I love holidays at The Office, from St. Patrick’s Day to Halloween. Even when preceding episodes haven’t necessarily been up to Office standards, holiday shows always seem to replenish a sparse season. And this Valentine’s Day was no different.
While I’ll admit that there have been funnier and more romantic episodes of The Office than “PDA,” the show put a unique spin on a day now often defaced with the title “greeting card holiday.” With Michael and Holly’s newly resparked romance taking up most of the screen time, the plot stayed mainly cohesive. Past episodes this season seemed to be missing the mark in this respect, but the writers really tied everything together in “PDA.” What really lived up to Office standards was the comedy of the show. But what was a little off was the subject that the Valentine’s Day episode was focused on: public displays of affection.
I never considered Valentine’s Day a holiday about PDA and romantic entanglements. In fact, my idea of romance has not changed much in the roughly decade and a half that I’ve understood the dictionary definition of “love.” Maybe it is the childish idealist in me, but I’ve always thought of romance as something transcending physical passion. Particularly in the case of Valentine’s Day. Feb. 14 always seemed to me an emotional rather than a physical holiday. But affection means different things to different people. And in this episode of The Office it meant PDA.
Michael and Holly’s constant physicality was, as the office employees (other than Kevin) would tell you, pretty nauseating. Though this part of the story did bring the episode together with a unified theme, it was still slightly annoying.
Even more so, the way the story diverted into a hunt by Jim and Pam for a place to have office sex felt a little weird. Why, so suddenly, does the idea of sex in the office appeal to them? In the several years they’ve known each other and the few years they’ve been together, you’d think it would have already occurred to them. While it didn’t monopolize that much of the story, the whole idea felt like an unnecessary addition to an already PDA-obsessed episode.
The one reprieve from the omnipresence of sex and PDA in this episode was Gabe’s “Romantic Treasure Hunt” in which he made romance into a science (his own words, not mine). Good for him. The little clues he writes for Erin are adorable, though that opinion may just be a product of the Disney-esque romantic in me.
Though it was a little anticlimactic, the final clue leading to Gabe blowing Erin a kiss was cute. You would think based on her character that Erin would have appreciated something like that, but I guess her innocence has its bounds (unlike mine).
Having Erin ask Andy for help along the treasure hunt seemed a little contrived, but nonetheless in admitting to being a fan girl waiting anxiously for them to get back together, I will warily say that it did not bother me so much.
This episode was odd at times, but cute when it wanted to be. The Office deserves some praise for taking a holiday that is surrounded with stereotypes and making it funny and clever rather than trite and predictable. The montage at the end with every office employee’s idea of Valentine’s Day was particularly amusing. It’s rare to be able to give that many people a chance to send off the episode with a good teaser, but it was done really excellently.
But lastly, I feel compelled to bring up something that confused me. Andy mentioned going on a date with a girl named Rachel in the beginning of the episode. Is this ever going to be followed up? I’ll be waiting for your call, Nard-Dog.