Forget Scott’s Tots, The Office’s Most Stressful Episode Came Out 2 Years Before Michael’s Disaster

The Office is one of the best American comedies of recent years, with one landmark episode offering a greater importance than many fans realize. Based on the British sitcom created, written, and directed by Ricky Gervais, The Office applies American sensibilities to the dry and deadpan humor of the quintessentially British original. All seasons of the American Office had something unique to offer, copying the mockumentary concept of the original and adding new twists, hinging heavily around one of its most stressful episodes. Full of hilarious disasters, The Office changed everything in one cringe-worthy episode.

Ranking the main characters of The Office by funniness is a difficult exercise, pitting powerful and hardly comparable performances against each other. This heady mix of strong characters combines throughout the NBC show’s diverse nine seasons to create episodes that are just as laugh-out-loud funny as they are anxiety-inducing. With Steve Carell starring as the main character, Michael Scott, The Office put various characters in humorous nightmare scenarios. The Office season 12, episode 6, “Scott’s Tots,” exemplified this tactic well. However, season 3, episode 18, “Cocktails,” depicted it with a bigger impact.

“Cocktails” Might Be The Office’s Most Anxiety-Inducing Episodes

The Office Is Full Of Brilliantly Cringe-worthy Humor

While The Office has many stressful episodes, “Cocktails” might be the most stressful. It is hard to deny the power of “Scott’s Tots,” the episode of The Office whereby Michael’s broken promise to graduates became agonizingly obvious. Bringing uncomfortable but realistic humor to the forefront of TV, this episode was founded on the success of an episode released two years before, “Cocktails.” In this incredibly awkward tour de force, Pam told Roy about Jim’s kiss at David Wallace’s party while Michael and Jan went official in the most comedically weird way possible.

“Cocktails” Changed The Office Forever In A Lot Of Ways

The Office Shifted Massively After “Cocktails”

The Office was never the same again after “Cocktails.” Rivaling episodes like “Scott’s Tots” and “Vandalism” for wince-worthy comedy gold, “Cocktails” may actually be more important than either of those episodes. The funniest episodes of The Office share some things in common, including Michael’s childish behavior and layered social misunderstandings. “Cocktails” nailed The Office’s smart formula for comedy and threw a serious spanner in the works of major character relationships, changing the show permanently from that point onwards. Women in the show were more assertive after “Cocktails,” leading to important character development.

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As Pam decided to finally tell Roy what she really wanted from their relationship, it became clear that things were going to change. In trying to make her relationship with Roy work, she let slip that she had kissed Jim, which led critically to Roy attacking Jim in the next episode. Michael Scott was at his worst in “Scott’s Tots,” but “Cocktails” proved that The Office didn’t rely on Carell’s stellar performance. As Jan and Michael went public and Pam and Roy split up following “Cocktails,” the echoes of this underrated episode reverberated throughout The Office until its close.

The Office

8/10

Release Date

2005 – 2013-00-00

Showrunner

Greg Daniels

Directors

Greg Daniels, Paul Lieberstein, Paul Feig, Randall Einhorn, Ken Kwapis