The Office Recap: ‘Lights, Camera, Auction’
In this week’s episode of The Office, newly formed Dunder-Mifflin couple Michael Scott and Holly Flax (Toby’s HR replacement) are accessories to a crime. I know what you’re thinking: these two?! But wait.
The episode opens with Michael and Holly discussing their last date. It seems it went well (this chick is definitely an HR Weirdo) and they set another one for that night.
Meanwhile, Andy hands out “save the date” notices for his and Angela’s wedding. Upon receiving his, Dwight looks like he wants to stab someone. And indeed Phyllis later finds him making a knife…with a knife. While he initially rejects her offer of advice, he eventually seeks her out, opening their conversation by running through a list of the things Angela introduced him to: pasteurized milk, sheets, monotheism, presents on your birthday, and, of course, preventative medicine. Phyllis tells Dwight the only way to get Angela back is to give her an ultimatum: Him or Andy. Can you say lose-lose situation?
Later that evening, as Holly and Michael are leaving the office for their date, Holly pretends to forget her keys, drawing Michael back into the building but locking the camera crew outside. They proceed to make out in the stairwell and Michael accidentally turns their microphones all the way up instead of down thinking it will give them privacy. The resulting audio is quite disturbing.
Unfortunately, neither Holly nor Michael locked the office upon their departure and they return in the morning to find it has been ransacked (Michael: “so much for sex without consequences”). Oscar is pissed because the thieves stole his laptop and Kevin is equally upset over the tragic loss of his surge protector. Also, we learn that the last person who stole from Creed Bratton disappeared. His name? Creed Bratton.
In an effort to rid themselves of their guilt and to recoup his employees’ losses, Michael holds a charity auction in which the big ticket item is a pair of backstage passes to a Bruce Springsteen concert. In the spirit of this theme he gives Darryl a list of his top 10 Springsteen songs to play. Darryl says that 3 of them were Huey Lewis and the News, one of them was Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car, and his personal favourite, Short People.
Meanwhile, Dwight delivers his ultimatum to Angela (“break off your engagement with the singing buffoon or say goodbye to this”-it’s not clear where he’s pointing but I think it might be below the belt). He gives her until 6:14 pm and when she does not respond by that point he takes it out on Phyllis, who wisely advises him to move on.
At the auction (which Michael has dubbed C.R.I.M.E.-A.I.D: Crime Reduces Innocence Makes Everyone Angry I Declare), Jim wins Darryl’s donation of a round of beers with the warehouse guys at the moment of purchase. They run into Pam’s ex-fiancee, Roy, at the bar and it’s awkward. He guilts Jim into driving to New York to visit Pam (who, by the way, is now working for Dunder-Mifflin’s corporate office and is therefore pestered by Michael over the phone at all hours), but on the way there Jim turns his car around stating that he’s “not that guy and they are not that couple.”
In the end, Michael claims that the Bruce Springsteen tickets were stolen (although he later reveals to Holly this it was sort of a grey area whether or not he had them), but Phyllis’s donation of “a hug” draws the biggest bid of the night thanks to Dwight’s inexplicable topping of her husband’s bids by “one penny” increments. The crowd disperses and Holly and Michael are left alone. Cue the fake Bruce Springsteen music…
Related Stories:
- The Office Recap: ‘From One Babbydaddy to Another…’
- The Office Recap: Life is a Highway to Hell…or Nashua, New Hampshire
- The Office Recap: The Biggest Loser: Dunder-Mifflin Edition
- The Office Recap: Can I Get a Listing for an Anti-Gravity Machine?
- The Office Recap: Let’s Get Ethical