Employee Transfer

"Employee Transfer"

"Employee Transfer" is the fifth episode of the fifth season of the television series The Office, and the show's seventieth episode overall. The episode aired in the United States on October 30, 2008 on NBC.

Synopsis

Pam (Jenna Fischer) is embarrassed when she is the only person at corporate wearing a costume on Halloween. Pam's intended costume is Charlie Chaplin, since her mustache was applied with grease paint, she shows annoyance that she cannot remove her hat, since she then resembles Adolf Hitler. In Scranton, Stanley (Leslie David Baker) wears a Creature from the Black Lagoon mask in order to sleep at work and not get caught while Creed (Creed Bratton), Kevin (Brian Baumgartner) and Dwight (Rainn Wilson) dress up as Heath Ledger's version of the Joker from The Dark Knight, with Creed having the most impressive costume. Kelly (Mindy Kaling) dresses up as Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City, and Ryan (B. J. Novak) tries to woo her. Ryan dresses as Gordon Gekko from the film Wall Street, which Kelly associates with the GEICO gecko. Oscar (Oscar Nuñez) dresses up like Uncle Sam, Meredith (Kate Flannery) is a cheerleader, Phyllis (Phyllis Smith) is Raggedy Ann, and Andy (Ed Helms) is a cat from the Broadway show Cats. Angela (Angela Kinsey) is in the same kitten outfit as she was in "Halloween". Jim's (John Krasinski) outfit is minimalist as usual, dressing up as a guy named "Dave" (a costume consisting of his normal attire, with a name tag).

Holly (Amy Ryan) has been transferred back to her old branch in Nashua, New Hampshire after CFO David Wallace discovered her relationship with Michael (Steve Carell). Michael and Darryl (Craig Robinson) help her move using Darryl's truck. Michael and Holly want to continue their relationship, but as they get closer to Nashua, Holly starts to come to the realization that their relationship is not going to work with the long distance, citing the seven hour drive. Michael continuously begs her to keep their relationship alive as he fears he will go back to Jan. Michael had originally intended to spend the weekend with Holly before heading back to Scranton, but after they move her stuff into her new house, he changes his mind and decides to head back with Darryl. Michael and Holly share one last embrace before he leaves. In the truck, Darryl tries to console Michael by teaching him to sing the blues, which Michael does not understand but ultimately joins in.

Jim meets Pam in New York for lunch with his brothers, Tom (Blake Robbins) and Pete (Tug Coker). Pam, Tom, and Pete arrive early to discuss a prank Pam wants to play on Jim that involves her engagement ring. Tom and Pete, however, think of playing a prank involving her interest in art, which she agrees to, though she appears to be mildly offended. When Jim arrives, Tom and Pete begin mocking Pam's interest in art, and Jim continuously comes to her defense. When the argument becomes heated, Tom and Pete reveal it was a prank, and Jim and Pam stare awkwardly at each other. Later, when Jim and Pam are walking outside of the restaurant, Pam explains her original idea for the prank, which Jim appreciates much more than his brothers' idea. Moments later, Jim receives a text message from his brother stating his approval of Pam and welcoming her to the family.

Meanwhile, back in Scranton, Dwight comes in wearing a Cornell sweatshirt, which irritates Andy, who thinks Dwight is mocking him. Dwight tries to talk about Cornell with Andy and tells him that he is going to apply there. He further installs a Cornell pennant and a Cornell mascot bobblehead in his area. Unable to take any more of Dwight's mocking, Andy calls the university and is given permission to give Dwight his interview for admission. Andy has no intention of allowing Dwight to pass, but during the interview, Dwight notices inconsistencies with Andy's questions such as asking who was Cornell's 8th president, which Dwight answers correctly as Dale R. Corson, but Andy replies that Cornell's 7th president was James A. Perkins. Then Dwight starts writing down his critique of Andy's interviewing skills, which he tells him he is going to send to the university. Dwight additionally gets to Andy by proclaiming his newfound desire to change his application to the "vastly superior Dartmouth," which becomes the last straw for Andy. After a heated physical struggle with the conference room table, Andy gives up. At the end of the episode, Andy comes into the office in overalls, a farmer's hat, and a basket of beets, saying he is starting his own beet farm, hence trying to be like Dwight. Dwight, however, is quick to point out Andy's knowledge of beets, or lack thereof. Through the day Angela is seen to be annoyed by both Andy and Dwight's antics, but does not speak up against either one.

Cultural references

Creed, Dwight and Kevin all dress in the style of Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker in the 2008 film, The Dark Knight. Actor Creed Bratton said of his costume, "I worked pretty hard to get him down. A lot of people said it was really eerie and kind of uncomfortable."

The song Life is a Highway by Tom Cochrane is featured during the road trip. Jack Bauer Jack Bauer is mentioned in the interview between Dwight and Andy.

Reception

Holly's transfer to Nashua ranked number 4 in phillyBurbs.com's top ten moments from the fifth season of The Office. However, "Employee Transfer" was voted the fourth lowest-rated episode out of 26 from the fifth season, according to an episode poll at the fansite OfficeTally; the episode was rated 7.20 out of 10.