"Dunder Mifflin Infinity" is the third and fourth episode of the fourth season of the American

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term ori ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed ...

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series of ...

'', and the show's fifty-sixth and fifty-seventh episode overall. The episode was written by

Michael Schur Michael Herbert Schur (born 1975) is an American television producer, writer, director and actor. He was a producer and writer for the comedy series '' The Office'', and co-created ''Parks and Recreation'' with ''Office'' producer Greg Daniels. ...

, who also acts in the show, and directed by

Craig Zisk Craig Zisk is an American director and producer. Biography Zisk grew up in Dallas, where he graduated from the St. Mark's School of Texas. His family was Jewish. After graduating from the University of Southern California, Zisk directed his ...

. It first aired in the United States on October 4, 2007, on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

. In this episode,

Ryan Howard Ryan James Howard (born November 19, 1979), nicknamed "the Big Piece", is an American former professional baseball first baseman. Howard spent his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career playing for the Philadelphia Phillies, from to . He ...

(

B. J. Novak Benjamin Joseph Manaly Novak (born July 31, 1979) is an American actor, director and screenwriter. He has received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Novak became known for starring as Ryan Howard in t ...

) returns to his old office and reveals his plan to bring technology to

Dunder Mifflin Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, Inc. is a fictional paper and office supplies wholesale company featured in the American television series '' The Office''. It is analogous to Wernham Hogg in the British original of the series, and Papiers Jenning ...

. Michael Scott (

Steve Carell Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He played Michael Scott in '' The Office'' (2005–2011; 2013), NBC’s adaptation of the British series created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, where C ...

) and

Dwight Schrute Dwight Kurt Schrute III () is a fictional character on ''The Office (American TV series), The Office (U.S.)'' and is portrayed by American actor Rainn Wilson, Rainn Wilson. Dwight's character was a salesman and the assistant to the regional mana ...

(

Rainn Wilson Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, and writer. He is best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom '' The Office'', for which he earned three consecutive E ...

) try to prove that the personal touch is better than technology. Meanwhile,

Jim Halpert James "Jim" Duncan Halpert is a fictional character in the U.S. version of the television sitcom '' The Office'', portrayed by John Krasinski. He is introduced as a sales representative at the Scranton branch of paper distribution company Dunde ...

(

John Krasinski John Burke Krasinski (; born October 20, 1979) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his role as Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom '' The Office''. He also served as a producer and occasional director of the series throughout its ni ...

) and

Pam Beesly Pamela Morgan Halpert ( née Beesly) is a fictional character on the U.S. television sitcom '' The Office'', played by Jenna Fischer. Her counterpart in the original UK series of '' The Office'' is Dawn Tinsley. Pam begins the series as the rece ...

(

Jenna Fischer Regina Marie "Jenna" Fischer (born March 7, 1974) is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Pam Beesly on the NBC sitcom '' The Office'' (2005–2013), for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Sup ...

) reveal their relationship to the rest of the office,

Kelly Kapoor Kelly Rajanigandha Kapoor is a fictional character from the American television series '' The Office'', portrayed by Mindy Kaling. She is the customer service representative at the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin from seasons 1 to 8. Followin ...

(

Mindy Kaling Vera Mindy Chokalingam (born June 24, 1979),Additional archive on June 25, 2015. known professionally as Mindy Kaling (), is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter and producer. She first gained recognition starring as Kelly Kapoor in the ...

) attempts to reunite with Ryan, and Dwight and

Angela Martin Angela Noelle Schrute (née Martin; formerly Lipton) is a fictional character in the U.S. version of the television sitcom '' The Office,'' portrayed by actress Angela Kinsey. The character is based on Sheila from the original version of ''The ...

's (

Angela Kinsey Angela Faye Kinsey (born June 25, 1971) is an American actress. She played Angela Martin in the sitcom '' The Office'' (2005–2013) and appeared in the sitcoms ''Your Family or Mine'' (2015) and '' Haters Back Off'' (2016–2017). Since ''The ...

) relationship continues to plummet.

Plot

(

) returns to the

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...

branch of

for the first time since his promotion to the corporate headquarters. Although he sports a much more urbane look and attitude, he garners little respect from his former peers. Ryan introduces "Dunder Mifflin Infinity," his initiative to revitalize the company with new technology. Michael Scott (

) is initially excited about the prospect of getting a

BlackBerry The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy of ...

, but is warned by

Creed Bratton Creed Bratton (born William Charles Schneider, February 8, 1943) is an American actor, singer and musician. A former member of the rock band the Grass Roots, he is best known for playing a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom ''T ...

(

) that the program is a ploy to get rid of older workers. Creed dyes his hair black with printer ink in an attempt to convince everyone that he is much younger. Michael holds a conference room meeting on the subject of

ageism Ageism, also spelled agism, is discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their age. The term was coined in 1969 by Robert Neil Butler to describe discrimination against seniors, and patterned on sexism and racism. Butler de ...

. To show that personal interaction is more effective than new technology, Michael and

(

) decide to go out and win back the clients they lost in the past year with gift baskets. Each manager they encounter refuses to consider returning to Dunder Mifflin unless the company improves its technology, such as Dunder Mifflin's website. While driving back to the office, Michael pretends to misinterpret his rental car's

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

directions and intentionally drives into

Lake Scranton Lake Scranton is an American reservoir that is located in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, It has a running track which surrounds it. It is owned by the Pennsylvania American Water Company, which supplies the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania w ...

. He uses 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. Meanwhile,

(

) and

(

) are exposed as a couple when

Toby Flenderson '' The Office'' is an American television series based on the British television comedy of the same name. The format of the series is a parody of the fly on the wall documentary technique that intersperses traditional situation comedy segments w ...

(

Paul Lieberstein Paul Bevan Lieberstein (born February 22, 1967) is an American actor, screenwriter, television director and television producer. A Primetime Emmy Award winner, he is best known as writer, as executive producer, and as supporting cast member Tob ...

) circulates a memo about public displays of affection. Jim secretly informs Pam that Dwight and

(

) 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, named Garbage. Angela rejects the gift.

(

) tries to restart her relationship with Ryan, an effort he ignores until she tells him she is pregnant. After going out to dinner, Ryan learns that Kelly's pregnancy claim was a lie that Kelly used in attempt to get them back together. 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 is dating Jim, which leaves the new boss thoroughly embarrassed.

Production

The episode was the first episode of the series directed by

. Zisk had previously directed episodes of ''

Nip/Tuck ''Nip/Tuck'' is an American medical drama television series created by Ryan Murphy that aired on FX in the United States from July 22, 2003, to March 3, 2010. The series, which also incorporates elements of crime drama, black comedy, family dra ...

'', '' Weeds'', ''

Scrubs Scrub(s) may refer to: * Scrub, low shrub and grass characteristic of scrubland * Scrubs (clothing), worn by medical staff * ''Scrubs'' (TV series), an American television program * Scrubs (occupation), also called "scrub tech," "scrub nurse," o ...

'', ''

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar/ ...

'', and ''

The Single Guy ''The Single Guy'' is an American sitcom television series that ran for two seasons on NBC, from September 21, 1995, to April 14, 1997. It starred Jonathan Silverman as struggling New York City writer Jonathan Eliot and followed several of his c ...

''. "Dunder Mifflin Infinity" was written by

, who plays Dwight's

Amish The Amish (; pdc, Amisch; german: link=no, Amische), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churches ...

cousin

Mose Mose, Mosè, or Mosé is a given name which may refer to: People In religion * Mose Durst, former president of the Unification Church of the United States * Mosé Higuera, Colombian Catholic bishop * Mosè Tovini, Italian Roman Catholic priest In ...

. For Ryan's new appearance this season, the writers originally had B. J. Novak grow a

goatee A goatee is a style of facial hair incorporating hair on one's chin but not the cheeks. The exact nature of the style has varied according to time and culture. Description Until the late 20th century, the term ''goatee'' was used to refer sol ...

Show runner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also the ...

and

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights ...

Greg Daniels Gregory Martin Daniels (born June 13, 1963) is an American screenwriter, television producer, and director. He has worked on several television series, including writing for ''Saturday Night Live'' and ''The Simpsons'', adapting '' The Office'' ...

decided to have Novak lose the goatee, because according to Novak "a goatee would make Ryan a flat-out chump. And we wanted it to be more subtle." In addition to his five o'clock shadow, Ryan was also seen wearing black clothes. Novak explained that "We wanted him to dress as obnoxious as possible. As much black as possible." "Dunder Mifflin Infinity" went along with a website that had been created with the same name. The website was part of a game in which fans of ''The Office'' would sign up, and become "employees" of different "branches". Members of the site would perform tasks such as design a logo for the company or make Creed look young again.

Reception

"Dunder Mifflin Infinity" received 4.5/11 in the ages 18–49 demographic in the

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

. This means that 4.5 percent of all households with an 18- to 49-year-old living in it watched the episode, and eleven percent had their televisions tuned to the channel at any point. The episode was watched by 8.49 million viewers. "Dunder Mifflin Infinity" received mixed reviews from critics, with Michael driving his car into the lake being particularly panned by critics and viewers. ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cult ...

s Christine Fenno commented that she thought "Michael seemed a bit more focused than usual, even competent at moments. And then he drove into a lake." Jack Rodgers, from ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program TV listings, listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine, TV Guide Mag ...

'' said that his "favorite thing about this episode was the sly parallel that connects the three love stories" and "Michael’s obsession with sticking to his old methods rather than learning to change and embrace technology". Will Leitch of ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'' criticized the episode, saying that Michael driving into the lake felt more like the actions of a "cartoon character", than "based in reality". Leitch did say that if "we can get Michael out of that lake and back in a conference room with Ryan, we'll have something."

References

External links

"Dunder Mifflin Infinity"
at NBC.com * * {{good article The Office (American season 4) episodes 2007 American television episodes Television episodes written by Michael Schur The Office (American TV series) episodes in multiple parts