Episode no. Season 6
Episode 19 Written by Jonathan Hughes Original air date March 11, 2010 | Directed by Randall Einhorn Production code 617 | |
"St. Patrick's Day" is the 19th episode of the sixth season of the U.S. comedy series The Office and the show's 119th episode overall. It was written by Jonathan Hughes and directed by Randall Einhorn.
Contents
The series—presented as if it were a real documentary—depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. In this episode, Jo Bennett and Michael clash during Jo's last day at the Scranton branch, when Jo makes the whole office stay late at work, which angers the branch especially since it is St. Patrick's Day. Meanwhile, Dwight has converted his, Jim's, and Pam's desks into one "megadesk", which frustrates Jim when he returns from paternity leave. Meanwhile, Andy and Erin's first date is interrupted when Erin goes home sick, so Andy pretends to be sick as well to go to her house.
Synopsis
Jo (Kathy Bates) is spending her last day at the Scranton office and Michael (Steve Carell) thinks he's earned her favor after some small talk. However, when Jo opens up the floor to suggestions on how to improve business, Darryl (Craig Robinson) offers an idea of how to improve shipping for both paper and printers, and Jo allows Darryl to take Jim's old office as a result. Michael tries once again to earn Jo's favor with some small talk, but Jo berates him for wasting time. The rest of the office gets frustrated when Jo forces them to stay late as she has an unpredictable work schedule. Michael is particularly upset as he made plans to meet Todd Packer (David Koechner) at a bar for St. Patrick's Day. The employees try to make multiple breaks for it but fail. Michael is finally direct with Jo and tells her he's allowing his employees to leave and she complies, showing the first hint of respect for Michael. Michael and Todd Packer meet the rest of the employees at the bar.
Meanwhile, Andy (Ed Helms) and Erin (Ellie Kemper) are set to have their first date, but Erin is very sick and Jo sends her home. Andy, wanting to see Erin, feigns being sick so he can leave. He goes over to Erin's house to see her and they enjoy watching TV together, but their time is interrupted when he meets her foster brother (Sean Davis), who makes Andy sit on the chair while he gets to sit next to Erin on the couch and the two engage in physically intimate behavior. Andy begins to suspect that the foster siblings are romantically involved. When he prepares to leave, however, Erin gives Andy a lingering kiss on the cheek.
While Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam are gone on parental leave, Dwight (Rainn Wilson) arranges Jim's and Pam's desks with his into one "Megadesk". When he returns from leave, Jim puts the desks back properly, but Dwight continually reforms his "Megadesk" when Jim is up from his seat. In a bid to preserve "Megadesk", he tells Jim about how he and his cousin Mose never saw their fathers when they were young and plays "Cat's in the Cradle" loudly on the computer while Jim is on a sales call, making Jim (surprised that Dwight's cheap manipulations are working) wish he were home with his newborn daughter. Dwight then attempts to get out of work by claiming to Jo he is meeting a client, but Jim does the same thing first via phone, allowing himself to leave and forcing Dwight to go back to his desk. At the end of the episode, Dwight comes in to work the next day to find that Jim had rearranged the desks into a "Quad-Desk", where he put one desk on top of the other two desks, with a little space in between the two bottom desks where he put Dwight's computer, phone and nameplate.
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "St. Patrick's Day" was watched by 7.51 million viewers, with a 3.8 rating and an 11 share in the 18–49 demographic.