Company Picnic

"Company Picnic"

"Company Picnic" is the twenty-sixth episode and the season finale for the fifth season of the television series The Office. The episode aired in the United States on May 14, 2009, on NBC at 9 PM EDT. The episode was the show's 100th overall episode.

Synopsis

Michael and Holly are reunited at the annual Dunder Mifflin picnic for the first time since she transferred to Nashua. Holly is still with her boyfriend A.J. (Rob Huebel), who arrives with her. CFO David Wallace asks Michael and Holly to do a presentation about the history of Dunder Mifflin, and the two spend time in the woods to come up with ideas. Jim and Pam run into Charles Miner for the first time since he left Scranton, and Charles is still short with Jim. Dwight brings his new best friend whom he had met in a shoe store, Rolph (guest star James Urbaniak), who makes constant insults to Angela before being stopped by Dwight, much to her delight. The Scranton branch competes in the picnic's volleyball tournament, facing off the other branches of Dunder Mifflin. They end up not doing well at first, until Pam reveals herself to be a very talented volleyball player. With her help, they reach the final round where they face the corporate branch.

Michael and Holly perform a skit that parodies Slumdog Millionaire (called Slum-Dunder Mifflinaire), presenting Dunder Mifflin trivia in the form of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, as well as acting out torture scenes featured in the film. Nobody finds their presentation amusing, but things take a turn for the worse when they reveal that the Buffalo branch of Dunder-Mifflin will be closing in the near future due to the economy. The Buffalo branch was unaware of this so David reluctantly reveals it to be true. David then berates Michael for revealing this as he had told Michael in confidence, though Michael thought they already knew about it. Michael and Holly talk about next year's presentation and she leaves with A.J. Michael had wanted to talk to Holly about their relationship, but did not find the right time, commenting that it could be a while before finding each other again and that they will eventually do so.

The Scranton branch faces off against the corporate branch, commenting they deserve to lose for deciding to close down Buffalo. The game is close, and Pam ends up injuring her ankle, although she wants to continue. Seeing an opportunity to remove Scranton's best player from the game, David and Charles insist that Pam take a seat on the grounds of her injury being a company liability. Determined to beat corporate, and specifically Charles, Jim takes Pam to a local hospital to have it looked at, while Dwight stalls the game to give them time to get back. When the doctor calls Jim into the room for an update, the doctor informs Jim and Pam of some news that causes them to be ecstatic. The news is not heard by the camera crew, but Jim then calls Dwight to send in the substitute players, suggesting that the happy news is a reason to keep Pam from playing volleyball, hinting that Pam is pregnant.

Production

Actor Ed Helms said of the episode, "What the writers did is really fun and creative. It doesn't boil down to passive aggressive little picnic games with a vengeance. There's a lot more going on than that."

The end sequence at the hospital was filmed using the set from Scrubs, an ABC series which recently wrapped its final season.

Notes

• The last scene when Pam and Jim receive news from the doctor seems to be a homage to a scene in the UK Office's series finale, where Tim confesses his love for Dawn, but takes out his microphone before doing so.
• When Pam reveals herself to be a great volleyball player, she says that she played volleyball in junior high, senior high, college, and went to volleyball camps most summers. However, in the episode "Job Fair" she says that her high school gym brings back memories of her faking PMS to get out of basketball and volleyball.