Season 5 closes with the staffers attending the annual Dunder Mifflin company picnic, where Michael and ex-flame Holly (Amy Ryan) reunite. Elsewhere, the Scranton branch tries to outwit, outplay and outlast the competition in a volleyball tournament. Idris Elba guest stars.
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In "Company Picnic," Holly, Michael's soup-snake soul mate returns — and performs a skit with him, no less — while the Scranton branch racks up the wins in the volleyball tournament, until their surprise superstar goes down with an injury.
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In "Casual Friday," Michael returns to the Office, and instead of finding fawning co-workers, he faces a full-fledged mutiny from his sales team. Meanwhile, Jim and Creed play chess, and Toby makes the office staff respect his authority.
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Broke
Season 5, Episode 23
In his new endeavors, Michael faces mounting financial difficulties and problems with early-morning deliveries. Meanwhile, Angela plays enforcer as the staffers try to finish their expense reports on deadline.
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In "Broke" — a masterful episode directed by Steve Carell — the upstart Michael Scott Paper Company is siphoning off business from Dunder Mifflin but losing money in the process because their prices are way too low. So this leaves both companies at an impasse, and leads to a high-stakes negotiation between Michael and David Wallace.
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"Dream Team" chronicles Michael and Pam's first, ambitious and predictably uneven day at the Michael Scott Paper company, while Jim finds himself facing off against Charles in a pickup soccer game.
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In The Office's second new episode, "The Michael Scott Paper Company," it's the first day in the cramped new office for Michael, Pam and Ryan; Andy and Dwight find their new friendship threatened by the new receptionist, and Jim tries desperately to figure out what a "rundown" is.
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In "Two Weeks," Michael counts down his last days at Dunder Mifflin while the new regional vice president continues to assert his no-nonsense style on the branch. In the first scene, Michael's regaling the DM staff with his dramatic quitting story — so it looks like The Office writers aren't backing down on their dare. There was no dramatic "come back Michael, we need you" moment from David Wallace — this may actually be the last we see of Michael Scott at Dunder Mifflin.
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In "New Boss" Michael and Jim have major trouble with the new boss, which leads to a shocking twist ending.
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Office problems spread when Michael suggests placing "golden tickets" inside paper packages as discounts for clients. Elsewhere, Kevin sets out to woo a woman---so Andy, Jim and Pam step up to give him (very different) pointers.
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The Office
Season 5, Episode 16
The Office returns after a longer-than-usual hiatus with a slightly misplaced Valentine's Day episode in March. Michael meets, loses and tries to find the cute girl he met at a blood drive by organizing a Valentine's Day lonely-hearts club meet-and-greet. Meanwhile Jim and Pam's lunch with Phyllis and Bob starts out innocent and sweet but then takes a horrifying, horrifying turn.
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Conclusion. Accompanied by Pam, Michael continues his speaking tour of various Dunder-Mifflin branches, with the Utica division offering a valuable life lesson for Michael. Meanwhile, a surly Scranton staff makes party-planning tasks difficult for Dwight and Jim; things get catty over Angela's new feline.
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Part 1 of 2. With Pam as his driver, Michael goes on a speaking tour to other Dunder-Mifflin branches to share insight about Scranton's relative success. At the office, Dwight and Jim fumble as new party planners when they forget a birthday. And Andy looks for love in all the wrong places.
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The Office Super Bowl spectacular, was ... spectacular. Dwight's fire drill led to Stanley's heart attack, and when Michael thinks there's too much stress in the office, he organizes his own roast. Meanwhile, Pam has to deal with her parents' separation, which may or may not have been stoked by Jim's advice to Pam's dad, and Jack Black dumps Jessica Alba for Cloris Leachman in the pirated movie.
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In "Prince Family Paper," the Scranton Gang tackled three age-old dilemmas: the Darwinistic nature of capitalism, societal definitions of beauty and which restaurant is better, IHOP or Denny's. Michael and Dwight embark on a surveillance mission to capture intelligence on a small family-owned paper supply business, while the rest of the crew gets into a passionate debate about the hotness (or notness) of Hilary Swank.
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Burr v. Hamilton can't hold a candle to Dwight v. Andy, as the two foes face off in "The Duel" for the everlasting love of Angela. Michael sets the stage by breaking the news to Andy as he drives off to the city, where he's summoned by CFO David Wallace to talk about "big picture stuff".
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Alcoholism. A near self-immolation. An intervention. And an affair revealed. Welcome to The Office's Christmas spectacular!
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In "The Surplus", Michael — shortly after Oscar explains to him what a surplus is — needs to make a Solomonic decision by EOD: should he use the extra money to replace the decrepit copier, or invest in brand new chairs? Oscar (copier) and Pam (chairs) lead the opposing camps, with Jim surprisingly siding with Oscar. Meanwhile, Andy, Angela and Dwight head over to Schrute farms to scope out the site of their wedding.
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Toby returns to Dundler Mifflin in "Frame Toby," so Michael and Dwight, channeling their inner Pinky and the Brain, hatch various nefarious and inept schemes to sack the sad-sack HR rep. Meanwhile, the Dundler Mifflin staff are forced to deal with hygiene issues, and Jim buys his parent's house for Pam without her knowledge. "Frame Toby" had a little bit of everything: drug busts, shag carpeting, dirty microwaves and a creepy clown picture whose creep factor may rank higher than Creed's.
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In "Business Trip," Michael is sent on an international mission to Canada, with Andy and Oscar in tow, where Michael learns first-hand about the hospitality of Canadian concierges, and we learn that Andy is a determined wingman for his friends - regardless of their sexual orientation. Meanwhile, Jim has a spring in his step because Pam returns in a week, while Ryan takes advantage of his upcoming relocation to try to drive a wedge between Kelly and Darryl. Does Michael's Canadian tryst allow him to forget Holly? Will Darryl and Ryan duke it out over Kelly? Does the potency of Canadian-made Long Island Iced Teas establish a bond between Andy and Oscar? And are Jim and Pam finally on the verge of reuniting? These are the burning questions from this week's episode.
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"Customer Survey" continues the string of strong openings in Season 5 of The Office. Michael deals with his breakup with Holly in inimitable Michael Scott style: by announcing to the entire staff that he and Holly are engaged — proving once again that he's the master of painting himself into his own awkward corners. The entire staff has gathered around to congratulate him, they make him call his Mom to announce an engagement that she doesn't believe has happened and he's even encouraged Kelly to buy a (white!) bridesmaid dress. The cutaway to Darryl provides one of the best lines of the show: "I was there. That dude is not engaged. I'm not a big believer in therapy, but I'll go into my own pocket to cover his copay." Does the rest of the show, which deals primarily with the mystery of Jim and Dwight's poor reviews, maintain the momentum?
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Why so serious, Office? After all the Halloween festivities were said and done, it was time to get down to business on The Office this week, and what business it was. Pam tries to bond with Jim's big bros, Dwight devises the perfect big red way to taunt Andy, while Michael and Holly face the consequences of their smooch in front of David Wallace. What becomes of Michael and Holly? Does Pam fit in? Did Andy retaliate? Let's find out!
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The Office continues a strong Season 5 with another great episode. "Crime Aid" spotlights the complications and the ups and downs of the relationships between Holly and Michael, Jim and Pam and Dwight and Angela. However, before we start my recap there's an important promise I need to make: Dear Reader, I pledge to you that in my discussions of these relationships I shall not engage in the nickname contraction epidemic that has lately plagued blogs across the Web. No "Jams" or "Dwangelinas" or "Mollys" shall be written by me; I shall also not use other "cute" couple nicknames — "PB&J" I'm looking at you — to describe the partners. I'm not asking you to do the same in your comments — I'm just saying that this is an important personal choice I'm making, which I hope you'll respect. Now let's begin.
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"Baby Shower", the third episode in what's turning out to be a stellar fifth season for
The Office, begins with what can only be described as the Best. Opening. Ever. The episode begins with Dwight helping Michael practice for the birth of Jan's sperm donor baby while Dunder Mifflin's too-horrified-to-look-away crew witnesses this hilarious, disturbing and perfectly-
Office-esque spectacle. When even Creed is repulsed, you've reached a new level.
Read on for the full, fun-filled recap.
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With the exemplary premiere behind us, in which we were treated to Jim and Pam's engagement, Dwight and Angela's torrid and super-secret affair, Michael and Holly's evolving 'friendship' and Ryan's return as Pam's temporary replacement, does the second episode of the Office continue the momentum? The answer, my friends, is ...
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Here's the skinny on the Season 5 opener: The Dunder Mifflin staffers participate in a weight-loss program, only to become overly consumed with shedding pounds. Elsewhere, Michael works on building a friendship (and more?) with the new HR worker (Amy Ryan). And Pam attends art school in New York, leaving behind a pining Jim.
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