The Carpet

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The Office episode

"The Carpet"
Michael and Kevin find something on "The Carpet"
Episode No.	20
Prod. Code	212
Airdate	January 26, 2006
Writer(s)	Paul Lieberstein
Director	Victor Nelli, Jr.
The Office Season 2 September 2005 - May 2006
The Dundies Sexual Harassment Office Olympics The Fire Halloween The Fight The Client Performance Review E-mail Surveillance Christmas Party Booze Cruise The Injury The Secret The Carpet Boys and Girls Valentine's Day Dwight's Speech Take Your Daughter to Work Day Michael's Birthday Drug Testing Conflict Resolution Casino Night
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The Office (US)

"The Carpet" is the 14th episode of the second season of The Office (U.S. version). It was written by Paul Lieberstein and directed by Victor Nelli Jr.. It first aired on January 26, 2006.

1 Synopsis
2 Deleted scenes
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

When someone deposits a malodorous substance on the carpet in Michael's office, he spends the day at Jim's desk, relegating Jim to a back room with Kelly. Michael institutes a sales contest, promising $100 to the person who racks up the most sales that day.

At his temporary new desk, Jim suffers Kelly's constant chattering. She asks Jim to hook her up with Ryan. Jim continues to yearn for Pam, but her fiancé, Roy, is in the office replacing the carpet along with Darryl, and Jim is unable to speak with her. Interestingly, while exiled in the back of the room, Jim makes an awkward (but later revealed to be a successful) attempt to ask Brenda, who joined the office on the Booze Cruise, out on a date.

As the day wears on, Michael becomes convinced that what happened to his office is a hate crime and an act of terrorism. Believing it to be done by someone in the office, he begins to lose his faith in his employees, who he considers his "friends". But his mood changes drastically when he finds out the object in his office was actually left there by his "Best Friend Forever", Todd Packer. Michael instantly finds the joke hilarious, and his faith in his friends is restored. It is never revealed what the substance Todd left on the carpet is, but it can be seen in one shot, and it appears to be feces of some sort.

[edit] Deleted scenes

In a talking head interview, Dwight believes that a higher power brought Michael to the desk next to him.
In separate talking head interviews, Angela and Kevin speculate on who may have soiled Michael's carpet.
A picture on Jim's computer prompts Kelly to begin chattering. Jim excuses himself to get some food and commiserates with Toby. In a talking-head interview, Toby admits, "I don't even hear her any more." Jim eats his lunch in his car.
Michael has computer problems and can't complete the sale. He walks the office and finds the others busy selling paper. The contest scoreboard shows Michael in last place.
When Dwight loses a sale, Michael insists that he call the customer back and tell a joke. Dwight's joke falls flat, and Michael takes the phone. "Sorry about that. Dwight is an idiot." Michael steals the sale.
Roy and Darryl play a drinking game in Michael's office.
Dwight and Angela have a secret conversation in the kitchen. Angela lends her support.
In a talking head interview, Michael remembers his best friend ever. "I wonder where he lives."

[edit] Trivia

Before Michael halts the Sales competition, it appeared that Stanley was in the lead.

In the scene where the employees are smelling Michael's office, Steve Carell had actually thrown a stinkbomb in the office, moments before shooting, unaware to the rest of the cast.

During the scene where Kelly begs Jim to help her gauge Ryan's interest in her, a whiteboard with quarterly sales is noticeable above Kelly's desk. Of the 4 salespersons at Dunder-Mifflin Scranton, Dwight had the most sales for the quarter.

"The Carpet" is the first and only episode where the manager who preceded Michael, Ed Truck, makes an appearance.

Aspects of this episode are slightly similar to that of Episode Two of the UK version of the show, in which David Brent is offended that someone superimposed his face on a pornographic image until he finds out that it was his good friend, Chris Finch.

Rock 107, the radio station Dwight keeps calling, is an actual radio station in the Scranton area.

This is the first episode in which Kelly is a chatterbox. In earlier episodes, she did not exhibit this personality trait.

In a deleted scene, Dwight tells an offensive joke about Catholics while on a sales call.

The episode preceeding this ("The Secret") was the first to credit the rest of the cast as series regulars. However, this episode does not credit them as such. This had been restored by the next episode, "Boys and Girls".