Season 4, Episode 2: “Dunder-Mifflin Infinity”

“Dunder-Mifflin Infinity” is now available on NBC.com! Go watch it here if you missed it (and if you’re in the US).

Warning! Spoilers after the jump if you haven’t seen the episode.

The episode begins with the official “outing” of Jim and Pam’s relationship. Toby sends out an HR memo regarding Dunder-Mifflin’s policy on PDA. After misguided overreactions from both Michael and Angela, Toby admits that the memo was directed at Jim and Pam. The rest of the office seems to respond positively, especially Andy: “Jim Halpert is off the market. Guess who just became the best-looking single guy in the office.” Dwight, on the other hand, thinks “they could both do better”. Pam and Jim offer to sign a relationship waiver, but Toby, who is clearly not thrilled about this development, tells them to “wait and see what happens”.

Angela and Dwight have hit a rough patch over her cat, Sprinkles. Dwight brings in a replacement–a feral barn cat named Garbage–but Angela refuses to forgive him. Meanwhile, the Party Planning Committee sets up for Ryan’s first visit to Scranton as Michael’s new boss, which starts off on a bad note when Ryan snaps at Michael for his inappropriate jokes. He then launches into a presentation describing the new business plan for Dunder-Mifflin, which centers on a technological update and a website called “Dunder-Mifflin Infinity”.

After the presentation, Creed corners Michael in his office to warn Michael that “the kid is the Grim Reaper”–the new business plan, he says, is geared towards the under-40s in the company. “You, me, Sammy, Phyllis, the chick you hit with the car–we’re goners.”

Out in the break room, Jim reveals his big secret to Pam–that Angela and Dwight are together–but is surprised to learn that Pam not only already knows, but knew about it long before he did. “We should have started dating a long time ago,” he observes. Their conversation is interrupted by Phyllis, who does a quick “hand check” before reminding Pam that she still has to assign new clients to sales people randomly, not “based on who [she’s] sleeping with this week”. “And that is why we waited so long to tell people,” says Jim in a perturbed talking-head.

Michael confronts Ryan about the new business plan, seeking reassurance that things will still be “business as usual”. Ryan tells him that no, in fact, Dunder-Mifflin Infinity is intended to be a complete reworking of how the company operates. In a talking-head, Michael seems disillusioned, comparing Ryan to a foreign exchange student who lived with his family when Michael was young: “Ryan is like a fake brother who steals your jeans.”

Ryan and Kelly have a brief confrontation that escalates into Kelly telling Ryan (falsely) that she’s pregnant. He then bumps into Jan on her way into Michael’s office, resulting in another awkward conversation. Over lunch, Jan tells Michael that Ryan is a “snake” and she hopes he gets hit with an ageism suit. After having the concept of ageism explained to him, Michael calls another meeting to defend the rights of the aged, with 87 year old founder Robert Dunder as his guest of honor. Creed, meanwhile, has decided to deal with potential ageism in his own way–by dying his hair black with printer ink and claiming to be 29.

After work, Ryan and Kelly and Angela and Dwight go out to dinner (separately, of course). Angela breaks things off with Dwight, and the next morning we learn that Ryan did the same with Kelly, again, after learning that she was lying about her pregnancy: “We are never getting back together.” (Great moment: Kelly’s forlorn delivery on “Why not?”) Jim and Pam joke about how “the magic is gone” now that their relationship is public.

Michael has developed a new plan for winning back Dunder-Mifflin’s ex-clients in Scranton with “the original instant message”–gift baskets. He and Dwight leave to hand-deliver seven gift baskets around Scranton in Michael’s rental car. Dwight is suspicious of the car’s GPS, which lets “them” know where you are at all times, and is obviously not dealing well with the loss of Angela. The mission is unsuccessful, as the former clients seem more interested in the new website than in the chocolate turtles and jam in the gift baskets.

Back in the office, Kevin and Andy are impressed by Ryan’s new lifestyle. Jim seems underwhelmed. Ryan offers Pam the chance to design the new Dunder-Mifflin Infinity logo. He asks Pam out to dinner to discuss her designs, and is shocked when she tells him that she’s with Jim. (Another great moment: Jim’s wave to Ryan.)

After leaving their sixth unsuccessful delivery, a despondent Michael misinterprets the GPS’s directions and mistakenly steers his car into Lake Scranton. Dwight rescues him from the knee-deep water (”Don’t worry, I’ve been trained for this”). Wet, angry, and on foot, Michael and Dwight return to their previous stop to reclaim the gift basket they left. When they finally make it back to the office, Michael announces that “this office will not be using any new technology ever…Life and business are about human connections. Computers are about trying to murder you in a lake.” The episode ends with Ryan and Michael still at odds over the new technology, and with Ryan’s cold-close confession that he paid $200 his haircut.
More on Dunder-Mifflin Infinity:

Wikipedia article

Episode quotes

Dunder-Mifflin Infinity

I’m Claire, by the way, and I’m another new writer for the site.

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