Stanley the Manley. As funny as all the other characters are on The Office, Stanley may lead them all in laughs per word spoken. So, I was excited when I read that tonight’s episode of The Office was about Stanley and his possible recruitment to the Dunder-Mifflin Utica branch. Unfortunately, Stanley gets less screen time than the episode’s plot would lead one to believe, though this is quickly forgiven. Tonight’s Office was possibly the funniest of the season. Hilarious throughout, there wasn’t a whole lot in the way of story development, but we did get the return of Karen Filippelli and three gloriously fake mustaches.
We kick off the episode with Karen, now the Regional Manager at Dunder-Mifflin’s Utica branch, offering Stanley a higher-paying sales position at her branch. Stanley tells Michael that he is leaving for Utica to take this higher-paying job. Michael does not take well to this news – he doesn’t want to lose the funny black guy. Michael tells the entire office of Stanley’s plans, and they applaud him. Michael was not expecting this. Michael talks to Stanley alone tries to convince him to stay, but Stanley makes it clear that it’s all about the money.
Pam, Oscar, and Toby have formed a very exclusive club that meets once a month called The Finer Things Club. They discuss high art, eat sushi, wear upscale clothes, etc. It is very exclusive and they won’t allow any new members.
Michael and Dwight tell Jim that they are going to go on a major sales run because corporate just dropped Staples. Jim reluctantly goes along, thinking that it’s actually a sales trip. Was on the road, Jim is informed that it is not: the three of them are heading to Utica to seek vengeance for the poaching of Stanley by pulling an epic prank. Dwight has brought along homemade bombs and other ridiculous items that go way beyond a prank. Jim wants to take a cab back, but they convince him to stay as long as Dwight doesn’t blow anything up.
They dress up as warehouse workers and wear fake mustaches. Jim has no intention of going into the Utica branch, just wants to wear the outfit. Now at the Utica branch, Jim stays in the car as Dwight and Michael head inside. They wait until Karen leaves the office. Dwight and Michael talk to Jim using a walkie-talkie. The two have a close encounter with a security guard. The prank: steal Utica’s industrial-sized copier. We only hear the attempt at theft via Jim’s walkie-talkie, but it quickly goes awry. The copier falls over, or Dwight and Michael fall over, but there’s a ruckus and Michael tells Jim to come to save them.
Meanwhile, Karen has returned to the parking lot and spots the camera crew in Michael’s car. She heads over and finds Jim. Needless to say, she is not happy.
We pick up with Jim, Dwight, and Michael getting a talking to from Karen inside the Utica office. She’s clearly upset, but doesn’t do anything to punish them. Michael talks about how he fights for his employees. Karen sends Michael and Dwight away, tells Jim to stay. She thinks that Jim orchestrated this whole thing as an excuse to come see her. Jim quietly explains that this wasn’t the case and he’s still with Pam and quite happy. Karen isn’t very happy to hear this. Things get awkward.
The trio arrives back at Scranton and Michael informs everyone that they failed. He tells Stanley that he can go. Michael is clearly depressed that Stanley will be leaving. Stanley, at the end of the episode, tells Michael that he’s decided to stay. Stanley tells us that he was never planning on leaving and that he was only trying to get a raise. He’s surprised Michael called his bluff.
Top 5 Funniest Quotes
#5: “Let me cut right to the chase: do you like magic?” – Michael
#4: “The eyes are the groin of the head.” – Dwight
#3: “I will stab the security guard in the eyes with this jumbo chalk.” – Dwight
#2: “Besides having sex with men, The Finer Things Club is probably the gayest thing about me.” – Oscar
#1: “I think I cut my penis on the lid.” – Dwight
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Images Courtesy of NBC)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
