The Office: “Job Fair” Recap

Posted by Mike, Ryan and johnnysweeptheleg

The last time The Office visited a high school, Andy recognized one of the students as his girlfriend. With that as a precedent, why wouldn’t they go back? This time, Michael is visiting Valley View High School to recruit some new interns. And he’d better be careful — the way things work at Dunder Mifflin, one of them could be his boss next season. He brings along Oscar to talk about accounting, Darryl to hire some warehouse staff, and Pam — a former Valley View student — as the “eye candy.”

Those four aren’t the only ones taking a field trip. Jim, Andy and Kevin are playing golf with a prospective client. After being put on double secret probation by Ryan, Jim has vowed to do something he’s never done before at Dunder Mifflin — try. While Jim was preparing to make a big sale, Andy was getting ready to play golf, by hitting about 1,200 practice balls and leaving himself with some incredibly painful blisters. Kevin’s just happy that there will be gambling involved. “What are we talking: Skins, Acey-Deucy, Bingo Bango Bongo, Sandies, Barkies, Barnies, Wolf — what?”

Back at school, Pam recalls memories of gym class. Pretending to have PMS to get out of playing volleyball, pretending to have PMS to get out of playing basketball — good times. Michael has brought along a single sheet of paper (Dunder Mifflin Ultra White Cardstock, to be exact) to entice potential interns and to signify the endless possibilities that the positions presents. And it works about as well as you’d expect. He does get one interested student named Justin, but he’s not good enough for Michael, who lets him down gently:

“I don’t think that a handsome, funny, smart, funny-looking kid like you should limit yourself. You can do whatever you want to do. You could be a classy janitor or a cashier with dignity or a … migraine worker. Maybe, for you, paper should be more of a hobby.”

Meanwhile, back at work, Dwight is in charge. All it took was for Michael, Jim and Andy to be out of the office. But when you get that far down the chain of command, respect for authority isn’t exactly at an all-time high. Stanley walks out immediately, and the others aren’t far behind. And why not? Creed got his work done months ago. Only Angela sticks around until closing time, and while they barely speak, she and Dwight are at least civil to one another. Maybe there’s still hope for them …

Things aren’t going well on the golf course — for anyone (except maybe Kevin, who’s racking up the dough). Jim hasn’t landed the client and Andy crashes his golf cart during an impromptu race. But, as they say, a bad day on the golf course is better than a good day at a high-school job fair. Michael is so desperate that he even tries to recruit Justin, whom he now has realized is really the “ugly girl in the movie who takes off her glasses and she’s hot.” Justin turns him down despite Michael telling him, as part of the sales pitch, that Pam would “do” him. Michael eventually gets so frustrated that he gets on the microphone to espouse the virtues of the Dunder Mifflin internship — no college credit and no pay. That gets the interest of no one, except for security.

The day ends better for Jim, who — after several attempts — finally closes the big sale. He celebrates back at the office with a beer and a big kiss from Pam — soundtracked by ’70s porn music out of the mouths of Andy and Kevin. Then Michael moves in, as he typically does, to ruin the moment.

Later, we find out that Pam, during her time at the job fair, looked into applying for a position with a graphic design company. She’d need more education though, preferably in New York or Philadelphia. Foreshadowing, perhaps?

johnnysweeptheleg says

Best Quote: “Today, I am headed over to the job fair at Valley View High School to find some new interns. Get some fresh blood. Euthanize this place.” — Michael Scott not attempting to make a Kentucky Derby joke, but instead just misunderstanding what euthanize means.

Best Moment: Was there a bigger laugh than when Andy crashed his golf cart? Shortcut, shortcut!

Employee of the week: Andy. I’ll admit it, I’m not the biggest Andy Bernard fan. I feel like his character could be written out, and the show would be better for it. But this week, Andy was allowed to shine. Well, as brightly as a 25-watt bulb can shine. Between the massive blisters, the cart crash, and his attempts to drink a beer without using his hands, it felt like the Farrelly Brothers came up with Andy’s scenes this week.

Mike says

Best Quote: “Kids are very wary of being lured these days. Thank you, Dateline.” — Michael, frustrated that prospective interns aren’t lining up to talk to him.

Best Moment: Jim kissing Pam to celebrate making a big sale was a nice moment. Michael leaning in and saying, “Yeah, kiss her — kiss her good,” made it an awesome, awkward Office moment.

Employee of the week: Creed, for inspiring us to leave work early today — but not before calling up every single one of our coworkers to inform them that “we’re going to ditch this bitch.”

Ryan says

Best Quote: “Today I did something stupid. I questioned myself, and I’ll never do that again.” — Michael, admiring Jim’s determination in closing the deal

Best Moment: The creepy silent tension between Dwight and Angela, the only two employees who don’t “ditch this bitch” and leave the office.

Employee of the week: Kevin. He turned all that petty cash into next month’s rent payment, just like he said he would.

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