Episode Report Card M. Giant: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Here Comes the Boom Operator
By M. Giant | Season 9 | Episode 12 | Aired on 01.24.2013
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.The pressure caused by Jim's company in Philadelphia rises, in more ways than one. When Dwight gets wind that Darryl's headed there too, he launches a one-man Darryl-retention program that begins with a guilt-inducing presentation to the group on customer loyalty, evolves into Dwight's idea of a "fun" day in the paper business and ends with Dwight cleaning the kitchen of a fast-food restaurant after throwing a milkshake through the drive-through window. Needless to say, it's not much fun for anyone… including us.
Nellie realizes that Erin and Pete are flirting in Andy's increasingly protracted absence, and is afraid that she'll be blamed for it when Andy returns (if he ever does). So she co-opts Dwight's loyalty meeting and ends up turning it into a public referendum on Erin's personal life before taking them off the special project she assigned them to work on together. But then Toby (who seems to think he's her boyfriend now, after one steaming hot kiss weeks ago) points out that Andy's a rather shitty boyfriend anyway and she puts Erin and Pete back to work together. Which they both seem pretty happy about.
But back to Jim's company and the challenges it's raising. It's the day of Cece's dance recital, but Jim is trapped in Philadelphia trying to keep a key investor from bailing. Pam tries to record Cece's performance on her phone, but a combination of an ill-timed call (notifying her that she's been commissioned for a public mural, yay!) and her own lack of smartphone smarts causes her to miss the moment. After spending the day failing to hold onto the investor, Jim has the nerve to yell at Pam for messing up the recording and they end up having a huge fight. And then Jim gets to hang up and go back to his job while Pam sits in the bullpen alone, crying.
But of course she's not alone, is she? As always, the documentary crew is there to capture every tear. But for the first time, we actually see some of them, as sound guy Brian breaches protocol to step into the shot and comfort Pam. Those guys are always there, after all. Unlike Jim.
Think you've got game? Prove it! Check out Games Without Pity, our new area featuring trivia, puzzle, card, strategy, action and word games -- all free to play and guaranteed to help pass the time until your next show starts.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!After taking it upon himself to clean out an overstuffed file cabinet crammed with files for dead accounts, Dwight discovers a yellowed letter purporting to be from Robert Dunder himself, alluding to a treasure he allegedly hid "until such time as a person of strong intellect may safely recover it. This golden chalice is of immeasurable historical and religious significance." After everyone hears Dwight reading it aloud, Pam sneaks off to call Jim in Philadelphia: "Did you send Dwight on a quest for the Holy Grail?" Jim says he's too busy for that, but suddenly remembers that yep, six years ago, he did just that. Flashback to a younger, more floppy-haired Jim at his old desk, creating the letter and fake-aging it, as present-day Jim recalls staying late every night for a month six or seven years ago to work on "The Dunder Code." He had a lot more spare time then.
In the present, Dwight holds the letter over Phyllis's desk lamp to render the lemon-juice ink visible, with the message "Higher than numbers go." He then climbs on Angela's desk and finds in the ceiling a key attached to an X, which Oscar figures unlocks something in the annex. Meanwhile, Jim confesses to Pam that he doesn't remember if he ever got around to hiding the actual Grail. Dwight finds a false bottom in one of Clark's desk drawers containing a scroll of fake parchment reading "SEDE INTROITI." Translating the Latin, Dwight rips open the seat cushions near the entrance but finds nothing but five playing cards inside. "That's a flush," says recovering gambling addict Kevin. From inside a toilet, Dwight discovers a toy forklift. Cut to everyone ransacking the warehouse. Pam reports to Jim over the phone that nothing is there. "I expected more from young Halpert," Jim sighs disappointedly. Sure, but young Halpert is being written by the old writers. Dwight calls off the search as the camera pans over to a warehouse worker in Val's office, dipping his donut into a Holy Grail full of coffee. He chose...wisely.
Nellie is meeting with her "Youth Task Force" consisting of Pete and Erin in the conference room as they explain the social media strategy they're implementing, which so far consists of making up fake Facebook accounts. Nellie is proud of herself for putting the two of them together, and Erin THs about how she and Pete work well with each other. But she assures us that it could be any guy, or any girl, not that she's into girls, not that she's into Pete either. "What was the question again?