Stress relief..........

I just watched the Stress Relief episode from The Office and it hit me way harder than it should have

Like yeah the episode is funny as hell, but this time I couldn’t stop looking at Michael differently. The more I watch him, the more it feels like all that joking and laughing isn’t really coming from someone who’s happy. It feels like he keeps things light so he doesn’t have to deal with how he actually feels

There’s this small moment that really stuck with me, the icicle scene. Dwight literally tells him not to stand directly under it and to stand to the side, and Michael just ignores it and stands right under it anyway looking up. It sounds stupid but it genuinely made me pause. It felt like he just didn’t care about himself in that moment, like there’s this weird lack of self-preservation.

I’m not saying the show is trying to make it that deep or anything, but it made me think what if Michael is actually really depressed under all of that.

Because when you really look at him, he hates being alone, he wants people to like him so badly, and he’s always trying to make everyone else laugh no matter what. And the crazy part is he actually shows up every day and spreads that energy even if he’s not okay himself.

Idk maybe I’m reading too much into a sitcom character but yeah this episode kinda messed with me lol

Did anyone else ever feel this about him?

ps: the roast from dwight really caught me off guard, like damn