I never thought I’d look forward to any seasonal television other than Christmas episodes of sitcoms and animated series, but “The Office” has made me look forward to its Halloween episode every year.

We open on a haunted house that Michael has set up in the warehouse for the kids of the office park. Michael tries to share an anti-suicide message with the kiddos before offering them candy.

After the credits, Michael and Jim attend an important business meeting together (much to Jim’s chagrin) and Michael comes back soaking wet. Turns out, he fell into a koi pond. The office mercilessly mocks Michael, who holds sensitivity training and is accused of being a hypocrite. Jim teaches Michael how to make fun of himself, but Mike takes it a little too far and mocks himself to tears.

Later, as the employees get their hands on the security tape and watch the video of Michael falling, they see that Jim leaned back, allowing Michael to fall. The employees turn to gently mocking Jim as Michael and Jim reconcile for now.

Elsewhere, as Pam and Andy have to make cold calls together, they’re mistaken for a married couple. Pam vehemently denies it, which hurts Andy’s feelings. He strikes back at the next meeting by embarrassing Pam. The animosity causes them to lose sales, so they start to embrace the couple image, which means Andy getting uncomfortably close to Pam’s pregnant stomach. As they talk on the way home, Andy reveals his feelings for Erin, the new receptionist.

Costume list: Darryl: “Gangster” pumpkin

Michael: D*** in a Box

Jim: Facebook

Angela: Black widow

Dwight: Jigsaw

Erin: Fiona from “Shrek”

Kevin: Paul Blart

Kelly: Leeloo from “The Fifth Element”

Oscar: Sarah Palin

Creed: Dracula

Ryan: Edward Cullen from “Twilight”

Andy: Michael Jackson

Meredith: Hobo

 

Quotes of the Week:

Darryl: Label yourself or take what you get.

 

Darryl: You’re not as scary as ol’ Bookface over there.

Jim: Yes, I am the popular social networking site known as Bookface.

 

Andy: Except it was going to resolve the melody. Now my head hurts. It feels like I held in a sneeze.

 

Michael: I’m not going to bump! I’m not going to bump!

 

Jim: Truthfully, it’s not the way he fell in, but how long it took him to get out.

 

Dwight: They’re mocking you with wordplay!

 

Creed: Did you find Nemo?

Michael: I can name Pixar movies, too. “Toy Story!”

Oscar: Don’t you mean Koi Story?

 

Michael: I’m not usually the butt of jokes. I’m usually the face of jokes. I wish Jim had fallen into that pond. Then he’d have to wear my suit and he’d look… damn it, he’d still look good.

Bonus points: A blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo from Mose Schrute, Ryan’s glasses (last week, he had that fedora), Dwight’s insecurity about his nose, and Michael’s story about buying a phone.

 

I deem this week’s MVP to be Craig Robinson as Darryl Philbin. Even though he was only in the cold open, his deadpan delivery as he led the kids through the warehouse was hilarious.

 

I’m gonna say it: “Koi Pond” was the best episode of the season. I knew the episode wouldn’t disappoint because it was the Halloween episode – so I was nervous when it wasn’t Halloween after the credits. But this episode really nailed it by Nard Dog standards. The office dealing with Michael’s issues is always a great source of comedy on the show. Just watch “Grief Counseling” from season three if you don’t believe me. And we saw a return to what I referred to last week as “Classic Dwight:” weird and paranoid but not too clever.

The conflict between Jim and Michael seems to be the main source of drama this season, which makes sense since something had to take the place of Jim and Pam’s now-resolved tension. I like it, but I hope we turn to something else soon.

 

Next week on “The Office:” In “Double Date,” Jim and Pam are out of excuses so they have no choice but to go out with Michael and Helene. Meanwhile, Dwight is strangely doing nice things for everyone in the office.

Read more “Office” recaps at Urban Living.