The Return (The Office episode)

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The Office episode

"The Return"
Michael and Dwight's heartfelt reunion in "The Return".
Episode No.	41
Prod. Code	314
Airdate	January 18, 2007
Writer(s)	Michael Schur, Lee Eisenberg, Gene Stupnitsky
Director	Greg Daniels
The Office Season 3 September 2006 - May 2007
Gay Witch Hunt The Convention The Coup Grief Counseling Initiation Diwali Branch Closing The Merger The Convict A Benihana Christmas Back from Vacation Traveling Salesmen The Return Ben Franklin Phyllis' Wedding Business School Cocktails The Negotiation Safety Training
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The Office (US)

"The Return"^[1] is the thirteenth episode of the third season of the US version of The Office. It aired on January 18, 2007, and marked the return to work of Oscar Martinez, who had been on vacation since the first episode of the third season.

1 Synopsis
- 1.1 Producer's Cut
2 Trivia
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Dwight attends job interviews, including one where he offers his prospective employer a three volume résumé; one packet represents his professional career, the second, his athletic history, and the last, Dwight Schrute trivia. At another, describing himself in "three words", Dwight offers: "Hardworking. Alpha male. Jackhammer. Merciless. Insatiable..." Dwight settles for a job at Staples to earn money while he continues his job search. Dwight alienates his coworker who has never heard of Dunder-Mifflin.

Andy is obnoxiously testing the last nerve of his coworkers, including Michael, who is growing weary of Andy's incessant badgering and brown-nosing. He has relocated to Dwight's former desk where he severely irritates Jim and Ryan, whom he attempts to nickname "Big Turkey". Andy casts an invisible fishing line in an pantomimed attempt to hook Jim (the "Big Tuna"), and calls his own cell phone in order to demonstrate his new self-recorded ringtone, "Rockin' Robin" in four-part harmony, all four parts sung by himself. He repeatedly sings one portion of The Cranberries song "Zombie" in his falsetto voice, but despite his earlier claims of a capella singing experience, his pitch goes flat.

Oscar returns after his paid vacation and Kevin asks him how he enjoyed his "gay-cation", stating that he devised the joke shortly after Oscar left and had been saving it, who laughs. Angela pensively invites Oscar to join the party planning committee. At first he is offended, but Angela respectfully continues to ask, explaining that "certain events have transpired" apologizing for the way those events transpired. She breaks into tears explaining how she "would just like to make some changes about certain things and certain situations and certain accountants..." Oscar quickly accepts, reassuring her.

Michael welcomes Oscar by asking the party planning committee to have a Mexican-themed fiesta celebrating his return, offending Oscar in the process. The committee outfits the office with numerous piñatas and Ryan uses a marker to change the spelling on the bottle of lemonade to read "Lemoñadé."

Jim tries to enlist Karen's help in pulling a prank on Andy, but she is busy with the influx of clients inherited upon Dwight's departure, stating that Dwight's files are password-protected with the names of different mythical creatures. Ryan too gruffly refuses to join in the hi-jinx to Jim's dismay. Finally, Jim approaches Pam, who readily agrees. Jim steals Andy's cell phone and leaves it with Pam. Later, Pam hands it back to Jim as he heads for the kitchen and stands guard as Jim pushes up a ceiling tile and launches the phone through the empty space to its final resting place, atop a tile roughly above Andy's desk. Karen briefly notices the actions of the two. The pair trade calls to Andy's phone, frustrating him to the point of accusing Phyllis of the theft.

Andy, still happy that Dwight is gone, continues sucking up to Michael. Due to Andy's pursuit of "face time" with his boss, Michael begins avoiding him, stating that Andy is "annoying the bejesus" out of him, even walking with him to the bathroom.

Angela reveals to Michael that the reason Dwight visited the corporate office was to deliver her tax documents, noting that no other employee — Andy in particular — would have done so. Andy offers to hang out with Michael, but Michael declines, requesting that Andy stop his annoying behavior. Michael's rejection of Andy's offered friendship, combined with Pam and Jim's prank, pushes Andy over the edge and he punches a hole in a wall, shocking his co-workers. Michael leaves the office to try to get Dwight back.

Michael finds Dwight working at Staples and admits to him that he was wrong, and tells Dwight that if he would go out of his way for a "random co-worker", he had misjudged him from the beginning. Michael apologizes, and asks Dwight to return to the office. Dwight accepts Michael's apology, asks not to do Michael's laundry anymore (Michael is non-committal), and returns to the office in a daze, finding his co-workers celebrating Oscar's welcome back party, which he misinterprets as being held for him.

At the party, Karen observes Pam and Jim laughing together about the prank. She confronts Jim, asking him if he still has feelings for Pam. After several seconds of silence, Jim nods and answers "Yes". Karen stands up and walks out, visibly upset.

Dwight is handed a broom and blindfold to break open a piñata. Declining the blindfold, he knocks the piñata to the ground and begins pummeling it into shards. He triumphantly continues throughout the office, decimating the decorative piñatas hung from the ceiling as he goes. Andy sulks and watches Dwight's antics from the kitchen. Michael states that he prefers being sucked up to for reasons of love rather than career advancement.

[edit] Producer's Cut

Like "Branch Closing", an extended version of "The Return" appeared on NBC.com and the iTunes Store, featuring several deleted and extended scenes, including:

Michael's convertible top has mechanical problems and will not go up. When Oscar parks his new car (leased for him by the company as part of his settlement), Michael advises Oscar to "put rainbow stickers on the back". Michael comments on the "German engineering" of Oscar's Lexus RX. In a talking head, Oscar admits that he is not sure whether he wants everyone to "just keep their mouth shut" about his orientation, or keep going "because I could use a home theater system".
Oscar runs into Creed and Jim in the kitchen and asks them where Dwight is, prompting Creed to describe events from "Grief Counseling" (completely unrelated to Dwight's departure). Jim, being at Stamford at that time, says he is sure none of that's real, causing Creed to shout "You're not real, man!"
Brief shot of snow collecting in Michael's uncovered convertible.
Kelly is surprised that Oscar has never heard of Lance Bass, suggesting that Oscar should "learn more about his culture."
Michael asks Jim what he thinks of Andy. Michael claims on paper that he and Andy should be best friends. Jim tells him that the Andy will only say what makes Michael happy, being a "yes man". Michael doesn't understand what this means until Jim tells him that Andy did the same thing with Josh.
In a talking head, Michael recalls a childhood memory of being put to bed in Spider-Man pajamas and his mother kissing him on his butt accidentally. Thus he knows what it is like to have your butt kissed literally, saying "and it better not be what Andy is doing".
Angela confides in Pam about missing Dwight. She tells Pam she doesn't want people to know about their relationship. Pam tells her there has to be a way she can get Dwight back without spilling the beans. Angela claims she cannot, as she is "not like Pam, walking around in [her] provocative outfits, saying whatever thought pops in [her] head".
Sequence of Michael talking about (in talking head format) going to get Dwight being played as he cleans snow out of his car. Michael states that he made a big mistake replacing Dwight with Andy, a person who "loves the company so much he punched a hole in it".
Michael's search for Dwight in Staples is extended.
Creed asked Meredith where she got some of the party food. When she mentioned the store name, Creed asked which aisle specifically. Meredith then replied that she couldn't remember, but Creed apparently didn't process what she just said and offered her a pen and his hand (instead of paper) and said "Draw me a map, Mama!"
Michael shakes maracas at Pam while saying "I will shake mine, and then you will shake yours." Pam promptly says "No I will not". Phyllis proceeds to shake her chest enthusiastically, causing Pam to smile and Michael to walk away in disgust.
Michael asks Oscar if this party reminds him of his childhood, Oscar says it reminds him of the movie ¡Three Amigos!. Michael is flattered by Oscar's suggestion and takes it as a compliment.
The episode ends with Andy driving to a ten-week Anger Management program he has been ordered to attend. Andy prefers to think of it as "Management Training." He tells the documentary crew that he intends to complete the program in five weeks by employing a strategy of "name repetition, personality mirroring, and positive reinforcement through nods and smiles," similar to the strategy announced upon his arrival at Scranton. Andy claims "I'll be back, just like Rambo" as he greets his counselor.

[edit] Trivia

The original title of this episode was "Oscar's Return".^[2] The change to a more generic "Return" may reflect the fact that two employees return to the office in this episode.
NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly played Dwight's first interviewer.^[3] Reilly was a strong supporter of The Office during its first season despite low ratings.
The shirt that Dwight wears upon return to the office has the Battlestar Galactica logo on it, the second reference to the 2004 reimagining of Galactica during the series.
While asking Michael if he wanted to 'hang out' for "T.G.I. Wednesday", Andy says he can't wait to "go home and get his beer on and get his Lost on" in reference to the ABC drama, which was on winter hiatus until February 7th.
The Dwight "rescue" from Staples by Michael emulates the ending of An Officer and a Gentleman by playing a muzak version of "Up Where We Belong" in the background.
Jim says he misses Dwight the episode when Oscar returned, and Dwight sarcastically said he missed Jim in the episode when Oscar left in Gay Witch Hunt.
When Jim asks Ryan to help him play a prank on Andy, and Ryan refuses, Jim remarks "I liked you better when you were the Temp", to which Ryan quietly replies "Me too". This appears to be a reference to the change in Ryan's personality over the three seasons from a timid office temp to a somewhat less friendly and approachable member of the staff.
Andy calls Ryan "Big Turkey" in this episode presumably because he had eaten a turkey sandwich.