The Sting (The Office)
Encyclopedia
"The Sting" is the fifth episode of the seventh season of the American comedy
television series
The Office, and the show's 131st episode overall. Written by Mindy Kaling
and directed by Randall Einhorn
, the episode aired on NBC
in the United States on October 21, 2010. This episode has received positive reviews.
When a Dunder Mifflin client is stolen by a rival salesman named Danny Cordray (Timothy Olyphant
), Michael, Dwight and Jim decide to set up a sting in order to uncover his sales secret. Elsewhere, Andy starts a band when he learns that one of his old college friends has a successful music career.
During a brainstorm session, Michael, Jim, and Dwight decide to set up a sting operation to see how Danny is stealing all of their clients and observe his sales techniques. They set up Meredith, as the CEO of Solartech (a fictional company), in Dwight's office, fitted with security cameras, and watch from another room. Danny is then sent in to try to make a sale. All starts well until Meredith attempts to seduce him, forcing Dwight and Jim to send in Oscar and Ryan to save the sting. When Meredith strong-arms both of them, a grossed-out Michael rushes in to call the whole thing off. Danny becomes infuriated and walks off, but before he leaves the building, Michael offers him a job, mentioning how much money he could make as a traveling salesman for them. He reluctantly accepts the offer, and Michael introduces him as the new salesman to the office. The rest of the sales staff (minus a distracted Andy) act disrespectful towards him, worrying that Danny will take their clients. Michael mentions to them how well sales numbers will go up with Danny a part of the branch now, and that he isn't going to rescind Danny's job offer just because it makes the other salespeople uncomfortable. Before Dwight leaves for the day, he viciously insults Danny about his alleged mistreatment of Pam and client-stealing past, then immediately welcomes him to the company.
In a final interview with the documentary crew, Michael boasts of his coup of stealing Danny, bragging that Dunder Mifflin didn't even need another traveling salesman since they have Todd Packer
in the field, before immediately lamenting that he "forgot about Packer."
Andy starts a band after reading about how well one of his friends is doing in the music business. He manages to get Darryl and Kevin to join him in writing a song (Darryl accepts $40 an hour for the work), with Andy singing an anti-war song from the perspective of a little girl in falsetto. The song is poorly received by the rest of the office, and Andy returns to the drawing board. Seeing that Andy is dejected, Kevin and Darryl offer to stay and jam with him for a little extra time, and the trio come up with a lively song called "Bullfrog In Love".
and written by Mindy Kaling
, who also plays Kelly Kapoor
in the show. It was the first episode to feature Timothy Olyphant
in a guest appearance as Danny Cordray, a rival paper salesman.
", Michael is seen riding a bike into the office fine. Also, in season six's "Double Date", Michael talks about how he would like to participate in a triathlon, saying how he already has the bike and run thing down, and just needs to practice swimming.
Jason Hughes of AOL
's TV Squad gave the episode a positive review and stated that "It was a sweet moment when Darryl told Andy he didn't have to pay him any more to jam with them". Myles McNutt of The A.V. Club
rated the episode with an A. He felt the episode was the "highlight" of the season. Entertainment Weekly
s Margaret Lyons praised Mindy Kaling
's writing saying "Leave it to Mindy Kaling to deliver the best episode of The Office in a long, long time." Alan Sepinwall of HitFix gave the episode a mixed review. He felt the episode "was a complete cartoon" and also stated "It bore very little resemblance to what the show once was". Despite this he also stated, "I found myself laughing a surprising amount of the time, even more than at previous episodes this season that felt more "Office"-like".
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
The Office, and the show's 131st episode overall. Written by Mindy Kaling
Mindy Kaling
Vera Mindy Chokalingam , better known as Mindy Kaling, is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer who plays Kelly Kapoor on the NBC sitcom The Office. Kaling is also a co-executive producer and writer of several of the show's episodes.-Early life:Kaling was born Vera Chokalingam in...
and directed by Randall Einhorn
Randall Einhorn
Randall Einhorn is an American television director and cinematographer. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.Einhorn is best known for his work on The Office . He also directed The Accountants, a ten-part webisode spinoff of The Office which appeared online between the second and third seasons...
, the episode aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
in the United States on October 21, 2010. This episode has received positive reviews.
When a Dunder Mifflin client is stolen by a rival salesman named Danny Cordray (Timothy Olyphant
Timothy Olyphant
Timothy David Olyphant is an American actor whose notable roles in television drama series include Deadwood as Seth Bullock, Justified as Raylan Givens, The Office as Danny Cordray, and Damages as Wes Krulik...
), Michael, Dwight and Jim decide to set up a sting in order to uncover his sales secret. Elsewhere, Andy starts a band when he learns that one of his old college friends has a successful music career.
Plot
Jim and Dwight are sent on assignment to make a sales pitch to a client named Steve Nash, and are eager to land the sale. However, their eagerness is short-lived as they see Danny Cordray, a rival paper salesman from the very small Osprey company who steals more potential sales away from Dunder Mifflin than anyone, has also arrived for a sales pitch. Desperate, Jim and Dwight call in Michael, who is ecstatic at getting a chance to make a sale, to come and try to save them. However, the company ends up taking Danny's offer, even after Michael promises at-cost paper sales and weekend delivery. The trio leaves the client's office and head back home, defeated. It is also revealed by Dwight that Danny had a romantic history with Pam (while Jim was dating Karen), a fact which Pam tries to reiterate to Jim that she and Danny only went out on two dates.During a brainstorm session, Michael, Jim, and Dwight decide to set up a sting operation to see how Danny is stealing all of their clients and observe his sales techniques. They set up Meredith, as the CEO of Solartech (a fictional company), in Dwight's office, fitted with security cameras, and watch from another room. Danny is then sent in to try to make a sale. All starts well until Meredith attempts to seduce him, forcing Dwight and Jim to send in Oscar and Ryan to save the sting. When Meredith strong-arms both of them, a grossed-out Michael rushes in to call the whole thing off. Danny becomes infuriated and walks off, but before he leaves the building, Michael offers him a job, mentioning how much money he could make as a traveling salesman for them. He reluctantly accepts the offer, and Michael introduces him as the new salesman to the office. The rest of the sales staff (minus a distracted Andy) act disrespectful towards him, worrying that Danny will take their clients. Michael mentions to them how well sales numbers will go up with Danny a part of the branch now, and that he isn't going to rescind Danny's job offer just because it makes the other salespeople uncomfortable. Before Dwight leaves for the day, he viciously insults Danny about his alleged mistreatment of Pam and client-stealing past, then immediately welcomes him to the company.
In a final interview with the documentary crew, Michael boasts of his coup of stealing Danny, bragging that Dunder Mifflin didn't even need another traveling salesman since they have Todd Packer
Todd Packer
Todd Finch Packer is a fictional character on NBC's The Office, portrayed by David Koechner, and based on Chris Finch from the original British version.-Overview:Todd is a boorish Outside Sales Representative...
in the field, before immediately lamenting that he "forgot about Packer."
Andy starts a band after reading about how well one of his friends is doing in the music business. He manages to get Darryl and Kevin to join him in writing a song (Darryl accepts $40 an hour for the work), with Andy singing an anti-war song from the perspective of a little girl in falsetto. The song is poorly received by the rest of the office, and Andy returns to the drawing board. Seeing that Andy is dejected, Kevin and Darryl offer to stay and jam with him for a little extra time, and the trio come up with a lively song called "Bullfrog In Love".
Production
"The Sting" was directed by Randall EinhornRandall Einhorn
Randall Einhorn is an American television director and cinematographer. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.Einhorn is best known for his work on The Office . He also directed The Accountants, a ten-part webisode spinoff of The Office which appeared online between the second and third seasons...
and written by Mindy Kaling
Mindy Kaling
Vera Mindy Chokalingam , better known as Mindy Kaling, is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer who plays Kelly Kapoor on the NBC sitcom The Office. Kaling is also a co-executive producer and writer of several of the show's episodes.-Early life:Kaling was born Vera Chokalingam in...
, who also plays Kelly Kapoor
Kelly Kapoor
Kelly Rajnigandha Kapoor , is a fictional character from the US television series, The Office. She is played by Mindy Kaling, who is also a writer and producer for the show....
in the show. It was the first episode to feature Timothy Olyphant
Timothy Olyphant
Timothy David Olyphant is an American actor whose notable roles in television drama series include Deadwood as Seth Bullock, Justified as Raylan Givens, The Office as Danny Cordray, and Damages as Wes Krulik...
in a guest appearance as Danny Cordray, a rival paper salesman.
Errors
Fans of the show noticed that in the cold open, in which Jim and Pam discover Michael can't ride a bike, was inaccurate. In season three's "A Benihana ChristmasA Benihana Christmas
"A Benihana Christmas" is the tenth and eleventh episode of the third season of the American comedy television series The Office, and the thirty-eighth episode overall. It was written by Jennifer Celotta and directed by Harold Ramis...
", Michael is seen riding a bike into the office fine. Also, in season six's "Double Date", Michael talks about how he would like to participate in a triathlon, saying how he already has the bike and run thing down, and just needs to practice swimming.
Reception
In its original American broadcast on October 21, 2010, "The Sting" was viewed by an estimated 6.87 million viewers and received a 3.4 rating/9% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. The episode's rating dropped 11% from the previous episode to its lowest ever fall telecast.Jason Hughes of AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
's TV Squad gave the episode a positive review and stated that "It was a sweet moment when Darryl told Andy he didn't have to pay him any more to jam with them". Myles McNutt of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
rated the episode with an A. He felt the episode was the "highlight" of the season. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
s Margaret Lyons praised Mindy Kaling
Mindy Kaling
Vera Mindy Chokalingam , better known as Mindy Kaling, is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer who plays Kelly Kapoor on the NBC sitcom The Office. Kaling is also a co-executive producer and writer of several of the show's episodes.-Early life:Kaling was born Vera Chokalingam in...
's writing saying "Leave it to Mindy Kaling to deliver the best episode of The Office in a long, long time." Alan Sepinwall of HitFix gave the episode a mixed review. He felt the episode "was a complete cartoon" and also stated "It bore very little resemblance to what the show once was". Despite this he also stated, "I found myself laughing a surprising amount of the time, even more than at previous episodes this season that felt more "Office"-like".
External links
- "The Sting" at NBC.comNBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...