Office Fodder

The Office: The Delivery - Review

It's been almost a month (Feb. 11) since the last new "Office" episode, back when Michael and Jim were duking it out for co-manager with Kathy Bates/Jo Bennett.

And now, all of a sudden, Pam is having her baby! The baby that was barely mentioned throughout this entire season! That's now about to be born to much fanfare!

And with it, predictably, come a lot of laughs in one of the best Office episodes of the season. It was Ultra Feast worthy.

Intro:
Dwight realizes Jim and Pam are making more sales because they have a baby on the way, so he tries to do his own personal story on a sales pitch.

"My cousin came down with a case of that nasty new goat fungus." - Dwight

That's when he realizes he needs his own baby. Commence subplot.

Main:
It's an hour-long episode, so a lot is packed in here, as it seems like the writers wanted to (breast) milk everything they could out of the pregnancy thing ... which is kind of a headscratcher, since they could have done that this entire season but instead decided it was funnier for Michael to get advice from David Wallace.

Pam and Kevin realize they share the same eating habits now that she's preggers and he's ... Kevin. This includes "second breakfast, lunch, second lunch and first dinner."

Pam has already started some contractions, but Kevin wants to have one last "Ultra Feast" with her, which sounds both delicious and hilarious. He has already cooked through the Julia Child cookbook and is now working on the Twilight (!?!?) cookbook.

Pam and Jim are trying to hold off going to the hospital until midnight so as to maximize their insurance coverage of the hospital room. That turns into the whole office coming together to help distract Pam with things like Walter Jr.Andy doing the "complete evolution of dance" (or was it Dance, Dance Revolution?). Just don't distract him.

I love having Michael back in charge, because Jim can't be a Debbie Downer as much. Even though he wasn't a fan of Michael's (and Pam's) ideas, he couldn't do much about it. Salesman Jim is much more likable, and even when he got irritated, it's understandable as a new dad.

Even after Pam's water broke, she still refuses to go to the hospital. That's when I start figuring out it's because she's scared, not just because of insurance. And I'm soon proved right, as Jim tries to comfort her... with Michael and Kevin also holding her hand.

"I'm petrified" - Kevin

Hospital time: Michael drives (and tries to text at the same time), and they arrive alive, after Dwight gets pulled over as the escort for impersonating a police officer (love that the officer said Dwight's name while he pulled him over).

Inside the hospital, it takes more than 19 hours before the baby arrives, ruining Andy's sweet idea to have the birth day's newspaper framed (Scranton Times-Tribune, which must have been thrilled to be featured on the show). "Scranton Strangler Strangles Again" is the unfortunate headline now. Ha!

Little Celia Marie Halpert is born. Pam's mom, Helene, makes an appearance, which turns awkward when Michael stops in. Then things get more awkward, as a staff person helps Pam learn how to breastfeed. A male staff person. John Krasinski (who had a truly great episode, as did Jenna Fischer) did his classic puff-cheeks look.

And in a joke you saw coming a mile away but was funny anyway, Pam accidentally breastfeeds her roommate's baby (the roommate, I believe, was a girl Ted dated on How I Met Your Mother). Good stuff.

"This is not our baby!" - Pam

In the subplot:
Dwight and Angela (hey, there, cast member who used to be on all the time and then disappeared) agree to have a baby "for business purposes," and, as only they can, decide to come up with a parental contract that calls for things like possibly naming the child Ebenezer or Jedidiah. I loved Dwight's belief you can make a baby male by alternating hot and cold womb temperatures.

Eventually, the two sign the contract, although Dwight ends up hesitating, probably because he saw the hot bridesmaid from Pam and Jim's wedding and thought of what could be.

In the other subplot, Andy and Erin finally, finally, agreed to go on a date, which should be hilarious when it happens. He had already spent part of the episode stalking her and Kevin (Michael tried to play matchmaker) behind a plant, before growing a pair and asking her.

Rating:
World's Best Episode: I don't think I've given any episode this season this rating, and for good reason - it's been a very uneven episode. But after a good episode last time, and a great one this time, it was well deserved. It was like everything was back to the way it's supposed to be: Michael being goofy but endearing, Dwight being an overzealous dork, Jim and Pam being the fun couple, Andy and Kevin provided great comedy and little one-liners from everyone else (Meredith's "George Clooney"). Let's hope things stay like this, eh?

Nice touches:

• Kevin commenting on Edward's cornflake chicken


• Creed excitedly raising his hand that he's single


• Michael tossing the keys


• Bringing back Dwight's bridesmaid lover


• Michael's reaction to seeing Pam give birth

"You can poop yourself!" - Kelly

"Nobody touch Pam's nipple" - Michael

"Stick spicy food up her butt!" - Kevin

"You had to have the after-dinner delight" - Michael

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