Let’s be honest, everyone loves The Office, the American spin-off at least.  A few years after the BBC released their version, America felt the need to stay in the game and released a version of their own.  “Based on the award-winning BBC hit, “The Office” is a fly-on-the-wall “docu-reality” parody of modern American office life that delves into the lives of the workers at Dunder Mifflin, a paper supply company in Scranton, Pennsylvania,” as explained on NBC’s website (The Office is a production of NBC).  This classic Netflix binge-watch series has won the hearts of comedy fans all over the world as it hurdled lead actor Steve Carell (character: Michael Scott) to the top of the list of TV comedians of our era.  Airing 9 wildly successful seasons, The Office is one of the most well-known and well-regarded shows ever.

Personally, The Office is one of my top 2 favorite shows of all time, according to my highly scientific scoring scheme.  It’s an impossible task to pick a favorite season, let alone a favorite episode, but there are certainly a few that are particularly memorable to me.  Among these are “Diversity Day,” “The Merger,” “Booze Cruise,” and “Casino Night” (all of which, I might add, are of such high importance and comedic quality that I urge you to watch them no less than 10 times each.  This is for your own enjoyment, trust me).

Now, there’s one other episode that I can’t forget.  In fact, it’s sometimes my favorite (not always, I can’t choose, I will never be able to choose, ugh).  And this episode, this glorious, hilarious episode is called “The Injury.”  Can you sense it already? How amazing it is?  No matter how many times I watch it, the jokes never get old.  In fact, as with many episodes of The Office, they only get funnier!  Anyway, at this point I’m sure you’re anxious to know what the heck this darn episode is about and why it’s worth this review!  I guess now’s a good time to tell you…

The episode opens with Pam, the office secretary played by Jenna Fischer, answering a frantic call from Michael Scott, the office manager, that he is injured and needs help.  Michael is distressed but Pam can’t tell how to help him.

It’s hard to explain Michael’s personality without watching the episode, or entire series, but it’s important to note that he is a total goof, always making fun of himself or others.  No matter what he does, he always gets into messes, puts his foot in his mouth, embarrasses someone (or himself), or just simply says something foolish.  With that in mind, read on to learn the source of his frantic call…

As it turns out, Michael “grilled” his foot by stepping on the George Foreman that he keeps at his bedside.  He keeps it there so he can wake up to the smell of bacon.  This is classic Michael Scott (both the grilling of the foot and the fact that he keeps a grill at his bedside).  After Pam refuses to pick up Michael and bring him into work, Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) rushes to the rescue, but not before crashing into a pole and getting a concussion himself.  When they arrive at work, Michael’s foot is completely encased in bubble wrap and he is using crutches.  After claiming that he “doesn’t want any special attention,” Michael gets upset with his employees for not waiting on him hand and foot (see what I did there?).  To teach his employees a lesson, Michael brings in the office property manager, Billy (Marcus A. York), to speak about what it is like to be disabled.  Billy is a wheelchair user, and Michael makes several inconsiderate remarks to him causing him to leave promptly.  Later, when Dwight goes to the hospital for his concussion, Michael tries to convince everyone that his own injury is more severe that Dwight’s.  Again, classic Michael Scott, making everything about himself.

Watching this episode of The Office after having learned a lot more about disability gave me a new appreciation of it.  In some ways, the humor was heightened, in other ways it makes the episode more uncomfortable.  Either way, “The Injury” is without a doubt one of the greatest works of comedic genius I have ever experienced and there are a few main reasons for this.

First, at its most basic level, the plot is hilarious.  I mean let’s be honest.  Michael grilled his foot for crying out loud! Grilled it like the strips bacon he cooks on his Foreman grill every morning!  His foot became the bacon.  Genius!  The writers hit quite the jackpot on this one; the absurdity of Michael’s “accident” is balanced with the responses of his coworkers, but the plot nonetheless retains its shock factor and subsequent humor.

Secondly, the humor is accessible to all audiences, whether they have seen the rest of the series or not.  This is an integral part of why the episode has been so well received, because it proves that the writers could execute their jokes without the requirement that the audience already loves the characters.  Moreover, those that do know the entire plotline and love the characters, myself included, can enjoy this episode to an even higher degree.  The lead writers, including Mindy Kaling (who plays the character of Kelly Kapoor) and Greg Daniels (who also writes sketches for SNL), deserve to be Knighted by The Queen for their excellence in comedic achievement.  Or receive a Nobel Peace Prize because I’m always at peace when I watch this show, just saying.  Either way, the all-star writers of this episode create a feeling of happiness and humor for all to enjoy, and this is one of the episode’s greatest strengths.

Thirdly, this episode uses numerous one-liners to get some quick laughs.  As stated in a review by Linda Holmes for NPR, “there’s less here than in some of my other favorites when it comes to interpersonal dynamics,” but nonetheless this episode gets the job done in the humor department.  It’s a bit unusual for The Office to derive its jokes from one-liners, as the interpersonal relations between coworkers are at the core of the plot, yet somehow the writing in this episode still achieves its goal.  One of my absolute favorite lines is when Michael comes into the office with his foot packed in bubble wrap and says, “What does this [disability] look like to you Stanley?” and Stanley replies, “Mail Boxes Etc.”  This episode is filled with witty lines like this, the combination of which make it great.

One final detail that strengthens the episode is the title, “The Injury.”  This title has multiple meanings which “apply equally to the regional manager and the assistant to the regional manager,” as noted by Erik Adams in his review of this episode on the A.V. Club website, implicitly suggesting a relationship between Michael and Dwight.  Dwight proves to be a softer version of himself in this episode as a result of his brain injury, but Michael is as blunt as ever.  This has two implications: 1) injury and disability can change one’s personality, and 2) disability can easily be exploited.   This is a strength of the episode because it offers complexity and a level of detail that many comedies lack, and without this depth, the episode would not have been so well received, especially a decade after it was originally aired.

While this episode has many strengths, it is far from perfect.  Most notably, its representation of disability, given that it is the main source of plot, deserves substantial critique.  Michael’s character embodies many stereotypes of disability.  He pushes his level of mockery to the limit, and in doing so, provides humor while shedding light on a real problem.  Michael’s absurd lack of poise and caring sparks laughter, but more importantly, it makes the audience cringe at the level of awkwardness that Michael initiates with regard to disability.  Much of The Office revolves around this awkwardness, but in this episode it is particularly powerful.  The writers walk a fine line with Michael’s character, an endeavor that proves successful in this show, but one that also sparks criticism.  Given that Michael is so frequently politically incorrect or just straight up rude, the show runs the risk of offending its audience.  However, if Michael wasn’t as awkward as he is, plain and simple, The Office would not be The Office.

In “The Injury,” Michael’s lack of common sense peaks when he brings in Billy, the property manager, to speak to the employees.  Billy, played by Marcus A. York, is a wheelchair user and Michael starts off on the wrong foot with him (no pun intended).  “You are so brave. You are so brave,” Michael says as Billy speaks to the office workers, praising Billy for simply going through everyday life (Quoted from Office Tally).  Billy did nothing extraordinary or “brave” by coming to work that day, as Michael so inconsiderately proclaims.  Michael continues with assumption that Billy can’t take care of himself or participate in “normal” life, all behaviors that accentuate disability tropes.

Let me quickly note that Marcus York is actually a wheelchair user.  This is significant because it’s overwhelmingly common that actors without disabilities are cast in roles of characters with disabilities.  This is a very complicated argument that I could go on and on about, but I’ll save the rest of that debate for another time.

Anyway, Michael uses his “disability,” or rather, his minor foot burn, for his own personal gain.  To put it simply, Michael’s behavior embodies ableism.  Through his numerous comments to Billy about how hard it must be to be a wheelchair user, Michael mocks the disabled community relentlessly, oblivious to his lack of sensitivity.  Every trope associated with disability is exemplified through Michael’s behavior in this episode, clearly highlighting the phenomenon of ableism.  In doing so, it raises awareness about the disabled community and gives specific examples of things not to say or do around a disabled person.

Overall, I would give “The Injury” 4.9/5 stars.  The only reason I hold back on all 5 is that a few small details of the episode make it disjoint from the rest of the season.  Nonetheless, this is the highest rating I have ever given.  Therefore, since you trust me, you will watch this episode as soon as you finish reading this review, which is now, so go watch! Enjoy 🙂

Meredith Montalbano is a second year student at The Ohio State University majoring in Marketing and Minoring in Spanish.