Office Ladies - The Lover

Episode Date: March 2, 2022

This week we’re breaking down “The Lover.” Jim and Pam return from their honeymoon and discover that Michael is dating Pam’s mom, Helene. Let’s just say, Pam is not ok with it. Meanwhile, Dwight spies on Jim with a deceptive spy trick that involves a wooden mallard. Jenna talks about how playing super angry Pam was a challenge, Angela unveils a deleted scene where Michael plays with Helene’s socks, and the ladies have a much needed “BFF download.” This episode is so good, we guarantee it’s much better than the eight hours of tape Dwight has of Jim talking about paper.

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. Good morning, lady. How are ya?

Hey, I said good morning today. I noticed. Lady, I posted like an extreme close-up of my face on Instagram today holding my office ladies coffee mug because I was just so excited to see you even though it's on a Zoom and record our podcast today. It's the highlight of my week. Oh, same. Absolutely.

Well, I think we should get into this episode. You mean the one called The Lover? The Lover. Why am I saying it like that? The Lover. It's hard not to say it like that. I know. Remember those friends of yours that would call one another Lover?

Yes. They would like this episode. Oh my gosh. They really would. Lover, I thought you were going to pick up the grocery's Lover. Okay, I'm standing right here. I'm your neighbor and I'm standing right here. We hear a lot of nicknames that Michael calls Pam's mom.

Thankfully, none of them are Lover. I know, but they're still so awkward. Boo, Pickle. Pickles and Boo. It is season six, episode seven, written by Lee Eisenberg and Jean Stupnitsky and directed by Lee Eisenberg and Jean Stupnitsky. Although Lee Eisenberg is the only director credited because of that DGA thing that we told you about the last time this happened.

Right, right. Little tidbit for you. It was edited by Gary Levy, Greg, and Paul's cousin. Oh, a guest editor. Guest editor. I'm going to hit you with a summary. I was hoping you would. It's very quick.

That's what she said. Pam and Jim's post-Honeymoon glow is doled by the horrifying news that Michael is dating Pam's mom. Meanwhile, Dwight gives Jim a gift that turns out to be a listening device. I mean, that's it. That's it. I summed it up. You did.

So, this episode really just has a very distinct A story, a very distinct B story. Fast fact number one, we're going to start with that A story which I am calling Pam is mad. Pam is pissed off. We had a fan question from Kiana and Andres from Williams, Oregon. Who said, we love ourselves an angry Pam. Our question is, what did you do to get yourself into this mode of angry? Was it difficult since Pam is usually pretty calm?

Oh, Angela. This was so difficult for me. As an actor, this episode, I really, really struggled. Well, I thought you crushed it, Jenna. I loved it. I laughed so much watching it. And for once, it was nice that someone was more angry than my character. I guess I can see that.

Well, for me, Angela, I just really struggled with how confrontational Pam was in this episode because I never felt her as a confrontational person. So does Pam get mad? Oh, sure, she does. But she's a silent sufferer. Does that make sense? Oh, yeah. It does make sense.

But in this one, she is almost like a hostile teenager. I had a lot of conversations with the creative team about this because I just could not make that leap from the Pam I had been playing to the Pam that was scripted in this episode. And what we decided was that everyone has a breaking point that makes them behave out of character for themselves. And this was it. Michael dating Pam's mom was the thing that was going to show us a whole new side of Pam. I agree with that.

I mean, you know we all have someone that is in our lives. And if they became part of our family, we'd be like, ah, ah, ah, no, no, no, no, no. So I believed it. Yeah. Strangely, even watching this episode, I was like, did I do it? Was it like, it just doesn't seem like Pam to me. It's so crazy. Jenna, not only did you do it, but Azure BFF, I have to brag on you a little bit.

I found an article in researching this episode that I wanted to read to you. Okay. It was written by Nathan Rabine for the AV Club. And it's still on their website. I'm just going to share a little bit of it. Nathan writes, many years ago, back when I worked at a thrift store, a singularly unpleasant co-worker I'd had a bitter falling out with, ambled up to me and awkwardly asked for the phone number of one of my sisters.

I will never forget my reaction. Without thought, without premeditation, I shouted, no. And stormed away in a huff. I did not merely refuse his request. I responded with revulsion, visceral horror, and something resembling rage. I am not proud of how I reacted, but if I had to do it over again, I would respond the same way. It really was the only sane reaction.

There's something deeply unnerving about our friends, our co-workers, having sex with our relatives that grows infinitely creepier the less sure we are about the friends or co-workers in question. I'm not just saying this because I am deeply, deeply repressed. So I knew exactly how Jim and Pam felt when they found out that Michael had, in his deliciously, pointlessly formal turn of phrase, taken a lover. And the lover in question was Pam's mom. The writing and the acting really sold the can't miss premise.

It was a half hour of awkward awesomeness. And I'm not even mentioning the niftiness of Ryan's fedora of mystery. Oh my gosh. I love that article. Isn't that so great? I thought you would feel affirmed in your performance. I do. And basically what he is saying is what Jean and Lee kept saying to me every day.

They were like, you cannot help this. This is coming out of you and you can't stop it. That was their direction. I agree with Nathan. Amazing. Also, his response to his co-worker was so hilarious. All right. Moving us to fast fact number two.

This one is all about our B story, which I'm calling Dwight Records Jim. I got curious. Oh, I did too. I wonder if we got curious about the same things. Here was what I wanted to know. I was like Dwight is committing a crime, right? Yeah. This is a crime.

Pretty sure. I looked it up. Would mom detectives know? By the way, this whole storyline, I made a note to myself. Remember this for mom detectives. In 38 states, you can record a private conversation with another person and you only need one person to know that there's a recording happening. It's called one party consent.

So would the party then be Dwight? Is Dwight the consent party? Yes. Oh. So he is recording. Well, I guess he's not in there. Exactly. Yeah.

Basically, he would need someone like Creed and cahoots with him. Basically everyone who is talking to Jim would need to know they're being recorded. But there are 12 states that have a two-party consent law and that means that everybody being recorded has to give their consent to being recorded. Right. So these states are California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Washington, and Pennsylvania. So he is breaking the law.

He is breaking the law. Now there are exceptions. You can videotape or record anything in a public space, but this is not a public space, where you can record a private conversation in a private space if you reasonably suspect that the person you're recording is about to commit or is in the process of committing a violent crime. Oh. None of these things apply.

What Dwight is doing is totally illegal. In fact, in Pennsylvania, it is a felony in the third degree. And if he was convicted, he could face three and a half years to seven years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000. And you know who would have known that? Dwight. Dwight. He's knowingly breaking the law.

He is. And what does he get out of it? Nothing. Eight hours of paper talk. Eight hours of, yeah, sales calls. Paper talk. All right, Angela. It's fast fact number three.

You know what that means. Angela's digital clutter, that makes me laugh, I forgot how crazy that is. Sam made that. This is making me laugh and he made it to sound like The Matrix, which is because he knows me and he gets me and I love him for it. All right, fast fact three from my digital clutter. Remember guys, this may or may not pay off. Just remember that.

Oh, I feel like you reminding us of that. Okay. Maybe means you think it won't, but I have faith in you. So the week we filmed this episode in my digital clutter was an email exchange between myself, Kenneth Paul, who did my makeup every day, and Pamela Santori, who sat next to Kenneth Paul and did the makeup in the chair right next to me. Yes. Oh, how wonderful.

The three of us were clearly very interested in some cat videos. Uh-huh. So Pamela emailed Kenneth and I, the subject line says cat and sneakers, and the message says smart kitty exclamation point, enjoy. And it's a video Jenna and it was still in the email, so I'll put it in stories. It's a commercial for a foot odor spray and in the ad, the cat takes the owner's smelly sneakers and carries them one by one to its litter box and it had this ridiculous jingle. And after I rewatched it, it lived in my head for days.

So get ready for the jingle. Enjoy. So while that music is playing, the cat is moving the sneakers. I don't know if it's possible, maybe without the meows, but doesn't that music sound like the sneak music for the mom detectives? Like when we are sneaking up on a suspect. Yeah. Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, bom, bom, bom, bom, bom, bom, bom, bom, meow, meow, meow,

bom, bom, bom, bom, bom, bom. But maybe we say, mom, mom, mom, mom, detectives. Oh, who's going to watch the show? That is my digital clutter. I loved it. There was some hot emails going back and forth in hair and makeup. I think we should take a break. I want to show you something before we go.

Look what I have. Not going to show you what's written on them. You have two note cards. I have two note cards because I had two late-breaking ideas of things I wanted to share. One, the blue one, is full of facts. Great. These are late-breaking facts that came in from Randy Cordray, didn't have time to put them in my document, put them on a note card.

The green note card is some personal stuff I want to share with you. It is completely unrelated to this episode, but I need to get it out. And you're seeing the need for a note card. Yep. Well, I'm excited to come back from this break because you have what I'm calling some hot facts because they're hot off the press. Hot off the press facts. And personal scoophage.

Yep. We'll be right back. We are back, and you know who else is back, Pam and Jim. They are back from their honeymoon in Puerto Rico. And Kelly is really, really happy for them. She's really happy. I know. They have an adorable talking head.

The honeymoon is great. They're glowing. I mean, this was a great trip for them. But then, they're reminded of where they are now, which is with Michael and blind guy Mick Squeezy. I have a background catch in this scene. Is it at 58 seconds? No.

It starts at 36 seconds. Mindy's in the background behind White, like by those filing cabinets by the pillar. And she looks like she's clearly checking her phone. Her head is down. And then she looks up, and it's like she's like, oh crap, I'm supposed to be over there. And she does this slink move around the plant and scooches her way back up to where I think she's supposed to be. I filmed it.

It's so hilarious. Oh my gosh. Are you serious? Yes. I have got to show it to you. I need you to see it in real time, lady. This is so funny. Look at this.

Oh my gosh. Her move around the tall plant is hilarious. Okay, well, at 58 seconds, I noticed Mindy is totally laughing in the background. Oh yeah. I caught that too. She starts to completely break. Mindy, very entertaining in the background of this scene. Yeah.

The slink around the plant is amazing. Meredith is going to be the six-year-old in the office and ask Pam what they brought the office as a souvenir. Do you feel like Jim and Pam were obligated to bring gifts for their coworkers from their honeymoon? You know what? I don't think they were obligated, but I would. Like if I married a coworker in a small office and we went on a honeymoon, we would bring

something back. You just would. I thought the candies were perfect. That's sort of for the whole bullpen. I was surprised they brought an individual gift for Michael. They had two options. I know. Who was getting the seashell alarm clock, I wonder.

I don't know, but I would take it. That sounds really kitschy and fun to me. You would have kept that. You're not giving that away. I wouldn't give that away. I would have bought it for someone else, but then kept it for myself. Well, Meredith is bummed that Pam only brought candy. She's probably going to be even more bummed that it's going to take a while for Pam to

set it out, but we'll get there. Yeah. What's up with that? With the permission and the asking Michael, I was like, what is this weird power play happening over the candy? I don't know, but I thought it was so funny. So now the episode's going to start and Dwight is, um, well, he's starting his espionage. Yeah.

He storms into Jim's office and he's like two things. Number one, stop leaving your pens on my desk just because you got a promotion. It doesn't mean you get to leave your stuff all over the place. And number two, congratulations on your promotion. And he does this like turn and he's going to present him with a promotion gift of a wooden mallard. Well, Jim is going to say thanks for the duck and Dwight quickly says mallard. He corrects people multiple times in this episode when they say duck, he says mallard.

So Jenna, I had to know what's the difference between a duck and a mallard. Well, a mallard has a green head and it's a male duck. I know that from my summer's Lake of the Ozarks. We had lots of ducks. Here's what the internet says. Okay. There are over 120 species of ducks. A mallard is just one type of duck.

Mallards are probably the most popular species of duck in North America and Eurasian wetlands, parks and ponds. This is a sexually demorphic species of duck. That means that the males and females look different from one another. Male mallards sport bright green heads and are easily identified, but female mallards are brown color, not without their own subtle beauty. Both males and females have a blue patch in their wing. Mallards make the popular quack sound that most people associate to the sound of a duck.

And then it ended with this and a female mallard is particularly vocal. Oh, there you go. That's what the internet had to say about mallards. We had mallards at my parents' lake house. We loved them. Well, I'm not done. Oh, get ready for this. While googling mallards, guess what was the first thing that came up, which was crazy

to me? What? And I know you're going to think this is me having a thing for trains. But on July 3rd, 1938, a steam locomotive called the Mallard claimed the world speed record at 126 miles per hour. Oh, I think Google gave you that fact because it knows how much you like trains. I guess it does. I bet if I googled mallard, I would not get that.

I'm going to do it right now. Okay. I'm curious. What did you google? I googled famous mallards. Famous mallards. I didn't know if there was like a popular story about a mallard. You know what comes up for me?

What? A Wikipedia page called List of Fictional Ducks. Ah, well, for me, this came up. It was named the mallard because Sir Herbert Nigel Gresley, hope I'm saying that right, was a British railway engineer who enjoyed breeding waterfowl as much as he loved making trains, I guess. He also designed a train he called the Flying Scotsman. And here's this.

The A4 number 4468 Mallard still holds the record for being the fastest steam locomotive in the world. I'm going to get you a train. I just thought that was crazy. I was looking up information about mallards and I found a train. I think it's an algorithm in your computer now. It knows to show you these types of facts. I think you're going to get a lot of train facts.

I also got some wallpaper with ducks on it. You bought wallpaper with ducks? No, wallpaper came up in my search. If that tells you the other thing, I've been Googling, guys, I want a wallpaper. Listen, that's a subject for later. Can I have duck wallpaper or train wallpaper or both duck and train wallpaper? Okay. I'm going to stop talking.

I have an observation from the scene. What? So remember last week when we were talking about the storyline of Aaron destroying Pam's watercolor? Oh, yeah. Well, at one minute, 59 seconds over Dwight's shoulder. He's standing in Jim's office. You can see that there is nothing on the wall where Pam's watercolor should be.

And that is how it's going to be in this episode. The wall will be blank. There's another great shot of it at four minutes, 53 seconds, when Michael walks up to reception. But next week, there's going to be something there, not Pam's watercolor, but I'll point it out. Okay. So listen, ultimately, Jim is going to take the duck, Dwight leaves, he has a talking head where he reveals he inserted a listening device into the belly of the duck.

It looks like a walkie-talkie. It is. He calls it a listening device. This is a very crude system he's created. We'll find out why. Exactly. So something I want to point out, as Jim is sitting at his desk and he puts the mallard down, at two minutes, 50 seconds, there is a photo on Jim's desk of Pam.

Do you know what the photo is? No. It is that old, fuzzy-haired photo of Pam with her eyes half closed. It's the one they put the beans on. Oh my gosh. Why has he framed this weird picture of Pam and put it on his desk? It was so weird to me. It's weird.

I don't know. I don't know what that was about, but I'm going to track it because it's suddenly on his desk and I'm curious, is it going to stay there? How long will the fuzzy picture of Pam be on the desk? Tracking it. Tracking it. We have a delicious Jim and Michael scene coming up in the kitchen. Jenna, I just feel like you know you're in for a doozy of a conversation.

If it starts with, I have recently taken a lover. Yeah. I mean, if you're leading in with that line, I'm going to get a cup of tea and sit down. I'm going to get comfortable. You know, Jim says, who's the lucky lady? John is totally breaking when he says that. Did you see? He's like, who's the lucky lady?

Like that is John right there. And then I laughed so hard when Jim's like, you did not have sex with Pam's mom. And Michael's like, oh, big time. And Jim says, what kind of car does she drive? And Michael goes, a green Camry and Jim's like, oh yeah, that was not in the script. That curse that was on the day. Yeah. And then just everything about the beats of the scene is so funny.

And when Jim is like, find a new way home, man. Oh, we got a fan question about that from Jessica S. in Columbia, South Carolina. She said in season two, episode two, Pam says that her mom lives about two hours away. But in this episode, Michael says it's easy to date Pam's mom because she's on his way home from work. Did Pam's mom move? Yes. We think she did after the divorce.

Yeah, I believe that. Yeah. She moved closer to Pam. Michael is doing that thing. I feel like we've all done at some point where you date someone who's nearby because it's just easy. Yeah. But then when you break up, it's really a bummer.

It's really a bummer, guys, because then they're in your neighborhood. When I first moved to LA, there was a guy in my acting class. Yeah. And he lived up the street from me and we started dating, but it didn't last long. Oh, no. And then like, he was always there. It was so awkward. And you know what was really awkward?

Is that like near the tail end of it, you know, when the person's trying to get in touch with you, but you're not answering, he would say to me in class, he'd be like, hey, why didn't you answer the phone? I mean, I saw that you were home. And I'd be like, because this was like in the time of landlines when you called a person's home phone. In the dinosaur time. Yeah.

Yes. And I'd be like, oh, yeah, like I would go home and my phone would ring. And it was really weird. I mean, Sam, it's kind of like how Emily shouldn't have hooked up with Gabriel in her own building in Paris. I don't want to talk about this. You know, I don't want to talk about this. I've totally started watching Emily in Paris and it's making Sam crazy.

It's so bad. I'm sorry, but Gabriel is hot. I know one said he was. I don't. I mean, it would be hard to be his neighbor and not hook up with him. Right. Okay. I have not watched this show.

Do I need to watch it? Oh, Jenna. Yes. No, you don't. Yes. Watch it. It's just going to make you want to travel and eat like amazing food. But as a good person, not her.

You guys know that the name of that show is supposed to be pronounced Emily and Perry. That was the intention. Well, that's not how she's going to pronounce it. Yeah. But she's in French class and it's she wouldn't pronounce it that way. Just us. Oh boy. I'm just saying I read an article.

Wow. And the creators were like, you know, we thought it was a fun play on words. I can't get enough of it. I just watched her write off in a designer moped. Sam. Look. Yes. He's very hot.

Her eyebrows are great. She is a quantifiably a bad person and this show makes me mad. Well, anyway, back in the kitchen, not in Paris, but in Scranton. I think we're learning an important lesson here. Don't date your co-worker's mom, but then Jim, Jim says, whatever you do, don't tell Pam. Yeah. Oh, Jim, you know, this is going to blow up in your face, buddy.

Come on. It's true. Ever since Jim became a co-manager, I feel like he makes bad decisions. Are you saying he wasn't supposed to be co-manager? I'm just saying. Are you going on record? I'm saying he's like, I'm saying like maybe. You're having a hard time saying it, whatever it is you're trying to say.

I'm saying that maybe, maybe this new job, he's actually working all day and it's causing him to not be able to dedicate all of his time to Pam. No. To have the same instincts he had before about like social dealings, you know, he blurts out that Pam is pregnant at the wedding and he puts beans on his co-worker's face. There's suddenly like, he doesn't have his good social instincts. You know what I think? What?

I think the more time you spend with Michael, the more you start becoming Michael-like. This is what I'm saying. Yes. Yes. Yes. Well, Michael is going to take Jim's advice. He's going to go up to Erin. He's going to change their dinner reservation from four people to two people and he says

it's okay to put out Pam's candy. Yay. There is a deleted scene where Erin announces to the bullpen, hey everyone, Jim and Pam brought candy and it is out now at front reception for you to enjoy. Like she makes this big announcement and Pam goes up to her and goes, you don't need to announce when candy is put out, just put it out. And then Kevin will come and take most of it and that's what happens. Oh.

Well, I have a very exciting piece of news here. At four minutes and 54 seconds, we got a shot of Erin's desk and I would like to revisit something. Remember that boot and that bear on her desk and we could not figure out. What it meant? Yeah. Vinnie 2.022 tweeted us to say, I think I solved the pink mug at Erin's desk. It's from JFBB Ski Resort.

Oh, good catch Vinnie. Sure enough, the logo is the same. Makes sense that it's a ski boot and it stands for Jack Frost Big Boulder Ski Resort. It is located in Lake Harmony, Pennsylvania, which is only about 50 minutes outside of Scranton. It's not a big ski resort. Jack Frost Ski Mountain has about 18 runs. It has a freestyle area and a tubing area.

Big Boulder has about 12 runs, a tubing run and a couple of freestyle terrain areas. But does this mean that Erin is a snow skier? Yeah, Erin's a skier. Who knew? Is this our only indication in the series that she skis? I think so. We don't know because we are doing this rewatch in real time. We might get mail that says, guys, in season eight, there's a huge storyline where Erin

explains that she skis all the time. I feel like we would remember that. I feel like we would remember that she skis. I remember she roller skates. We don't have a big storyline about skiing. We don't know. Listen, I didn't remember that I used the big shredder. I made a big declaration that the shredder was never used and turns out that wasn't

true. So you never know. You never know. But anyway, mystery solved. It's time to give Michael his gift. Pam is ready to march over there. Jim really doesn't want this to happen now. He is very worried that the whole Michael and the mom info is going to come out.

They settle on the rum, they're going to give him rum. And as Jim's sleeping, what does he hear? That walkie talkie feedback that Dwight has duct taped underneath the mallard. Yeah, he's discovered the listening device, which Dwight intended for him to. But we don't know that yet. We don't know that yet. We don't. Well, I have a background catch in the next scene.

Oh, spill it. As Michael is opening his box of rum on the side of the box, it says Oscuro rum, O-S-C-U-R-O rum. Yep. I looked it up. According to the Internet, that rum is actually from Barbados. Well, I was very curious about this rum as well. I could not find this anywhere.

I texted prop master Phil Shea. What Phil say? He made the whole thing. He made the bottle. He made the label. He made the box. He put the parrot on it, all of it. And it was scripted that there was a parrot hugging the bottle.

So when Jim has his line, Michael, keep the parrot. That was in the script. So Phil actually had to invent this whole prop. Isn't that amazing? There was also a line in the script that got cut when Jim and Pam are trying to decide which gift to give, either the seashell alarm clock or the rum, where Jim says whichever one doesn't look like we bought it at the airport. So that was another tip-off for Phil Shea.

This had to look like something maybe you bought at the airport. Sure. Like in one of those souvenir shops. Yes. Well, I thought it looked great. Well, during this scene, Pam is going to find out what's going on. Because Aaron's going to come in and say, Michael, I changed your reservation. They're all set for two people.

And Pam is like, oh, fancy dinner tonight. Must be someone special. And Michael's like, it is. It actually, it really is. But I think it's going to end. Pam's like, why? No. Yeah.

Michael's like, Pam, it's very complicated. There's a lot of moving parts. And Pam's like, you know, if you really like this person, you should see where it goes. And Michael's like, you want me to be happy? John's face is Jim as he sees where this is going is so good. But then Jenna, your face, when you're like, who is it? Who is it, Michael? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, it was so good.

It was really hard to shoot that scene. They wanted me to take a really long time to realize it. And then they wanted me, you know, to realize it, but be denying it inside. If I remember the direction correctly, it was like deeply deny this information, even though it's very clear to you who it is. It was so good. I thought you guys, that whole scene played out so great. Pam is going to leave the office and she's just going to go down to the parking lot and

scream. Just scream. There was a great deleted scene. Oh gosh. It's so cringy. It made Pam scream makes so much sense. Michael has Pam's mom's socks. That's all I'm going to say.

He found a pair of her socks and he's on the phone talking to her directly behind Pam's back while she's at her desk. You know, I've got something of yours. I do. You left them at my condo the other night. Yeah, I've got them right here. Mmm, they still smell like you. It's not gross.

I like it. How much is it worth you? Oh, really? Oh, you are bad. You're very bad. I want to put them on your feet. I have them on my hands right now. Oh my God.

And then it cuts to Pam screaming in the parking lot. Now, we're not sure if she's overheard this or not because his door was shut and it's over her shoulder, but still come on. This is what she would have to live with. Oh my gosh, I did not remember that scene. Oh, it is so cringy. He literally is smelling them. He puts them on his hands.

They're like these little like white footlet socks, you know, and they have like red and pink polka dots. Wow. Yeah, that's what Pam's reality would have been. With her screaming, it feels warranted. I am speechless. I really am. So I was going to notice that Michael seems tense, you know, and he's going to offer to

give him the chills. This made me laugh so hard. So hard. So hard. Did everyone do this growing up? We did this growing up. This was a slumber party thing. You crack an egg on your head and let yolk run down.

But I never did a knife in the back. We had two versions. We had one that started with X marks the spot with the dot, dot, dot, with the line, line, line, and a question mark. And then it was like, I think it was like you hit a rock on your head and you stabbed the knife in the back and then the spiders went up the arms. It always gave me the chills though. I mean, it's so violent.

It's so violent. My gosh, we just did an egg crack on the head. We did egg crack. We did knife in the back, spiders up arms. Wow. I know. It definitely felt like a moment though from the 80s, right? This is like, you know, you grew up in the 80s moment.

Yeah. Is this still happening today? Young people out there, do you still crack an egg on your head of your friend and then give them chills? What the yolk run down? I've done it to my daughter, but I do the egg on the head and the spades on her head. Oh, good. So Pam's going to yell at her mom now on the phone.

She's very upset. Jim's going to come out and sit with her on that little bench by the warehouse. It says in the script, he brings her hot chocolate and a jacket. Although I'd like to point out she was already wearing her jacket when she was screaming. Oh. So maybe she flung it off. I like to imagine that like in anger, she like flung her jacket across the parking lot and Jim had to come down and like gather it and bring it back to her.

Well, now whenever I see us doing a scene on the side of the warehouse, I'm like, it's 3.30 because Randy told us that's when the lighting was good. I remember that hot chocolate was good. I thought it was a sweet thing that Jim brought hot chocolate. I know you can't really see me drinking it, but it actually was hot chocolate. They ask you, they say, what do you want in the cup? Would you like, you can have anything in it. We're not going to see it.

You know. Yeah. We're not going to have iced tea. Well, it depended, you know, oftentimes I would put coffee in my coffee mug because then I could drink coffee, which was awesome. And this time I was like, you know what, hot chocolate sounds great. Can I have hot chocolate? And they said, sure.

In addition to this hot chocolate, Jim is going to try to lighten Pam's mood. You know, he's going to try to gossip with her about the mallard. She does not care. She really doesn't care. She needs him to be more upset about this. This is his mother now, too. She says your mother is sleeping with Michael Scott. Oh, yeah.

And then she just walks away and lets him sit in that moment. And with that, I think we should take a break, but I want to point out, I have still not revealed what's on my two cards. Yeah. Will you get to it? I'm so curious. I'll get to it. It'll be in this next part.

We'll be back. We are back, and Jenna, spill the beans on the green card and the blue card. Well, the blue card is first up, Angela. We're in the scene where Jim asks Andy to come in his office. He's going to start blasting some opera music. And of course, this is driving Dwight crazy. The aria that Jim is playing is from a German opera called Martha by Friedrich von Flotto. It is a romantic comedy opera, lady.

Everyone in the office is hearing it, and Creed starts crying. Oh, I had so many background catches as we went around the room. At 9 minutes 40 seconds, the camera zooms in on you, Angela, listening to the opera, and the whiteboard over your shoulder says this. I loved it. It says, Post it Rep Joe, 4 p.m. with Phyllis. A Post it Rep is coming in to talk to Phyllis, Angela. And then at 9 minutes 45 seconds, when the camera shows that Creed is crying, I noticed

that Creed has a photo of himself taped to the wall. A headshot of himself. Not even in a frame, just taped to the wall. Just taped to the wall. Freestyle. That tracks. But here's what I'm going to tell you. Here's the late breaking info that came in from Randy Cordray.

It's about that song that Jim is playing. He said that that song was public domain. However, we had to pay $1,500 in royalty rights to play that particular recording. What if you don't think about stuff I don't think about when I watch a show? Nope. I do now, though. Well, now Michael is going to hold a meeting in the conference room. A lot happens in this meeting.

And yet I titled this scene, Ryan has a hat. Uh-huh. I wrote down at 10 minutes 35 seconds, we see Ryan's fedora for the first time. Out of the blue. No explanation. Out of the blue. What's going on? This conference room meeting is actually going to be about the fact that corporate wants

each branch to brainstorm ways to better communicate with their community. And whoever comes up with the best idea is going to get a $50 gift certificate to a local restaurant. I want to point out when Jim announces the $50 gift certificate, how happy everyone was. There's a reaction shot pass. And we're all like, even Angela Martin is like, oh, that's nice. Good incentive. Everyone likes food.

People are shouting out ideas, but Pam is going to suggest that Michael leaving Scranton would make Scranton a better place. That would help the community. Oh, Pam's turning up the heat. She literally starts chanting, no more meetings and stands up like waving her hands about, no more meetings. Yes, we had a fan question from Zach M in Venice Center, New York in the conference room scene.

Was it Leslie David Baker's idea to join in with Pam's no more meetings? Or was that in the script? I also just love his reaction when Michael says, I'm sensual. Oh, yeah. Stanley is the king of facial sass. I loved the term facial sass. Yeah, me too. You know what?

Guys, that was all Leslie. It was not scripted that anyone should join in with Pam, but he made the choice to be delighted. And I absolutely love it. During Pam's rally cry to get meetings canceled, Michael gets a phone call and he starts to take it. This was the moment my character decides to raise her hand and participate. And Jim's like, yes, Angela, you should tell us your ideas. And I go off into my speech about the accounting department.

And the rest of the room, they don't give a crap about what Angela is saying. They want to hear Michael's phone call because he starts it off and he's saying, no, no one talks to my baby that way. Yeah, yeah, no, I'll talk to her. This is all anyone wants to hear. For sure. It was really hard for me to do those lines so seriously because we were all cracking up.

Steve was being so funny and I checked the script. Everything he's saying was totally scripted. All of that. It was perfect. It was perfect. The only line that I caught that was improvised was actually by Brian Baumgartner because when Michael comes back in the room, Kevin says, who's Pickle? Yes.

And that was not in the script. Yes. And that made us laugh too. I don't know if you noticed when Michael's phone rang. It had a distinct ringtone. I couldn't put my finger on it though. Did you pick it up? I played it over and over and over again.

I just noticed that it wasn't like a standard ringtone. And Michael is known for having special songs on his phone. Right. So maybe this ringtone was assigned to Pam's mom for a reason. I couldn't figure it out. But in the script, it says that Michael's cell phone ring is supposed to be the song Sexual Healing. This brings me back to the blue card.

Sure enough, we did pay to have his ringtone be Sexual Healing. That is what is playing. We paid $26,500 just for that ringtone. Whoa. Which I'm sad to say, the joke didn't even land when I heard it. Someone must have caught it. Out there in the world, someone caught it. But yeah, that ringtone also is only like six seconds?

If that, yes. Well, after Michael's phone call, everyone's going to learn that he's dating Pam's mom and they're like, Michael, you're out of line. And then Michael makes this impassioned speech. You know, like, why can't I have love? You know? Yeah. And then Phyllis is like, well, Michael, I wish you luck.

And then Oscar starts to chime in and Pam is like, shut up, Oscar. This really starts a battle between Michael and Pam. Yeah. You know, everyone's on Pam's side, but they quickly turn to Michael's side. And this is even more frustrating for Pam. The news comes out, she thinks she's going to have backup and she doesn't. I mean, even to the point where when she walks up to accounting, Angela gives her a little sarcastic sass.

Angela's enjoying this. Are you kidding? Angela's about to bust out some popcorn. Well, lady, we got fan mail from Jamie in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who said, Angela, your delivery of Pam, how's your day going? Is my all time favorite line in the entire series? What? It is absolutely perfect and hilarious.

Thank you. Jamie, I think we might need to send you an Angela sass sweatshirt. Oh, we should. You like yourself some Angela sass. We're going to figure out how to get that to you. Thank you, Jamie. It was very fun to play something other than angry. And so being that like passive aggressive bitch was delicious.

Well Pam and Michael have clearly drawn a line in the sand. She wants him to leave the office. He's like, I'm willing to die here. She's like, I'm willing to die here. And there's a standoff. There was an amazing deleted runner between Michael and Jim, where Michael is pleading to Jim to please help him with Pam. It starts in the kitchen.

I want you to hear part of it. I need you to side with me on this. You're the boss. Everybody here considers you to be the boss more than me. That's crazy. Because you've been the boss way longer, so you've dealt with situations just like this dozens of times. I think that you can solve this because I am not that smart.

Toilet guard, golden ticket, you're a creative mastermind. You have a relationship with Pam. You know her better than I do. Michael, you know Pam way better than I do. That's only partially true. So then the scene somehow becomes this, who's the best boss off? Because whoever's the better boss is who has to go handle Pam. I am an idiot.

You're brilliant, man. You know it. I wouldn't even know where to start, Michael. You are an excellent moderator, boss, friend. You are the greatest light of hand magician I've ever seen. You're the man for the job. That's why you were promoted. I can't lie anymore.

You're a genius. Well, okay, all right. That just made me laugh. I guess Michael's going to end up going to Toby. Yeah, because he went to Jim and it didn't work. He won the best boss off and he doesn't want to deal with Pam. So he is now having to choose his last resort. He gives Toby a hug.

There were so many moments in the scene that I thought were just perfection. First of all, when he goes to sit down and Toby's like, I can get you a chair or you can sit on the shredder. Okay. Yeah. And also Toby's talking head where he is like, he always knew that he and Michael would become friends. Yeah.

If Michael could just give him a chance, you know. Oh my gosh. Heartbreaking. I also think that Toby is very excited to have a reason to go talk to Pam, but it does not go well. And no. At all. And Michael immediately turns on Toby.

Oh, by the way, lady, we skipped over a very important scene over in Kelly's nook. Yes. The fedora moment because Dwight is all of a sudden hearing a conversation between Kelly and Ryan through the mallard walkie-talkie. We can hear Kelly talking about Ryan's fedora. She wants to get one. Where did he get his? She asks.

He says, I'd rather not say. Yeah. He doesn't want to get into it. No. All the while Dwight is running back to Kelly's nook and sees the mallard on her desk. A gift from Jim. And once again, Dwight is like, where did you get that mallard? Kelly's like, what the hell is a mallard?

Oh, Professor Damian D Duck. Yeah. I want to say that we got some fan mail from Curie C in North Hollywood, California, who pointed out that Ryan is not wearing a fedora. He is wearing a trilby. It's a different kind of hat. I looked this up, the main difference between these two hats, they're shaped very similarly, but it's the size of the brim.

Curie noted that trilbies were very popular during this time, but they were often misidentified as fedoras. This trend was often found with, quote, gents like Ryan, who had a tendency to condescendingly explain things to other, even though the information was not accurate. This moment just is so peak, Ryan, that Ryan would be walking around wearing a trilby but calling it a fedora. I do vaguely remember that like, I feel like Brad Pitt used to wear these or something. Like I feel like I remember seeing like big celebrities wearing these hats.

Oh yeah, it was like, like a mini moment. It was a moment. These trilby hats on the gents, the hipster gents. The hipsters. Lady, we're getting near the end of this episode, and I'd like to get out my green index card. Oh, this is the personal stuff. This is personal, totally unrelated to the episode. Here's what it is.

Lady, you and I have been working really hard producing the podcast each week. We've been doing the final, final pass of our book. Oh my gosh, the book. The book. We talk constantly, but we talk about work. We have not had a good BFF download in a few weeks, and to me, that feels like very long time not to have a BFF download with you. I know.

We used to at least once a week be able to grab lunch or breakfast or go for a walk or sit on one of our porches and just have just like a gal pal gab. I have three things that I have been wanting to talk to you about, but I've not had the chance because every time we're talking, it's about work. Are we going to do it right here? This is my moment. I need this moment. Okay.

And I'm just going to let everybody in on the types of things that I would bring up to you in a BFF download. Are you ready? I wrote them on the card because I actually been writing them down so I don't forget to tell you. Yes. I'm so excited. I didn't see this coming today.

I know. But this was my in. So the first one is something that has been bothering me for a really, really long time. And I have strong feelings about it. I need to get it off my chest and I don't want people to come for me. Oh no. Okay. Okay.

But you're my BFF and I can say this to you. Okay. What the f*** is up with sun butter? It is so gross. It tastes horrible. Who is eating it? Who is eating sunflower butter? Who?

So this is the first I've never hearing of sun butter because you know I love just butter butter. No. Sunflower butter is like... Is that fake butter? It's a peanut butter alternate, okay? You know, you've got almond butter, cashew butter, all these butters that are made out of tree nuts and nuts and seeds and they have made a spread out of sunflower seeds.

And Angela, it's gross. It is not good. And I just need to know is anyone like buying it for a second time? Because you'll buy it and be like, oh, sunflower butter. This might be really delicious. Let me eat it. Does anyone buy it for a second time? Anyone?

Cassie, Sam, feel free to weigh in on this. Your feelings on sunflower butter. I've never heard of sunflower butter. Thank you, Cassie. Thank you. I have no idea this exists. God, three of us had never heard of it. Guys, don't buy it, okay?

My God, the sun butter people are coming for you. I know. And listen, I know that this can be an alternate for people who have peanut allergies. I just want to say I'm so sorry that this is your alternate. I'm sorry. It tastes horrible. I will say, even though I didn't know it exists, this absolutely sounds like something Emily in Paris would eat.

Oh, yeah. You know what, Sam? Every morning. She would be bummed because she couldn't get her order of sun butter from the states. Exactly. And she would probably go into work at Savoir and be like, oh, my sun butter hasn't arrived. And they'd be like, oh, this stupid American. All right.

Well, sorry. Sorry, Emily in Paris tangent. That's all right. All right. I've been meaning to complain to you about it ever since I tried it and I tried it like three weeks ago. Done. My second thing.

Okay. Gluten-free Oreos are amazing. You cannot tell the difference. I love them. They are so good. Thank you Oreos for making gluten-free Oreos. Jenna, are all your things food related? They are.

Okay. They are. Does that surprise you? The only thing that's funny to me is if we were in person, I know you and you would have made me A, eat the Oreo because I'd be like, no, I don't want it. I don't want it. I don't like it. And then you might make me try the sun butter.

Oh, yeah. Okay. Here's the last thing. I recently started following Jessica Seinfeld on Instagram. Oh, yeah. I've been following her for a while and she does all these vegan recipes. Yes. Every day she posts herself making a vegan recipe from her cookbook, which is called

Vegan at Times. Yeah. The videos are so compelling. Everything she's making looks so delicious. She always looks so fashionable too and her kitchen's so tidy. I love these videos so much. Every day I look forward to them. What is she making today?

Oh, she's frying some tofu today. Oh, she's making like a pesto out of spinach. Yeah. I want to get the cookbook and try some of these vegan dishes. It's making me want to eat vegan. That's it, lady. That was it. That was my BFF download.

Is there anything that you want to share? Anything you've been needing to tell me? I think my big thing I would tell you is I am losing my mind at the amount of stacks of clutter in my house right now. It's like when you walk in the door, there's like a pile of shoes and the kids have wedged some socks in their shoes that have been forgotten about. And then there's like an arts and craft project that never got fully put away, but it's just sort of stacked tidily on the dining table.

I don't know, Jenna. I'm having to walk through my house and go into my happy place of like, I'm going to get to that. I'm going to get to that pile. I'm going to get to that pile. It's all going to be okay. Yeah. You know, I can really relate to that because when we get into these like heavy work periods

that we go through from time to time, I feel like I have to shut all of that out. And then when we're done, I know when we turn in this pass of the book, all that stuff is going to come into focus for me and it's going to be super overwhelming. Like all the piles that right now I'm managing to compartmentalize out of my life are going to come into sharp focus and they're going to bother me very much and I'm going to have to spend two days cleaning. I would love like a week at home, like a staycation where we have no plans and every day I tackle one little nook.

Like we have this area like under our stairs that is a absolute hot effin mess. Lady, I really liked that hearing all that stuff. I hope everyone listening to the podcast enjoyed that. I feel like if I go in the grocery store and see sun butter, I'm going to like have some reaction. I'm going to be like, huh, sorry, just for you. I've been holding that in so long and anyway, and if I finally tidy under the stairs, I'll share on social about it.

Great. Good. And you know what, that was your window into our friendship. We discussed the important things. Because with your BFF, all of it's important. That's right. Yeah. I'm invested in the bottom of your stairs now.

I really am. Yeah. And I'm going to try a gluten-free Oreo. See, that's best friendship. Well, Michael has a talking head that he has plenty of female friends speaking of friendship. His mom, Pam's mom, his aunt, who just blocked him on IM, the lady at Quiznos, he doesn't need Pam. And we also have to mention, Pam has just found out that Jim knew.

Even though he didn't know very long, he knew. He knew. Yeah. Pam is really mad and she feels all alone because people are saying, I think you're overreacting. She's by herself in this feeling, you know, she feels like Jim has kind of betrayed her. Well, Jim is going to try to make it up to her. He is. He confronts Dwight about the mallard.

Dwight apologizes and Jim says, you know what, wash my car as payment for your deed, right? Dwight's like, that is fine by me. And then Jim gets Pam and they're in the conference room and they have this sweet little moment where he's like, look, Dwight felt bad for you today and he's washing our car. And Pam's like, he did that for me. And then Jim starts reminiscing about Puerto Rico. He says, you know what was nice, night swimming and bi-o-bay and Pam's like, oh, say more nice things.

Well, I had to know, what is bi-o-bay? Yeah. What is it? Is it popular to night swim there? Do tell. I looked it up and this is what the website Discover Puerto Rico, which is the official tourism website for Puerto Rico had to say, exploring Puerto Rico's bioluminescent bays. If you're seeking an eco-friendly, surreal experience, you should include a bioluminescent

bay in Puerto Rico when planning your next trip. They are rare ecosystems that happen when microscopic single-sale organisms called, oh, I'm probably going to get this wrong, dinoflagellates. Sure, I got that wrong. They grow in quantities big enough to produce a glow-in-the-dark effect when stimulated by movement. So when you paddle or splash around, these organisms light up in a neon blue-green color. And so does everything they come in contact with, giving a star-like reflection to the

water. They can be found throughout the ocean, however, it is very rare for them to live in high concentrations enough to be noticeable. To put this in perspective, there must be thousands and thousands of these single-sale organisms to make a gallon of water light up. There are only five ecosystems in the world where the concentration of these planktons is high enough to be considered bioluminescent bays, and Puerto Rico is home to three of them.

That sounds so cool. Doesn't it? I've always wanted to go to Puerto Rico. I was supposed to go there because years ago, I wrote a short film called Blacked Out, and it was directed by my friend, Andres Anglade, and edited by Juan Marquez, who are both from Puerto Rico, and it won the Crowd Favorite Award at the Rencon International Film Festival. And I started it along with my husband, Josh, Creed Bratton, my friends, Tonebill, and Makayla Hoover.

And I was unable to go to accept the award in Puerto Rico because I was in Vancouver filming Haters Back Off. Oh my gosh. Well, first of all, I remember that short film, and it's so funny. You and Josh are so good at it. It's very, very funny. Creed is hilarious in it. I need to find a way to, I don't know, I need to, I don't know where to put it.

You need a link. I need a link. I own it. I don't know how to have people watch it. But anyway, it was just a passion project of mine based on something that happened to a friend of mine. And anyway, there you go, Puerto Rico Biobay, I want to go, put it on my list. My parents are going to Puerto Rico.

They are? I'm going to tell them about this. Yeah, they love Puerto Rico. They've been several times. It's like one of their favorite vacation destinations, and I've never been. They might even know about the Biobays. Well, I'm going to call them after we're finished, and I'm going to chat them up about it. Because that sounds seriously amazing.

I know. Because everyone's leaving for the day. We have this really fun little moment. Just once again, Kevin's going to compliment Ryan's fedora, says, where did you get it? Ryan says, I'd rather not say. I don't know why I love the phrase, I'd rather not say. I want to adopt it. It's so douchey.

It's so dismissive. I'd rather not say. Where'd you get your shoes? I'd rather not say. I mean, I want to do it. Why do I want to do that so bad? It's funny to me. Put it in your pocket, bring it out at your next cocktail party.

I think I might. As if we have cocktail parties. I know. Okay, where are we? Well, where we are is that everybody has left, and Dwight goes into Jim's office and reveals that the true recording device was that pen that he brought in at the very beginning. And it's a fancy looking pen. And wouldn't Jim have been like, where'd I get a fancy pen and why'd I put it on Dwight's

desk? But again, Jim has entered into the Michael Vortex of being a boss, so maybe he's missing these cues. That's what I'm saying. He has all these blind spots now. And Dwight is tickled because he's got eight hours of recordings to listen to. It seems like he's going to listen to him right now, tonight. I think we need to end this episode with something from the deleted scenes.

That is how Michael sums up this whole day to Jim. Stupid wedding. If I had known the outcome, I would have stopped at third base. Stupid wedding. Well, you guys, that was the lover. Thanks so much for listening and sending in your questions and comments. We love you guys. Yeah, next week we have Koi Pond, which I've already watched and absolutely loved.

Oh, it's a good one. We'll see you guys next week. See you then. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Office Ladies is produced by Earwolf, Jenna Fisher, and Angela Kinsey. Our show is executive produced by Cody Fisher. Our producer is Cassie Jerkins. Our sound engineer is Sam Kieffer, and our associate producer is Ainsley Bubico.

Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton. For ad-free versions of Office Ladies, go to StitcherPremium.com. For a free one-month trial at Stitcher Premium, use code, OFFICE.