One of the best things this show ever did was give Michael Scott a partner in crazy. Holly grounds him, keeps him from crossing into that unfunny insane territory he’s populated for the last 2 years. She also brings out his sweet side, which has always been there but often got overshadowed. And Holly is just crazy enough herself that we can believe that she would be with Michael. They’re perfect together, and this episode only proved that even more.
And you know who else was great this week who I haven’t liked in years? Dwight. Dwight was really great this week. It was a humanizing episode for him; he had lovely moments of regret over the Angela situation that were undercut perfectly by just the right amount of Dwight craziness.
Oh, and Phyllis got some screen time. Actual screen time. Like B story screen time. It was nice. I’ve always liked Phyllis.
It was hilarious when Jim cowered at the sight of Roy, afraid of getting hit. I liked that he got nervous and went to go visit Pam and then realized that he had nothing to worry about and remembered to trust her.
And I liked the auction a lot.
Overall it was a lovely episode. Hilarious, touching and just generally really, really good.