I’ve got to say, I thought this episode was Michael at his best. Bumbling, naive, awkward and humiliating.
Michael arrived at the office with a large fake mustache on, which was later replaced with a band-aid, because there was something on his face. “It’s a pimple, Phyllis. Avril Lavigne gets them all the time and she rocks harder than anyone alive.” OK then. It actually wasn’t a pimple, it was a cold sore. Which Dwight told him was herpes, which is an STD, which meant Michael had to contact all his former lovers.
He began with Donna, the married bartender he had his most recent romantic encounter with. It didn’t go well. Next he called Holly, his true love, and the conversation didn’t go well for another reason – instead of bringing up his “STD”, he just rehashed their relationship. Holly told Michael that he was over-romanticizing their relationship. It sent him into a bit of an emotional spiral and he started asking all his exes if this was true. I liked seeing Michael interact with all these women again. It was so awkward and inappropriate, and reminded both Michael and the audience that Holly is his soulmate.
First he visited Jan, who was the wackiest of all his visits. She’s nicknamed her kid, Astrid, “Assy”. ASSY.And she sings everything now, because she’s released an album of Doris Day covers. On her own label.Carol was a lot nicer, but after seeing that he was contacting everyone he’d been with over a cold sore, she said “You do make a bigger deal out of things than you need to.” He was rude to Pam’s mom, and then he asked Oscar for a list of all the men he’d slept with because they kissed once, and that makes them ex-lovers. Michael’s final phone call to Holly was kind of heartbreaking, but also exciting since we know we’ll be seeing her soon this season. I don’t know about you, but I’d love to see those two end up together.
The sub-plot this week was also hysterical because it included an Andy Bernard outburst, something I’ve been wanting for a long time. He was upset over everyone making fun of how gross Meredith is, but he was also still stinging over Erin and Gabe’s relationship. He told everyone that he was an RA in college and that “The number one sexually transmitted disease…is ignorance.” He bribed everyone into having a conversation about safe sex with pizza, tried to put a condom on a pencil, and then threw the pizza at a wall when everyone made fun of him. I love angry Andy.
Here are some more funny lines and moments from “Sex Ed”:
- Dwight: You forgot to mention the herpes.
Michael: It didn’t come up organically. - “I don’t know what’s got you upset, but my advice is…stop crying.” – Darryl consoling Andy
- All of Darryl’s standard advice. He’d make a good football coach.
- Moving “unplanned pregnancy” into the pros column in pros and cons of sex, because Jim and Pam don’t regret their baby.
- Dwight leaving tools out to see if the new maintenance worker will conquer the hornet nest. (The stuff with him picking up illegal workers was kind of lame, though.)
- Michael’s movie tag line: “He had no arms or legs. He couldn’t see, hear or speak. This is how he led a nation.”
