Dunder Mifflin Infinity
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| The Office episode |
| "Dunder Mifflin Infinity" | |
 Ryan's return to the office to introduce "Dunder Mifflin Infinity". |
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| Episode No. | 53 |
| Prod. Code | 4004 |
| Airdate | October 4, 2007 |
| Writer(s) | Michael Schur |
| Director | Craig Zisk |
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The Office Season 4 |
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| List of all The Office episodes... | |
"Dunder Mifflin Infinity" is the second episode of the fourth season of The Office. It was written by Michael Schur and directed by Craig Zisk and originally aired on October 4th, 2007. It is the second in a series of four hour-long episodes.
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[edit] Synopsis
As with all of the "one-hour" episodes this season, "Dunder Mifflin Infinity" was produced in two parts which were initially aired together.
[edit] Part One
Pam and Jim are exposed as a couple when Toby circulates a memo about public displays of affection. Ryan Howard returns to the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin for the first time since his promotion. Although he sports a much more urbane look and attitude, he garners little respect. Ryan introduces "Dunder Mifflin Infinity," his initiative to revitalize the company with new technology. Michael is initially excited about the prospect of getting a BlackBerry, but is warned by Creed that the program is a ploy to get rid of older workers.
Kelly tries to restart her relationship with Ryan, an effort he ignores until she tells him she's pregnant. Jim secretly informs Pam that Dwight and Angela are dating, only to discover that she already knew. Meanwhile, Dwight attempts to make amends for the death of Angela's cat Sprinkles by giving her a stray cat he found in his barn. Angela rejects the gift.
Creed dyes his hair black in an attempt to convince everyone that he's much younger. Michael holds a conference room meeting on the subject of ageism. That evening, Angela breaks up with Dwight over dinner.
[edit] Part Two
To show that personal interaction is more effective than new technology, Michael decides to go out and win back the clients they lost in the past year with gift baskets. Dwight insists on going with him. Each manager they encounter refuses to consider returning to Dunder Mifflin unless the company improves its technology.
Michael misinterprets his rental car's GPS map system's directions and ends up driving into Lake Scranton. He takes this as further proof that new technology is useless because it "tried to kill him". After the lake incident, he and Dwight walk back to one of the former clients to awkwardly get back their gift basket, causing a scene.
Ryan learned during the previous night's dinner that Kelly's pregnancy claim was a lie. Back at the office, Ryan asks Pam to create a logo for Dunder Mifflin Infinity. Pam is excited about the opportunity to use her art background, but Ryan uses the logo as an excuse to ask her out, which he does in front of Jim. Pam responds that she's dating Jim, which leaves the new boss thoroughly embarrassed.
[edit] Reception
"Dunder Mifflin" Infinity received a 5.0 Nielsen Rating and a 8% Share. The episode was initially watched by 8.49 million viewers and achieved a 4.5/11 in the key adults 18–49 demographic.[1]
[edit] Notes
- Michael uses the Big picture he used in "The Injury" and the picture of Ben Kingsley from "Diwali" in the conference room. There is also a reference to the episode "The Fire" from season two when Kevin calls Ryan the "Fire Guy."
- Michael refers to Ryan's beard as "Sonny Crockett" and himself as "Tubbs", a reference to Miami Vice. Michael previously wore the famous Miami Vice t-shirt and jacket style in a picture in "The Alliance."
- When Ryan tells his story about meeting Vince Vaughn in New York, Andy uses the phrase "You're Money," a quote made popular in the movie Swingers, starring Vince Vaughn.
- Ryan expresses disbelief when Pam declines his dinner invitation because she's dating Jim. This is the third time that Ryan has expressed interest in someone who is already dating Jim; he asked Jim if he could call Katy in "E-mail Surveillance," and unsuccessfully asked Karen out by e-mail, as was revealed in "Women's Appreciation." In this episode, he falsely tells Kelly that Karen was the one to approach him.
- Michael drinks a Wegmans Diet Lime Soda. In the episode "Fun Run," Michael eats Wegmans cereal for breakfast.
- Dwight states that he tried to visit his grandfather in Argentina but that his visa was protested by the Shoah Foundation, further implying that members of his family were Nazis. In the episode "The Fight," Dwight states that his grandfather spent time in an Allied prison camp.
- Dunder Mifflin's co-founder Robert Dunder mentions that Mifflin committed suicide. That was previously stated in "Initiation".
- Robert Dunder mentions the name Jerry Trupiano during his speech. Trupiano is a former Boston Red Sox radio broadcaster. Dunder also refers to what sounds like Trupiano's "son Nesn." NESN is the TV network Red Sox games are broadcast on locally in the New England area. Many of the cast from The Office were born and raised in Massachusetts including BJ Novak, Patrice Oneal, Nancy Walls, John Krasinski, Mindy Kaling and Steve Carell.
- During his presentation on ageism, Michael quotes from the real Wikipedia article on ageism when discussing the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Michael previously quoted from the real Wikipedia article on negotiation in "The Negotiation".
- Michael uses Johnson's Towing, which is a real company in Scranton.
- Jan has a bottle of water from Joe's Kwik Mart, which is a real chain of gas stations/convenience stores in and around Scranton.
- The gifts in Michael's baskets include: peanut brittle, macadamia nut cookies, chocolate turtles, raspberry jam, honey-mustard pretzels, focaccia crisps, Cajun almonds, and Dunder-Mifflin baseball caps.
- Among the gifts in Michael's baskets there appears to be the signature boxes from Gertrude Hawk Chocolates. The Gertrude Hawk Chocolates factory is located in Dunmore, and it has several small stores in the area. They first appeared in "Casino Night," when Creed stole one from a vending machine.
- The shadow of a camera operator is visible on the ground following the escape of Michael and Dwight from their sinking car. This was probably intentional, due to the documentary aspect of the show.
- When Michael is asked why he has the Big picture he used in "The Injury" and the picture of Ben Kingsley he says that the printer ran out of ink, the camera then zooms in on Creed, who dyed his hair black, implying that he dyed his hair with the printer ink.
- This is the first time in the series a Pennsylvania state highway sign has been shown. Pennsylvania Route 307, the highway Michael and Dwight are trying to follow, does run through the Scranton area.
- In a deleted scene we learn that Dwight does not believe in vaccines and that he got small pox when he was a child, but in "Health Care" Dwight claims that he never gets sick due to superior Schrute genes.
- Kelly claims to be pregnant to get a date with Ryan. In "Phyllis' Wedding," Kelly told Pam that if all of her own wedding ideas were stolen, she would freak out, get drunk, and tell someone that she was pregnant.
- When the episode was recut into two parts, a new opening and ending was added to Part 2. In the cold opening, Toby brings an attractive woman to the office, claiming she is his girlfriend. In the new ending, Ryan tries to explain to Jim the vibe of living in New York City. Additionally, the awkward chat between Jan and Ryan in Part I was cut.
- In the scene where the towing company takes away Michael's rental Chrysler Sebring, they tow it with the front wheels on the ground. However, the Sebring is a front wheel drive car and it should have been towed with the rear wheels on the ground.
[edit] Deleted scenes
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- Ryan orders Michael to get him a cold water, and is curt when Jim comes to Michael's defense.
- Michael explains to the employees that Confucius was a comedian.
- Creed is seen acting young.
- Michael tries to ridicule the name of the BlackBerry.
- Michael doesn't know how to use a BlackBerry.
- Dwight explains what the only inventions that matter are, and says he had smallpox and survived.
[edit] References
- ^ Broadcast TV Ratings for Thursday, October 4, 2007. Your Entertainment Now. Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
[edit] External links
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