Cocktails

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I'm Jenna Fisher.

And I'm Angela Kinsey.

We were on the office together and we're best friends.

And now we're doing the Ultimate Office Rewatch podcast just for you.

Each week, we will break down an episode of The Office and give exclusive behind-the-scenes stories that only two people who were there can tell you.

We're the office ladies.

Hello, everyone.

Hi there.

Do you have your drink ready?

Did you pour a drink?

Because today we're talking about cocktails.

I should have.

Dang it.

Why are we not drinking right now?

That's a whole other podcast.

But you know what?

With all of the kids, like virtual learning, it might have to happen.

Angela, do you want to tell everyone where where you are right now?

Yes, you guys.

Okay, so the internet at my house is El Krapski.

And can I say L Krapski?

That's so weird.

I think you can.

You've said worse.

So the internet at my house is really bad.

And apparently we're in an area that doesn't even qualify for a real upgrade.

Like we've called and they're like, yeah, no, it's not available there.

And I'm like, what are you talking about?

So

anyway, I just, well, I just did not have a great system.

I tried Jenna, I really tried for months, for months.

Yeah.

And what you guys haven't seen is I would just be zooming with Jenna and then I just get the boot for like 45 minutes.

Um, yeah, and then people are always like, why don't you guys just do a video version of your podcast?

Just throw it on up there.

And I'm like, well, if you want to see 45 minutes of Angela cursing and disappearing and coming back,

we're happy to throw it on up for you.

Sam said his favorite was when Mindy was a guest.

I got booted off three times and he said he could hear on my audio track, you and Mindy were talking and I was just going, mother.

So, yes.

And also, Angela, you would be frozen and then Mindy and I wouldn't really know if you were there or not.

And so we would throw to you.

We'd be like, right, Ange?

Oh, I don't think she's there.

No,

she's not responding.

She's not moving.

So I am really excited.

Very COVID safely.

Thank you to the folks at Earwolf.

Today, I guess at Earwolf is just me in one room, Sam in another room.

And I guess Conan O'Brien is coming later.

Oh, he canceled.

So it's just me and Sam.

It's just me and Sam here today.

And when I saw Sam, I thought I was going to cry because it was just so fun to see him in person rather than just hearing him.

Well, it's really cool for me to see you in the studio.

It's making me very homesick.

I know.

And then I have my mask and we have sanitizer.

and you guys were, we're figuring it out.

We're figuring it out how to, how to safely return to work.

And that that gives me hope.

Yeah.

And I know a lot of y'all out there are doing this.

I know my sister, you know, my sister's a nurse.

And one of my sisters works for the phone company.

And she gave me a real lecture on Wi-Fi.

And

what I apparently don't have.

You guys, there's this thing.

It's like the holy grail of Wi-Fi.

Jenna, I think you know what it's called.

It's like gamer Wi-Fi.

Yeah, you get a gamer modem

and it can just handle a lot.

And we got it because, you know, we're trying to make a podcast while both of my kids are Zooming school.

So to have three of us on the system, the guy came by to install it and he had this little like thing that shows you the strength of your signal.

He looked at my husband.

He goes, you guys really don't get much of a signal here.

And we're like, yeah, we know.

We're aware.

It's why you're here.

At least it's available in your area, Jenna.

Yeah, it's available in our area.

Well, now we need to get you gamer headphones and we need to get you a gamer chair.

Have you seen they have these special gamer chairs?

Oh, it would make me really happy to see you sitting in one.

Are we ever going to talk about the episode today?

I don't know.

Oh, God.

Yeah, maybe we shouldn't.

What are we here for?

Oh, my gosh.

20 minutes later.

It is cocktails, you guys, season three, episode 17.

It is written by Paul Lieberstein and directed by JJ Abrams.

Here's a quick summary.

Michael and Jan go public with their relationship when they attend a party at David Wallace's home.

The CFO, not his initials, common mistake.

Everyone else in the office goes out for happy hour.

And Pam tells Roy about her and Jim.

Oh, Pam.

Pam!

Not Pammy, but Pam.

Don't call me Pammy.

Don't call her Pammy.

I bet you have some fast facts.

Fast fact number one.

This is a fan question from Scott F., Eladio Ben, and Abby Kellner.

How was J.J.

Abrams tapped to direct?

Right?

J.J.

Abrams.

Jim did this.

Freaking Abrams.

You guys, Google him.

He's done everything.

We could not believe he was coming to our little show.

Now, this was before he directed Star Wars, but Angela, still.

Still?

Does it freak you out that Star Wars guy directed you in an episode of The Office?

JJ, I know you probably listened to our podcast.

Faithfully, why wasn't there a very tiny, petite, sassy blonde?

in your Star Wars movie?

Please, just in the background, I don't even have to say anything.

Please, can I just be an extra in a Star Wars movie?

Please.

Please.

Yeah.

I'll just walk by.

And some.

She'll just walk by.

She won't do anything but just walk by.

A tiny blonde comedian is just going to walk on through Star Wars.

No shenanigans.

I won't look at camera.

I'll look just straight at the ground.

I hope he hears this.

Well, listen, guys.

So at this point, J.J.

Abrams was most famous for the TV shows Lost and Alias.

Felicity.

Felicity.

He did Felicity, too.

Yes.

Wow.

I know.

That wasn't in my notes.

Whoa.

Well, I think it was just because I was such a huge fan of Lost.

And Alias, the role you didn't get.

Thanks for reminding me.

I have to tell you.

Oh, my God.

This made me laugh so hard.

You posted about the the Ben Franklin episode and you were like on your Instagram.

You're like, and, you know, also,

we talk about the fact that I didn't get the part of Sydney and alias, Jennifer Gardner, want to weigh in.

And I responded, did you see her post from the beach?

Did you see her try to ride that skimmer thing?

I mean, come on, lady.

I can't believe you are doubling down on this.

I did one hour of yoga today very easily.

Well, I'll have you know, which basically qualifies me to play a spy on television.

Look out, community of secret spies.

Okay, okay.

In case you're wondering, I did not confront JJ Abrams about why I did not receive the role of Sidney Bristow.

Opportunity missed.

I let it go.

But here's the thing.

Here's what happened, guys.

He reached out to us about directing an episode.

And we were like, yeah.

And we were like, come direct an episode.

That's how it happened.

We were so giddy, Jenna.

We were all so excited.

I just remember him being so smiley.

Remember how much he smiled?

He was like so happy and kind and just energetic.

He was so nice.

And then like, I don't know, a few months later, I ran into JJ and his wife at like a fancy, you know, award show party.

And he was like, Angela, and like chatted me up.

And she was so nice.

They're just really nice folks, y'all.

Yeah.

it's all true.

So put me in your stinking Star Wars movie, JJ.

Yeah, she just wants to walk on.

I just want to walk on.

All right.

Fast fact number two, lady.

I'm calling this one location change.

Why are you saying it like that?

I don't know.

Is it intriguing?

Location change.

Yeah.

Yeah, I'm intrigued.

All right, good.

Fan question from Anna Carter, B.

Smith, Sophia B., Chelsea Lane, and Berkeley S.

What house was used as David Wallace's home in this episode?

Was it the same house used for the inside and the outside?

And then

we've got additional questions from Mary Roberts, Kelsey Joseph, Zhu Yuang, Kendall Kay, and Yvonne A.

Hold up.

David Wallace's house is a different house than the one used in branch closing.

But some of the details are the same.

What gives?

Here is the answer.

Yes, guys, these are good questions because the original house that you saw in branch closing was in Pasadena.

This is a different house.

This one is in Encino.

More people wrote in about the house too, and many people noted that this house has a circular driveway in the front, which is different.

We changed the house because J.J.

Abrams really liked the interior of this house.

So we did dress the front door to match the front door of the Pasadena house.

But yeah,

it was a different house.

Good eye.

Good catch.

Very good catch, folks.

Real good catch.

And that makes sense because he would need the interior of the house more than the exterior because the whole episode.

almost happens in that house.

Yeah.

And it needed to flow.

And there's a lot of moments in this episode where you're on one group of people and then the camera will rack focus and then some other thing is happening in the background.

So having that open floor plan inside was really important to the storytelling.

I agree.

All right.

So my next little piece of this fast fact is about poor Richards.

We shot poor Richards at the Pickwick Pub, which is inside the Pickwick Bowling Alley in Burbank, California, which is right next to the Pickwick Ice Rink where we shot Michael's birthday.

Well, I have a question for you about this

because,

if memory serves, we shot the interior stuff at Pickwick, but that exterior parking lot was a different location.

Yes.

And it was the bar,

what's it called?

The bar at Oyster House on Moore Park in Studio City.

Great catch, lady.

Yes.

Yes, lady.

I knew what parking lot that was because back in ye oldie improv days when I was performing long farm improv, sometimes we would go there afterwards for a drink to celebrate our show.

So the actual bar that's inside of that parking lot area is called Oyster Bar?

It's called the bar at Oyster House.

Oh.

I've never been.

And you can enter from the parking lot, which is how we sort of set it up, right?

Or you can enter from the street.

Just

a quick question for you because I know we're going to talk more about Poor Richards later.

Have you been to the real Poor Richards in Scranton, Angela?

Yes.

And do you enter from a parking lot?

Yes.

And was it a good match?

Sort of.

Oh,

I cannot wait to hear more.

Save it.

Okay, I'll save it.

I'll save it.

I'll save it.

All right.

I'm going to move us on to fast fact number three.

Lady, what?

Do you remember during Ben Franklin when we said that the SAG nominating guy came to set to tell us that we were all nominated for SAG Awards?

Yeah.

Well, we shot this episode right after we won our SAG Award.

Oh, my gosh.

Oh, dang it.

Dang it.

I should have looked in my journal.

I bet I wrote about it.

I wrote about it in my journal.

Dang it.

Okay, what'd you write?

Okay, here's what I wrote.

We won the SAG Award for best comedic ensemble cast.

Our table was right next to the people from 24.

So, yes, I was drooling all night.

What is that?

Why am I saying that?

Lady, we were such dorks.

What a great group of people.

I talked to Kiefer, or should I say, babbled.

That's what I wrote.

Later that night, I met Patrick Dempsey.

Oh my God.

Right?

He has magic sparkles that rotate around his head.

The word dreamy is completely accurate.

Jenna, I don't know what happens to the two of us, but when we write in our journals, it's like a 13-year-old girl is writing in sparkly pencil.

You know?

100%.

What is this diarrhea?

I was a grown woman when I wrote this.

I know.

All right.

Then I wrote, the best part of the night was probably when Oscar, David, Angela, Kate, and her boyfriend and I all started dancing in the middle of a party that did not have a dance floor.

That sounds like us.

That does.

But we started a craze, and soon a bunch of people were all going to town.

I think that's the night I was doing like a really kind of rock and roll version of the Charleston with Jack McBray, and I stepped back right onto Oscar's date's foot.

Oh, remember that?

I felt so bad.

Now, this isn't the night that you jumped into the pool with your dress on, is it?

That's later.

No, that's a different night.

We'll get to that, guys.

Always wanted to do it.

People had jumped in a pool in their fancy dresses.

Remember, Angelina Jolie did this one time?

Look, she wasn't at this party, but I was determined to do this once in my life.

I regret not doing it.

Ah,

I'll tell you, the car ride home sucked,

but the first part was magical.

All right, guys.

Well, we're going to take a break and we will be back to break down this episode, Cocktails.

Yeah.

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All right, you guys, we are back.

Now, before I break down the cold open for you, I have a few observations to share with you that I remember.

Number one, Steve was sick.

Do you remember John?

Yes.

I don't.

He had like a cold bug this week, and you can hear it.

You can hear it if you re-watch.

So he really had to power through because there were a few scenes he was not feeling well in.

And no Phyllis.

No Phyllis.

Phyllis is on her honeymoon.

Oh, yes.

Yeah.

So no Phyllis.

And then before we get into the cold open,

the blooper reel that's online for this episode is fantastic.

My daughter loved it.

We watched it over and over.

And now I can see these moments where people were breaking.

I'm going to point them out as we go.

Okay.

Oh, I love that.

All right.

So in this cold open, Michael is going to show off his magic skills.

You know, he's been in magic camp and he has a straight jacket on.

Dwight is securing chains around him.

He's going to lock it up and then show everyone how he can be a Houdini and get out of it.

Yes.

Well, we had a fan question about this, Ange.

Megan Keel,

Rhiannon Cobb, Allie Joe Higginbotham, Charlotte Nicholas, and Claire Nichols all asked, how long did Steve have to be in that straitjacket?

He spent the morning in that thing.

Yeah, I asked Kent Zabornak about it because, you know, he keeps all the logs from our productions.

Are you kidding me?

That's how he tells me all this stuff, Angela.

He has all of the call sheets and the production logs and all the, he has it all on file.

I knew he had a lot of information.

I didn't realize he had like the production logs that show the time increments we spent on each scene.

That is crazy.

Yeah, he said that all told, Steve was in the straitjacket for about an hour and a half.

We didn't do that many takes.

We did about seven or eight based on his records.

But knowing now that Steve was sick while he was rolling around on the ground trying to get out of that crazy outfit is,

oh my gosh.

Yeah.

He was like flopping off the chair, like diving across the table, knocking a plant over.

Well, here's my question.

You know, you saw that he had the very, very large key in the corner of his mouth, right?

So obviously, yes.

That then falls on the ground and Jim steps on it with his foot.

That was just step one.

I mean, let's say he was able to get the key and undo the chains.

How is he going to get out of the straitjacket?

I don't know, but in the blooper reel in one take, Steve manages to get out of the straitjacket.

No.

Yes.

And we all cheered.

I remember shooting that.

I know.

It was like the same moment.

I remember when, like in basketball, when he actually made one of those crazy Hail Mary shots and we all cheered, but they can't use it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, lady, we also had a fan catch and

I love this fan catch.

It's from Stella P.

and Madison J.

In the cold open, Jim says to Kevin, have a good weekend.

It's Friday and no one is dressed for Casual Friday.

Oh, that's a very good catch.

I bet that made you happy.

They went on to say, isn't Casual Friday supposed to exist until Toby cancels it in season five, episode 26?

Wow.

Applause.

All right.

So should we move on and get into this episode?

Yes, let's do it.

Michael and Dwight are getting ready to leave for this big party at David Wallace's house.

He makes Dwight smell his breath.

He just gets in there.

It's like Steve's head is a Pez dispenser.

I mean, it's crawling inside it.

I don't know how they got through that.

I know, and I love Dwight's line.

He's like, good, not great.

Yeah.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, okay.

And then Michael has this talking head, you guys, where he really lays out the stakes of this episode for him.

It is Jan and his coming out party, he said.

They're finally an official couple.

This means a lot to him.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I have one thing.

It's a blooper reel catch of someone about to break.

You guys, at three minutes, 15 seconds, Michael is trying to see if Jim wants to carpool.

He leans down.

He's like, you want to carpool?

John could not get it together.

John was laughing so hard.

And Steve knew it.

And Steve was messing with him.

Steve at one point in the bloopers goes, you want to ride my sepring?

And you know, he knew that was going to make John break.

John was like destroyed by it.

Oh, I loved it whenever Steve would do that.

And he would do it to John mostly because he would find some little

thing.

And it was usually when he would get like real, real close.

Yeah.

You want to carpool?

Yeah.

Want to ride my separate?

Yeah.

It's really fun to watch.

So now we cut to Michael and Dwight are in the car.

And Dwight is like, thank you so much for bringing me along.

And Michael's like, wait a second, should I have brought you along?

I don't know.

Yeah.

And then Jan calls on speakerphone.

And do we find out Michael's nickname for her in this moment?

What does he call her?

He says, Howo Buttercup.

Oh, is this a princess bride moment?

It sounds like it.

A little bit.

Well, Jan is like, what do you say?

We blow off this party and we just like,

we just go after each other like we did on that black sand beach in Jamaica.

Yeah, doesn't she say something like, why don't we just smash up on each other or something?

It's a real visual image.

I probably didn't need.

And then she's like, wait, am I on speakerphone?

Are the cameras there?

And she's like, I'll just see you at the party.

But Michael, Michael does not want to go get it on with Jan.

He is like, no, I want to go to this party with you and show everyone that you and I are together.

I know.

This kind of breaks my heart because it's clearly so important for him.

And she just wants to blow it off.

She doesn't want to go public with him.

And he's kind of forcing her hand.

And Jan.

I know you're a fictional character and you won't ever hear this, but I need to say it.

Always assume you're on speakerphone and cameras are rolling.

This is something that comes up with her all the time.

She's like, Are the cameras there?

I'm like, why are you asking?

Just give up.

They're there.

It's so true.

Well, then, Jenna, as they're off and on their way, we have at front reception, Roy and Pam.

And Pam was like, Roy, come out with us tonight.

And he's like, no, my brother took a bath on the jet skis.

We're going to go get drunk.

And you're like, yeah, yeah, we're going to a bar.

We're going somewhere where that can happen.

And you've got to do boyfriend stuff.

If you want to be my boyfriend, right?

You make a big speech.

Yeah.

And Roy is like, okay.

And it's kind of this nice moment where you see Pam is being more assertive and Roy hears her.

Well, there's a deleted scene, Jenna, that would have happened right here that I thought was really sweet, where Roy notices your art has been framed and is hanging on the wall.

And he compliments it.

He's like, hey, hey, oh my God, it's your art.

It's framed.

You know, that's so cool.

And it's this sweet moment that I think would have just extended that beat of where Roy, he's trying.

Yeah.

Before we move on from this sweet Pam Roy moment, there is a new plant alert.

Another new plant at reception?

I wish.

Really and truly, there was a way that someone could, by the end of the nine years, tell us how many plants that Pam had had.

There is a new plant, it's in a very cute blue ceramic pot with what looks like to be like little colorful balloons on the pot.

Hmm, it's very cute, it won't last.

Very cute.

My gosh, what is this like secret story we're telling about Pam's ability to care for house plants?

Well, it's not much of a story.

You know, a friend of mine gave me an air plant recently.

It lives on air.

You like water it once a week.

You turn it upside down and you put it in a glass of water and then you put it back in the pot.

And you know what, Angela?

It's dead.

Well, it doesn't sound like a real thing.

What?

No, it's real.

An air plant is real.

It's a real thing.

It was living.

In air.

It's not even in any soil.

What do you mean in air?

What does that even look like?

It looks like a plant.

It's in a piece of wood, but there's no soil or water in the pot.

Okay.

Okay.

It's like a ferny kind of plant.

Okay.

And then you, the idea is that this is the thing that people who can't keep other plants alive can keep alive because it lives on air.

I don't know.

But mine is dead.

Is it like a fancy chia pet?

No, no.

It's an air plant.

It was an air plant.

It was.

Oh my gosh, you and Pam can't keep plants alive.

We can't.

Well, listen, Pam is now going to have her big moment in her talking head.

All right, everyone.

She is going to start being direct with people.

She's going to start asking for what she wants.

She says, look out, world.

Old Pammy is getting what she wants.

And don't call me Pammy.

Yeah.

I get that quoted to me a lot.

Do you really?

Yeah, and don't call me Pammy.

The things people quote to us are so different.

Like I get poop, it's raining from the ceilings.

Poop.

Well, we had a fan question from Ashley Portugal and Stephanie Shipman-Barani.

In this episode, when Pam decides she's going to be more assertive and she says, and don't call me Pammy, it kind of leads us to believe that she doesn't like that nickname.

But in the next episode, when Roy and Pam are talking at the diner, he calls her Pammy.

Do you think that was a way of showing how Roy doesn't really know or pay much attention to Pam and her likes and dislikes?

Yeah.

I think this is planting the seed for this nickname of Pammy that she's probably said,

I don't love that nickname.

And he just is the guy who's like, oh, whatever, tickle, tickle, Pammy.

And you're like, no, I actually mean it.

Like, I really don't like being called Pammy.

And he's like, okay, Pammy.

Yeah.

Right.

And you're, then you just give up.

Yeah.

You're like, okay, okay, fine.

Yeah, I think it is just that thing where Roy just, he just kind of doesn't see her.

He tried,

but they're just not meant to be together.

Now Dwight and Michael have arrived incredibly early.

to the party.

There are catering

vans and guys carrying in flowers.

Dwight realizes pretty quickly that Michael is dressed like the servants.

That's what he calls them.

Yeah.

And then they, of course, have to change clothes in the driveway.

And once again, we see Dwight's belly.

Someone track that.

How many plants die?

And how many times do we see Dwight's belly?

Well, I love it that Michael says only good friends.

arrive early to a party.

So the best way to become a good friend is to come early.

Yeah.

That's what you do.

That's his strategy.

His strategy is to be the first ones there and the last ones to leave.

And then you're going to love him.

You know, that reminds me of Ellie Kemper.

You know, Ellie Kemper had a rule to always be the last person at a party.

I know.

And she is fun.

And you sort of adopted that with her.

Yeah, because she told me that once.

And I was like, oh, I'm always the first one at a party.

I like to to come in the early part.

And here's why.

I'm not going to come so early that you're just getting out of the shower.

Okay.

And your house isn't ready.

I like to get there early.

I get my FaceTime with the host,

you know, get to have a sort of meaningful conversation because they're not juggling a lot of people yet.

And then I'm there as everyone arrives and I get to chit-chat with everyone.

I feel overwhelmed when I enter a party and it's like two hours in.

I'm like, oh my gosh, it's like too much like like instant party for me.

I need to ease into a party.

I need the population of the party to grow around me slowly.

I think this is your metaphor for life though, Jenna.

I feel like you need to ease into situations.

Yeah, well, I have a lot of social anxiety.

So that my way of navigating large social situations is to ease in.

I don't like an instant crowd.

I like the instant crowd.

I want to jump in.

I want the music thumping.

I want everyone to have had like a little bit of a cocktail.

The pressure's off on me.

I can just show up and just be part of the flow.

You get there early.

I don't know, Jenna.

You might get stuck in a conversation that goes on forever.

Well, that happens.

That happens.

I'll take it.

I'd rather do that than the other thing.

And also, if you come early and you chat with the host,

if I start to get overwhelmed, if my anxiety gets too high, I rush exit.

I can leave.

You just fade out.

But I was there.

Everyone knows I was there, right?

And then just the social sort of like obligation is completed.

Do I sound like fun?

You are fun.

You actually are a ton of fun.

I am fun.

You're a ton of fun.

It's just so fascinating to me.

You and I have all of these core things that are so the same.

And then all of our social stuff is completely different.

It's so true.

I always say Angela's house is like an episode of Three's Company.

There's just people coming through the door randomly at all times.

It's true.

I'm just like, come on in.

I'm out back.

Come down the driveway.

Whatever.

Like, your neighbor, your contractor.

I don't know.

Literally anyone

coming on over.

Creed comes with his guitar.

I know.

And I'm like, make an appointment.

Make an appointment.

Show up on time.

I need to ready myself for this social interaction.

Okay, so now the whole gang is arriving to Poor Richards, and I have a little bit of Poor Richards trivia, Jenna.

Oh, is this about the real Poor Richards?

Because we had two people right in, Lucas Bundros, and Andrew L.

said, is Poor Richards a real pub that people can go to today?

And if so, where is it?

Yes, it is a real pub, and it is in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

And here's the thing that was kind of interesting, Jenna, where we shot in Los Angeles was attached to a bowling alley, right?

Yep.

So is Poor Richards.

It is not a standalone bar.

It is part of a bowling alley.

Yes.

Is the bowling alley called Poor Richards?

No, the bowling alley is its own thing.

Here's the cool thing.

Poor Richards actually does have a door that goes into the bar from the outside.

But when you go into the bar, there's a whole section of it that's just opens out into the bowling alley.

Wow.

Yeah.

That's exactly what it's like at Pickwick.

Yeah.

And right next to the door to go inside is like an old timey looking wooden plaque thing that says Poor Richards.

And I have a photo I took by it.

Actually, in 2018, my husband and I were randomly driving through Pennsylvania.

And I was like, oh my God,

it's a good hour and a half out of the way, but let's go to Scranton.

And we drove to Scranton and we drove all around.

And I said, let's go to Poor Richards and grab a beer.

But it was closed.

Oh, Oh, no.

I know.

So I took all these pictures by the plaque.

But years and years ago, 2017, I was there and I went inside Poor Richards with Brian Baumgartner.

What was that like?

It was such a blast.

We just drank beer and hung out with the folks from Scranton who were all so nice.

And I just love that town.

Yeah, me too.

I've only been there but one time, but it was so great.

It's so fun.

But yeah, I have some great photos from Poor Richards.

But yeah, you guys, families are bowling and then folks are in the bar just right there on the side.

But I want to tell you guys, if you go to Poor Richards, here's something that you would never think.

They have so many different types of French fries.

Tell me more.

You can get regular French fries.

You can get French fries with gravy.

French fries with cheese, French fries with cheese and gravy, chili cheese fries, devil fries, which are smothered in hot or mild sauce with your choice of cheese, pizza fries, which have garlic parmesan seasoned fries with pizza cheese and marinara, bacon cheddar ranch fries, spicy curly fries, or sweet potato fries with salted caramel and marshmallow glaze.

Did you order any fries when you were there with Brian?

I did.

Which ones?

I got the plain ones.

I didn't realize they had so many others.

They were like, what would you like?

I was like, I'll have some french fries, you know, because I was just trying to snack.

Had I known, I think I would have hit up those bacon cheddar ranch fries.

Wow,

I see a road trip in our future.

Oh, good lord, I would love that.

You and I driving through Scranton.

Oh, come on,

we have to make that happen.

We've got a list, we've got a list, we've got a bucket list.

Um, you guys, you can find out more about Poor Richards.

You can go to poorrichardspub.net.

Well, the gang all sits around the table and they're having some drinks.

And Pam asks Kevin about his wedding plans.

Yeah.

And he's like, yeah, we set a date.

Everyone's so excited to hear more.

And then he's like, you know what?

It's complicated and I'd really like some space.

I need some space on this.

What?

At seven minutes, three seconds, there is a fantastic close-up of Brian's tiny curled hair on either side of his head.

Oh.

Yes, the ladies in hair and makeup really must have hit that curling iron hard.

Wait, Jenna, I have to show it to you.

You have to see.

This is a, what should we call this?

Poofy Kevin hair alert?

Okay.

Wow.

That is, I think he needs a haircut.

is what I see when I look at that.

Yeah, I think so.

I think maybe his hair had gotten long, but but it's a big curl on either side of his head.

It kind of looks like he has gigantic ears underneath his hair that they're covering up, maybe.

It looks like something's hiding in his hair right above his ear.

It does.

Well, listen, Ange,

Roy now arrives with his brother, Kenny, and they're going to buy a round of drinks for everyone.

And I have a lot of questions for you.

I also have some thoughts on Roy and Kenny, but I'll save those.

Oh.

Okay.

Do you want your questions now then?

Yeah, give me some questions.

Fan question from Heather Hartline and Molly Pritikin.

What was the reason behind Angela going to Poor Richards with everyone?

She didn't really interact with anyone, and it didn't really seem like she would want to go out to a bar with her co-workers.

Was she lashing out because Dwight went to the other party?

But before you answer,

fan question from Hannah Klinger, Megan Reed, and Devin Devin B.

Is Angela crushing on Roy?

Angela, why'd you show up at Poor Richards tonight?

First of all, at seven minutes, 28 seconds, here is part of that Angela Roy sort of thread that we've seen online.

Were they ever a thing?

Were they going to be a thing?

You can hear off-camera when Roy offers to buy everyone a drink.

I say, no, thank you, Roy, kind of like,

right?

Yeah.

Here's what I think is the truth, though, guys.

We like to think that Angela went there for Roy because it sounds spassy,

but the deleted scenes tell the real story.

Ooh, do tell.

Yes.

There was a runner between Angela and Oscar at Poor Richards.

And I think two things were happening with her character.

One, Dwight was busy that night and she felt like going out with everybody, but also,

It seems, at least in the deleted scenes, that her and Oscar mend the fences even more.

Oh, I don't know if you can tell by watching it, but Angela and Oscar actually aren't at the long table where everyone's sitting.

They're at a little two top right next to it.

Oh.

And they have dinner together.

And they have a scene where Oscar has a huge plate of like wings in front of him.

He sort of like takes a bite and makes a gross face and he goes, these wings are all fat and bone.

And Angela is eating one carrot and she goes, oh, this place is disgusting.

And then the two of them look at each other and smile and Oscar kind of laughs.

Oh my gosh.

I love it.

Yeah.

I think Angela is there because her and Oscar were meant to have these scenes together.

Hmm.

I love that.

Yeah.

Great question.

Great answer.

They don't play the game.

They're just there kind of hanging out.

I know everybody would love a little Roy Angela controversy, but it never happened, guys.

Hmm.

Well, let's wait until the next episode because I'm going to have more to say about it then.

Okay.

All right.

But for now, we had a quick fan catch from Luanda O'Club.

When Roy walks into the bar, there is a sign for fat tire beer, which does not distribute to Pennsylvania.

Oh, that's a really good catch.

A little catch.

And then because we mentioned him, I do want to give a shout out to Roy's brother Kenny, who is played by Michael Patrick McGill.

He does such a good job.

Yeah.

He came to the art show.

He was amazing.

He's here in this episode again.

Just great.

Just great.

And I really buy their relationship as brothers.

I really believe it.

He, not only do they look like they could be related to me, but also I just feel like it, it really fills in the picture of Roy and his family and his dynamic and why maybe Pam

is feeling like she's evolved past that.

Well, there's a lot of testosterone in that family.

There is.

I mean, these are two guys that were going to go out to get hammered because the Jets case,

they didn't get enough money for them or something.

Yeah, they didn't sell for what they wanted them to sell for, I guess.

So they're like, But then I feel like Kenny's also just upset that he had to sell them in the first place.

Yeah.

That's my backstory for Kenny.

Yeah, it's both.

Before we leave Poor Richards to go back to David Wallace's house, I absolutely love the story that Toby is now going to spend the whole night trying to get that stupid duck.

Yes.

Well, the other thing too, Angela, is I remember how they spent all this time positioning the claw machine right there at the entrance and they did that on purpose so that Paul wouldn't be in the background of everything.

Exactly.

He had to be on set with our director, J.J.

Abrams.

He couldn't be in the background.

So it was a very strategic storyline to get him out of every scene.

And a very, very funny fix.

Yes.

Because, yeah, I guess we should remind everybody that whoever wrote the episode, they shadow the director and they help to produce their episode.

And so it's hard to both be on camera and being part of those creative conversations over by the monitors.

Yeah.

All right.

Well, let's head back over to David Wallace's house because we forgot to talk about Michael's offering of the potato salad.

Yes.

We forgot to talk about how he has brought this Tupperware full of potato salad that

he has had in his car all day.

Well, I love this talking head because he whispers it.

And whenever Steve is Michael like whispers, like it just makes me laugh.

He's like, it's been out in my car all day.

The sun beating down on it.

Mayonnaise.

Yeah.

I know.

Well, Angela, we had a fan question from Jace Little who says, in light of Michael bringing potato salad to the party, what are your go-to dishes to bring to parties?

Do you have a go-to dish when there's a potluck party?

Oh, yeah.

I mean, I love to bring a side because usually if you're going to someone's party, I feel like they sort of do the main stuff and then you bring the sides.

So there's a few that I love.

We do this corn dip that I really like.

My husband, like, my husband has tons of really great dips.

Is that shameless plug?

Bakingwidjoshandanj.com.

Tons of really great dips.

He does that one.

Jenna, you had the dip we brought over for Super Bowl last year.

Do you remember?

Yes.

It's so good.

It's like, it's like a jalapeno chicken dip.

It's so good.

And then

I love these sriracha Brussels sprouts.

I could go.

I've never, I don't think I've ever had those.

They're so good that he cooks the Brussels sprouts and then he pours over it this marinade he makes with like soy and I think it's got sriracha and honey.

It's so good.

That sounds amazing.

Because we're all gone.

That sounds amazing.

Okay, we'll bring that next time instead of the chicken jalapeno dip.

Well, my son's hockey team would always have these like hockey season kickoff parties or holiday parties, and it would just be a big potluck situation.

They would order pizzas, but then, you know, know, everyone brings something too.

And I have two go-tos.

What?

One, fried chicken from the grocery store.

Oh, fried chicken you can't go wrong with, especially with little kids.

I was talking like adult party.

I have a whole different sides for kids stuff.

Okay.

Well.

We always like to bring fried chicken.

A friend of mine actually tipped me off to this offering and it is always a huge hit and I completely stole her idea and we do it all the time.

Also, it's really easy because you just pick it up warm from the grocery store on your way to the event.

Yes.

And no one cares that you didn't make it yourself because they're just happy eating it.

Yep.

But then my other thing that I would do for these potlucks is I do these shredded chicken mini sliders.

Yes, I've had those.

Yeah.

I

love them.

I actually put them in a cookbook.

Angela, I'm in a cookbook.

I know.

I am in.

I collaborated on this cookbook with Kings Hawaiian, and I put this recipe in the cookbook.

And what you do is you put chicken breasts and you marinate them on low in a crock pot in root beer.

That is the secret ingredient.

And you do that for several hours until they're all soft.

Then you drain the root beer, you shred up the chicken, you put a bunch of barbecue sauce in, let that cook on low for a couple hours, and then you just bring the whole crock pot along with little slider buns and other accoutrements.

Yeah.

And you're like, here you go.

It's sort of like a spin on like a pulled pork sandwich, but it's chicken.

Yeah.

Those are my go-tos.

I think those are great.

Well, Jace Little asked.

All right.

Well, should we move on?

Because now Dwight is at the buffet.

I love a buffet.

And he tells the woman, that is fine, lady, you love a buffet.

If I say buffet, I should just pause and let you have your moment.

I'm always going to have a moment.

Well, Dwight tells her that the piece of shrimp she's eating, that the line on the back of the shrimp is poop.

Yeah.

And you know what?

What?

It is poop.

I looked it up.

Oh, yeah, it is.

So here's what I found out.

Yeah.

If you're going to cook the shrimp, then you don't have to de-vein it.

They call it de-veining, but it's not a vein.

It's poop.

I think they call it de-veining because no one wants to really think about the fact that we're just scraping poop off their backside.

Yeah.

So, anyway, you should de-poop it if you're not going to cook it.

Like a shrimp cocktail.

Right.

But if you're going to cook it, you can just leave the poop there because the cooking will kill the bacteria, at least according to this LA Times article that I read about it.

Okay.

The end.

Do you like shrimp?

I mean, wow.

This is not that important of a question, but I'm really weighing my answer.

I know.

I know.

I don't hate it,

but I don't look for it.

Right.

I think the most shrimp I eat is maybe in a pad thai.

What about you?

I love shrimp.

I love shrimp.

You cannot have relatives in Louisiana and not like shrimp.

We talked a lot about food.

It's called cocktails, but we're still talking about food.

Yeah, I'm hungry.

I am too.

I don't even know where we're at anymore.

I don't either, but I'm going to share something.

It's personal.

Lady,

the other night, I ate an entire box of cheddar bunny snack mix.

That's over 1,200 calories

of cheddar bunnies.

Like the cheddar bunnies we get for the kids.

Yep.

Oh, lady.

Lady, were you.

I had to do it.

Did you have a bad day?

Yeah, it was just, you know, know, where it just feels like you're in a hole and you can't get out.

And for whatever reason, my tunnel out of the hole was this box of cheddar crackers.

Before I knew it, my fingertips were scraping the bottom of the box.

I couldn't believe I'd eaten the whole thing.

What were you watching?

Were you watching something?

Yeah, I was watching the show called Search Party.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, it's really good.

Yeah.

And I was riveted.

And

before I knew it,

I'd finished all of them.

And I'm going to say I felt better the next day.

I don't know what the moral of this story is, but

how were your BMs?

Were you okay?

Yeah, I was expecting to have a lot more tummy trouble than I did.

I was fine.

I was fine.

Do you ever want to eat one again?

I'm craving it.

I want another box, and I'm not going to buy it because if it's not in the house, I won't eat it.

But I had this problem with the Trader Joe's cheesecrackers a few years ago, where if I ate one, I ate the whole box.

And I managed to get over that.

And clearly, my new trigger is the cheddar bunny snack mix.

It's got everything in it.

It's got...

Not just the cheddar bunnies that we love, but it's got like little pretzels and like little cheese-it things.

And

yeah.

I was so expecting the story to go differently.

I thought you were going to tell it to me and say, I came out on the other side.

I am done with junk food.

I am only going to eat healthy snacks.

But you were like, I ate it all.

I felt fine.

I'd do it again.

So you were expecting like the story to go somewhere is what you're saying.

You didn't expect it that it would just hit a wall.

Actually, Angela, I have been turning things around and we've been texting about it.

I'm trying to do physical exercise three to four days a week and I've been eating really good, but I had the slow moment with the box of cheddar crackers.

I don't know.

Sometimes you need to be okay, not being okay, right?

Lady, who are you talking to?

I got nothing but love for you with all of that.

I mean, Do you remember that night where it was like 11 o'clock at night and I was like, well, I guess someone needs a piece of chocolate pie.

I guess that person's me.

Everyone's gone to bed.

I'm not even going to put it on a plate.

I'm going to stand inside the fridge and just have a fork and just carve at it.

I do remember because you sent me a video message of yourself eating the pie from the fridge.

Uh-huh.

Yeah.

And I'll tell you what, it made me feel better.

There you go.

There you go.

Okay, wait.

Where are we?

Where we are is that Jan and Michael have arrived to the party and they're outside.

And Jan wants Michael to sign some papers waiving his right to sue Dunder Mifflin in the event that their relationship,

in his mind or in reality, interferes with work.

I have to tell you, I laughed so hard when she was digging in her trunk and he said, what you looking for?

You bring a dip?

Like somewhere in Michael's mind, you go to a party, you bring a dip.

No matter what party, you bring a dip.

He's like, everybody must have brought a dip, right?

Also, I cannot get enough of Jan and Michael.

I don't know.

I love this relationship.

I love Melora Harden so much.

She's so phenomenal.

God, she's good.

Well, you know, she has this amazing talking head where she's like, hey, yeah, this is a calculated risk.

You know, upside, I'm going to fall deeply in love and have babies and normalcy, no more self-loathing.

Downside, she collapses in on herself like a dying star, right?

So in the deleted scenes, she has a much longer talking head.

They really trim this down.

And lady, she overshares so much.

Like it's almost, it's so uncomfortable to watch.

What does she say?

I mean, she's, she talks about past relationships.

She was like, well, I guess one good thing is I orgasm really easily.

So

she really overshares.

And I was like, oh, my God.

I see why they deleted it.

But it really, really does show you

where Jan is at, her mental space.

Well, as soon as he walks in the door with Jan,

they run in to David Wallace.

They've barely introduced themselves.

And

he says, Jan and I are lovers.

He doesn't say,

Jan and I are dating.

First of all, he doesn't need to say that.

He doesn't need to clarify their relationship, but he's so excited.

And he always refers to them as lovers.

And you guys, I don't know if you guys have ever had people like this in your life, but I know a couple

who, when they talk about each other, they refer to each other as their lover.

And it makes me so uncomfortable every time.

Every time.

I remember when they got engaged we were like oh tell us your engagement story and they were like well we said to each other you know what you are my lover you are my friend it's always they always bring it up is it me and lee no

why are you saying you don't like it that i say

that lee and i that lee and i refer to one another as lovers i can't i want to do it now oh the next time i go to a party i'm going to introduce lee and i as lovers you know what?

My lover, Lee.

Show up really early when there's no one else to buffer your awkward conversation and no one's had a drink yet and be like, my lover and I are early.

And my lover and I brought Cheez-Its or whatever.

We brought some bunny snack mix.

My lover told me not to eat so many in the car.

And I said, lover, you're Sally.

I can't wait to do this bit.

At my next party.

Oh, it makes me so uncomfortable.

So now we're, the party is going at David Wallace's house, and

we just have what is possibly one of the most awkward conversations at a party.

Yeah.

Nine minutes, 52 seconds.

Michael tries to hold Jan's hand.

He's already, you know, as we said, called her his lover.

Then he tries to hold her hand.

She won't hold his hand.

Then he blows in her face.

Then he asks for an appetizer.

wants to know if they have any bagel bites.

Yeah.

Then Dwight asks for the square footage of the house.

Then Michael's like, that's inappropriate.

How much does this house cost?

And then doesn't Jim like do like a spit take with his drink?

Let me tell you something.

I was having a cup of tea while I was watching this episode, and I happened to be taking a sip right at this moment.

And

Jim and I simultaneously spit into our cups from that line.

That I was, that line made me laugh out loud.

I know.

It's so awkward.

And it sends Dwight now on this crazy journey of checking out every nook and cranny of their house.

Yes.

And this is also where Karen is going to start her little prank on Jim.

She says to Jim, do you see that guy over there?

Because

I just think you should know we used to date and it didn't end well.

And Jim is like, oh.

I didn't like this prank.

I didn't like this storyline.

Tell me more.

Well, I mean,

I I think it's passive-aggressive.

I think Karen is maybe still a little stung by the fact that Jim dated Pam and the way she found out about it.

And I feel like this is her kind of playful way to make light of it, although it's not something that she feels light about because they've had all these late-night talks, but it's her sort of playful way of,

I don't know,

kind of jabbing him about it.

Yeah.

And

it feels a little sad and a little desperate to me, Karen.

Oh,

wow.

You said it.

I said it.

Well, should we talk about this scene with the scotch?

Oh, God.

It is so good.

There's wonderful moments in the deleted scenes, too.

Oh, my God.

Well, I have to say, when Steve takes a sip of this scotch, which David tells us was gifted to him by Lee Iacoka.

Steve starts coughing.

And it is some of the best liquor coughing I've ever seen in a performance.

It was so real.

And it's so amazing, too, because there's a great moment in the bloopers where he's like, over the gums and through the lips.

Like he is not understanding the magnitude of a 20-year-old scotch.

given by this amazing man who he thinks discovered the DeLorean.

Yes.

All of it is wrong.

All of it is wrong.

We had a few people write in about that joke, and they were like, I don't understand the joke about Le Iacoka and the DeLorean.

And this is just a matter of Michael.

He's just mixing up his automobile executives.

Yes.

This is classic Michael where he gets one part right and then the rest wrong.

Yes.

So for anyone who doesn't know, Le Iokoka was best known for developing the Ford Mustang and the Pinto cars.

He worked for Ford, but then he went on to work at Chrysler.

And he was just this huge automobile executive legend.

But here is a fun fact.

Wow.

Lee Iakoka wrote his autobiography with another writer, William Novak.

Holy Christ!

Father.

Yeah.

Wait.

Yeah.

Wait.

Yep.

Wait.

B.J.

Novak's dad.

Yep.

Was the ghostwriter for Lee Iokoka's autobiography?

Yeah.

Am I getting this right?

You are.

B.J.

Novak's father, William Novak, was a ghostwriter, but he was also a writer.

Yeah.

And

he

wrote this book with Lee Iokoka.

I don't want to tell B.J.'s stories for BJ, but I just want everyone to know that his childhood was fascinating and he had just legendary people who worked with his father who then BJ had like moments with.

As a child.

As a child.

But here's the thing.

What's so cool about BJ's stories is that he's a kid meeting legends of different industries.

And it just makes me think about the time that my husband Lee was making a movie with Billy Joe Armstrong from Green Day.

And Billy Joe would come over to our house and rehearse with Lee for this movie.

And

my son, who was a big Green Day fan and who is a drummer himself, like hang out with Billy Joe Armstrong.

And Billy Joe would like show him riffs on the drums and stuff like that.

But to my son, he was just like this cool guy named Billy who was coming over.

But one day, like when he's older, I'm going to be like, do you know who was was in our house teaching you that whole thing on the hi-hat?

Like, did that was,

do you know who like tuned your bass drum for you that one time?

That was Billy Armstrong.

Yeah, it's going to be so cool.

Jenna, I am there, but I'm there with the office because my kids now love the office.

They love it.

And they want to watch every episode with me.

They'll say, you know, what episode are you guys doing for office ladies this week?

Can we watch with you?

And half the time they've seen the episode and it's their second or third viewing of it.

And Isabel, there's a photo in our kitchen, Jenna.

You know how I have that?

I have like a big bulletin board with a bunch of photos on it.

And I have a photo of you and I and Isabel on a swing set and I'm holding her and it's from Company Picnic.

Yeah.

She had come to see that day at lunch, right?

Yeah.

So the other morning, Isabel was like, mom,

that's company picnic.

I was on set for company picnic.

I was like, baby, you were on set every week.

I just don't have a picture every time.

And she was like, oh my gosh.

But it's, it's that moment.

It's all becoming really real for her.

Yeah.

Well, that was BJ's life.

He had, you know, all these crazy people, but he was just like, oh, you know, my dad's friend Lee came over to write a book about cars.

Lee Iacoka.

Just Lee Iacoca.

Crazy.

Not a biggie.

Nice guy.

Nice fella.

Well, lady, we did have a great callback to a character in this scene while they're in the house.

We see Dan Gore, who is the regional manager for the Buffalo Branch.

Yep.

Dwight calls him an idiot for not knowing Battlestar Galactica.

So I thought that was a nice little callback to season two.

And up next, we are going to get into a pretty rowdy drinking game over at Poor Richards.

Before we do that, we're going to take a little break.

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All right, guys, we are back and we are about to start a drinking game called.

Let me just say, we had a number of fan questions about what it's called.

Tracy Williams, Alex Taylor, Nicole Sabino, Bethany Devish, and Samantha Skelly all said,

Number one, is the drinking game everyone plays at Poor Richards a real game?

Number two, is it called Up Chickens or Up Jenkins?

And number three, where did the writers get the idea from?

First of all, yes, this is a real game.

It is called Up Jenkins, Down Jenkins.

And I will tell you how Paul found out about it.

So Paul's brother Warren went to Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.

And I was in New York with him.

And we were hanging out with his friends from college, Martin and Nellie.

This is a game they played in college.

We played it all night at a little dive bar in Manhattan.

Paul knew about this game from Warren and he incorporated it into the script.

Okay, so how exactly do you play?

Okay, now

according to Warren, Martin and Nelly from Kenyon College, this is how you play it.

There are two teams on opposing sides of a table.

You grab a quarter and you pass it underneath as slyly as possible, right?

You're passing the quarter under the table to your teammates.

And at any time, the opposing team on the other side of the table can say, one, two, three, up, Jenkins.

And at that point, every single person has to put their elbows on the table and clench their hands into fists to hide whoever has the quarter, right?

Okay.

And then the opposing team says, one, two, three, down, Jenkins.

And at that point, you slam your hands down to the table, everyone at the same time.

You try to do it at the same time to mask the sound of that quarter hitting the table.

Then the opposing team goes down the line and touches every single hand they think doesn't have it, leaving the hand that does have it.

Now, okay,

do we know why it's called up Jenkins, down Jenkins?

Did someone named Jenkins invent it?

We don't know why, and when I looked it up on the internet, a few things came up.

First of all, Jenkins is a very Welsh name, and apparently, there is a version of this in Wales, and it's called Tippet.

Oh,

I don't know.

It is also played in Iraq, and it's called Mhibs, if I'm saying that correctly.

Apparently, it's been documented that a version of this game was played by the Native Americans, and it was called Hand Game.

And it's played throughout America.

There's several different names.

It has been referred to as UP Chickens in Midwestern states, or sometimes it's just called Jenkins.

Well, there you have it, folks.

I'm sure there's more information out there about Up Jenkins, Down Jenkins.

And if you guys have any, let us know.

Jenna, do you remember on set me teaching everyone how to play?

Yes, I do.

I do.

You gave a little tutorial.

And I was so bummed that once again, Angela Martin does not participate.

I know.

You are our teacher, but you are not a participant.

No.

Well, in the episode, Pam is the one who ends up having the quarter under her hand and Roy is doing the guessing.

And he kind of looks at her and he's like, you know, not here to Stanley, revealing that Pam has it.

And then he says, like, oh, I can just read you like a book.

You can't keep anything from me.

Oh, and Pam's like, oh, but I can.

And I did.

She just feels, I think, super guilty.

She's on this track in this episode where she's trying to be more assertive.

Remember, she went up to the bar and the bartender gave her the wrong drinks.

Yeah.

And she mustered up the courage to say, I'm sorry, one of these is supposed to be a light.

And I really do think she meant it.

And we'll get there when she's like, you know, I want us to have a real chance.

And she sees Roy trying and she wants to try.

And if this is going to work, then she wants all the cards on the table.

Yeah.

And part of this sort of being empowered to speak her mind is all just part of that.

Well, now there's this little runner that happens at the bar that I love.

It's so small, but it's these moments that just make the show for me where all of these kids walk in and they are

introducing themselves to Creed.

He says, hi.

He knows every single one of them.

All of them.

And then he's just got this quick little talking head where he's like, oh, yeah, I run a small fake ID company out of my car using a laminating machine that I swiped from the sheriff's station.

That's it.

That's it.

That's how I know them.

Why was I at the sheriff's station?

How long have I been doing this business?

It's clearly illegal.

Well, listen, should we go back to David Wallace's house, lady?

Oh, yeah, because things are going off the rails.

Oh, my God.

It's amazing.

Well, Karen is continuing her prank on Jim, and

they've had a conversation with a couple and she's like, oh my gosh, did you see the way that woman was just staring daggers at me?

I think it's because I dated her husband for a while while they were separated.

Yeah.

So she's keeping her joke going.

Yeah.

Dwight is still inspecting the house.

He's testing the smoke detector, the banister.

I have to tell you, Dwight in this episode really reminds me a lot of a friend of mine who was a contractor.

He was a comedian and also a contractor, which is a very funny combination.

His name is Pete Holney.

He's been in a ton of movies and things.

He's very funny.

But he would walk through my house and he would like bang on a wall and he'd be like, yeah, this can go.

He'd like, what?

He'd thump a pillar.

He'd be like, you can lose this.

He'd like at something else.

He's like, yeah, you don't need that.

I'm like, Pete, what is left of my house?

Well, this reminds me a little bit of my dad because my dad is a builder, you know, and not professionally.

He's an engineer, but he builds now displays for the children's museum in St.

Louis, this place called the Magic House.

No, your dad is amazingly talented.

He's amazingly talented.

And by the way, can I say something about my dad that's sort of amazing?

So my sister is a school teacher.

And with the pandemic, their school opened.

So they are doing in-person learning.

And in order to make the space safer for the kids, especially the real little ones who have a hard time keeping their masks on, like the preschool age, my dad built 30 plexiglass screens for the preschool classes so that they could separate all the kids by these little

amazing screens he just did that in his free time and delivered them all up to the school he's amazing that is amazing i know my sister janet listens to our podcast and her and the other teachers made little screens using legos and plexiglass they could have used your dad he was so excited he had a whole template for it He had a whole little like assembly line he created.

But I could kind of see my dad, like my dad, because, you know, later in the episode, Dwight's like, this was a great party.

He had a fantastic time.

Like, I think my dad's favorite time at a party would be if he could walk around and just like structurally examine a home.

Yeah.

He doesn't need small talk.

He just needs a crawl space and a flashlight.

Yeah.

And he might fix something that if you've got like a wonky doorknob, that'll be fixed when he leaves.

Oh, I love that.

Well, Michael is very impressed by the vanilla candles.

What a weird like foreshadow, right?

For Jan's candle business.

I know.

He really, he really wants David Wallace to go to sandals with him.

He's like, you would not believe how low this lady can go in the limbo.

Jan is horrified.

She's like, Excuse us.

And she pulls him into the bathroom.

And then she starts

just

attacking him.

Attacking him.

Like, she's like, throw me up against the wall right here.

Take me right here.

And he's like, Jan, why do you stop getting undressed?

This is inappropriate.

And she goes, oh, I'm inappropriate?

Get out of my way.

She's, I mean, the woman is unhinged.

It's so incredible because

it really, it's like she's some sort of like a masochist or something, right?

Like she just, there's something in the humiliation that turns her on.

Listen, she said this could go two ways.

One is where she collapses into herself like a dying star.

It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

She is just

going to do that.

Well, now we come up on one of my favorite scenes at the party.

Is it Dwight winning the rocking chair?

Yes.

We had a fan question from Megan Lucerney who said, I read that David Wallace's son is played by Greg Daniels' son, Owen Daniels.

That is correct.

That is true.

It was so fun to have him on set.

And, you know, it's just, it's so amazing now, Jenna, to see these kids as they're older.

Talk about feeling old.

Oh my gosh.

Owen's like

he's like a young man now, you know?

It's crazy.

I know, I know.

The scene is just so good.

And we had a fan catch from Nora A., Elijah Brown, and Ashley Dodd who said this.

In this episode, when Dwight is in David Wallace's son's room and he's sitting in the rocking chair, he asks the kid where it's from and says he wants one.

In the final season, we can clearly see that Dwight got the same rocking chair.

Get out!

They must have saved it and put it at Shroot Farms.

That's such a great tiny detail to catch.

I am very impressed.

I love that.

That's amazing.

Well, then David Wallace asks Jim if he wants to go shoot hoops out back.

Well, while they're playing basketball, they hear like a clamoring noise and they look up and there's Dwight on the flipping roof.

and he's like busted up part of the chimney.

Yes, we got mail about this, Angela.

Stephanie T, Phoebe B, Violet F, Abby M, and Iris Bell all rode in to say, is Rain really climbing on the roof when Dwight is inspecting the chimney?

How did Rain get on the roof?

Because in previous podcasts, you mentioned that you guys had to ride a crane to get on the roof.

So how did this work?

Oh, good question.

I didn't even think about that, but it looks like he's really up there.

He's really up there, but the chimney is fake.

Oh.

Here is what Kentipedia told me.

They had to build a chimney and rig it onto the roof of the house because

where those guys were playing basketball, if you looked up at the roof, there was no chimney there.

So that is a fake chimney.

Rain had to climb onto the roof using a ladder.

He was assisted by a stunt coordinator.

And after he got on the roof, the stunt coordinator attached a little safety line to Rain's waist, fed it through his pant leg so that in the event that he slipped, he wouldn't fall off the roof.

So they had him like sort of like chained to the roof.

He wouldn't fall off the roof, but he would get a horrendous wedgie.

Yes.

Yes.

He'd get a wedgie to end all wedgies.

I cannot believe they built a fake chimney.

Wow.

That is so wild.

Well, and then back inside the party, Angela, is a little couplet that I just love.

And so did a lot of other people.

I bet it happens at 16 minutes, 41 seconds.

Is it,

hi, Jan, not too good?

Hey, Jan, not too good.

Yeah.

Well, Alana Winkle, Rose Dowell, Julia Tyson, and Hannah Hawk all wrote in.

saying it was one of their favorite moments.

And they love how there's this runner of Jan not responding correctly to the greeting that someone has given her.

Yes, because we saw this in the initiation when Pam says hi and Jan goes, I'm great.

Yes, exactly.

Amazing.

Well, Jenna, I love that couplet of dialogue, but I also loved Michael's talking head.

I thought Paul, as the writer, knocked this out of the park because this is really how people talk, how they process information michael is saying

wow you know she really likes my potato salad and i i just bought it at the store i i i wish i could make a potato salad like that i mean i guess it's really simple it's potatoes and mayonnaise there is something very wrong with jan

like

Why does this pivot?

But I feel like that's real life.

I feel like that's how you, you're talking about something like, oh yeah, there was such a, you know, a lovely breeze out today.

And I don't think we can be married anymore.

You're like, what?

Well, let me tell you, I was completely distracted during this talking head, Angela.

Behind Steve's shoulder,

sitting at what looks like a vanity.

Yeah.

Did you see?

It looks like it is a woman

with

really, really, really long blonde hair

or something.

It looks like something out of like the ring.

Remember that horror movie, The Ring?

Yeah, wait, but with like blonde hair coming over her face, or it's the back of her head.

I was like, what?

Who is, oh, is that a person?

Is it a wig on a stand?

What is the hairy object?

over his shoulder and I could never figure it out.

No, I didn't catch it at all.

I think I was so like riveted on Steve, but now I need to see it.

Well, remember when we couldn't figure out what the weird fluffy thing was by Phyllis's desk and we figured out that it was a feather duster?

Thanks to Cody, Cody knew immediately.

Well, I don't know if we need to get Cody on this, but what is over Michael's shoulder during this talking head?

Okay, someone tell me.

It's around 16 minutes, 50 seconds, if anyone knows.

Cody, we're going to move on, but could you take a look at it

and weigh in?

16 minutes, 50 seconds.

Well, while she's doing that, I feel like we should go back to Poor Richards, Angela, because some shiitake is about to go down.

So much shiitake and so quickly out of nowhere.

Yeah.

Shall we talk about it?

Yeah, I mean, Pam and Roy are at the bar.

Looks like it's been a pretty successful night.

It definitely seems like Roy has had a few cocktails.

He seems a little tipsy.

And Pam says she wants to make a fresh start with him.

No secrets.

He says, me too.

And then

she says, a month before their wedding at the casino night,

her and Jim kissed.

She says, I kissed Jim.

And she said he had, you know,

told her his feelings.

And then Roy's like, wait, Jim came on to you?

And she's like, listen.

And he's like, I am listening.

That's the problem.

And he just goes from zero to 60.

He throws a beer bottle or something at that mirror and it shatters.

Yes.

Yes.

Well, I asked Kent about that because

I remember that moment and I remember something happened there that wasn't supposed to happen.

I was like, Kent, was that mirror meant to break?

Because when I was watching the scene, I was like, what was the mishap with that mirror?

So he said the glass mirror was a prop sign.

It was rigged with safety glass.

And Roy was meant to hit it with his beer bottle.

And that all the bottles that Roy and Kenny are throwing are all made of candy glass.

But he checked the production report and guess what it said?

What'd it say?

He said.

That in one of the takes, I got hit in the face with some of the candy glass when it like sprayed off of the mirror.

So that was my memory.

I was like, something happened with that mirror.

But he said, uh, the production report said that I was fine and able to finish the day.

So, there you go.

I kind of do remember like a little bit of a hullabaloo because some stuff flew in your face that kind of jogged my memory.

Well, and then, I mean,

Pam is like, this is over.

And he's like, It is over, you know, and he just starts wailing stuff at the wall.

And out of nowhere, I mean, where the hell has Kitty been?

He just shows up and starts breaking shit.

Yeah.

Well, also, I don't know if you noticed at 18 minutes, 51 seconds, there is someone else in this scene, and a number of people wrote in pointing it out.

Kevin.

Yes.

Kevin.

And does he have his hands like clenched in little fists like he's ready to go just in case?

Yes.

Kimberly Willis, Heather R., Shannon R., Corey Haley, and Lauren Greenlee all said that when Roy starts the fight at the bar and he's yelling and throwing the glass in the lower left corner of the screen, you can see Kevin standing there, fists clenched, ready to defend Pam if Roy comes at her.

It was such a sweet moment during a tough scene.

Was this scripted?

No,

it was not in the script.

Brian just improvised that, huh?

I guess so.

I think he did.

It was a really great choice.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, he's told Jim before he's got his back, but let's hope it doesn't come to that.

So that's, that's, I think, Kevin being there for Pam and Brian just, that was part of his story that he had written for his character.

Well, then we also got a really touching letter, Angela, from Paola Marquez, who says, I am grateful for that scene with Roy going violent at poor Richards and Pam's reaction to it.

Many girls, me included, still still believe that their partner's violent reactions are their own fault and that they must apologize for whatever triggered them that way.

The first time I watched this episode and I saw Pam walking away from Roy, stating that they were over was very remarkable for me.

But it didn't make much sense to me.

At first, I still thought that she had to calm him down, maybe apologize and work on their relationship.

But after a while, I realized that it wasn't her responsibility and she was so right to stand up for herself and walk away from him.

And Ange, I just want to say that it really means so much to me

when

women, young women especially,

find strength through Pam's story

on this show.

And I feel like it is a way

that her story is impactful and it's just really meaningful to me

in being the person who got to play Pam.

I love that, and I'm so glad that that scene was able to resonate with her.

Well, Jenna, I don't know if you caught it, but there is a song playing under the whole scene while Pam and Roy are talking, and then it kind of crescendos as Roy and Kenny start smashing things.

Yes.

It is Carry On My Wayward Son by Kansas, which I thought was an interesting choice.

Yes.

Right?

Well,

the party has also ended over at David Wallace's, and Michael and Jan are driving home.

And, oh, this car ride.

Ooh.

This is maybe one of my favorite scenes that I didn't know was a favorite scene until I watched it for this rewatch.

I just can't get enough of Michael and Jan.

They're such a hot mess and they're so fun to watch.

And Melora is so good.

You know, Jan is like, I feel sick.

I just feel sick.

And he's like, you didn't eat the potato salad, did you?

You can't let that go.

She's like, no, I just think it was a mistake to take our relationship public.

It was so much more exciting when it was a secret.

Michael is so hurt.

Michael's like, I want it all, Jan.

I want the house and the kids and the picket fences and the catch-up bites and the tickling and the giggling.

I know.

And then this is when Malora's performance is one of my favorite things.

She's like, you know what?

I didn't mean it.

I didn't mean it.

I'm just tired.

I didn't mean it, Michael.

She's so good.

She's so good.

She's so good.

And then, of course,

out of nowhere, Dwight's like, you guys, don't break up.

You're so good together.

I

did not remember that he was going to pop up at the end of that scene.

It was great.

And you know what?

They don't break up.

Michael frames his love contract.

That's in a deleted scene you don't see.

You know,

he thinks of it as a love contract.

He really does.

And he frames it.

He's so proud of it.

It's just a letter to H.R.

That's all it is.

Well, the episode ends with a pretty big cliffhanger.

Yeah.

And we don't do a ton of cliffhangers on this show, but this is one.

Roy is sitting outside in the parking lot of poor Richards.

Kenny comes out.

He explains that he paid off the bar with the jet ski money so they won't call the cops.

And then Roy says,

I'm going to kill Jim Halpert.

Oh.

My God.

Oh, my God.

Yeah.

This is kind of big for our show because we never have a button like this.

No,

no.

And we'll get to it next week, but boy,

how we open next week.

Yeah.

Well, we had a fan catch here in this little scene in the parking lot.

Max Better Wiselberg said, we see a car parked outside of Port Richards with the license plate CHT 8635.

We have seen this license plate elsewhere, but it's always associated with Meredith's van.

And Creed's Cadillac has this same license plate in the episode Gossip.

What is the story with this license plate?

Oh, what a good catch.

You guys are so good.

Clearly, it's a license plate we had cleared and we just kept putting it on different cars.

Am I right?

Yes.

They had a few of these Pennsylvania license plates.

And, you know, if we had a scene where a couple characters had to be walking down the street, we would park a couple of cars and just slap these approved license plates on them.

And there weren't a ton of them.

And so they just went on whatever car was visible.

And they were not counting on Max Better to keep track.

They were not, but he did.

Well, guys, that was Cocktails.

We will be back next week with the negotiation and special guest, David Denman.

Oh, David Denman's going to be there.

Angela Martin might be titillated.

Oh, she is.

She is.

But, guys, before we go, Cody is weighing in on that background catch at 16 minutes, 50 seconds, and she says it literally looks like a person with a yellow blanket over them.

It is so weird.

Wait, can I see it, Cody?

Can you show it to us?

What is that?

That's so weird.

Right?

It's super creepy creep.

David Wallace's house is haunted.

All right.

That is the biggest takeaway from today's episode, everyone.

But listen, we'll put it all up on Office Ladies pod.

You can decide who this creeper is in the background of Michael's talking head.

All right, you guys, we hope you have a great week and we'll see you next week.

Love you.

Bye.

Love ya.

Thank you for listening to Office Ladies.

Office Ladies is produced by Earwolf, Jenna Fisher, and Angela Kinsey.

Our producer is Cody Fisher.

Our sound engineer is Sam Kiefer.

And our associate producer is Ainsley Bubico.

Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.

For ad-free versions of Office Ladies, go to stitcherpremium.com.

For a free one-month trial of Stitcher Premium, use code Office.

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