The Office Recap, "The Cover Up"

The episode opens with Jim and Pam teaming up to prank Dwight. The two are clicking and taping on their keyboards continuously, and Dwight thinks they are communicating in Morse code, talking about him. They tell him that’s ridiculous, but it’s true. Dwight gets frustrated, but all he can do is get in a Morse code stare down with Pam.

Michael is in a great mood due to his wildly successful relationship with Donna, the woman he met in “Happy Hour”. Michael calls everyone into a meeting so they can help him figure out more things to do with Donna than just have sex.

Ryan and Kelly bring to Michaels attention that Donna might be cheating on him, because they don’t go out.

Andy receives a call from a customer that the Sabre printer they bought caught fire during routine operation. He becomes frustrated when no one takes his customer's complaint seriously. He says something to both Stanley and Gabe (the corporate dude) but neither gives him any answers.

Michael is worried about Donna. “I haven’t eaten or slept since I found out Donna was cheating”, he says to the camera after knowing for about 5 minutes. Michael decides to put Dwight on the investigation, to follow Donna and see if she’s cheating.

Darryl uses Andy’s problem to get back at him for an incident that happened a couple years before, when Andy got Darryl in trouble for getting a paper shipment out late. He decides to prank Andy and convince him that something shady is going on with the fire printers.

Dwight follows Donna to the gym, and goes about things totally the wrong way. He attempts to seduce her, and fails, so he openly admits Michael sent him there to tail her.

Darryl enlists Creed to help further his prank. Then after initially pretending to help Andy to not get fired, Darryl agrees to film Andy using the printer in typical fashion to confirm his burning printer theory.

Donna comes to the office to talk to Michael about the whole situation, and after Michael charmingly apologizes to her about the whole thing, they talk about going away for a weekend.

Darryl and Andy go into the old Michael Scott Paper Company Office/Supple Closet and film the video, Andy continuously prints while Darryl films.

While Donna and Michael are talking about their trip, Pam find photos on Facebook revealing that she is hugging and kissing another man. Pam shows Michael the pictures she found, and he confronts Donna with the evidence.

At the end, to Darryl’s surprise, the printer indeed catches fire, confirming Andy's suspicions. Darryl decides to end his prank, with things getting “real, real fast”.

The episode ends with Michael confronting Donna in the parking lot. Donna reveals that she is cheating, but that it is Michael that is the "other guy". The photos are of her and her husband. Michael is left confused and hurt.

The Office Recap, "Happy Hour"

"I'm date Mike..Nice to meet me."

The Office opens with Michael doing push ups as Dwight is counting. He manages to do 25, and asks if anyone can beat it. When no one responds, he says if they can, they would leave work early. Everyone tries, but it’s Stanley, with everyone cheering him on, who does it.

Oscar comes into work early so he can see Matt, the gay warehouse worker. He half asks him on a date, but Matt doesn’t realize. Oscar goes to talk to Darryl about organizing a Happy Hour for everyone, so he can go out to the same place with Matt.

Andy tries to get Jim to come, but he has the baby at home. As he says to the camera, the baby gets him out of everything. But when he mentions it to Pam, she gets super excited and they go out.

Andy and Erin attempt to hide their relationship from the office so they can “avoid the drama”. They try being mean to each other, but it isn’t much of a secret anyway.

Pam invited her friend Julie out to Happy Hour because she thinks her and Michael will hit it off. Pam says to the camera that “Julie laughs at everything”, and Michael is acting like his usually self, and the two are hitting it off.

Dwight and Angela are talking, but Isabel, Pam’s bridesmaid shows up, and they start flirting.

When Jim asks if Michael likes her, he realizes he’s on a date. He runs out to the car, takes off his tie and puts on a backwards Kangol cap like Samuel L. Jackson, and goes back in. “Michael Scott is on a date, this changes everything.”

Oscar is sad Matt hasn’t shown up yet. Ryan and Kelly are playing Dance Dance Revolution, when Andy and Erin come over. But they decide not to play together, so it appears they aren’t together.

Dwight is flirting more, and Angela is following the two as they walk and talk. Dwight starts to realize he likes Isabel more than Angela. He tells her to forget about their past contract to have a baby together.

Michael embarrasses himself trying to tie a cherry in his mouth, and almost gets thrown out of the bar after dancing on the pool table. The date is going terribly.

Erin and Andy, while trying to be secret, are just being more obvious, while Creed is killing it on DDR.
Michael confronts the manager, and asks for an apology for trying to throw him out. As they talk, they actually begin to flirt and hit it off. Julie decides to leave.

Oscar and Darryl start to talk, Oscar is still upset Matt didn’t show. But just then, he does, and him and Oscar play the basketball game, which he is terrible at.

Andy decides to announce to the bar that him and Erin are dating. “Too much drama”, they deadpan.

The episode ends with everyone leaving the bar. Michael is pumped about his new date, and Dwight and Isabel leave together, so Angela confronts them with the old contract. It makes things awkward, but Isabel shoves her away and they share a nice passionate Schrute kiss.

"The Office" is a rerun next week. Sad face.

The Office Recap, "New Leads"

‘The Office’ begins with Michael calling Jim into his office and showing him a picture of a man who he thinks is Johnny Depp. “I heard he was looking for a condo in Scranton, Pennsylvania” Jim replies. Michael puts on his best Jack Sparrow impression, and throws out his ideas for the fourth pirate’s film, while Jim messes with him regarding his ‘Sparrow’ voice.

Conference meeting, there are new sales leads that Sabre bought from a company that are on their way to Scranton. The sales staff is anxious to get their hands on them because they are primo good leads. Andy and Phyllis are itching to get out of the meeting so they can work on sales.

Sabre takes care of their salesman, evidenced by the fact that over the past few weeks the sales team has been receiving some swag, like jackets and bags, which is making Michael and the rest of the staff jealous.

It’s clear that Dwight and the other salesman want their hands on the leads very badly. At the same time, the accounting department, among others is getting aggravated with the treatment the sales staff is getting.

Darryl has settled into his new office, but he doesn’t treat Andy with the respect he’s been used to recently, as he refuses to give him a pencil. They proceed to wrestle it out.

Michael’s sandwich gets messed up, and Darryl tells him it was the entire sales department and it’s a conspiracy. He convinces him he needs to get back on top. He agrees “and that’s what she said.”

The leads arrive and Michael uses it as a reason to lash out at the salesman for their behavior, and holds them back.

Corporate tells him that he needs to give them out because they spent a lot of money on them. “Our policy is to support the sales staff.”

Michael announces that he is giving out the leads, but he gives them to the rest of the office rather than the sales staff. Jim tries to sway Michael into giving him some leads, so he gives him “clues” that will lead him to the leads. Michael hid them all around the industrial park. Let the games begin.

Angela tries to blackmail Phyllis to get her leads by making her do some clerical work. Jim tries to decipher some clues while talking to Pam, who is home with the baby.

Andy goes to Erin, they have some playful banter, and he tries to get the location of the leads from her. They play the hot and cold game, as Erin leads him to her keyboard, where a few were hidden.

Dwight realizes the leads are in and he is far behind the game. He gets going immediately. He forcibly gets Kevin to reveal where they are. The trash he says. Dwight heads to the dumpster to find the leads. He jumps in headfirst literally. But its empty, the trash was taken to the local dump.

Guess where we’re headed now? Trash central. Michael tries to force everyone to go to the dump so no one gets in trouble with corporate. He goes along with Dwight, who volunteers for the mission.

Michael and Dwight attempt to look for them, but there’s a lot of trash. Jim has an awkward moment with Oscar and Kelly, who tell him bluntly how the salesmen have acted.

The salesmen have a meeting about what to do. They decide to give some commission to the rest of the office to ease the tension. But they can’t decide how much, 1 percent or 2. They decide on 2, and offer it to the other employees. They butter everyone up with treats and coffee and they accidentally think it was the deal. They don’t realize they were even going to get commission.

At the dump Michael and Dwight argue about money and how their personalities have changed. Eventually they start throwing trash at each other as they argue. Still no luck on the leads, but both Michael and Dwight are tired and dirty. They are also losing hope on if they will ever find the leads.

They return from the dump with no leads, but some old furniture for himself tied to the top of his car.

The episode ends with Andy and Erin at the dump where she finds him a new coat, and they share a kiss for the first time.

“Happy Hour” is the next episode and will air on March 25, 2010. Michael gets kicked out of the bar when he whips out all the stops to impress a friend of Jim and Pam’s. Meanwhile, Andy and Erin do their best to keep their relationships under wraps. Dwight rethinks his prenatal plan with Angela.

The Office Recap 3/11, "St. Patrick's Day"

On ‘The Office’, Jim returns from paternity leave, and the office is decorated for St. Patty’s Day. Everyone is excited.

It’s Meredith’s favorite holiday (she loves to drink) and Kevin and Oscar dress up for the occasion as well. Michael shows his love for the holiday and says, “It’s the closest the Irish will ever come to Christmas.”

With Jim away, Dwight has turned their desks into a workstation called “mega desk” which Jim foils. But Dwight is determined to get it back; using “strategy” and making Jim feel like he’s missing out on his baby.

Kathy Bates is back as Sabre head Jo Bennet and she says it’s her last day in Scranton. Michael has found his way on her good side, which he is excited about.

Andy tells the camera that he and Erin are preparing for their first date later that night. Andy wants it to be perfect, only problem? Erin is sick, so Jo sends her home. Andy is worried, but he figures out a plan.

Later, Jo has a ‘town hall’ style meeting asking for suggestions, and when Darryl offers a great one about shipping printers, she offers him his own office upstairs. This shocks Michael to the delight of Darryl.

As the day wears on, Jo gets annoyed with Michael after he takes her offer to “come visit in Florida” too literally. He tries to get back on her good side, offering to take her for lunch, which for the time being doesn’t work.

Andy decides to fake sick, and in hopes of preventing an outbreak, she sends him home. Andy decides to see Erin, sick or not.

When the clock hits five and it’s time to go home, Jo convinces Michael he didn’t do much work today so maybe he should stay a bit late. In turn everyone stays late. This is to the dismay of Todd Packer, Michael’s salesman buddy, who is already at the bar celebrating the holiday.

Andy surprises Erin, who is in her “jimmies” and they have their date anyway. But Erin has a foster brother she lives with, and his presence makes things very awkward. As does the ‘touchy feely’ nature of the two foster siblings.

Dwight tries to get out of work early, but Jim foils his plan, and in turn he himself gets out early. Darryl’s warehouse buddies come to his office to “break him out”, but he likes it upstairs, so he stays for now.

Michael finally decides he can’t take it anymore, and asks Jo to let everyone go. After a short conversation Michael gets himself back on Jo’s good side and gets everyone out to the bar finally to celebrate.

As Andy leaves Erin’s he chickens out of kissing her due to her foster brother, but he gets very excited when Erin leaves him with a nice kiss on the cheek.

The episode ends with everyone out at the bar celebrating. Meredith, Michael and everyone are dancing having a great time, finally clocking out of Dunder Mifflin at around 9 o’clock.

The next episode, “New Leads”, will air on March 18, 2010. When the sales staff let’s Sabre’s new “sales is king” policy get to their heads, Michael hides their new, prized leads.

The Office Recap 3/4, "The Delivery

"The Delivery" begins with Jim and Pam both scoring some sales based on the fact that they are having a baby. Dwight is jealous and tries his hand at it, but he doesn’t quite nail it, instead opting for a ‘goat disease’ instead of a baby.

Michael tries his hardest to be involved with the birth in any way, even offering to drive. Kevin helps by cooking for himself and Pam a lot during the pregnant times because “they both get hungry at the same time.” Pam and Jim want to wait till midnight to leave for the hospital, because the insurance will only pay for two nights. The recession has hit Dunder Mifflin as well.

As Pam’s contractions start to speed up, everyone starts to huddle around. Jim gets worried about this, but Pam remarks, “No, the distractions are good,” which made Michael’s face light up in joy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so happy. “Conference Room! Five Seconds!”

But the distractions don’t help too much, the baby still is getting closer. In one of the funniest culture references in a while Phyllis offers to “put on lipstick like Molly Ringwald in The Breakfast Club”, but Michael rebuffs.

Earlier after Dwight said he wanted to have a baby for “business purposes”, him and Angela meet and discuss their plans and start to draw a contract. Dwight wants to name his child Morpheus, Honus, or Wharf. Of course. But Angela says no ‘Star Trek’ names.

Michael and everyone else in “The Office” keep attempting to distract Pam from her contractions. Jim starts to get agitated that Pam won’t go to the hospital, and gets a bit ‘flustered’. Outside Pam reveals accidentally to Jim that they are having a little girl, and also reveals that her water broke. Jim starts to get really worried. But it’s only 4:35 P.M. and Pam still refuses to leave.

But then the contractions start to get shorter. Dwight drives along in his car with Michael behind him driving Jim and Pam. Dwight leads the caravan along the way to the hospital to provide ‘protection’.

When Pam realizes that she doesn’t have her iPod she freaks, but Dwight agrees to go get it at home for her while they drive on. When they arrive, Michael parks in Ambulance parking because of their “emergency” and they baby is on its way.

Michael enters with a ton of balloons and we can hear Pam going through labor. Smarty, the cameras stay out. Michael walks in unprepared and walks out with a face of pure shock.

Everyone in “The Office” starts to arrive at the hospital to greet Pam and the new baby. But when the baby doesn’t come so quickly, Phyllis, Oscar and a few other decide to file out. When Michael hears the first cry of the baby he lights up a cigar in the hospital. When an orderly tells him to put it out he says, “you can’t smoke anywhere anymore”

Then little Cecilia Marie Halpert arrives, along with Pam’s mother, which makes an awkward moment when Michael hugs her. Michael holds the baby for the first time and he can’t get enough of it.

We see Dwight searching for the iPod, but when he can’t find it he tears up the house and ends up finding mold. Dwight decides to take a bath, read a book, get a good night sleep in Jim and Pam’s bed, and then eradicate the mold. It’s the Dwight Shrute way.

Michael uses the baby’s arrival as an excuse to play matchmaker around the office, claiming he brought Jim and Pam together. Andy uses this as an excuse to finally ask Erin out after a fairly long courtship.

Jim and Pam are tending to the crying baby in the hospital and have an awkward conversation about breast-feeding. The nurse takes the baby away for a little bit, leaving Jim and Pam wondering what to do. There’s a shortage of rooms in the hospital so Jim and Pam and the baby get some roommates: another couple and their newborn.

Michael tries to set up Kevin and Erin, but Erin reveals that she likes Andy instead. Michael convinces her to have lunch with him anyway, which Andy gets very jealous of while hiding behind a plant and spying on them.

Angela and Dwight agree to meet and sign their baby contract, while Pam and Jim struggle with lactation, sleep and being new parents. Michael reveals to Kevin that he ‘set-up’ the lunch, and he gets fairly upset about it. Andy gets caught hiding behind another plant, hitting himself in the head in the process.

Pam’s friend Isabella shows up to visit the baby, and Pam and Jim show her off. But they realize they are holding the wrong baby, it’s the roommate’s baby instead of their own. Oops!! Pam just breast fed the WRONG baby. Jim and Pam switch the babies before the other mother wakes up.

With Pam and Jim still at the hospital, Isabella goes to their house to find Dwight and his cousin totally destroying the kitchen in hopes of eradicating the mold. Dwight and Isabella messed around at the wedding, so they have a flirtatious moment, and he says he will call her. She likes it.

Andy asks Erin to fax a message, which in turn is an invitation to ask her out. Finally, when that doesn’t work, he just asks her. Erin is overjoyed. Michael is even more excited as he shoots off an invisible cupid’s arrow as the two make plans.

The episode ends with a hilarious moment with Michael talking to the camera smoking the cigar from earlier. Before he can get any words out he starts to cough, and thinks he’s going to throw up.

The next episode of “The Office” will be “St. Patrick’s Day” and will air March 11, 2010. Michael thinks that he’s impressed Jo Bennett, only to realize someone else in the office has caught her eye. Meanwhile, Dwight makes trouble on Jim’s first day back from paternity leave. Andy and Erin go on an interesting first date.

The Office Recap 2/11, "Manager and Salesman"

In a little plug for NBC I guess, the episode opens with Michael calling Vancouver about a reservation he made for the Olympics three years ago. He decides not to take the trip, so he cancels it, but of course there is a fee, so he ends up paying for nothing. This is the Michael Scott we know and love ladies and gentlemen.

Kathy Bates guest stars as Jo Bennett the new CEO of Dunder Mifflin. She enters the office with two huge great danes who dart straight for Andy. “The love a good crotch,” says Bennett.

She calls a conference meeting and hand out the Sabre handbook, which is also her biography. She tells the camera about her pilot’s license, and ties to Truman Capote, in her first confessional.

Afterwards Andy decides to hand out his Valentine’s Day cards, which he bought for everyone. His plan is to give an extra special one to Erin. The card he gives her is nice, but Erin isn’t very impressed.

The new boss, after meeting Michael and Jim, the “co-managers” decides that it’s time to stop having two men doing the same job. At first both want to keep the manager position, and try to impress Bennett into selecting them for it. She lets them work it out themselves, and after Jim and Pam discover that he could make more money on commission as a salesman, Jim gives in. But before things go official, Michael also finds out that he could make more money as a salesman, and they both try to convince Bennett that the other should be manager.

Kelly in the annex receives Andy’s card. She is immediately swept off her feet by the beautiful things Andy wrote. Unfortunately for Kelly, it was meant for Erin, but neither Erin nor Kelly knows that.

Dwight and Ryan meet up and discuss how they can take down Jim. They have been meeting like this repeatedly since Jim was named “co-manager.” When Ryan is late for the meeting Dwight quips that he wishes he “had a lair to go to.” After the meeting the two decide to go to the new IT guy Nick, and hack into Jim’s computer to get info. But he doesn’t help them much, unable to provide Jim’s password.

Michael is having a hard time adjusting to his new desk, which is now too small for all his toys. His sales antics are a bit outdated with Dwight observing to him, “it’s not 1992 anymore.” Michael also can’t adjust to a certain smell coming from Phyllis, and he realizes he doesn’t like it so much out here.

In the meantime, Kelly tells Erin about the card, and Erin is disappointed, because she thought Andy liked her. This leads to an awkward moment when Andy is by the copier with Kelly. She kisses him on the cheek and he realizes his mistake with a little help from Meredith.

Michael speaks to Jim, and they decide that they will switch back jobs. The new boss allows it, and Michael gets reacquainted with his old digs. Andy takes the time to send an email to everyone except Erin telling them that him giving them a card didn’t mean he ‘liked them’, obviously directed at Kelly. Kelly of course, in her dramatic ways is devastated, but Erin is very chipper once she realizes that the card was meant for her.

The episode ends with Dwight giving Jim one of his usual speeches. Jim then decides to dunk his tie into the cup of coffee he has in his hand. Dwight is unamused as Pam and Jim smile. Things are truly back to normal now.

The next episode of the Office, “The Delivery” will air on March 4, 2010 and is an hour-long episode. Harold Ramis, who directed "Beach Games" and "Safety Training," and Seth Gordon, will direct the episode, which will feature the birth of Jim and Pam's baby.

Pam Beesly's contractions begin but she and Jim are determined to wait it out as long as they can so that they can have more time at the hospital. Meanwhile, the rest of the office tries to distract Pam with food and entertainment. Later, Michael anxiously awaits for Pam's baby to be born. Back at the office, Andy becomes jealous after Erin has lunch with Kevin Malone.

The Office Recap 2/4, "Sabre"

Check out the full recap with some added video over at the blog, Have U Heard.

"Sabre" is the fifteenth episode of “The Office” this season, and also the first ‘real’ episode of 2010 after “The Banker” clip show from two weeks ago. It was written by Jennifer Celotta, who previously written "The Promotion," "Company Picnic," and "The Duel" and was directed by John Krasinski who made his television directorial debut with the episode.

The cold open showed Michael and the office receive a gift from their new owner. A shiny new printer, fax machine and scanner, which he hands out to everyone. He also pronounces the new company that own Dunder Mifflin as Sab-re (Sab-Ray) and not Sabre. He begins to have fun with the new scanner until someone realizes the box “is for someone named Gabe.”

Quickly they manage to try to put everything back how it was, eventually taping the cardboard box back together. They finally finish, and then all of a sudden a phone rings from inside the box. As Michael tries to cut it open again, we come to the opening credits.

The new dude, Gabe, is a “Coordinating Director” from Sabre, and when he arrives, Dwight greets him with a large tray of “Scranton hotdogs.” Andy and Erin also wrote a song commemorating his arrival, which is to the tune of “Party in the U.S.A.” by Miley Cyrus. Unfortunately they had listened to Michael and thought the company was pronounced Sab-rey, making the song sound a bit off.

At the same time, Jim and Pam are preparing to go for an interview to see if they can get their as of yet unborn child into a top of the line day care center. It’s the least interesting part of the episode because it’s not in the office, but you just got to love Jim and Pam.

Back at the Office Gabe shows off a video to everyone. It shows Christian Slater (yes, as himself) touring Sabre’s main office, saying how great it is to work for them. “The Office” does guest stars like no other show on TV. It’s hilarious.

Michael is slow to grasp the changes that Gabe is trying to implement, including having to watch ‘Nick’ the new IT guy, block ‘time wasting’ sites like Twitter and YouTube. Eventually Michael goes to Gabe and asks him if all the changes are necessary, to which he says, “Let me see what I can do.” Gabe speaks to Joy Bennett (Kathy Bates) over an iChat, which Michael gets caught eavesdropping on. In a not so nice way, Bennett tells Michael that he has until the end of the day to accept the changes.

Andy and Erin are flirting hardcore now, ever since the romantic gift Andy got her for Christmas. Both are super eager to go out with the other one. Only problem? Andy thinks Erin will ask him out. Erin thinks Andy will ask her out. And round and round we go.

Jim and Pam get to the day care center and are very impressed. Then Jim walks in on a guy in the child size bathroom. The guy turns out to be whom they are interviewing with. Jim acts extremely awkward in the interview, prompting Pam to ask the man if the reason the interview isn’t going so well is because he walked in on him. Pam says they are really nice people. The man says no, and says that maybe the interview isn’t going well because they aren’t as great as they say they are.

Michael decides the only way to stop the problems at Dunder Mifflin is to go see former boss David Wallace, who now spends his days inside with his son, who plays the drums way too loud. They go outside into the Jacuzzi and Michael asks him for help. Instead David tries to get him to invest in ‘Suck It’, and new invention that will help kids pick up their toys. Michael isn’t impressed, and leaves Wallace’s house damp and without an idea of what to do.

Andy and Erin still can’t find a way to go out, and Michael decides the best thing to do is accept the changes. He shows up to the office with orange juice (because Sabre is from Florida), and proposes a toast in only the way Michael Gary Scott can. He says, “I have a very good feeling about this.”

The closing scene was a hilarious moment between David Wallace and his son, who rock out in a duet and sing a theme song for ‘Suck It’.

Another great episode for “The Office” and an awesome television-directing debut for Krasinski. Next week brings Kathy Bates to Scranton in, "Manager and Salesman". The office is eager to welcome Sabre CEO Jo Bennett to Scranton, and are dazzled by her Southern ways. When Jo finds out there are two branch managers, she says either Michael or Jim must go back to being a salesman. Meanwhile, Andy's Valentine's Day plan backfires.

It was written by Mindy Kaling, who also wrote "Secret Santa," "Niagara," and "Golden Ticket" and was directed by Marc Webb, the helmer of “500 Days of Summer”. It will air February 11, 2010.

The Office Recap 1/21, "The Banker

For the first episode of 2010, the writer’s of “The Office” tried something different – a clip show. But like many things on “The Office” this wasn’t just another ordinary clip show.

This episode made the show really feel like an actual ‘documentary’ instead of a just a television show. Interweaving old clips with some new ones they created a hilarious episode that also moved the storyline of the show along gracefully.

Since “The Office” went on hiatus, Dunder Mifflin has hit some financial trouble in these hard economic times, and is currently in the process of being sold. In the newest episode, a potential buyer comes to Dunder Mifflin, forcing Michael (Steve Carell), Dwight (Rainn Wilson), Andy (Ed Helms) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) to pull out all the stops in hopes of impressing him.

The opening scene showed Michael stressing about the buyer coming into the office to check things out and see how Dunder Mifflin Scranton is run. He proceeds to make some, in his words, “cosmetic tweaks” to the office, which include giving himself the ‘Employee of the Month’ award.

He replaces Stanley with a younger, slimmer, “new Stanley”, and adds the personal assistant gadget ‘Computron’ (aka Dwight on the other end of a phone line). Michael then rolls out of his office on all of things, a Segway, and has Andy and Pam show off their clients, one of which is “the NFL”. Pam deadpans perfectly: “I am not okay with the New Stanley.”

The buyer needs to speak with Human Resources, so Michael also replaces Toby with Dwight in hopes of keeping the guy impressed, but Toby quickly returns from an extended bathroom break and foils his plan, making things a bit awkward.

The rest of the episode consisted of new footage followed by a montage that connected to the topic at hand. The “glorified fact-checker” sent by the potential buyer sat down with Toby and proceeded to ask him questions about the day-to-day operations and what the employees are like. When asked about any “safety issues”, or injuries that could come up in court later on, Toby merely responds, “Nothing comes to mind.”

From that the episode turns to its first montage showing hilarious footage of safety gone haywire within the walls of Dunder Mifflin. Michael destroying the warehouse with the forklift from “Safety Training”, Dwight conducting his own type of “fire drill” in “Stress Relief”, as well as Michael hitting Meredith with his car in “Fun Run.” But the best surprise of the montage was the deleted scene from “Boys and Girls” in which Dwight shatters a window in the warehouse with his spud gun.

The fact-checker finds Toby’s answer sufficient and then asks about the happiness of the employees in the office. “Happy is a funny word,” Toby responds, bringing us into the next montage, which shows off some of the wildest fights, slaps and arguments in Dunder Mifflin History. Andy punching through the wall in “The Return”, Pam slapping Michael for dating her mother from season six, and Dwight showing off some martial arts moves from season two’s “The Fight”. But the best slap of the clips was Kelly from “Diversity Day”, slapping Michael after he impersonates an Indian man.

Next up is everyone’s favorite topic, especially Michael’s, “sexual harassment” and inappropriate behavior in the office. Toby can’t think of anything that can come to mind, but the tape reads differently. Hilarious clips of some steamy office make out sessions with Ryan and Kelly, and also Meredith showing way too much skin in “Casual Friday”.

The best part of the montage was the mini-montage of “That’s what she said”. Every “Office” fan knows the saying, and when shown back-to-back-to-back-to-back, it’s pretty damn hilarious.

Toby tries to justify his inability to elaborate on the operations of Dunder Mifflin to the camera before the first commercial break: “I don’t know how I’m going to get through this. I don’t want to lie, but I don’t want to tell the truth.”

As we return to the line of questioning, Michael joins in with Toby, who looks worried that Michael will say something “inappropriate”, which of course he does within about three seconds. He then proceeds to say that the company “does not waste time or resources…ever.”

The next, and possibly best montage showed the assortment of ways the employees of Dunder Mifflin spend their time. Starting off with the highlights of season two’s “Office Olympics”, the montage shows off the best clips of Jim’s pranks on Dwight. From Jim putting Dwight’s stapler in Jell-O in “The Pilot”, to him gift-wrapping Dwight’s entire desk in “Moroccan Christmas”. They even threw in one of the best “Office” pranks of all-time from season three’s “Product Recall” when Jim comes into work dressed as Dwight. “Identity theft is not a joke Jim!” Dwight warns.

The fact-checker then set his sights on productivity and if anyone is close to “retirement” age, so the montage centered on the eccentric and “elderly” Creed. The clips show him as he scares off a group of children, eats smelly beans and just acting very strange.

After finishing up questioning Toby, the fact-checker calls in to his boss as Dwight eavesdrops on his conversation. He says he is progressing, but he “might be here for a while.”

Michael begins to speak out a bit more, mentioning how “friends can become lovers, and lovers become sexually interactive”. Quickly the montage turns towards the romantic side once again, showing off some more office make out sessions, including Dwight and Angela numerous times, as well as Michael and Jan’s awkward fight from season four’s “Dinner Party”. The funniest though was Michael and Oscars unforgettable kiss from season three’s “Gay Witch Hunt”.

Then the emotional music kicked in and brought on the cheesiest, but still necessary montage, the story of Jim and Pam. Showing the relationship from it’s humble beginnings of inside jokes and careless flirting, to Pam leaving Roy, Jim leaving Karen and eventually proposing, and marrying Pam. Hard not to feel a little bit good inside after seeing Jim smile back at the camera on the ‘Maid of the Mist’ from the wedding episode, “Niagra”.

Eventually the fact-checker leaves, remarking that it “was nice to meet you all”, while Michael does an interview with the camera. He contemplates how the fact-checker can evaluate what the people in the office are worth and what “Jim, or Pam or Kevin is capable of.”

The final montage shows off how “valuable” everyone in the office is, and the different quriks they bring to the table. Kevin bringing in his famous Chili to work, in the episode “Business Trip” and Jim during “Office Olympics” leading the crowd. Of course Kevin spills the Chili, and Jim finds yet another way to make work fun, but as Michael says, you can’t predict what everyone is capable of. Michael finishes off by getting in a hilarious argument with ‘Computron’ (aka Dwight) where he threatens to pull the chords out of him.

The closing scene should have been predictable but it caught me by surprise. The full-length video of Michael and Dwight performing “Lazy Scranton” was a perfect way to cap off another great episode of “The Office”.

The episode reminded me a lot of the way “Seinfeld” did their clip shows, which were also in an unconventional way. While not a ‘real’ episode with a storyline like “The Office” had, “Seinfeld” grouped their montages together just like in this episode, working to hilarious effect.

Next week should be a fantastic episode as the show brings on Kathy Bates to guest star and John Krasinski makes his television directorial debut on “Sabre” which will air next Thursday, February 4th at 9 p.m.

Check out the recap over at Have U Heard??, along with some extra video footage.