The Office: Niagara

First off, good on The Office for not making Jim and Pam's wedding the season finale. Second, I never cease to be surprised at how consistently endearing Jim and Pam's relationship is without being saccharine or otherwise too cute for its own good. As the closest thing to sane and normal on the entire show, those two serve as something of a stand-in for us viewers, a point driven home delightfully in tonight's closing moments.

Before getting into the episode proper, I just have to nod to that epic cold open. Next to the fire drill from last season, this one was my favorite. A full-office puke-a-thon was a fantastic way to undercut the sweetness of a wedding episode.

I've been conflicted ever since Jim's proposal about how believable it is to invite everyone from the office to the wedding. It's practically guaranteed that these people are going to act like asses, so why even invite them? Aside from the fact that it's funnier that way, I suppose we can just chalk it up to the fact that it would be marginally more awkward to go into work every day surrounded by people who are angry they weren't invited than to invite them and all the disaster that's bound to happen as a result.

For what it's worth, those disasters were hilarious. I felt like I was watching a stockpile of the writers' favorite jokes being unleashed in a single hour. Andy tearing his scrotum after an overly ambitious dance move was especially rewarding, even more so considering that it brought him closer to Erin in a very roundabout sort of way.

This was also a surprisingly Kevin-heavy episode. Between losing his shoes and wearing a not so terrible hair piece, he really brought the funny.

As usual, Michael made a fool of himself and said enough embarrassing things to ruin a lesser wedding (as well as seducing Pam's recently divorced mother), but Jim and Pam somehow made it through. Of course, the night before the ceremony Jim was too busy getting drunk with Michael and Dwight to notice while Pam was forced to take Andy to the hospital. I'm also never going to get sick of seeing Dwight masterfully seduce women who are otherwise out of his league.

As the disasters mount, Pam eventually breaks down and asks the question that should probably be asked at every wedding: Why did we invite all these people? Cue Jim, the king of contingency plans. While everyone waits, the two of them run off to have a secret ceremony among strangers conducted by the captain of a tour boat, a scene we only see interspliced with the church ceremony that consists of the entire Dunder-Mifflin team aping a youtube video (with a few minor injuries). It was dangerously adorable and funny at the same time. In other words, exactly what a wedding episode ought to be.

Best Moment: The ending montage. This is what good TV looks like.

Biggest Laugh: I hate having to pick for episodes like this. Dwight's horse meat business plan was hilarious, but so was the rest of the episode.

Episode Rating: 5/5- On the sad, sad day when The Office airs its final episode, it will be time to compile the Best Of list. "Niagara" will be on that list.