Ahh, PDA. Those stolen kisses, loving glances and forever entangled fingers can be a little hard to take for the rest of us — especially on Valentine’s Day, when we sad singletons are forced to ponder our own relationship failings. As a general rule, public displays of affection are uncalled for. They’re inappropriate. But as we saw on this week’s Office, they can also be kind of great.
Sometimes you don’t know how you feel about something (or in this case, someone) until it’s taken away from you, and that was certainly true for Michael and Holly this episode. It’s Valentine’s Day at Dunder Mifflin, and one week into their relationship, they can’t keep their hands off each other. After being confronted about it by the rest of the office, they try to tone it down, but they eventually wind up in a private meeting with Gabe, who suggests that perhaps they’re trying to cram an entire relationship in before Holly has to leave. Struck by her impending departure, they declare their love for one another (and give each other a hilarious, office-appropriate “I love you” handshake).
It seemed like the perfect set-up for Michael’s departure, but Mr. Scott’s grand finale is still a mystery at this point. Holly eventually has to go back to her old branch, and all of Michael’s talk about not wanting a long-distance relationship would make it seem like he’s all set to go with her. When it came time for their big announcement at the end of the episode, I was half-expecting Michael to announce his resignation, but it turns out he and Holly are moving in together. This raises a lot of questions, namely “What’s going to happen to drive Michael away from Dunder Mifflin?” Gabe said Sabre is tolerant of office romances, so what other obstacles stand in these lovebirds’ way?
While Michael and Holly were busy taking their relationship to the next level, another office romance was being rekindled. Andy reluctantly helps Erin after Gabe gives her a Valentine’s treasure hunt to figure out. It’s business as usual for the latter while Andy and Erin enjoy the romantic clues he’s laid out. Finally they arrive at the vending machine, where the last clue tells her to get ready for her kiss. Just as a confused Erin says, “Are we supposed to…?” and awkwardly leans in toward Andy, Gabe appears at the window and blows her a kiss. He doesn’t even bother to walk into the room, and the small, distant gesture stands in contrast to Michael and Holly’s passion, indicating it’s only a matter of time before Andy snatches Erin out from under Gabe’s nose.
The Office has always delivered holiday-themed episodes without getting gimmicky, and “PDA” was no exception. The Valentine’s Day laughs were all there (Jim giving Dwight a valentine and then drunkenly shouting, “Aw, nuts!” after being rejected by him was an instant classic), but they never got in the way of the rest of the plot. It was another solid episode in what’s shaped up to be a strong season, and for that, we’d like to awkwardly blow the entire Dunder Mifflin gang a kiss.
Stray observations
-Jim and Pam had their funniest storyline all season with celebrating Valentine’s Day at lunch, accidentally getting drunk and eventually getting it on in the office. Jenna Fischer plays an excellent drunk (see “The Dundies”), but drunk Jim was a new, wonderful discovery this week.
-Gabe’s not a prude, okay guys? “No one is a bigger fan of sexual touching than me.”
-Jim, reacting to a joke about Gabe: “Boom! FACE!”
-Michael’s reaction to Holly declaring her love was pretty adorable: “Whatever, no big deal, the hottest girl in the world loves me.”
-In case you’re wondering what exactly constitutes PDA, it includes “boobie honking,” according to Kevin.
-Michael, on his classic romance with Holly: “Holly and I are like Romeo and Juliet, and everyone else is like the dragon that was keeping them apart.”