Let’s face it, I can’t be the only person that binged all 9 seasons of “The Office” in one semester. Netflix just makes it so easy and with 20 minute episodes, 5 episodes just go by so fast, right??? Well, whether or not you watched it during its NBC duration or all at once on Netflix, I think we can all agree that there are just some episodes that are “bury-your-head-in-a-pillow-and-remind-yourself-it’s-not-real” awkward. The actors on “The Office” are especially amazing at making you feel uncomfortable. So even though it’s no longer on, I have decided to make a list of the most “cringe-worthy” episodes for those moments you want an unbearable to watch and unbearable to stop watching study break.
1.Season 3, Episode 1 “Gay Witch Hunt”: When Michael finds out that Oscar is gay, this episode turns into one of the most hard-to-watch moments on the show. Michael attempts to show the other employees that everyone should be comfortable with Oscar’s sexual orientation and in doing so, he ends up making everyone ten times more uncomfortable with himself.
2. Season 4, Episode 1 “Fun Run”: The Office could be the only world where someone can get away with hitting one of their employees with a car and not have any legal consequences. In fact, to make up for it, Michael decides to throw a “Fun Run” fundraiser for rabies instead. Michael Scott is a management book on “what not to do” in business and this episode is a prime example.
3. Season 4, Episode 13 “Dinner Party”: Dinner Party could be the most-cringe worthy episode of any show in television history. As Jim Halpert puts it in the episode, “Michael and Jan are having their own competition on who can making their guests more uncomfortable.” You can’t help but feel like you are a guest at this dinner party watching a relationship fall apart on the most awful of terms. Each time I have seen this episode, I still have to constantly remind myself that it is just a television show.
4. Season 6, Episode 9 “Double Date”: Imagine going on a double date where the other couple is your mom and your boss? If you can’t, that’s definitely a good thing. It would probably turn out to be one of the worst lunches of your life. If this situation isn’t awkward enough, Pam is forced to play it cool in this scenario for her mom’s sake, but Michael never makes this easy. Just in case them dating wasn’t enough, what happens when they break up?
5. Season 6, Episode 12 “Scott’s Tots”: Scott’s Tots is probably on par with Dinner Party. This 20 minutes of television is unwatchably awkward. I mean breaking the news that you won’t be paying the college tuition of the elementary school class you promised a decade earlier isn’t hard right? If this plot-line wasn’t bad enough, as Michael enters the school he finds a room dedicated to him, and a group of kids eagerly awaiting his arrival with a performance to show their gratitude. You can’t help but feel terrible for the kids and for Michael; the only reason he made the promise was because he thought he would be able to pay for it, but he realizes that he is not nearly as successful as he had hoped he would be.