The Office "Phyllis' Wedding" (2007)

The day has finally arrived, it's time for the wedding of Pam and Roy. I'm sorry, I mean Phyllis and Robert (Bob) Vance. Being an office affair, nothing that involves Michael Scott is sure to go over well and there are a few bumps in the road, mostly of his doing. It's funny because watching this episode, I couldn't help thinking of "Diwali" and the stark contrast of his behavior there and here. He is excited for both affairs although he sees himself playing a greater role in the wedding. He forces himself into every wedding picture and is looking for redemption for his actions in the last wedding he was in: his mother and Jeff's where he wet his pants, threw the ring and claimed he hated them. It's understandable he wants to be the center of attention as always but he also wants to do right by Phyllis. He considers his role of employer of the bride means that he is technically paying for the wedding and he is co-giving her away since he is pushing her father's wheelchair down the aisle. Once he is upstaged by having her father decide to will himself to walk on his own halfway there, he becomes increasingly more desperate to make a significant and meaningful contribution to the wedding. His choices, prematurely introducing the new couple and embarking on a planned forty minute toast, only serve to anger Bob and Phyllis and get himself kicked out of the reception. He continues to hang around outside and his apology to Phyllis was genuine. He wanted to make her day special and wanted to do something special for her. Ironically the crazy old man he bonds with turns out to be the missing demented uncle and Phyllis leaves Michael with a kiss before her honeymoon.

Like I said this episode reminded me a lot of "Diwali", another event he was invited to by one his employees. For the most part he was a hit at that celebration. Aside from some otherwise awkward remarks to Kelly's parents, he was having a blast dancing and generally not causing a nuisance. It all ended badly with that ill-timed proposal and departed embarrassed and with his tail between his legs. Then we got that tag scene where his Diwali song received a uproarious round of applause. Now look at the wedding, he makes one blunder after another until he is booted from the reception at the hands of Bob Vance. Then he ends on a high note with an appreciative Phyllis thanking Michael for finding Uncle Al (George Ives). Then there's the tag where we see his unwelcome insertion into another wedding moment which should be a happy one for the new couple. The two are almost polar opposites right down to the end where he is left alone and futilely tries to kiss Pam. Here at the wedding he has Uncle Al keeping him company and receives a thank-you kiss from Phyllis. I don't think it was intentional but the complementary episodes are a treat for people who pay a little too much attention, like me.

But this wasn't just the Michael Scott show, we got some great bits from all the other characters. Creed placing his own card on someone else's gift is perfectly suited to his character. Dwight and Angela had two good couple moments where he tells her she looks beautiful and she responds with don't linger. The end where they dance outside the building was a sweet image, along with Pam and Roy dancing outside the reception hall upstairs. Kelly of course decides to wear white, which you should never do as it draws attention away from the bride, and tells Pam she should tell people she is pregnant to steal Phyllis's thunder after she stole Pam's wedding ideas. Even Jim cannot pass up the opportunity to flame Dwight's concern about wedding crashers which leads to Uncle Al's expulsion from the ceremony. Side note: I felt strangely connected to Dwight when he told his story about sitting in the wrong theater for an hour when he ended up seeing Wedding Crashers instead of Grizzly Man. One night I was supposed to go to a late show of X2 after work with my sister. After about a half hour and the movie still hadn't started, I figured we might be in the wrong theater. Call it fatigue, laziness or just stubbornness but I refused to get up and see. After another half hour we realized we were in the theater for The Matrix Reloaded. Looks like I Schruted that one.

The Wedding Crashers patrol prank was another good prank from Jim, along with the more hilarious and brilliant Pavlov dog experiment in the cold open. I think it's a continuing sign of Dwight and Jim's new found bond that these pranks take on a tamer and more light-hearted feel as opposed to last season where he moved Dwight's desk into the bathroom, his supplies into the vending machine or all the way back to the first season when he taped him into a box during their alliance. The cold, adversarial relationship between the two is gone and I like that they've replaced it with civil camaraderie with Jim still putting a few over on Dwight along the way.

I wish I could hope for PB & J's new relationship as well. In keeping with their new hot and cold dynamic, this week saw Jim begin to realize that maybe Pam shared some of the feelings he has been trying so hard to bury in his new relationship with Karen. He hypothetically states that if Pam was interested in getting together before trying to determine if he really is speaking hypothetically. I feel bad for Karen because he pretty much admits that if Pam gives him a come hither look that he would drop her faster than a bad habit. I like Karen even if in the past few episodes she has been portrayed in a slightly more annoying, less fun light. Of course once Pam sneaks out of the reception with Roy, who has been trying all season to win back Pam, he immediately gets angry and states that he is happy with Karen and that is certainly not a hypothetical. This love rhombus (not mine, but I like the term) is finally coming to a head with Pam breaking down out of loneliness and depression over Jim's new relationship and heading back to Roy who she knows is not good for her. It surprises me how much in denial the two of them can be about their feelings and if it's obvious they're both still interested why they don't just get together since they care more for one another than they do for Karen and Roy. I'm sure Pam leaving with Roy with only fan the fire that is Jim's feelings of rejection and we have a bit more to go before our star-crossed lovers get together.

Favorite moment: We finally get to see Scrantonicity in action after we learned about their existence in the great "Casino Night" last season. Playing at their third wedding, which is the first that's not a member of their band's, Kevin steals the show with his rendition of Sting's
"Roxanne". The best however is Karen singing and dancing right along up on stage as Jim waves his cell phone as if it's a lighter. There's certainly a spark between the two but it's saddened by the realization it's simply not meant to be.