The Office - Ultimatum recap/review

At the end of last year, Holly said she was going to give A.J. an ultimatum: Either he proposes or they break up. Everyone in the office knew it was going to happen, and Michael was freaking out wondering which outcome would occur. He made himself videos to comfort himself in the event of either occurrence. If Holly was engaged, he would play the video encouraging himself not to commit suicide. If Holly and A.J. broke up, he would play the video that encouraged himself to party for a few minutes and then calm down. Erin helped him make these videos, and she also helped him arrange supplies in two boxes (a sad box and a happy box) that would help him in either event. For instance, the sad box had scotch in it, the happy box had champagne.

When Holly appeared, it was revealed that she and A.J. were still together, but they were not engaged. She gave him the ultimatum, but then she backed down. Michael lost it and got mad at everyone in the office for not following through on their New Year’s resolutions. Pam had prepared a giant board for everyone to write their New Year’s resolutions on. Michael forced Creed to do a bad cartwheel and Kevin to eat a raw vegetable, fulfilling their resolutions and attacking Holly through them. Michael ticked both of them off, so he apologized to them in front of Holly.

Dwight and Andy’s resolution was to meet a loose woman, so Darryl suggested the bookstore. Darryl’s resolution was to read more and he wanted a free ride to the bookstore. Darryl bought an e-reader. Yesssss, those are awesome. On the way back to the office, Dwight moaned that he hadn’t met a loose woman and suggested a strip club. Wary of the daytime strippers and how horrible they must look, Darryl suggested the roller rink. Andy loved the roller rink the most, especially when he was the only one there, so they played Dave Matthews Band for him.

At the end of the episode, Holly called A.J. and decided to take a break from their relationship. Not a bad episode, not a great episode. Something important happened though, and we laughed when Kevin had to eat the vegetable. We are ignoring the Knights of the Night. That was too much. Also, not a lot of Jim in the episode. The Office has been a lot better than it was last season and in the beginning of this season though.

Episode Grade: B-