the series and you start to really pay attention to how he reacts to everyone around him. He genuinely loves the office and everyone in it, even if he doesn’t say so. Now, with this episode however, he mainly just wants to crash Michael’s party and be closer to Angela who he actually loves.
He also does this by bringing the woman who was his babysitter and now they’re “Dating”…The more I watch the show, the more I love Dwight.
Overall the entire episode is hilarious and sure, there might be better episodes out there but this one is universally considered one of the best and rightly so.
