Office Ladies - Second Drink: The Duel

Episode Date: June 1, 2026

This week we’re breaking down The Duel! When Michael tells Andy that Angela and Dwight are having an affair, Andy and Dwight challenge each other to a duel for Angela’s hand! Jenna does a deep dive on duels, Office writer Ryan Koh calls in to share a behind-the-scenes racing accident, and Angela breaks down all the fakey items used to create the duel scene. There’s also talk of a casting sheet filled with cat headshots! And Jenna may have worn something in real life that Meredith wore in this episode… So enjoy The Duel! And remember, always keep an eye out for a Prius slowly trying to crush you. Office Ladies Website - Submit a fan question: https://officeladies.com/submitaquestion  Follow Us on Instagram: OfficeLadiesPod Follow Us on YouTube Follow Us on TikTok To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, everyone, and welcome to your second drink of The Duel. This might be one of my all-time favorite episodes of The Office. I know I say that so often. I also just really happen to like season five. Yeah, it's really solid. Well, there's just so many great moments in the Duel. I love the Andy and Dwight Duel over Angela, but there's also all the scenes with Michael and David Wallace in New York.

I'm very curious to hear what the fan favorite moment of this episode was. Well, we got this letter from Melissa Kay. Melissa says, hi, ladies, absolutely love your show. And one of my absolute favorite scenes from the whole show is at 10 minutes and 53 seconds when Michael is talking about his philosophy to David Wallace and says, don't ever for any reason do anything to anyone for any reason. It goes on and on with this line. I love this line so much, and it completely captures the moment.

When you're asked a question, you don't know the answer to, and you have to make it up as you go. Was all of that improvised or was it fully scripted? Thanks, Melissa. Okay, so Melissa, we talked about this in our breakdown, how Steve improvised a lot of this, but we didn't play it. And I pulled a clip from the superfan version because there is an extra joke at the top and it really cracked us up. Let's hear it. My philosophy is basically this. I like to sell paper for more than I bought the paper for.

That's obviously obvious. But here's the thing, and this is something that I live by. And I always have, and I always will. Don't ever, for any reason, do anything to anyone, for any reason, ever, no matter what, no matter what, where or who or who you are with, or where you are going, or where you've been, ever,

for any reason whatsoever. Sometimes I'll start a sentence, and I don't even know where's going. I just hope I find it along the way. Like an improv conversation, an improvisation. I mean, it's something he lives by and always will. for any reason. For any reason.

So not only was this our fan favorite moment of the episode, we also got a letter that this scene is educational. Listen to this. Angela B. wrote in and said, more of a comment for this episode, I taught English 101 at a university which focused on college writing. Every semester, whenever I did a lesson on needing

to have a purpose for writing, I would show the clip from this episode where Michael starts to answer David Wallace's question and later says that he doesn't always know where his sentences are going to go. It's a great example about how, if you don't know what the point of your argument or statement is, you'll end up with meandering thoughts.

That's so wonderful. Hey, you know what? Just get it down on paper. You'll find it, right? Well, Angela, you might remember that I got really into the subject of dueling when we did this episode. Yes, I was.

I did a little deep dive on the rules of dueling. Well, we got some mail from folks that took my dive even deeper. And I'm going to read two letters that really tickled me. The first is from Laura H who said, Hi, I really enjoyed the dual podcast episode. To add to your discussion of dueling, I wanted you to know that as an attorney in Kentucky, I had to be sworn in by the state Supreme Court.

As part of the swearing-in process, attorneys have to solemnly swear, quote, that since the adoption of the present Constitution, I, being a citizen of this state, have not fought a duel with deadly weapons within this state, nor out of it, nor have I sent or accepted a challenge to fight a duel with deadly weapons, nor have I acted as a second in carrying a challenge,

nor aided or assisted any person thus offending. My goodness. Laura said the discussion regarding dueling is nearly half of the entire oath. That's bonkers. It was really funny to say that during the ceremony. And then Nicole C wrote in to say, I enjoyed hearing your history of dueling and wanted to let you know something else. I am a lawyer in the military, a jag.

And the military has its own set of rules called the Uniform Code of Military Justice or UCMJ. There is an article in the UCMJ, Article 114, that makes it illegal for military members to duel, to promote a duel, to not take action in stopping a duel, or to fail to report a duel. So no dueling again. But then Nicole goes on to say that when we prepare to court-martial someone, they have models of the argument that they make. and Nicole said if we were going to court-martial Andy for dueling, here is how that would be argued. Quote, in that Andy Bernard did at or near the Scranton Business Park on or about this date,

fight a duel with Dwight Shrewt using as a weapon, therefore, a Toyota Prius. But Nicole says there could also be a court-martial for Angela for promoting a duel, and it would sound like this. In that Angela Martin did at or near the Scranton Business Park on or about this date promote a duel between Dwight Shrewd and Andy Bernard by telling Andy he would be a coward if he failed to challenge Dwight to a duel. So two sets of charges. I guess though maybe Dwight should be charged as well.

He did participate. I found that all fascinating. I mean, people had a lot of thoughts on dueling. Dueling was like a big deal. Big deal. Well, listen, everyone, thank you for tuning in. Thank you for writing in. Please write us your fan favorite moments over in our second drinks folder at

OfficeLadies.com. And now please enjoy the duel, but don't do a duel. No. And we've got really great tidbits in this one, too, from Jen Salata, Director Dean Holland and producer Randy Cordray, so go give it a listen. I'm Jenna Fisher. And I'm Angela Kinsey. We were on the office together.

And we're best friends. And now we're doing the Ultimate Office rewatch podcast, just for you. Each week, we will break down an episode of The Office and give exclusive behind-the-scenes stories that only two people who were there can tell you. We're the office ladies. Lady, it's the duel. I mean, two men are going to fight over me today. Me, aka Angela Martin. I have to say, like Andy's Prius, this episode sneaked up on me, but in a great way, oh my gosh, hidden gem. It's so good. It's one of my favorite episodes. I think. I loved watching it. I loved filming it. And I'm excited to talk about it today.

Well, it is Season 5, Episode 12, written by Jen Salata and directed by Dean Holland. Here's your summary. Michael takes it upon himself to expose Angela and Dwight's affair to Andy. The two men then challenge one another to a duel in the parking lot. Meanwhile, Michael is summoned to corporate to speak with David Wallace. He thinks it's going to be bad news, but he gets some unexpected. praise. Oh, those scenes. We'll get to it, but man, those are good, too. Fast fact number one, this episode was written by the always amazing Jen Salada. Applaus for Jen. Oh, Jen. Jen, so many good lines in this. I reached out to Jen, and she sent in an audio clip explaining the inspiration behind this episode. Let's hear it. My biggest memory about writing the duel was how little I had when I was sent off to write the script. It was mid-season five, and it was a really busy patch for the writers, for all of us. And I remember this episode had to be written really, really quickly. And I knew it was about Andy finding out about Angela and Dwight's affair. But where we'd

usually spend time as group flushing out the story, I went off on this script with a sentence. Andy runs over Dwight and his Prius, keeping it under five miles an hour so Dwight doesn't hear him coming. I mean, it was a good sentence. But there was a lot to fill in. That was it. It. She had a sentence. And she crafted this amazing story. Yes. Why Andy was going to run over Dwight slowly with a Prius? She didn't know.

She just knew that was going to happen in the episode. And this is what she came up with. She had to build to that moment. Because usually they would get whole outlines. They would have an A plot, a B plot, all of it. No. Amazing. Jen Salada.

Amazing. Appal applause, Jen. Amazing. Fast fact. Number two, this episode was directed by Dean Holland. Dean was our other editor alongside Dave Rogers. We love Dean. We love Dean, and he knew the show so well, much like Dave.

They knew every moment. Oh, yeah. Dean told me that he had directed something for MTV, but that this was his first time directing an episode of television. He was so nervous that he threw up in the bathroom at Crew Call. Aw. When he texted me that, I was like, are you joking? He said, no, I'm being serious.

I vomited in the bathroom. Aw. He said that it was really daunting because he had come from editing and he hadn't spent a lot of time on set. You know, editor's life is very isolating. They're just in their editing room. And while we would pop over and say hello, it's very different than how a set works. And he said he felt a little bit like a stranger in a strange land. Those were his words.

But he also said he'd consulted a little bit with Paul Figue, but more than anything, he did a ton of prep work for this episode. He said he knew the script inside and out, and listen to this. He said it changed very little from our table read. So that was good because he had been prepping and prepping on that table read draft. And a lot of times, you know, after the table read, they'll come back and the whole scenes are gone and new plots. But no. Oh, yeah. He said he was really happy that not a lot changed.

But I think, again, Jen Salada. Yeah. Clearly nailed this one from the beginning. She nailed it. So here's a little secret that Randy Cordray told me, Angela. You know, he's our line producer and he's in charge of setting the schedule for the directors. Yeah, so he must have known when Dean was directing. He manipulated the schedule so that Dean would get this episode because when he read it, he thought Dean would be perfect to direct it.

Oh, my God. Randy, look at you. I know. Yeah. He said he really wanted Dean to get this one for his directorial debut. I mean, what a gift. Wow. Well, this was a really big episode, you know, for the whole love triangle, the Dwight, Andy, Angela.

It was all coming to a head. And I was nervous, actually, about this episode. I just knew that I wanted to play these moments right. And it was a tricky kind of scenario, Jenna, because it's like Angela is worried about both of them and feeling guilt, but also, I don't know as she turned on. I don't know. It was a lot happening. And I felt very safe knowing Dean was directing me this week because, like, we knew him. You know what I mean? Yes. And I could go up to him and be like, Dean, did I do that right? What do you think? Should I try something else? So I felt very happy to have Dean there for the duel. Well, shortly after this, he went over to do Parks and Rec.

He was the editor over there. Yeah. He directed a bunch of episodes there. But, But then years later, I got to be reunited with him because he was the executive producer and director of my show over at ABC splitting up together. Yes. And then I got to come and do a guest spot on your show. And I got to see Dean and our sound department. It was like a mini office reunion. I loved that day. It was a fun day. It was. All right. Fast fact number three. The history of dueling. What? What? Oh, no. What is your search history? on your computer. Oh, no. First of all, I would just like to say I am not a historian. I'm just a lady with Google. You're just a delightful lady that loves to Google. That's right. But I did read about four to five what seemed like reputable websites on the subject of dueling. And here is what I have

pulled together. Okay. Dueling seems to have originated in medieval Europe. Nobles would defend their honor in man-to-man battles. Well, listen, if you watch Outlander, you know that's true. I don't. Come on. Come on, Sassanak. Come on. Well, in 1777, a group of Irishmen codified the dueling practices.

They wrote a document of rules, and listen to what they called it. They called it code duelo. Code duelo. I'm pretty sure that's a type of dessert you can get. I'll have the codewello, thanks. I love the lemon flavor. It consisted of 26 very specific rules outlining all aspects of the duel, including the time of day during which challenges could be received, the number of shots or wounds required in order to win. I feel like Dwight would have known these 26 rules of dueling because he had the 40 rules. all shrewd boys have to learn before they're five. He loves rules. I feel like Dwight knows about these dueling rules. He must. Right? He suggested the duel. Oh, I'm sure he knew. I'm sure that some of these rules have made their way into the shrewd life. Into the shrewd 40 rules? Yes. The first recorded duel in America took place in 1621 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Okay. And then

America created their own set of dueling rules. Oh. They were written by South Carolina Governor John Wilson in 1838. So in a typical American duel, each party has to act through a second. I know this from the musical Hamilton, everyone. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, like you have your partner that goes with you. Yes, you have a second.

That's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And don't you get to bring like a medic? Like a doctor? Oh, that's an outlander. Never mind. That wasn't. Jamie, Jamie would bring Sassanac with him. Okay, never mind. Go. I don't know about that. Okay. I only read four to five websites. Okay. If we have a historian, perhaps they would know.

You should watch Outlander, but don't watch it with your children around. Okay. So listen, if a man felt like his honor had been insulted, he would tell his second to challenge the offender to a duel. You do not do it yourself. You send it. You send your second. The main duty of the second is to try to create a reconciliation, to avoid violence. Oh, so that person's like the mediator. Yeah, I mean, they're literally doing what all therapists tell us not to do, which is to triangulate communication in order to, you know, solve conflicts. But whatever, this is dueling.

I'm the second in my family. I'm often the person sent in to smooth over the other stuff. I think a lot of people have that position in their family. I get it. But if the second goes and said, hey, my guy is offended by you and wants to duel and the person says, great, we're dueling, the recipient of the dual challenge gets to pick the weapons and the time and the place of the duel. So, for example, James Shields and Illinois Attorney General challenged future presidents, President Abraham Lincoln to a duel. Oh my gosh.

Lincoln accepted the duel and he chose the broadsword as their weapon. James Shields was like, what the F? That's insane. Never mind. Forget it. And he called off the duel. So like, bold move by Lincoln. Lincoln's like, I'll show up and I'm bringing my sword to the duel.

Do you want it? Lincoln was like, I'm tall and I'm a sword. Yeah. James Shields was like, never mind. You know what? I'm good. You know what? I thought about it and I'm okay. Here's one. This one really got me. I guess Andrew Jackson was very famous for dueling. Oh. Lots of duels, this guy. Experts placed his number of duels maybe as many as a hundred. A hundred. Was Andrew just pissing everyone off? He was just pissing everyone off. Everyone wanted to fight him. His most famous duel was with Charles Dickinson, not to be confused with Charles Dickens, the writer. Oh, I was going to say, did you see my look on my face? I was like, wait, wait, what?

Yeah, no, Charles Dickinson, he was a horse breeder, and I guess these two guys hated each other. Dickinson accused Jackson of cheating on a horse bet, and he challenged Jackson to a duel. Jackson was like, I'll be there. The weapon is pistols. But here's the thing. Dickinson was like known to be one of the best. shots in the nation. So I don't know why Andrew Jackson picked pistols, but he did. I think maybe it was just, I don't know, some swagger or something, right? So they show up, they duel. Yeah. Dickinson got off the first shot. It hit Andrew Jackson in the chest. He's bleeding from the chest. Okay. All accounts are that he like held one hand to the wound, lifted his pistol, fired at Dickinson. his pistol misfired, it didn't shoot.

Oh. So Andrew Jackson recoct his pistol, fired again, and killed Dickinson. This was very controversial, Angela. In the rules of dueling, you only get to fire once. That's what I was going to say. Aren't you one and done? And I know nothing about dueling, but I was pretty sure that's the case. Thank you, Hamilton.

That's right. Yeah. I don't know. Andrew Jackson lived. He got away with it and was later, elected president of the United States. I have a question. What is it?

If you're Charles Dickinson, you see Andrew Jackson pointing his gun at you to fire, do you run a zigzag? Can you step out of the way or do you just have to stand there? Fingers crossed, it doesn't hit you. Is there no movement allowed? Can I not jump around? I don't know. I don't know. Because I'm not going to stand in one place.

If you're pointing a pistol at me, I'm going to get moving. Yeah, I think you're not allowed, Ang. Oh. The last duel of record in the United States was in 1859. Okay. Here's who it involved. Was it more white men shooting at each other? It sure was, lady.

Not only that, it was a United States senator and a retired chief justice of the California Supreme Court. Oh. Way to go, guys. No one died in this duel because, listen to this madness. one guy's gun jammed. Okay. And then the other guy fired his gun, but it hit the other guy in his gold pocket watch, and they called a truce. There you go.

That was the last duel in America. All right. Now, if Andrew Jackson was there, he would have unjammed his gun and shot at you again. Right. Yeah. I would like to say, I don't know who Andrew Jackson's second was, but I think they did a real shitty job. What about Dickinson's second? Dickinson's second tried to make a case that, you know, Andrew Jackson, I think should be tried for murder, but no one wanted to hear about it.

That was very interesting. I liked all your dual trivia. Thank you. I enjoyed researching my dual trivia. I mean, there is just a part of me that would do a history podcast with you, but we get everything slightly wrong. Well, we're already doing that. I'm sure there are at least 12 things I did wrong in this fast fact number three. You know what? It's like our version of drunk history, but we're not drunk. Yes. We're just well-meaning ladies who Google and tell you history. All right. Should we take a break? I think we should. There's a lot to say about this episode, and I can't wait.

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This episode opens with an amazing cold open. It was so much fun to shoot. Yeah. I loved watching it again. Me too. The phone rings. Pam answers the phone. Someone for Michael, but Michael's not there. Where is Michael? Oh, Michael is down on the street. He's running. He's screaming. There is a speed radar sign. And he keeps running past it, trying to see how fast he can go. That's what Michael's doing this morning. That's what Michael's doing. And we're all wondering why. Well, Pam shares that Angela has apparently called 911 several times to report cars. is going too fast outside on the road. And so the police came and put up this sort of like that radar screen, right, that tells you your speed. Yes. Well, I guess, though, this was a really hard

scene to shoot. Really? Yeah. Dean told me that we had to shoot this in two different places. So anything that you see out the window of Michael running, we had to shoot that from Paul Lieberstein's office. Oh, okay. Because that was the window that looked outside onto our parking lot and onto our street. But of course, everything else that was indoors, we had to shoot inside Dunder Mifflin. And by the way, this is going to come up again later. Yeah. So Dean told me that for that opening moment where Pam is on the phone and then the camera pulls back into Michael's empty office and then it whips over to the window and you see Michael running. Yeah. He had to use one of those whip cuts. So he shot Pam, pull back into Michael's office, and then he whipped to a window that just had like a

scrim behind it, right? Because that's what Michael's office really has. Yeah, yeah, on our set, there's nothing behind his window. Yeah. Then he went up to Paul Lieberstein's office. He did another whip and then had Steve run by outside and he did that thing where he cut in the whip and put it together. That's movie magic, guys. Movie magic. Now I guess everyone has decided They want to know how fast they can run. It feels like Michael has forced us all outside to run past the sign. Dwight is very enthusiastic. He's happy to run past it.

He runs past and he gets a speed of 13 miles per hour. Yes. Well, Jenna, do you notice how we're all just like, we're so cold and we're like, shivering? But truly the guys are like sweating their butts off. Oh, yeah. I went to, because I'm just an old lady who loves to know what the weather was. I've clearly become my parents because at my parents' house, the TV is always on and it's always on the weather channel.

If you need to know what the weather is anywhere, just call my mom. She'll tell you. So I dug into my digital clutter and found out we shot this episode the week of October 13th in 2008. And the average temperature was in the 90s for this week. Randy told me that, yeah, not only was it over 90 degrees that day, but we had to schedule this scene to shoot right after lunch. Oh, gross. So we all had these full bellies and the sun was right directly over us. Yeah. But he said, luckily, it only took a couple of hours to shoot. A couple of hours. I know. Lucky for us. Oh, my, I always felt bad. This is the one moment I felt bad for the guys because we froze our butts off on the stage. The ladies did. We were always in less clothing. But then when we were in these parking lot scenes and they're in full suit, and they are sweating their butts off.

And running with full stomachs of food. Ugh. I have to imagine we were pretty comfortable out there in that 90-degree parking lot. I was probably fine. We were great. So it is hot and they're running past this radar gun. You know, Dwight scored a 13 and Michael wants to beat it. And so he starts running again and a car goes by and all of a sudden Michael clock's 31.

And he's like, yes. And everyone kind of calls BS on that. Yes. Well, we got a lot of questions about how did we technically pull this off, right, with these speed numbers. Randy shared with us that the machine just worked. It was actually clocking people's real running speeds and the real car speed. But then he shared with us the reason we did this cold open was inspired by one of our writers, real life experience. Yes. Aaron Sure, you guys.

Aaron Sure is like always coming up with these great cold opens. And I talked with him. He is so hilarious to me, Jenna, because he's like, I guess my real life is just weird enough that it translates into a great cold open. Prior to working on the office, Aaron had been working on the new adventures of old Christine. It was a show on CBS. Yeah, with Julia Louis Dreyfus. Exactly. They filmed on the Warner Brothers lot, and he said on the Warner Brothers lot, there was this radar gun. And he was walking back from lunch from the conference. commissary with some of the other riders. And as he walked past the radar gun, it said zero.

So he was like, oh, yeah? So he set his lunch down, backed up, and he ran as fast as he could by it. Surprisingly, it clocked 20 miles per hour. That's his memory. No. That is his memory. He said other writers were like, wait, I want to try this. They backed up and they started running past it as well. And he said it was a very sweaty writer's room that afternoon. That is incredible. So he told this story when he came to the office and they were like, oh my gosh, like, this is something Dwight and Michael would do. For sure. After we were done filming this, they moved that speed meter onto the parking lot near catering.

And it sat there for the whole week of production. Well, I guess it was too tempting to ignore. Oh, no. Randy said that one day during lunch, a bunch of the writers went down and they started sprinting past it. Here we go again. But then, I guess there was an accident, lady. What? Remember our writer Ryan Coe?

Yeah. I don't remember an accident. Yeah. Randy shared that Ryan ran past the speed meter and it didn't go well. Oh, no. So I reached out to Ryan to get the story. And, lady, I did not tell you this because I think you need to hear it from him directly. Oh, God.

When he emailed me, I literally shouted, oh, no. As I was reading his email. He's calling in, lady, to tell us this story. Oh, my gosh. Ryan. All right, here he is. So, Ryan, you were a member of the writing staff in season five. you wrote business ethics, you wrote heavy competition, but the reason you're calling is because you have a story to tell.

Yeah, I guess so. So the cold open of this episode is Michael and Dwight running out of your speed is like one of those signs that gets you to slow down on streets. Yes. Right, right. We had spoke to Aaron Scher about this. So we remember it well. And we did not know you were also part of the. speed racing. Oh, yeah. So I should say, Randy Cordray said that after we finished shooting this

scene, he put the speed tracker in the parking lot and a bunch of people, writers and crew, all decided to go down and do this thing where you run past it. And you were one of the people who wanted to run past it. Absolutely. Yeah, I was like a staff writer in season four and still like felt insecure about being there in season five. And this is my chance to prove everyone that I was at least the fastest. You were the fastest writer. This was your moment. Yes.

But you ran track in high school, right? I was sixth in New England in the 100 in sort of our very small school division. Oh my God, Ryan. Sixth in all of New England? In the very small schools. But yes. So I was like, I'm going to beat stupid, the stupid old writers. So tell us what happened.

I rewatched the cold open this morning. And so like both Steve and Rain ran like 12 and 13 miles an hour. Yeah, yeah. And then a couple writers ran and they all got like 12 miles an hour. And then I was like, oh, I can beat that. So I had on corduroys and like Chuck Taylor's. You were just in your work clothes. You weren't like dressed to run.

You were just in what you wore to work that day. Well, Randy just poked his head up and said like, who wants to? to run at a speedometer. And I was like, yeah. So yeah, I like really laced up. I mean, they're sort of loose-fitting chucks and there's sort of like a slip-on shoe. Anyway, I lace them up really tight. And then I started running.

And I have this memory like it was yesterday of, I don't know if you ever had this experience where you're running fast and then there's no ground beneath your feet and you're just sort of windmilling your feet with no ground underneath it. And then I very clearly remember seeing, well, not clearly, because I don't remember exactly. But it was like 17 or 18 miles an hour before I like sort of flew into the air, which for reference is like getting thrown out of a golf cart. Uh-huh. It's not too bad. And then so like my my quarter eyes totally shredded, shredded off my legs.

So I landed on my elbows and forearms. And Dan Gore, who was one of the people watching. said you could tell I was really hurt because I immediately popped off the ground and said like, I'm fine, I'm fine. This is what people do when they're really hurt. But you were pretty hurt. Like the medic did have to come over, right? I did get really mummified. I had to go to my cousin's wedding like an hour afterwards. Oh, no. They used, you know, like that gauze, not even like bandage, but, you know, that gauze that you can see through. And they wrapped it all around my arms and legs, which were pretty skinned. And then I got on the plane.

And then when I arrived in Portland, I went into the drugstore and bought a ton of nonstick gauze and stuff. And then I had seen that all the scabs had formed like in the bandage. Anyway, that's gross. So I stood in the shower for like an hour, just unwrapping my mummified arms and sort of yelling in pain. Oh, my God. Right after I fell, I remember Randy immediately was like, all right, let's put this away. No one else, no one else. You know, they didn't want another idiot filing a lawsuit against the office.

That was it. I hurt myself. I still have scars on all four of my limbs. Oh, my gosh. Sort of a decent story. But you won. You won. You got the fastest speed.

So there's that. I don't think anyone would call me the winner. But sure, I do believe sort of I will definitely vouch for the fact that I got the fastest speed. I mean, I help by disqualifying everyone by getting it removed. Maybe that was my strategy. get a high speed and then mangle myself so they get rid of the spedometer. Ryan, thank you for coming on office ladies and telling your story. We're going to hit you up for some trivia about heavy competition when we get to it if you don't mind.

Okay, sounds great. All right. Love you, Ryan. Talking to you. Take care. Bye. Bye. Oh, my gosh.

This is like it's art imitating life. Life imitating art. written art back to life? Is that it? This is crazy. Do you remember early in the podcast when you said life intimidating art? I do, Jenna. I do. It feels like life said to Ryan Coe, I'm going to intimidate you by throwing you to the asphalt. Life is intimidating art. I think so. Life threw Ryan to the asphalt in a very intimidating way based on his art. Oh man. Well, that is the cold open, you guys, and we haven't even gotten to the episode yet. Let's get into it. it because this is a big day. It's a big day for Michael because David Wallace wants to meet him

and talk to him about big picture stuff. Michael doesn't really know what that means. It's probably bad. It's also a big day because Pam makes an announcement. New Year, new candy, hot tamales. But did you notice at one minute, 50 seconds, that Pam has dark nail polish? I did not. Oh, yeah. I took a picture to show you. And then I did a weird mini dive. All right, I want you to see. I'll put this in stories, but you got to see. Look at your nails. How did I get away with that? Why did they let me do that? I don't know. Because I will just say that if I ever came in with a nail polish that wasn't a natural looking nail polish, they would make me take it off in the trailer in the morning. I don't know how this fell through the cracks, but I remember this nail polish on you. Is this so weird?

What is it? I looked up on the Internet, and it said in the fall of 2008, one of the big trends in nail polish was gray nail polish. In fact, collegecandy.com said the OPI Sephora had a very popular color called Metro Sheik, which was a matte purplish gray. Well, I think we all know. If anything, I'm on trend. Hey, you know the fashions. I do. I really do. I think you got some Metro chic and put it on your nails for the weekend. I have no doubt. I love OPI nail polish. I wear it all the time. I am certain that's what it was. I just can't believe I got away with it. You know, they would let Amy Ryan and Melora Hardin as their characters. They could have a darker nail polish. But they wanted Pam to always, like, either have no nail polish or just some clear nail polish.

I sneaked it in, I guess. Maybe I sat on my hands while I got my hair and makeup done that day. Well, listen, Andy's going to come in and he's clearly upset about something. He would like to address the elephant in the room. I love how Rain Wilson, as Dwight, chose to kind of stand up and get in a power stance. He's ready to fight because, of course, we all think that he's. He knows about this affair that Angela is having with Dwight. But that's not what he says.

He says, none of you have RSVP to our wedding. How awkward. In the deleted scenes, this scene goes on where he goes to every single person and is like, hey, Phyllis, you haven't RSVPed, Jim. And everyone, like, pretends to be on the phone. Oh, no. You have this hilarious talking head where you're, like, you say you've been avoiding him and you can't look him in the eye so you only look at his nose. And so then Andy comes up to you and asks you, and you're just awkwardly looking at his nose, and then he thinks he has something on his nose.

It was really funny. The deleted scenes for this episode, I feel like every single one of them should have been in because they were all awesome. Jim says it's been 17 days. It's been 17 days since the Christmas party when Phyllis spilled the beans. Everyone meets in the break room, except Andy, and Michael says he's going to tell him. He has to tell him. And of course, everyone's like, you can't. It's really Angela's responsibility.

Oh. And then I loved the exchange between Oscar and Dwight. Oh, I know. I was anticipating it as you were about to say it. And just the fact that the whole group starts learning where all Angela and Dwight have shagged in the office. We had a fan question from Jess R who said, who wrote the most. moment in the break room when Dwight implies he's been doing it with Angela on Oscar's desk and was any of that scene improvised? No, none of it was improvised. It was all scripted by Jen Salada.

So good. This scene takes us into accounting and Angela has kind of given it to Kevin that he screwed up again. And then there's some real Kevin Sass. Oh, it's great. Oh my gosh. He's like, I didn't realize I was doing something wrong. If I had, I would have admitted it and stopped right away, he really leans in hard on this moment. And Oscar gives him props. He's like, no, that was really good. You did a great job. Congratulations. Jenna, immediately after the scene in the script, there's a very angry Angela talking head. And it's pretty amazing because Angela is so furious that she breaks the fourth wall and berates the camera documentary crew and then flashes them some of her shoulder. Really?

Yes, Sam, will you play it? It's just so important for you to get your big story, isn't it? To edit everything together, to make it look like there's a villain. Well, there's not always a villain. Sometimes there's just a hardworking, petite woman trying to make a conscientious decision about the rest of her life. Too boring? Did I lose you?

Here, is this what you want? Okay, that was amazing, but I have to say, I think it was right to cut it out because I don't know if we've ever had that much direct conversation with the documentary crew before. If we've ever referred so much to what they're doing. I was shocked when I watched it, Jenna, because she's like, is that what you want? You're going to edit this together. You're going to make a villain. And also, it was a little bit too sophisticated for Angela Martin to understand the whole process of a documentary and how they tell us. it through narration in these moments. So I think it was the right move to cut it, but I was shocked

when I saw it. I had to share. So Angela, I love this episode because there's just so much tension, and it plays out so slowly over when or whether or not Andy is going to figure out that Angela's having an affair. So he has this exclamation on the phone, and everyone's like, but it's really just about the cake. He's just having an issue with the cake. But this leads to that Dwight talking head. Because Dwight is on guard this whole time. He's like constantly leaping out of his chair. Yeah.

And he kind of explains that there are these 40 rules that all Shrewboys must learn by the age of five. And one of these rules is like, don't put your back to a man who you've wronged. That's just one of the 40 rules. Mm-hmm. Don't turn your back on a bear or a dominant turkey during mating season. Yeah. There's a lot of things you shouldn't turn your back. on. And then he has this little jingle that he sings. Now, Angela, is it true that Rain improvised that song?

Oh, no. That was in the script. That was 100% written. They shared in the DVD commentary that Rain was singing the jingle a few different ways. And then Dean asked Jen, Jen, how did you hear it when you wrote it? She's sort of saying it her way. And they found it in the moment. So they found the melody, but the words were written. The words are totally written. They're in the script. This is like fabulous Jen Salada writing. They just improvised the melody. Got it. Well, now Dwight is going to signal Angela to meet him in the hallway. He does this by moving his little bobblehead to the other side of his desk. Yes. He's going to confront her. He wants her to tell Andy the truth. And Angela has a line, Jenna, that really made me laugh. She's like, this is a terrible idea, one of your worst. And then he's like,

just get it over with. And then Angela says, you're expanding on your worst idea. That just really made me laugh. Well, Michael is leaving now, and he asks Andy to walk with him. Yeah, he's going to do it. He's going to do it. He can't not do it. This is like true Michael. Like, he can't not. The scene is so funny. It's so funny. I mean, it's so perfect. You know, I believe Angela originally in the scene, he is, supposed to tell Andy before he got in his car? Yes, it's scripted that he tells him outside of the car. But on the day, they came up with the idea that it would be really funny if Michael was in the car and then he sort of says it through the window as he's driving away and that is so good. Yes. So in the commentary, Dean said he had the idea in the moment that the scene takes place with Michael in the car.

And then Steve sort of built on that and was like, what if Michael really doesn't want to tell him? So it's kind of like as he's pulling away. And then Dean said that Steve really peeled out of the parking lot. They did not add that sound in in post. That's actually the car peeling away. Oh, that's amazing. Well, we had a fan question from Maria M about this scene. She said, is there a production-related reason why the vehicles in this episode all appear so dusty and dirty? And when I went back and looked at it, yes, they're all covered in grime. Yeah, they're filthy. I asked Randy Cordray. about it, and he said, yes, Maria. Great eye to detail, all of the cars were purposely dirtied by the scenic painting crew using flour and water, and this was meant to simulate what cars might look like

during a typical Scranton winter from just road grime and salt. And snow. Yes. When snow gets dirty looking, right? And it's on your car. Yes. And that the cars in the parking lot belonged to to our crew members, and any crew member who volunteered to park their car in the lot got a free car wash every Friday. Oh, how about that? So during the week, they'd have to drive around with a grimy car, but on the weekends, you got a fresh, clean car. Well, I think this is a good place to take a break because Andy knows the truth, and when we

come back, we'll talk about what he does. Oh, man. It's a lot. This was some cringy stuff to watch. We'll be right back. All right, we are back, and guys, Meredith knew something big was going to happen today. Now, she said that yesterday, but she was also right yesterday because her neighbor was murdered. Oh, my gosh.

What is her life? I don't know, but Meredith has the best, like, throwaway lines. It's like her and creed. Like, what the heck is their life? It must have been so fun to write for them. I know. At 8 minutes, 42 seconds, we get a really good shot of Meredith in this episode, and she is wearing a sweater vest. Yes.

Lady, I wore that same sweater vests to a press event with John Krasinski in New York. What? Yeah. I walked on set this week we were shooting the duel and I looked at Kate dressed as Meredith and I thought, oh my God. Oh my God. Did I make a terrible mistake? I thought it was fashionable. I wore that same vest over this like big, poofy.

white blouse with big poofy shoulders. This was the style. What? It was actually a really expensive vest. It was like Betsy Johnson or something. Can we do a side by side of you and Meredith? We must. Jenna in real life has the same fashion choices as Meredith. Lady, look. Here's a picture. Look at it. See? Look at it. Oh my God. First of all, you and John look 14 years old. We have to put this photo in Office Lady's Stories. You are wearing Meredith's sweater vest, and John looks like he could host Blues Clues. He's in like a stripy polo. Yeah.

Oh, my God, you guys look 14 years old. We were doing press at this NBC Experience store, showing off all the new office merchandise. Meredith called. She wants her sweater vest back. Oh, my gosh. And like I'd already done the event, you know? Well, you could have heard a pin drop when Andy walked back into that bullpen and he goes over to Angela and says, we need to talk. And she's like, we can talk right here.

And he's like, no, no. Ed played it so real. I was sweating. I was sweating it. Like, I felt it. We went into that conference room and he shut the door. And we were in there a long time. And Ed broke my heart

As Andy When he was like, do you love him? And I was really feeling all of this emotion And then Angela has to make this plea This plea to him to don't give up on us And Jenna, it was all going great Until we got to two words, formal chrysanthemums I couldn't say it. Formal chrysanthemums.

Formal chrysanthemums. I really had to break it down to be able to say it. But you need to say it like it's effortless. But I literally was like going formal chrysanthemums. You know what, lady, that is not anything having to do with your accent or you. I challenge anyone to say that word. I can't chrysanthemums. Say it quickly. Guys, and here's a formal chrysanthemum. That was my best effort, by the way. I mean, literally, Jen Salada had to come in the room and help me break it down. But try saying it quickly while you're like throwing it away, like you have no problem saying it in a speech where you're pleading to save your relationship.

And you know what? It wouldn't have worked any other flower. That's the funniest flower. It had to be that. I know. Well, while this whole Andy and Angela scene is going to. on in the conference room. There's a flip side to what's happening. It's everyone in the bullpen watching. It was deleted for time. It's so great. And I really feel like Phyllis summed up the

whole moment perfectly. Phyllis, why is it taking so long? He found out his little angel's been screwing the bead farming weirdo. He's trying to make it make sense in his brain. And then he's going to come out here and kill you. Thank you, Phyllis. You're welcome. Oh, yeah, she got it. I mean, that made me laugh really hard. I wish it had stayed in. Well, this takes us to corporate. Andy and Angela are going to stay in the conference room. They're not done.

But meanwhile, we cut over to corporate and we see the reason why David Wallace is called Michael in. He says to Michael, Scranton is outperforming the other branches. Everyone else is struggling. And we want to know, what are you doing right? What is Michael doing so right? I mean, everything in Michael lit up like a Christmas tree. He's like, David Wallace wants advice from me? Yeah.

And then he starts talking. Oh, Jenna, I have to read it. Can I please read it? Please read it. The minute he said, David, here it is. My philosophy is basically this. And this is something that I live by. And I always have and I always will.

don't ever for any reason do anything to anyone for any reason ever no matter what no matter where or who or who you are with or or where you are going or where you've been ever for any reason whatsoever what is he saying what is he saying i went to the script this was not scripted What? There was a different moment. There was the same thing where he sort of started to talk nonsense. I think Steve was also improvising here. I think he went off what Jen had. And then I think they let Steve do his thing. And now his talking head where he says, sometimes I start a sentence and I don't even know where it's going. I just find it along the way. That was 100% scripted. The improvisation. Yes. That was all exactly scripted. But this answer to David, I don't. I think was a little bit on the page and then they just let Steve play. I love it. This little scene between Michael and David Wallace was important story-wise because it's really

starting to set up the economic struggle slash decline of Dunder Mifflin, which is going to play out in future seasons as branches start closing as we get bought out by Sabre. Spoiler alerts. I guess you're supposed to say that first. Yeah, that's supposed to come first. And also, you start to learn that David Wallace might be in a precarious position. Yeah. So we made it a comedy moment with Michael suddenly giving advice to David Wallace.

But this was also setting up a broader story that we will play out. In the DVD commentary, Dean said one of his notes for all of the Michael David scenes in this episode was, no matter what, Michael won't leave the office, no matter what. Well, that makes sense because he suggests they order some pasta. And then my favorite thing is like after that pasta eating scene where Michael is still just going on and on and on, David Wallace kind of gets up and then Michael keeps eating his pasta. And David is like, no, no, yes, go, I guess just finish your meal there. Yeah, I mean, like, pats him on the shoulder and shuts the door and sits back down. Well, when we get back to the office, Angela and Andy are still in the conference.

room. She needs him to know that her and Dwight did not do anything fancy sexually. Well, Dwight tells Michael something very differently about their sex life earlier. Oh my gosh. I can't believe we didn't bring that up. That made me laugh so hard, Angela. I know. Yes. Michael is all asking Dwight, like, if you're crazy. Is she crazy? Crazy in the sack? Is she crazy? And Dwight's like, yes. And then Michael is like, how? How is she crazy? And Jim is just standing there. Yeah, Jim is like, oh God, No, no. And then Dwight says eager and flexible. Lady, is that in the script? Was that an improv? It's 100% scripted. It was so good. All of those beats. That made me laugh all loud. Some of John's reactions as Jim are improvised, but everything else is scripted.

Well, Angela doesn't tell Andy any of that stuff. She just says she loves him. And when he leaves the conference room, he tells Dwight, it's over. It's over. And he means. over between you and Angela, not me and Angela. He's still going to marry Angela. Well, Angela made a big case. She was like, listen, we're at a crossroads here. Let's prove all these people wrong. Dwight makes a big declaration that Bernard will never be her last name. They are going to stay together. He is not going to give up. Jenna, this was a much longer scene. And when Dwight says a duel, we'll have a duel over Angela, the winner gets Angela. Stanley can't take it anymore. He's going to call BS, and he has this great moment.

Okay, we're not doing that. Hang on, Pam. Andy, do you fully understand that the prize is Angela? So help me, God, I do. And Dwight, do you fully understand that the prize is Angela? I do. I say give them both guns. Stanley.

Darwin, baby. Darwin. Darwin, baby, Darwin. I just love that moment. Even Pam turns to Angela and is like, you have to stop this. But Angela says, I will respect the results of the duel. So, yeah, I remember us shooting this moment, Jenna. But in my mind, there was more to the scene.

I went to the script. And there was an alt of this moment where Pam confronts Angela. It didn't make it in, and you have a whole speech, and I called it preach, Pam! This takes place in the break room. Okay, Angela. What? You have to put a stop to this. I admit, at first, I was blaming you for being selfish and dishonest, but then I decided to put myself in your shoes.

I didn't ask you to do that. I get it. You're having a hard time choosing between Dwight and Andy. for reasons that you must have about that. But you have to make a decision, Angela. Who would you rather go home to at night? Who would you rather wake up with in the morning? Marriage is a big deal, Angela.

Who do you see as the father of your children? Who are you most proud of? Who's most accepting of your quirkiness? I don't see how any of that matters now. Why not? Two men are about to fight for my hand. When it's over, I will respect one of them and pity the other. Decision made.

Wow. Like, really tried to show up for Angela in this moment. Tried to empathize with her. And what, you know, you guys are hearing it. But if you watch it, if you go to the deleted scenes on the DVD, you see all of this emotion go across my face. I'm clearly torn. Yeah. And it just really shows.

something you don't get to see that much in this. You only see little moments that Angela is really struggling. Yeah. Well, Angela, when I was trading messages with Jen Salada about this episode, she was very complimentary of your performance. Oh. She said that this episode was tricky and a lot rested on how your character would react to these two men dueling over her. She said she was really worried. Like, how do you convince people? that you would accept the results of a duel. It's so crazy. Yeah. And she said, you know, there was this scene that really shows you stuffing down your real feelings.

But she said that you were able to play it so perfectly in just your one line in the bullpen. We so believed that your character would accept the results of a duel that it It grounds the whole episode. And she was so grateful for your performance. Oh, my gosh. That's so nice. Thank you, Jen. Well, you know, what I thought about Angela is that she really loves Dwight. She really thinks Andy is a better partner for her, like socially, sort of acceptable and all of that. And she's really struggling about what's the right thing to do in her life. And the duel for her is actually a relief because now she doesn't have to decide. To her, this is like an institution that will decide for her, and she's off the hook. And I think that's why she was so willing to accept it. We had some people right in wondering, were you secretly rooting for one man over the other? Do you think Angela Martin was secretly rooting for one person? I think she was hoping Dwight would win. For her, I just have this feeling that on paper, Andy Bernard is more presentable to her family, right? And makes more sense. to Angela Martin's family

and that they would be more accepting and more willing to embrace Andy Bernard than Dwight Shrewt. And so I feel like she could go to her family and be like, well, Dwight bested him in a duel. So, you know, clearly Dwight is the dominant man. And I have no... And your whole family would accept

the results of the duel. Yes, and I have to go with that. So, you know, I mean, I know we all thought Andy was the one. But I don't think Angela ever thought Andy was the one. And so I think she thinks, thinks her family would accept it too. Is that crazy? But that's what I was thinking. Yeah. So she's rooting for

Dwight to win this duel because she loves him more and because it would help gain acceptance with her family. Exactly. Well, this duel is happening. It is happening in the parking lot at 4 p.m. Bring the weapon of your choice. Yeah. So it's 4 o'clock. The duel is beginning. Dwight's outside in the parking lot. He's yelling. Andy, where are you? You know? He's like, are you a coward? Everyone else is upstairs watching from the conference room. Angela's saying, I can't believe two men are fighting over me. And then Kelly, like, has a dig.

She's like, well, I guess when you're old, you run out of options or something like that. I thought that was really funny. Yeah. Oscar doesn't think Andy's going to show, and they're actually kind of placing bets. And Kevin's like, come on. But then Dwight sees a note on some bushes. Yeah. He goes over to read it.

What is this? Yeah, what's this note about? While he's reading it, Andy does show up very slowly, very quietly. Yes. In his Prius. Well, you know, Jenna, Jen had that one sentence that she had to write this whole episode off of, right? Yeah. About the duel.

This was Paul Lieberstein's idea about the Prius. He said, if you go under five miles an hour, it's totally silent. And so this is the weapon Andy chooses. Yes. He is going to pin Dwight up against the bushes. He's going to crush him. But really, he's only crushing, like, from his kneecaps down. Yeah, but he's pinned.

I mean, Dwight can't move. Dwight can't hit him with his bike chain anymore. Yeah. So he starts slamming it on the hood of the car. They're screaming at each other. At 18 minutes, 16 seconds, Rain shared on the DVD that during this whole screaming match between the two of them, they improvise for about 40 minutes. Dean said at least 40 minutes.

Just insults and banter back and forth at each other. Dean said there was so much good stuff. Oh, I wish we could see that. The 40 minutes of them yelling at each other. I would watch it. Sure. They're probably amazing. Well, we got a lot of questions about how did we do this scene? How did we do this stunt? Who was driving? Yada yada. Well, I talked to Dean and he said this was really complicated because we had to shoot this scene over two different days from three different locations. First, we shot in the parking lot with Rain and Ed. They performed the whole thing. We shot it. and the rest of us were upstairs in Paul's office looking out that window and the camera could whip up to us. In real time. In real time.

We watched all of it. Then they moved the cameras up to Paul's office to get really tight shots out of the window onto the action below. And Rain and Ed had to do it all over again just to get a few little shots through the window. But then on a different day, we shot inside the actual Dunder Mifflin conference room, and this time we had to be careful to not shoot out the window because there was nothing there. It was just a backdrop. And that we were basically looking at nothing, but Dean was shouting out all the action that had happened the day before. Right. He said this was the moment when being an editor on the show really helped him. He had kind of cut this whole thing together with a shot list inside his head.

and he just kept telling people, trust me, trust me, trust me. He could see it, right? He could see it. He could see the whole thing. He said he planned all of these whip pan cuts between the window, between us, all of it. And when he got in the editing room, because he edited this episode as well, it actually did all come together and it looked really, really seamless. Well, you have to think that Randy Cordray was like, I knew it. I knew it. Yes. That Dean's editing was going to come. coming to play here. This is why Dean has to direct this episode. But he did say it was a little grueling for the actors because we had to play these same moments over and over and over again

more so than we normally do. And we had to make it seem like we were doing it for the first time every time. Now, as for the stunt, Randy told us that Ed actually drove the Prius, silently through the parking lot. He said they had stunt doubles standing by for the actual moment of impact. They thought that they would have a stunt driver actually drive into a stunt Dwight. Right. And then after they were kind of squished, they would place Rain into the bushes. And Ed into the car. Yes. But then on the commentary, didn't Rain say they just kind of ended up doing it themselves? Actually, the commentary was Rain Wilson, Jen Salada, Dean Holland, and Rusty Mahmood, who was our first assistant director.

And they discussed that Ed actually drove into rain very slowly and that it totally worked. And those takes of those guys actually doing it were their favorite. So those were the ones they used. And they did not use takes with the stunt people. Well, we also got a fan question from Samantha T who wanted to know what was up with the fence. Like what was on the other side of it? Was it padding? Was it an actual fence?

Was the bumper of the car padded? Was Rain really being squashed? Well, it was the real bumper of the car. And then Rain sent in an audio clip to tell us a little bit about the bushes. Oh, I'm so glad you guys are doing the dual. Fantastic, one of my very favorite episodes. And I always loved those episodes

where Dwight and Handy got to go head to head. I just loved that subplot of that. that tension and ed helms is so funny in this episode but you know what it reminded me of is in college we studied clowning and camedia del arté and it really is classic old old comedy like back from comedia delarte and the greeks and ancient clowning of two idiots going at it over absurd shi. And in this case, love and a Prius. It was so much fun to shoot. I don't remember a lot of specifics about it, but I remember the hedge had a lot of give in it, so you could really pretend like you were pinned. But it was just a big mass of vines, and it was actually very

soft and comfortable. And I love that line about the bears in Scranton. It's so fantastic. So I guess rain was quite comfortable being pinned against the bushes, No complaints. Well, I can tell you about those big giant hedges. One time, Brian in a scene as Kevin nudged me, he thought it was a nudge. I went flying into them. I don't know if you remember that. I can't remember what episode, but I can attest to the fact that it's a very deep, dense,

very sort of a hedge you could fall into without getting to the other side. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Well, the hedges might have been a good thing for rain. mean they were a nice soft place to land, but they actually caused a little bit of a headache for our production. So Rusty Mahmoud, our first assistant director, shared on the DVD commentary that we had about six hours a day to film these parking lot scenes. That's what they had allotted for the time. And by the time we got to the parking lot scenes on the first day of filming,

those big hedges had cast a shadow over half of the parking lot. If you go and watch, you'll see. Okay. There's a huge shadow. Well, now guess what? We needed to match that shadow exactly the second day we filmed. Yeah. Right?

So in order to do that, they had to create this fake shadow. We have faky shadow. Faky shadow. Faky shadow. They used giant 20 by 20 bounce cards and positioned them behind the hedges on the street so that the shadow would cast and match each day we filmed in the parking lot. Gosh, those are things you just don't think about. I know.

But this is the amazing thing about your crew. Someone was like, oh, hold up. That shadow's not going to match. We've got to recreate a shadow. Amazing. Well, Faky Shadow wasn't the only faky thing we had in this scene. We also had faky bicycle chain. Faky bicycle chain.

That's right. Clearly Rain could not whip around a real bicycle chain. So Phil Shea had a rubber bicycle chain made, and that's what Rain used as Dwight to hit the Prius and wave around. So obviously a rubber bicycle chain is not going to make the same sound as a real bicycle chain on metal. So all the sounds you hear are put in post, that whopping sound. Except for the car horn. Oh, yeah.

Ed was really blaring the horn. I know. Poor Rain. I know, but he was really having fun with it too because he'd wait and blare it right when Rain, like, started to talk. Well, all of this mayhem is going on, and Jim has a talking head where he's just kind of standing there, and you can hear it all in the background. Oh, yeah.

So good. Dean told me that they came up with that idea on the day. He said that as he and Jen Salata were standing there, just listening to these two guys go on, he thought it would be really funny to add that. So he and Jen came up with that, and they positioned John. and they just kind of added that in the moment. It's so perfect because it's the voice of reason. It's this totally normal, rational person reacting to this moment of chaos.

And I feel like it lets the audience take a breath and be like, oh, yeah, this is crazy. Well, in this argument, Andy ends up revealing that he and Angela have had sex, which is something that Dwight did not know. Well, yeah, he says, I can't believe she's been sleeping with you this whole time and she's only slept with me twice. I made a sex tracker. Oh my God. I did. Oh, no.

Here's what I'm going to say, Angela. Oh. In the business trip episode, Andy told Oscar he had never had sex with Angela. In the surplus, Andy says he has seen Angela naked zero times. Mm-hmm. So, we have to imagine that either they've had sex twice since. the surplus, or they've had sex twice since business trip, but that while having sex, he never saw Angela naked. Which one do you think it is? Fully clothed sex or naked sex recently? You know what? I believe both. I believe that he could possibly have had sex with her, but she wouldn't let him see her naked, like she'd have some kind of like long gown on. But I also can believe that After Dwight hoodwinked her into this fake wedding that she was furious, and she went and had some revenge sex.

I think that's most likely. That's when they had their sex. Yeah. Well, Andy is going to return to his desk. Dwight returns to his desk. They're both crestfallen. Yeah. I mean, Dwight feels betrayed and Andy feels betrayed. But who won the duel, Angela's standing there.

She hears Andy make a phone call. He cancels the wedding cake. Yeah, it's the one that was in the shape of a sailboat. Yeah, that one. That wedding cake. Jen said they did have an alt cake line where he would say it was the one in the shape of the letter C for Cornell. Oh, I was like for cat. I know.

But they went with sailboat. Then Angela looks to Dwight. Did he win? He puts his bobblehead in the trash. Jenna, there was a deleted scene that comes after this where Angela goes up to Pam and she's teary-eyed like her voice is wavering. And she says, can you give me a right home from work today? Because I no longer have a right home. Yeah.

And Pam says yes. And then her and Jim give Angela a ride home. home. Oh, my God. This car ride, we did shoot this scene. It's in the deleted scenes. Angela just barks directions angrily at Jim. And then she starts sobbing in the back seat and then she's angry again. Well, I'll never forget shooting this scene, Angela, because, I mean, this was a whole location day for us, you know? We had this location that was your house and we just dropped you off outside. But they have this really funny joke that there would be like a dozen cats in your window staring out the window at you expectantly as we drop you off. And it was so funny.

It was so funny. I remember they had to get a house with like sort of a big front window, like a bay window that all the cats could be in so that we could see them from the street. But then you guys, as we were trading messages with Randy Cordray about this episode, he sent us. The casting sheet of the cats and all their headshots. It's a sheet of like cat headshots. Yes, you guys. And here are the names of the 12 cats that played Angela's cats. Potato.

Prada. Echo. Flame. Prophet. Whisper. Milkman. Sushi. Roswell.

Harvey. Hannah. Hannah. And Milton. And Roswell looks just like Sunny Cat. He does. My cat. Yeah.

We have to put that photo in stories. And also, Randy sent us the photo of Angela Martin's house. Yes. So unfortunately, the scene was deleted, but the cats can get their moment of fame. And we got to do a driving scene together. We did. It's very cute because at the end, after we drop you off, Pam turns to Jim and she says, you know what, I'll call her later to check up on her.

And Jim says, she'll hang up on you. Yes. And Pam says, I know. Well, that would have been our alt tag, right? The car ride instead of Jim collecting Dwight's weapons. But also, right at the end, Michael had a great talking head. Yeah, he's standing on the streets of New York. And he just sort of says, you know, exciting things can happen when you leave Scranton.

Just kind of sums up this storyline for him. Well, got a little tidbit from Randy. I didn't notice it the first time I watched it, but in hindsight, it was obvious to me. Oh, yeah. This scene was a cheat. Steve was not in New York. Steve was shot on a green screen, and we digitally added the office building scene behind him. Randy said we hired this New York-based cinematographer named Alan Pierce to go out and shoot the exterior of a New York office building with people walking by.

Randy said it was this awesome shot, but we ran into a problem with the cameras on our end. So for all you techies out there, we would shoot our show on a Sony 900 digital camera. It was a very early generation digital camcorder. And I guess these cameras had very poor color latitude. Oh, sure, Jenna. You know, you know. And when it's not good, it can be tough. I mean, we know.

Oh, yeah. How many times have I struggled with my color latitude? So many. It does not do well shooting on green screen. And Randy said that's why we did it so infrequently. Now, normally, we would just find someplace in downtown L.A. to double for New York. But I noticed on the call sheets that we only had Steve for two and a half days this week. He worked Monday, Tuesday and part of Wednesday, and the whole rest of our shoot was really dedicated to that complicated parking lot scene. I asked Randy about it. He said he doesn't know exactly why we chose to go green screen, but he has to imagine that we just simply did not have time to go downtown and get that shot because it was a complicated shoot week. Well, I didn't catch it on my first watch,

but I really did on the second one. Me too. I was like, oh, that's a faky backdrop. There you. have it. Faky building, faky shadow, faky bicycle chain, real feelings, guys. That's the duel. That pretty much sums up the duel. All right. Well, thank you to everyone who contributed to this episode. Thank you, Ryan Coe, for calling in and giving us the story of your tragic fall. Yes, thank you, Ryan. And we're going to be back here next week, guys. We have Prince Family Paper. I'm going to be honest, I do not remember the plot of that one. Who's Prince? Who are they? We're going to find out next week.

We're going to find out. I feel like a real audience member. I don't know what's coming. I'm sure I'll remember after I watch the episode, but I can't wait. Hopefully. I hope so. See you guys. Have a great one. Bye. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies' Second Drink.

This episode was initially created in collaboration with Earwolf. Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jenna Fisher and Angela McKinsey. Our senior producer is Matt Beagle. Our second drinks episodes are produced by Molly Nugent. Our audio engineer is Sam Pfeiffer. Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Reese Dennis. Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz. Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratt.