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While Jim's off in Philadelphia doing his new job that involves hanging out on the basketball court with Dr. J., Pam finds single momhood somewhat challenging. The most obvious manifestation of this is that Cece came home from school with lice, and Pam appears to have brought them into the office. The good news, at least at first, is that everyone assumes the office epidemic is Meredith's fault, including Meredith herself. Pam puts off confessing until Meredith shaves her head, at which point it kind of seems a little late. Dwight takes command of the situation from inside a hazmat suit, but it's really Erin -- with her history of 22 lice infestations growing up -- who really knows what to do. On her instructions, most of the employees slather each other's hair in mayonnaise. Angela takes advantage of this opportunity to torture Oscar, while Erin and Pete all but make a date out of it. Aside from a bug-bomb mishap or two with Dwight, the situation seems mostly under control, at least until Pam takes an ill-advised speakerphone call from her mom that blows her cover.
Not everyone's bugged, though; Darryl, Phyllis, Stanley and Nellie are sent to the warehouse where they can do their work and remain lice-free. But the other three get into Darryl's hair anyway. After all his hard work getting Val to dump him so he can follow Jim to Philadelphia, the others manage to convince Val to take him back.
And then Pam and Meredith make up over beers and karaoke. The end. Seriously.
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!Jim, Darryl and Kevin chat in the break room about sports, until Jim bites his lip and takes it so hard that he lets it ruin his whole day by biting his lip. In fact, he interrupts a TH with a going-home tantrum.
After the credits, Pam comes into the office for the day looking so bedraggled that Erin mistakes her for Meredith at first. Foreshadowing! Pam THs about all the stuff she's been covering (poorly) at home while Jim's been off working in Philadelphia. The worst part is that Cece got lice, so Pam was up all night disinfecting everything. "But don't tell Jim. He has a huge meeting today. Under a lot of pressure, and he's doing it all for the family." Cut to Jim in a crowing-head from the "sports marketing" company's loft office in Philly saying, "I am meeting Dr. J. today!" But like Pam, he'd rather be discreet about his day, because he knows how he'd feel if she were off go-karting with John Stamos. They talk on the phone, each avoiding getting into details, until the limo comes to take Jim to the meeting. Yeah, that's another detail that Jim doesn't get into.
Darryl and Val appear to be having a Serious Conversation in the parking lot. Darryl THs that getting Val to dump him was part of his plan so he can work in Philly, and explains how he made it happen: "First you say, 'what are you gonna do, break up with me?' Like that's a joke. And then you gain a lot of weight."
Pam drops off a request for Meredith, who seems to think Jim left her because of her nagging. Pam looks ready to get into it, but when Meredith starts furiously scratching her head, she bails on the conversation quickly, although Pam hopefully THs that maybe Meredith is just confused.
Cut to Meredith at Reception, where Erin is using a fork and a flashlight to inspect her scalp. "Between the foster homes and the orphanage, I had lice 22 times," Erin assures Meredith knowledgeably. Dwight enters the bullpen just in time to hear Erin's confirmation that yep, the critters are in the house, and he orders a full lockdown. It seems he still holds a grudge against lice since his own childhood trauma, as he explains it a TH: "For fifteen years they called me 'freak' and 'four-eyes' and 'sci-fi nerd' and 'girl-puncher,' all because I had lice when I was seven." Erin inspects Dwight's scalp and declares it the cleanest she's ever seen, and he explains he uses lice shampoo every morning. Then he busts out a can of bug spray to cover his escape from the bullpen.