EP. 177 — Special Project

Jenna [00:00:04] I’m Jenna Fischer. 

Angela [00:00:05] And I’m Angela Kinsey. 

Jenna [00:00:06] We were on The Office together. 

Angela [00:00:07] And we’re best friends. 

Jenna [00:00:08] And now we’re doing the ultimate Office rewatch podcast just for you. 

Angela [00:00:12] 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. 

Jenna [00:00:19] We’re the Office Ladies. Pack your bags, lady. 

Angela [00:00:26] Are we going to Tallahassee? 

Jenna [00:00:27] We are! Sam, Cassi, Angela, me. Special Project. 

Angela [00:00:33] It’s happenin. 

Jenna [00:00:35] Yeah, it’s not really, though. We’re not going. 

Angela [00:00:35] We’re not really going to Tallahassee. 

Jenna [00:00:37] No.

Angela [00:00:38] But it’s a fun idea. 

Jenna [00:00:39] Some people are. In today’s episode. 

Angela [00:00:42] I have wanted for a long time to do an Office Ladies road trip. 

Jenna [00:00:46] This is true. You have. 

Angela [00:00:47] I’m going to make it happen. 

Jenna [00:00:49] Well, today it’s not happening. But today we are talking about Special Project, which was season eight episode 14, written by Amelie Gillette and directed by Dave Rogers. Here’s your summary. Angela’s competitive mommy streak continues as she and Pam return from their respective maternity leaves. Dwight is excited to be heading a special project for Sabre in Tallahassee, but not thrilled with the team Andy has appointed for him to lead. Meanwhile, Darryl tries to figure out the meaning behind his Valentine’s Day gift from Val. Fast fact number one. This episode was a Valentine’s Day episode! 

Angela [00:01:28] It was. 

Jenna [00:01:29] It aired on February 9th, 2012. Angela, no pressure, but will we be getting a Valentine’s Day decor breakdown from you later? 

Angela [00:01:40] No. 

Jenna [00:01:41] Oh, no! I didn’t do it because I was like, Angela’s probably gonna break down all these baskets and cupids.  

Angela [00:01:48] There’s so many! I do have one background catch that I wonder if anyone else noticed, but I’m going to wait. 

Jenna [00:01:55] Okay, Well, I’ll have you know that this episode was a hit with fans and critics. Myles McNutt, who we have not checked in on in a while. 

Angela [00:02:05] I’ve been wondering. 

Jenna [00:02:07] He gave this episode- are you ready for it? 

Angela [00:02:10] No. 

Jenna [00:02:10] An A minus. 

Angela [00:02:11] Come on! 

Jenna [00:02:12] We have not been in the A’s for a while. 

Angela [00:02:15] Myles McNutt gave it an A-minus? 

Jenna [00:02:17] A-minus. He did say this. He always prefaces his good news, even. He said, quote, I could take some time to question how exactly the Scranton branch is going to operate without six people for three weeks. And I could also ask about the economics of a printer company establishing an Apple esque retail presence. 

Angela [00:02:40] That was one for me too, Myles. 

Jenna [00:02:41] Like the majority of Sabre storylines since the company’s introduction, there’s a fundamental lack of logic operating here that does puzzle the part of me that enjoys policing the show’s reality. But he loved the potential of the storyline. He talked about how great it has been in the past when characters branched off to different locations. Like he said, it was so successful when Jim went to Stamford or when Pam, Ryan and Michael made Michael Scott Paper Company. He also loved the people who were ultimately chosen to go on the trip. I honestly, I have not seen Myles this excited in a while. I think I have to take off my earrings. 

Angela [00:03:21] Oh, why? Are they jingling? 

Jenna [00:03:22] Well, they’re- they’re jingling. Look, I took them from my daughter. They’re little zippers. 

Angela [00:03:27] They’re so cute. 

Jenna [00:03:28] I know. I was trying to be stylish, but then I was like, Oh, no. Am I just a mom trying too hard with her daughter’s trendy zipper earrings that are now rattling in my ear? 

Angela [00:03:38] I thought they looked cute. I was curious by them. They seemed like a branch out for you. 

Jenna [00:03:44] I know. 

Angela [00:03:45] And I thought Jenna’s wearing little zippers. But you know what? You’ve told me you’re trying to, like, step into a new kind of fashion. Like, what is my fashion? 

Jenna [00:03:55] Yeah. Anyway, I had to take the zippers off. So sorry, everyone. 

Angela [00:04:00] And we’re back. 

Jenna [00:04:01]  I thought the fact that Pam and Angela are both returning from maternity leave and the fact that we have been discussing my own maternity leave lately on the pod… I- maybe it was time for a maternity leave deep dive? Like a mini deep dive on maternity leaves? 

Angela [00:04:17] Sure. 

Jenna [00:04:18] Okay. I did not know what I was going to find when I did this deep dive. But did you know that there are only eight countries in the world, in the whole world, that do not guarantee paid family leave at the national level for men and women? Did you know that? Eight. Do you want to know what they are? 

Angela [00:04:38] Well, I’m sure we’re one of them. 

Jenna [00:04:40] We are. We’re one of the eight. They are Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Suriname, Tonga and the United States. All of the other 187 countries in the world guarantee some kind of paid family leave. 

Angela [00:05:03] Wow. 

Jenna [00:05:04] Yeah. Here’s what we have in the United States. In 1993, we passed the Family and Medical Leave Act, and that allows you to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave when you foster, adopt or have a child, or in case of illness or a health condition whereby you can’t work or if you need to care for an immediate family member. It just means you can’t be fired. This is what I applied for when I had my son. I took leave from The Office under this law. However, I am saying that as if this is a major bright side. It’s not. But sometimes paid leave is offered through your employer. So definitely check that out. And your state may offer some sort of disability or family leave, paid. So there are I think there are like 11 states that do offer that. But on a national level, it is not guaranteed. Also, under that Family and Medical Leave Act, I guess there are so many requirements in order to qualify that only about 60% of the workforce is actually eligible to take the unpaid family leave. So. 

Angela [00:06:14] Loopholes. 

Jenna [00:06:15] Yeah. That was my very depressing maternity leave deep dive. I guess depressing if you live in the United States. For all of our international listeners, congratulations. You have some sort of paid family leave. 

Angela [00:06:30] I always find it so fascinating, these kind of stats, you know? 

Jenna [00:06:34] Yeah. You know, when you grow up somewhere, you don’t often question like, why don’t I have paid family leave? Why don’t I have health care? Why do I have to open up a GoFundMe if I’m in a car accident? It just becomes sort of like, well, this is what you do. 

Angela [00:06:51] Right. That’s your reality. 

Jenna [00:06:52] Yeah. And so. 

Angela [00:06:54] When you travel somewhere else and see that they don’t have that burden and that stress, it’s very eye opening. 

Jenna [00:07:00] Yes. Or if you do a maternity leave deep dive and you sit at your computer in shock and you’re like, Oh, wow. It’s like, I kind of knew this, but now I’m looking at it in black and white and it’s… huh. 

Angela [00:07:15] Well, you know, Angela Martin only took a three day maternity leave. 

Jenna [00:07:20] That’s right. 

Angela [00:07:21] Three days. 

Jenna [00:07:22] That’s all she needed. 

Angela [00:07:23] Dwight seemed upset about it. 

Jenna [00:07:25] He did. And when we get to that, Angela, I have a catch. 

Angela [00:07:28] Okay. 

Jenna [00:07:29] Mm hmm. Speaking of catches, are you ready for fast fact three? 

Angela [00:07:34] I don’t know if I am. 

Jenna [00:07:37] This is a Florida fan catch fact check from Aaron W in New Mexico. 

Angela [00:07:43] Say that again. A Florida fan catch fact check? 

Jenna [00:07:46] Yes. 

Angela [00:07:47] Oy oy oy. 

Jenna [00:07:47] Oh, yeah. Fan catch fact check. Here is what Aaron had to say: I am a native Floridian. I grew up in Miami until I was 18, then moved to Tallahassee to attend Florida State University and ended up living there for 11 years until I moved to New Mexico in late 2020. I noticed that all of Dunder Mifflin thinks that all of Florida is the same, and they assume Tallahassee will be just like Miami. But let me tell you, the two could not be more different. Tallahassee is a medium sized, quiet Southern College town. There are giant oak trees with Spanish moss and hardly any palm trees. And while there aren’t four distinct seasons, Tallahassee can get very cold in the winter months. So here are just a few things I noticed in Special Project that made me think Dunder Mifflin assumes all of Florida is the same, or that they will be actually in Miami. First, Dwight tells Pam to pack swimwear. February in Tallahassee is not pool or beach weather. The closest beach to Tallahassee is almost 40 miles away. I guess the average temperature around Valentine’s Day would be in the sixties. 

Angela [00:08:55] Hmm. 

Jenna [00:08:56] Next, Dwight mentions trips to Cape Canaveral. That is 309 miles away from Tallahassee. 

Angela [00:09:03] Oh, dear. 

Jenna [00:09:04] He mentions Gloria Estefan, who lives in Miami, which is 482 miles away. Then Dwight mentions it is 85 degrees Fahrenheit with a 73% humidity. Again, I understand he’s trying to convince people not to go, but this weather is true for late spring summer, not February. Also, hurricane season does not officially begin until June 1st and it runs to November 30th. 

Angela [00:09:29] Clearly, the writers did not consult anyone from Florida. 

Jenna [00:09:33] I know. As I was reading this letter, I was like, wow, wow. The people living in Tallahassee who are watching our episode right now just might be squirming. 

Angela [00:09:44] Although this is Dwight’s perception of Florida, right? 

Jenna [00:09:47] True. 

Angela [00:09:47] Yeah. Which maybe tracks. 

Jenna [00:09:50] Aaron did say that giant cockroaches, a.k.a. palmetto bugs- do not Google this, Aaron said- are sadly accurate. And they fly. 

Angela [00:10:01] I know they fly! I’ve had one fly at me. A cockroach. It’s just maybe the most, like, undone I’ve ever come. Like you would have thought- I was like, ahhhh! I went crazy. 

Jenna [00:10:14] Yeah. I don’t like bugs that fly at me. 

Angela [00:10:17] Not big, hard shell, crunchy ones, either. 

Jenna [00:10:20] That’s right. I don’t like that. 

Angela [00:10:22] I don’t like. 

Jenna [00:10:23] Finally, Aaron said mosquitoes and giant frogs are also accurate. 

Angela [00:10:29] Okay. Okay. Well, Aaron, thank you very much for the Tallahassee breakdown. 

Jenna [00:10:35] That’s right. Well, now that we’ve set the record straight on maternity leave and Florida.  

Angela [00:10:43] Well, maternity leave and Tallahassee. 

Jenna [00:10:44] Yes. 

Angela [00:10:46] There’s- Florida’s big! We don’t know all about Florida. 

Jenna [00:10:49] That was Aaron’s point! 

Angela [00:10:50] Yes. I agree, Aaron. 

Jenna [00:10:52] Let’s take a break. And when we come back, it’s Valentine’s Day. We’ll get into it. 

Angela [00:11:08] We are back and we’re at front reception. It’s very decorated for Valentine’s. Sorry I didn’t do a Cupid breakdown, but I have some other stuff. Pam is going to return. Everyone’s very happy to see her. Stanley kind of hints that she’s just had an eight week vacation. Pam’s like, um it wasn’t really a vacation. Angela is also going to return after her three day maternity leave, as we talked about. And this outfit was a whole meeting. I can tell you that. 

Jenna [00:11:38] Really? Say more. 

Angela [00:11:40] They really wanted to sell this idea that she came back as if nothing had happened. 

Jenna [00:11:45] Mm hmm. 

Angela [00:11:46] I had multiple fittings. They wanted everything to be tight, fitted and very svelte. 

Jenna [00:11:51] Mm hmm. 

Angela [00:11:52] The belt was a whole conversation. 

Jenna [00:11:55] Oh? 

Angela [00:11:56] I don’t know if you noticed, but I have a tight little turtleneck, and then I have the tiny skinny belt right at my waist. 

Jenna [00:12:01] I did notice. 

Angela [00:12:02] And a pencil skirt. Everyone wanted the belt. I was like, Do we really need the belt? They were like, you need the belt! Because I guess the belt really accentuates the waist. 

Jenna [00:12:12] You know what I thought when I saw the Angela from maternity leave and Pam from maternity leave? I thought, Angela is Instagram and Pam is real life. 

Angela [00:12:23] That trend? 

Jenna [00:12:24] Yes. Like Angela is what post-partum moms on Instagram are showing you, their snapback. And then Pam is like at home being like, what the f is happening? Well, in addition to her outfit, she’s also brought in a lot of snacks. 

Angela [00:12:41] Brownies and cookie bars. 

Jenna [00:12:43] Brownies with and without walnuts. 

Angela [00:12:46] Yeah 

Jenna [00:12:46] Because he does not have mommy brain. 

Angela [00:12:48] Yes, she doesn’t know what Pam is talking about. 

Jenna [00:12:50] Angela, I remember filming this moment where you offer me a brownie and I have to decide if I’m going to take it. 

Angela [00:12:56] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:12:57] And it kept making us laugh so hard. 

Angela [00:12:59] Not only did it make us laugh, but then after you take a bite and you like the brownie. 

Jenna [00:13:04] I know. 

Angela [00:13:04] Then you’re like, What about you? Don’t you want one? 

Jenna [00:13:07] And I’m like, meh, I’m trying to watch my weight. Blech.

Jenna [00:13:10] I know. It was making us laugh so hard. The brownies were good. They were very good. But this also made me think of, you know, what I was eating at this time. 

Angela [00:13:21] What? 

Jenna [00:13:21] I was eating those lactation cookies. Did you make those? They were all the rage when I was postpartum. They were like an oatmeal cookie that you made with brewer’s yeast and coconut oil. And they were supposed to help you with your milk production. 

Angela [00:13:36] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:13:36] And so I was eating these cookies all the time. So it was really good to eat that chocolate brownie. 

Angela [00:13:44] Like, a break from those? 

Jenna [00:13:45] Yeah. 

Angela [00:13:45] What I remembered most about the scene is how tickled we got. And it was you and I having the dialogue just between the two of us. So that meant everyone was waiting for us to finish our lines. And we kept laughing. And I am telling you, you can see John check out. If you look at his face, he’s just like, Oh, my God, are they going to get through this? 

Jenna [00:14:05] It’s so true. Well, this cold open ends with Pam trying to give cash to people. 

Angela [00:14:12] Yeah. And Jim’s like, No. It’s done. Stop. It’s done.

Jenna [00:14:16] You don’t get it. You didn’t bring in any brownies. It’s fine. Oh, but, Angela, I have my catch! 

Angela [00:14:23] What? 

Jenna [00:14:24] My background catch. When Dwight is surprised that Angela has come in to work and he says, You just had our baby. Our collective baby. 

Angela [00:14:31] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:14:32] Kelly has really great nail polish on, and you can see it over Dwight’s shoulder. 

Angela [00:14:36] Oh? 

Jenna [00:14:37] It’s really great. That’s it. 

Angela [00:14:39] Okay! 

Jenna [00:14:40] Super important catch. 

Angela [00:14:42] Well, the episode’s going to start in Andy’s office. He’s got some big news for Dwight. Dwight’s like, Listen, if you’re making me head of sales again, so help me. I guess that’s been happening a lot. But he’s like, No, no, no, this is real. Dwight has been tasked with assembling a special team to go to Tallahassee for three weeks to develop and launch a chain of Sabre stores. 

Jenna [00:15:05] So I guess what they’re selling in the Sabre stores are the tablets, the new pyramid tablets, and printers? 

Angela [00:15:14] Possibly? But this is the best news Dwight’s had in a long, long time. As Dwight’s doing all of his celebrating, did anyone else see the Valentine’s gift basket over Andy’s shoulder? 

Jenna [00:15:26] Yes. I’m glad you’re bringing it up. 

Angela [00:15:28] It’s unopened. It’s there the whole entire episode. Unopened. Is this for Jessica? Is he gonna get it later?

Jenna [00:15:36] That’s what I want to know! Was it for him? Is he giving it to someone? It has a bear in it. 

Angela [00:15:41] I don’t know. It’s there the whole time. Dwight is now going to share that he’s having one of these perfect moments in his life. In fact, it’s called perfectienschlag. 

Jenna [00:15:49] Yes. Have you ever experienced perfectenschlag in your life? 

Angela [00:15:53] I think I experience it every week when I come here. 

Jenna [00:15:56] That’s what I feel like. I feel like minus my broken shoulder, I am in perfectenschlag right now. 

Angela [00:16:02] Yeah. Perfectenschlag. I’m just really thankful and I love this chapter of my life. 

Jenna [00:16:09] Same. 

Angela [00:16:10] I was curious if it was a real term, and I found a very interesting thread online of German speakers who love The Office and wanted to get to the bottom of us using this word as well. They all said it doesn’t exist in the German language, but one entry had an interesting theory. Marco says, I’m a huge fan of The Office and actually from a German speaking country, Switzerland. So as some of you have pointed out correctly, there is no word in the German language that sounds like perfectenschlag. But as the English speaking folks often pronounce German words in this particular way. I just thought of something that sounds familiar: perfekte anschlag. Marco goes on to say that maybe this isn’t what inspired the writers, but this is his theory. Perfekte anschlag means perfect impact. And if you ask me, Marco says, It’s a pretty good description of a perfect and outstanding situation. 

Jenna [00:17:09] That’s very interesting. My question that I didn’t look up is, does schlag mean pork anus?

Angela [00:17:15] It did not look up pork anus. I thought about it and was like, no. 

Jenna [00:17:19] Yeah. Right. You didn’t want to Google that. 

Angela [00:17:22] I didn’t want to Google that. 

Jenna [00:17:23] Because Dwight does say perfectenschlag could also mean perfect pork anus. But that’s not what he’s talking about. Hmm. Interesting. 

Angela [00:17:34] Erin is now going to give Andy his faxes of the day. Andy gets so many faxes. 

Jenna [00:17:39] Yeah. Why do you need so many faxes if you have email? 

Angela [00:17:42] I don’t know. But he’s going to say, I’ve got some facts for you. Lady, does Andy like a fast fact? 

Jenna [00:17:51] Did I fact check his facts? 

Angela [00:17:54] I fact checked his facts. 

Jenna [00:17:56] We both fact checked his facts? 

Angela [00:17:58] We both fact checked his fast facts. 

Jenna [00:18:00] All right. Let’s see if we got the same answers. 

Angela [00:18:02] Okay. Go. 

Jenna [00:18:03] Okay. His first fact is that frogs can hear with their lungs. 

Angela [00:18:07] True. 

Jenna [00:18:08] True. Yeah. 

Angela [00:18:09] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:18:10] Frogs have no external ears. The only way they can hear is by sound traveling through their body. To the lungs. And then it goes to the eardrums. That’s what I learned. This is also true of salamanders. 

Angela [00:18:25] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:18:26] Mm hmm. 

Angela [00:18:26] Okay. 

Jenna [00:18:27] All right. What’s the next one? 

Angela [00:18:29] Flamingos can have orgasms that lasts 30 minutes. 

Jenna [00:18:33] False. 

Angela [00:18:33] False. 

Jenna [00:18:34] Not true. But they do last up to 15 minutes. 

Angela [00:18:38] They have a decently long orgasm. 

Jenna [00:18:40] They do. I got curious and wanted to know what animal has the longest orgasm? 

Angela [00:18:47] Oh, Lord. Can I guess? 

Jenna [00:18:48] Yeah. What mammal? 

Angela [00:18:50] A whale? 

Jenna [00:18:51] No. It’s an animal that walks on the earth. Very common animal. 

Angela [00:18:58] Humans?! 

Jenna [00:18:59] No. 

Angela [00:19:00] Monkeys. 

Jenna [00:19:00] Humans have orgasms that last longer than 15 minutes? 

Angela [00:19:04] I don’t know. You said very common. You said they’re walking around. So what’s more common than a bunch of people? 

Jenna [00:19:09] Pigs. 

Angela [00:19:11] Oh, God. 

Jenna [00:19:12] The domestic pig. On average, their orgasm lasts 30 minutes, but can go for as long as 90. 

Angela [00:19:18] Wow! 

Jenna [00:19:19] Mmm. 

Angela [00:19:20] Oh, my gosh. Well, that changes how I look at my bacon. 

Jenna [00:19:25] It sure does. It really does. Well, after Andy gives these partially true, partially false facts about animals, Andy and Erin are going to discover they both have the same blinking little Valentine’s Day pin. And Erin is going to find out that Andy got it from Jessica. 

Angela [00:19:43] And they’re going to exchange real gifts later, not gag gifts. 

Jenna [00:19:46] Yeah, Erin’s going to have a talking head where she says while she thought something might happen with her and Andy, you know, he’s still with Jessica. They even carpool to work. I’m sorry. One moment. 

Angela [00:20:02] Mm hmm? 

Jenna [00:20:02] Is it carpooling if you don’t go to the same location? Is it carpool? Isn’t it carpooling where multiple people get in a car and then they go to the same destination? Carpooling isn’t like driving around, dropping people off at different locations. I looked it up. I’m right. I’m just going to say. I don’t know why I’m posing it as a question. I became so annoyed that she referred to this practice of Jessica driving Andy to work and dropping him off as carpooling that I was like, I don’t think it’s carpooling. 

Angela [00:20:31] I thought carpooling meant sharing a car? 

Jenna [00:20:34] Not according to the definition of carpooling. 

Angela [00:20:37] Because that’s sort of I thought the whole point is to lessen your carbon footprint. So you hop in a car with someone else, so you’re only using one vehicle, which lessens traffic. So…

Jenna [00:20:48] Those are all great things. They’re just not called carpooling. 

Angela [00:20:52] What’s it called? 

Jenna [00:20:54] I don’t know. Carpooling is when you go around and you get people and then you all end at the same place. That’s a carpool. 

Angela [00:21:01] Oh. 

Jenna [00:21:02] Mm hmm. Otherwise, it’s giving someone a ride somewhere. 

Angela [00:21:06] Like car sharing. 

Jenna [00:21:07] Maybe car sharing. 

Angela [00:21:08] Car sharing. 

Jenna [00:21:09] Yeah. Like you carpooled me to work. When my shoulder was broken, you picked me up, and then we both came to the same destination. But if you picked me up and dropped me off at my physical therapy, and then you went to the grocery store, we’re not carpooling to physical therapy. We’re car sharing. 

Angela [00:21:29] We’re car sharing.

Jenna [00:21:30] Right. So…

Angela [00:21:32] Got to the bottom of it! Got to the bottom of it! 

Jenna [00:21:33]  Now that I got that out of my system. Sometimes I get a, you know. 

Angela [00:21:36] I know. 

Jenna [00:21:37] A bee in my bonnet. 

Angela [00:21:38] I know. Well, Darryl is going to return to his desk and he’s going to find a homemade knitted hat with a card from Val. And he’s like, Hmm, Is this a friendship beanie or a let’s get it poppin beanie? 

Jenna [00:21:51] Yeah. 

Angela [00:21:52] He’s going to decide to match her gift with a romantic gift of his own. 

Jenna [00:21:57] Mm hmm. Meanwhile, Dwight’s can invite Pam to Tallahassee. He’s chosen her to be part of the team. This is huge. But she has to wear a one piece swimsuit to his barbecue. I want to say, I don’t know if you noticed on my computer in this scene, but there’s this, like, fakey office supply document. It was several pages long. It was like a fake office catalog. This was a new prop that I got for my computer, and it was my favorite fakey computer screen prop for the whole show. I was obsessed with it. You’re going to see it forever on my computer now because it was my favorite thing to fake do. 

Angela [00:22:37] Okay 

Jenna [00:22:38] To scroll through this, it was like a PDF that they invented for me. And then I had these worksheets. So my background fakey work was me doing like, I guess I was ordering office supplies for our office supply company. I don’t know. 

Angela [00:22:54] Well, you guys that were in the middle of the bullpen, your screens were seen more than ours over in accounting. I had one little page they designed that I could pop up, but mostly my computer was never seen. 

Jenna [00:23:05] I had, like, a few icons on my desktop. And if we were going to see my computer screen, which as you said, happened often, I could pick one of these things, but I became like slightly obsessed with this one document, and I think you’re going to see it all the time. 

Angela [00:23:20] Okay. 

Jenna [00:23:20] They designed it while I was gone. I remember getting to work and be like, What is this? I love it! 

Angela [00:23:25] This is amazing! 

Jenna [00:23:26] Thank you so much! 

Angela [00:23:28] Well, down in the warehouse, Darryl is going to tell Val that he loves his beanie. It’s like sweat pants for his head. And then Nate walks up wearing a beanie also. 

Jenna [00:23:39] And Darryl looks around. Everyone in the warehouse has a knitted beanie. 

Angela [00:23:44] All from Val. I got to call B.S. here for a second. 

Jenna [00:23:48] Okay? 

Angela [00:23:49] Nate’s beanie does not look like it was handmade. It looks like a machine beanie. Darryl’s looks handmade. I’m there with you on that one. Nate’s? Come on. 

Jenna [00:24:00] I asked Steve Burgess about this. I thought the same thing. Steve said we cheated a little. 

Angela [00:24:05] Oh, yes, Steve. We noticed. 

Jenna [00:24:06] Only the beanie that Darryl received was hand-knit by someone. He’s not sure who did it, but Phil Shea had it done. All the others were purchased. 

Angela [00:24:15] Well, Darryl is now too embarrassed to give Val the gift he bought, so he says it was for Nate. And they are beautiful, elegant cashmere, winter gloves. 

Jenna [00:24:24] I mean, Darryl. 

Angela [00:24:25] And the card. 

Jenna [00:24:27] Thank you so much. 

Angela [00:24:28] Oh, my gosh. The card is so sweet as well. Nate’s very moved. 

Jenna [00:24:34] Yeah, I thought Marc was so funny in this scene. 

Angela [00:24:36] So funny. When he was like, Aw, Darryl. I appreciate you, too. 

Jenna [00:24:42] I know. The look on Craig’s face, he holds this stare. 

Angela [00:24:45] I know. 

Jenna [00:24:46] That is so perfect for so, so long. 

Angela [00:24:49] So long. They did such a great job, the two of them, Dwight is now going to have a talking head where he says that his first task as special project manager will be assembling a crack team. He’s going to need people that are loyal. He starts kind of scanning the bullpen. In the background, Creed puts his hand in his mouth. That was scripted. 

Jenna [00:25:09] Really. 

Angela [00:25:12] Yup. It said, Creed puts his hand in his mouth. 

Jenna [00:25:15] Was it scripted that the people in the kitchen were trying to touch their tongues to the tip of their nose? 

Angela [00:25:21] Yes. Scripted. 

Jenna [00:25:22] Can you do that? I can’t do it. 

Angela [00:25:23] No. I can’t do it. 

Jenna [00:25:25] I wonder if Daniel Radcliffe can do it. Remember, we discussed? 

Angela [00:25:29] Flower tongue? 

Jenna [00:25:30] Yeah. Cloverleaf tongue. 

Angela [00:25:32] I knew it was a flower- it was some kind of plant. 

Jenna [00:25:35] Well, now we’re going to have a big wrinkle in the story, which is that Jim is going to receive a text from Robert California, telling him to bring his golf clubs to Florida. He’s very confused. He doesn’t want to go to Florida. So Jim is like, What should I text back? Should I text back two question marks? And Pam is like, No, no, that’s too aggressive. That’s like, wha-what?! 

Angela [00:25:57] I love that, Jenna. I loved your wha-what. 

Jenna [00:26:00] Lady. We couldn’t get through it. 

Angela [00:26:01] I loved it. You guys kept cracking up. But then also we all just started saying it. Do you remember? I still say 

Both [00:26:08] Wha-what?!

Jenna [00:26:09] Yeah. 

Angela [00:26:10] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:26:10] That became a bit. There’s a blooper of it because the first time I did it, it was really big. And John just immediately, like, just tears came out of his eyes. He was laughing so hard. And we all were like, What was that? What did I just do? That was insane. It was very hard to get back to work. 

Angela [00:26:29] I loved this Jim Pam storyline where they’re trying to figure out how to compose a text together. It was so relatable to me. My husband really hates writing emails or texts. He’s just more of a talker, you know? And so he’ll always be like, Oh, will you help me with the text? I’m like, Okay. 

Jenna [00:26:46] That’s so interesting. Lee is our text expert in our marriage. He’s much better at putting together a text. 

Both [00:26:52] Every marriage has one. 

Jenna [00:26:53] Right? 

Angela [00:26:54] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:26:54] So, Angela, we had a fan question from Caitlin in California about this scene, and I’m going to throw it to you. Caitlin asked, When Jim gets the first text from Robert California, what are Pam and Erin doing? They’re cutting green paper at Pam’s desk, but it never comes back. Was there a deleted scene that went with this? 

Angela [00:27:13] Caitlin, I was super curious about this too. I mean, remember how I said I was going to point out a few Valentine’s things? 

Jenna [00:27:19] Yes. 

Angela [00:27:20] I saw Andy’s basket. 

Jenna [00:27:21] Yes. 

Angela [00:27:22] You guys. Of course I saw the basket. You know I love baskets. 

Jenna [00:27:25] What did I bring you today? 

Angela [00:27:27] Jenna brought me the biggest baskets ever. She had said, okay, Ange, do you want some baskets that I have? And I’m like, Who are you talking to? Of course I want your baskets. 

Jenna [00:27:36] I was doing a deep clean. And I had two extra giant baskets. You know, the kind that you put throw pillows and things in. I sent you a text that said, Do you want two giant baskets that I don’t need anymore? And before I could send you the picture you wrote back, Yes. 

Angela [00:27:51] I know. 

Jenna [00:27:52] You hadn’t even seen them. Sight unseen. 

Angela [00:27:54] They’re they’re really big. Sam took a picture of us with them. I am very excited. I can only imagine what Josh is going to say when I come home today with these giant baskets. He’s gonna be like, Where did you get these? But okay, Caitlin. Sorry, my love of baskets got me chatty. But yes. Okay. My other Valentine’s background catch was exactly this scene, exactly what you’re talking about. And I went to the shooting draft to get to the bottom of it. And here’s what it said: Erin has her chair pulled up to Pam’s desk between Jim and Pam. We see a wall decoration of an angry, gun toting cupid. Pam says, Cupid uses a bow and arrow, not a gun. Erin says, Who’s Cupid? That’s baby Jesus. Pam says, Okay, you know what? Let’s just do pink hearts, red hearts, that kind of thing. Erin says, If you’re not in a relationship, Valentine’s Day isn’t pink hearts. It’s not even red. It’s like gray or dark brown or blue. What’s the color of want? Stanley, without even looking up, says, Burgundy. Cathy looks over and says, Oh, are you guys making more Valentine’s decorations? Pam says, Just a couple, for fun. Cathy says, I guess I didn’t put up enough. Do you guys need any help? I’m pretty crafty. And then Kelly chimes in out of nowhere, Don’t let her help. 

Jenna [00:29:12] Whoa. 

Angela [00:29:13] Mm hmm. So I guess Erin didn’t like all the red decorations because for her, Valentine’s Day isn’t about love. Right? So she’s found some other construction paper. But I did want to point out, as soon as Stanley said that, I couldn’t help but notice that Kelly, Pam and Cathy are all wearing shades of burgundy, and Darryl’s beanie is burgundy. 

Jenna [00:29:35] It’s very funny that you mentioned what people were wearing because I clocked three things that I found very curious. You can see them in an upcoming scene. Should I save it? 

Angela [00:29:44] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:29:45] All right, I’ll save it. 

Angela [00:29:46] Well, let’s take a break, because Jenna, when we get back, I have a fun thing to share from the script about the scene between Dwight and Andy. 

Jenna [00:29:52] Ooh, great. We are back and Dwight is in Andy’s office and they are negotiating over who the Tallahassee team will be. Dwight has some ideas. Andy has other ideas. 

Angela [00:30:13] Yeah. Dwight wants to take Darryl, Phyllis, Toby, Angela and Oscar. I don’t know if you notice, but he has handed Andy a folder of photos of each of us. Eight by ten photos of Dwight’s picks. And I was very curious. I could see there was writing next to the photos. 

Jenna [00:30:32] Mm hmm. 

Angela [00:30:33] I went to the script. Here’s what it said. Interior Andy’s office. Andy is looking through Dwight’s material, which is several sheets of paper. Each paper has a photo of the person he wants. And on the side, a list of their special skills, personal history, foes, first appearance, and weaknesses. I was like, I want to see! I want see what they wrote on these pieces of paper. 

Jenna [00:30:57] I was really curious what was going to happen to Dunder Mifflin if Dwight was taking both Oscar and Angela. Who’s doing the accounting for us? That leaves us Kevin. 

Angela [00:31:09] I think this is Andy’s point. Andy’s like, Can I interest you in someone less essential, like a Creed or a Meredith, perhaps? Dwight says, Are you kidding me? I’m supposed to get in an airplane with those nincompoops? We’d never get off the runway. I’m like, Why does he go to traveling with them? That’s his first thought. How do I travel with Meredith and Creed? 

Jenna [00:31:31] I mean, he’s not making a bad point. 

Angela [00:31:33] I know. Andy wants Dwight’s team to be Darryl, Phyllis, Cathy, Kelly and Kevin. 

Jenna [00:31:39] Dwight has the talking head where he says he’s just been given a chain with three weak links. Have you ever tried to use a chain with three weak links? He has. And now he no longer owns an Arctic wolf. 

Angela [00:31:50] Oh, boy. 

Jenna [00:31:51] Well, we got a fan question from Melita in Colorado who said, Were there any alts for things that Dwight lost on a chain with three weak links? Oh, Melita, you know us so well. 

Angela [00:32:03] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:32:03] You know our writers must have had a whole candy bag of things. Well, I looked it up and there was one alt where Dwight said, Have you ever tried to use a chain with three weak links? I have. And now I no longer own a bear. I much prefer Arctic wolf personally. But there was another must shoot talking head that could have gone here where Dwight would have said, Darryl? Good worker. Wanted him all along. Phyllis? No picnic, but given the options, she’s fine. Kelly? Has her moments look wise. Otherwise useless. Kevin? Sweet guy. Like him a lot. Worse than useless. Cathy? Barely even a person. Couldn’t pick her out of a lineup if I had a gun to my head. No, this will not stand. 

Angela [00:32:49] Cathy also had a deleted talking head here. 

Jenna [00:32:52] Mhm. 

Angela [00:32:53] Where we find out a little bit about her past. She says, Well, Pam’s back, so I’m out of a job. Funny thing is, if I had just married Doug, I wouldn’t have this problem. But I’m not attracted to Doug. Hey, remind me the next time I forget. Cathy, you were not happy with Doug. 

Jenna [00:33:12] Doug? 

Angela [00:33:12] Who’s Doug? 

Jenna [00:33:14] I don’t know. 

Angela [00:33:16] Did he propose? 

Jenna [00:33:17] You know, I’ve been trading text messages with Lindsay because we very much want to have her on the show. I just keep texting her more and more questions. We’re going to have a very, very long interview. 

Angela [00:33:26] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:33:27] Because this Cathy character is such an enigma to me. There are so many things that they wrote, so many things that we shot that we didn’t end up using. I gotta hear her perspective on this. 

Angela [00:33:38] I know. Every week there’s all of this footage of her in deleted scenes and stuff from the shooting draft that we shot. 

Jenna [00:33:45] Mm hmm. So Pam and Jim are now in the break room, and they’re still working on this text to Robert California. 

Angela [00:33:52] They might be overthinking it. 

Jenna [00:33:54] They needed to get away so that they could compose this text, really concentrate on it. But another reason why we’re in the break room, Angela, was because Dave Rogers said if we filmed in here, it would shorten my workday. Because it would be a separate scene from the rest of the story. 

Angela [00:34:09] Yeah, you wouldn’t be in the background.

Jenna [00:34:11] And I really appreciated that he did that for me. You know, like I said, there were a lot of ways that our cast and crew helped me get through these early weeks back at work, postpartum, and this was one of them. And so when I saw us in the break room, it just reminded me of that choice that he made for me. It felt good. 

Angela [00:34:28] Dave is such a nice guy. 

Jenna [00:34:30] I know. I had to shout him out.  

Angela [00:34:31] Yeah. Well, yes. So Jim and Pam are still working on this text. They’ve decided to make it more about golf. Let’s emphasize the golf. Back in Scranton. Not in Florida. Right?

Jenna [00:34:43] Yes. Mm hmm. 

Angela [00:34:45] And then Jim says, You know what? Wait. I just feel weird. I should just call him. Kelly says, You want to call someone that texted you? Do you want to drive them away? I mean ughh. Oh, my gosh, lady, I looked up texting versus calling online. There is a lot a lot a lot about this on the Internet. 

Jenna [00:35:06] Is Kelly right? 

Angela [00:35:07] People have strong opinions. 

Jenna [00:35:09] Wow. 

Angela [00:35:10] I mean, ultimately, what it all comes down to is sort of what you want out of the relationship. Right? But I found this great article on Greater Good magazine’s website. It was titled Should You Call or Text? Science Weighs in. 

Jenna [00:35:25] Science. You know I love some science. 

Angela [00:35:27] I know. 

Jenna [00:35:28] What does science say about this? 

Angela [00:35:30] There was a study that suggested we undervalue the bonding enjoyment we get from hearing someone’s voice. 

Jenna [00:35:37] Hmm. 

Angela [00:35:37] According to the article, we’d be better off picking up the phone or setting up a video call where we can actually hear another person’s voice than texting or emailing. 

Jenna [00:35:46] Lady, this is why we do our audio memos. 

Angela [00:35:49] I know! 

Jenna [00:35:50] Because we can hear each other in our storytelling. 

Angela [00:35:53] That’s exactly right. In this study, they found that people who spoke on the phone were happier with the exchange, felt closer to the other person than those who emailed. 

Jenna [00:36:04] I mean, that makes total sense. 

Angela [00:36:06] It’s very interesting. So the voice in particular helps you to connect with other people. Hearing someone’s voice. 

Jenna [00:36:14] Science. 

Angela [00:36:15] Science. 

Jenna [00:36:16] Science says call, don’t text. 

Angela [00:36:19] But that’s not like Kelly says. 

Jenna [00:36:21] No. 

Angela [00:36:22] Kelly says, Are you crazy? 

Jenna [00:36:24] I have a little personal catch from this scene. I am wearing a new necklace and new earrings. And I loved this necklace and earrings so much that I took both of them when we wrapped. 

Angela [00:36:37] What is the necklace? 

Jenna [00:36:38] It’s like a little tree. And then the earring is just a filigree dangle. But it was like I came back from maternity leave, and I had this new PDF document on my computer, and I had this new necklace and earrings. And I guess, I don’t know, I became very sentimental about these new items. 

Angela [00:36:58] Darryl is now going to receive a phone call, maybe someone’s voice he doesn’t want to hear. 

Jenna [00:37:03] Val’s boyfriend is calling. 

Angela [00:37:05] Yes, Brandon. 

Jenna [00:37:06] We did not even know Val had a boyfriend, but he wants to send some flowers and he needs the warehouse address. 

Angela [00:37:13] Yeah, Darryl says, I just need to find a pen. Brandon says, Why do you need a pen? He says, Hey! I have my reasons. 

Jenna [00:37:20] Well, Val’s boyfriend was voiced by actor Jerry Miner. He was actually on set with us calling from a phone off camera. And I don’t want to give any spoilers, but you’ll be seeing him. 

Angela [00:37:31] Be seeing more of him. Yes. 

Jenna [00:37:33] Which I was very excited about because I’ve known Jerry for a very long time. 

Angela [00:37:37] Yeah, Jerry’s hilarious. It’s time for a conference room meeting for the Tallahassee team. 

Jenna [00:37:44] Mm hmm. But they’re not going to make it to the conference room because Dwight is purposely very manipulatively listing the people who are going to Tallahassee. 

Angela [00:37:54] Sabotage. 

Jenna [00:37:56] He is doing some sabotage, and he starts naming Andy’s picks. Well, people want to know what was the criteria for these picks? And Dwight says, You’re going to have to ask Andy. 

Angela [00:38:07] Oh, Andy does not like this. He’s like, Guys, guys. 

Jenna [00:38:11] Guys, guys. Mm hmm. This was the scene, Angela, where I made some interesting observations about wardrobe. Or maybe not so interesting, but I made them. 

Angela [00:38:22] I will let you know. Let me hear them. 

Jenna [00:38:24] Dwight is wearing a tan, short sleeved shirt, not mustard, in this episode. 

Angela [00:38:27] I noticed that. I noticed that. 

Jenna [00:38:32] Cathy is wearing heavy gray tights. 

Angela [00:38:35] And a burgundy sweater. 

Jenna [00:38:37] Yeah, her outfit is mismatched. Finally, Darryl is wearing a light blue t shirt under a white button down. This is something I’d not seen before, where you wear usually a white t shirt under a button down of another color. But do you wear a colored shirt under a white button down? 

Angela [00:39:01] I don’t know, lady. 

Jenna [00:39:02] Is that a thing? 

Angela [00:39:04] I don’t know. 

Jenna [00:39:06] I don’t know either. 

Angela [00:39:07] Well, Darryl’s doing it. 

Jenna [00:39:09] He is. 

Angela [00:39:10] He’s making his own fashion statement. 

Jenna [00:39:11] He is. Those were my fashion catches for Special Project.

Angela [00:39:18] Well, Andy didn’t realize so many people wanted to go to Florida, so he says, I’m open to hearing anyone who wishes to plead their case. Dwight thinks they should take several hours to come up with their statements. Andy says 30 minutes. And then Creed says, I’m out. 

Jenna [00:39:34] Yeah. He doesn’t have 30 minutes to spend on this pitch. 

Angela [00:39:37] A Creed talking head would have followed this moment. 

Jenna [00:39:40] Please tell me what it says. 

Angela [00:39:42] Right after Creed says, I’m out. Here’s his talking head. Florida’s 13th in education, 13th in tourism, 13th in cleanliness. It’s literally the worst state in the union. 

Jenna [00:39:53] That is not where I thought that talking head was going. I thought maybe he was going to be superstitious about all the 13’s. But clearly, Creed doesn’t know how many states are in the United States because to be 13th out of 50 is not the worst. 

Angela [00:40:07] And I didn’t Google it. I actually don’t know where Florida now lies in any stats because this was written a long time ago. But I was also so curious, like, when is Creed researching Florida? Like what’s what is Creed’s life? 

Jenna [00:40:22] Oh, Creed. 

Angela [00:40:23] One of the other things in this scene that cracked me up is when you see Phyllis walking by as she’s preparing and she says, I have a new swimsuit I need to break in. Did you hear her say that? 

Jenna [00:40:33] No. 

Angela [00:40:34] I was wondering if that was scripted. I thought it was so cute. And this is what it said in the shooting draft. There are quick shots of people preparing their presentations. Kelly sits nervously outside Andy’s door. Stanley talks to himself while pacing. Ryan listens to his iPod, eyes shut, head bobbing. Andy pokes his head out the door. 

Jenna [00:40:54] Hmm. 

Angela [00:40:55] So that little bit with Phyllis was totally improvised and whatever Kate as Meredith is starting to say. I just thought it was cute. 

Jenna [00:41:04] Well, now Jim and Pam are back at their desks, and they’re working on a new draft of his text to Robert California. They finally figure it out. 

Angela [00:41:14] They decide to just sort of be honest, be like, hey, my wife just had a baby. We have a newborn and a toddler. I should be around to help out. 

Jenna [00:41:22] And Robert texts back, LOL. 

Angela [00:41:24] To which Erin just starts laughing. 

Jenna [00:41:26] I think she took it as a command. 

Angela [00:41:28] Yes. 

Jenna [00:41:29] At least she knew what LOL stood for. 

Angela [00:41:32] Well I have the cutest story about lol. 

Jenna [00:41:35] Okay. 

Angela [00:41:35] It’s so cute. My dad, when he was alive, you know, these little abbreviations were just sort of happening. People were emailing and stuff and my dad started signing his emails, LOL, Dad. And I thought, What is that? I was like, Dad, you know, that means lots of laughs. And he goes, Oh, I thought it meant lots of love. 

Jenna [00:42:01] Aww! 

Angela [00:42:02] I know. And then he said, when he learned it was lots of laughs, then he started signing his emails, AML. Which he made up himself. 

Jenna [00:42:11] Okay. 

Angela [00:42:11] Which just means all my love. 

Jenna [00:42:13] That’s so sweet.

Angela [00:42:15] After he passed away, my sister made us each little necklaces that had the little gold bar and said, AML. 

Jenna [00:42:22] Oh, my. Wow. 

Angela [00:42:24] I know. I know. And whenever I see L.O.L. 

Jenna [00:42:27] Mm hmm. 

Angela [00:42:28] I always think of my dad. 

Jenna [00:42:30] Oh, I love that. 

Angela [00:42:31] So cute. So sweet. 

Jenna [00:42:33] Mm hmm. I got choked up. 

Angela [00:42:35] I know, I know. Gets me, too. 

Jenna [00:42:38] Well, while the group is preparing their pitches, Dwight has a talking head where he says he’s already chosen his team. 

Angela [00:42:45] Yes. 

Jenna [00:42:46] He’s going to take Darryl, Oscar, Angela, Phyllis and Toby. And while he might only have influence over the decision, that’s all that Baltzer Gladfield had, and now no one eats owls for Thanksgiving. I did Google this. 

Angela [00:43:02] I did, too. I did, too. I Googled, Do people eat owls? 

Jenna [00:43:07] It’s illegal to eat owls. 

Angela [00:43:09] It’s illegal. I mean, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which was enacted in 1918. 

Jenna [00:43:16] I looked it up, too! We did not both learn about this migratory bird treaty act this week. 

Angela [00:43:21] We did! You cannot consume, possess- including their eggs- or capture or sell or trade or transport any protected migratory bird species. 

Jenna [00:43:32] Which includes owls and hawks and vultures. There is one that is the exception. Did you find it? 

Angela [00:43:38] Yes. The eagle. 

Jenna [00:43:39] Yes. Eagles can be hunted for food and their eggs can be eaten by indigenous people. But only if their tribe is federally recognized and only if they have a permit from the federal government. 

Angela [00:43:52] Yes, exactly. And the only time you can, I guess, take action against the other ones is if you have authorization by the Department of Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, like if there’s an overpopulation or sometimes. But it’s got to be authorized. 

Jenna [00:44:09] Yeah. So I guess don’t eat an owl. 

Angela [00:44:14] Don’t do anything to an owl. I mean, there’s misdemeanor offenses, felony offenses. You can pay a big, whopping fine or even get jail time. 

Jenna [00:44:22] Wow. But as you probably found as well, Baltzer Gladfield is a fictitious name. 

Angela [00:44:28] Yes. 

Jenna [00:44:28] And no one ever ate an owl for Thanksgiving or even considered eating an owl for Thanksgiving. We made that up. But our Googling led us to this Migratory Birds Act Treaty. 

Angela [00:44:39] Yeah. Somehow it also led me to if you have birds that are hunters, they can be real gross tasting. 

Jenna [00:44:47] Yes, I read that, too. That they don’t taste good anyway. Things I didn’t know I was going to learn this week. 

Angela [00:44:54] Things I didn’t know. Well, Ryan’s going to now do his PowerPoint to pitch himself. 

Jenna [00:45:00] I loved it. 

Angela [00:45:01] Oh, my gosh. B.J. was so good in the scene. 

Jenna [00:45:03] So good. 

Angela [00:45:04] When he as Ryan is like, Again, take one of us, but not both. 

Jenna [00:45:08] Yeah. Then it’s Kevin’s turn. He clearly has a gambling problem. 

Angela [00:45:15] Brian, again, I was just so blown away by the whole cast this episode. Brian as Kevin, when he’s talking about placing the bets, maybe there’s a mismatch. He did such a good job. He does this weird little thing with his tongue. Kevin cannot wait to get to the dog track. Then we have Toby. Super sad sack Toby. 

Jenna [00:45:39] Yes, he suffers from SAD, which is seasonal affective disorder. It is real. 

Angela [00:45:46] Yes, it is. 

Jenna [00:45:46] Moods do change with the seasons, and for some people, this is really can be serious. I had heard about this, but I read a little more about it because I know that Andy and Dwight make a joke of it, but I just wanted to like, stand up for people who suffer from this. Because especially people who have bipolar disorder are at an increased risk of seasonal affective disorder. That truly the spring and summer months can trigger more mania, and the fall and winter months can trigger more depression and anxiety and irritability. And so this is like if you’re feeling this in you, you’re not crazy. 

Angela [00:46:26] I actually crave being outside. If I’m inside for too long, I start to feel a little blue. 

Jenna [00:46:33] Mm hmm. 

Angela [00:46:34] I got to get out. I got to see the sky. And I know it’s not exactly the same, but I know how that affects me just needing to be, be able to see the sky and get outside. 

Jenna [00:46:45] Yes. Next up, someone who really wants to get outside in Florida is Florida Stanley. 

Angela [00:46:53] The happiest we’ve ever seen Stanley is Florida Stanley. 

Jenna [00:46:56] Where did he get this outfit suddenly in the middle of the day? Is this what he did with his 30 minutes? 

Angela [00:47:03] Yeah, did he go home? I think he went home and changed. 

Jenna [00:47:04] Completely changed clothes. 

Angela [00:47:07] Florida Stanley is going to give a very enthusiastic sales pitch here. The scene was longer and we would have found out a very interesting tidbit about Stanley. 

Jenna [00:47:16] Okay. 

Angela [00:47:17] Stanley would have gone on to say, My boy lives in Tallahassee. We haven’t talked in a while, but this might be what I need to get my family back together. 

Jenna [00:47:26] What? 

Angela [00:47:27] Yeah! 

Jenna [00:47:28] Wait. What?! 

Angela [00:47:29] Stanley has a son that lives in Tallahassee! 

Jenna [00:47:32] He has an ex-wife? Besides his current ex-wife and or- wait, he has a wife, a girlfriend. 

Angela [00:47:39] And an ex-wife. 

Jenna [00:47:40] And an ex-wife with a son in Florida?

Angela [00:47:42] I mean, that’s what- that’s what was in the shooting draft. 

Jenna [00:47:45] That’s a curve ball. 

Angela [00:47:46] I know. 

Jenna [00:47:47] Well, in the kitchen, Pam, for a reason that feels totally unmotivated to me, tells Jim he needs to go to Florida for three weeks, and assures him that she’ll be just fine at home with her mom and sister at the house. I’m happy that in this scene we acknowledge that Pam has a sister. But this kind of came out of left field for me. I guess does Pam think that Jim just shouldn’t stand up to Robert? Like, I guess she thinks- was there a scene missing here? I don’t know. But all of a sudden, Pam’s like, you need to go to Florida, and then Jim is going to jump on that, like he’s going to charge into Andy’s office and be like, I’m going to Florida. Look, I have a text from Robert California. I’m going. It just seemed like very like an abrupt change for me from these guys. 

Angela [00:48:38] It seemed like a very quick decision. 

Jenna [00:48:40] Yes. I think. I don’t know. 

Angela [00:48:43] Yeah. Because you’re like, where’s the scene where maybe they’re like, maybe this gets you a promotion, maybe it gets us more money. Maybe you should go. 

Jenna [00:48:52] Yeah, maybe there was an extra text that they’re dealing with from Robert California since LOL. 

Angela [00:48:58] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:48:58] Like something that was like, Jim, I really need you here. I don’t know. Something that would motivate Pam to say, I think you need to go to Florida. It felt a little random to me when I saw it. I was like, Oh, he’s going to Florida. Remember, I was in a bit of a haze when we were shooting this. So sometimes I’m watching these episodes and I’m like, it’s like I’m doing it for the first time. 

Angela [00:49:21] Andy is going to address the bullpen and finally reveal the Tallahassee Group. It will be Cathy, Stanley, Ryan, Erin and Jim. Rainn’s reactions as Dwight were so hilarious. I looked at the script because I wanted to know what it said. All it said was that Dwight takes a big breath, gathering himself, then walks out and screams. So all those little reactions when Dwight is like, kind of like putting his fist to his mouth and cursing, that was all Rainn’s performance. 

Jenna [00:49:56] Well, that explains this fan catch from Brandon in Illinois who said, At 15 minutes and 50 seconds, when Andy announces the official Florida picks, Dwight’s swearing triggers so many people to break. 

Angela [00:50:10] Yes. 

Jenna [00:50:11] Lindsay, Leslie, and B.J. are all smiling a little too strongly for their characters in that moment. I think I saw B.J. smile and look right at camera. Like as B.J., where he’s like, Are we keeping that? That was amazing. Like, I could see his editing brain. 

Angela [00:50:28] Right. Like, is that staying in? 

Jenna [00:50:30] Yeah. 

Angela [00:50:30] Well, there would have been a Dwight talking head here. This is what it said in the script: Let’s see. My team is Stanley, the town grump, Ryan, a never ending failure, Cathy, the random temp, Erin, a mere receptionist, and Jim, my worst enemy. This is who I have to take to Florida and manage. I’d be better off taking five of my cows. 

Jenna [00:50:55] That made me laugh. Well, now Dwight is going to take his Florida group into the conference room, which he has, I guess, turned into a humid… 

Angela [00:51:04] Hot and muggy, full of mosquitoes, tons of posters that he thinks depicts Florida. This is like Florida orientation for Dwight. Did you catch the Florida facts he has on the poster board? 

Jenna [00:51:17] No. 

Angela [00:51:19] Okay. It says just written in no particular order on poster board: Scarfaces, heat strokes, theme parks, Brooke Hogan, sinkholes, moldy obese people, geriatric capital of the world. 

Jenna [00:51:35] Hmm. Those are Florida facts. 

Angela [00:51:37] Those are his Florida facts. 

Jenna [00:51:38] According to Dwight K. Schrute. Dwight is doing all of this because he’s hoping that people will drop out of the trip. But it doesn’t work. Nobody caves. Nobody presses the Taboo buzzer, which is how to get out of the trip. 

Angela [00:51:52] Right. There’s some funny bloopers with that Taboo buzzer. 

Jenna [00:51:55] I bet. 

Angela [00:51:56] Back in the warehouse, Nate has made Darryl a whole bunch of sort of friendship coupons. You know how, like, when you’re dating and you have the little coupon books like, this is good for one backrub? 

Jenna [00:52:07] Yes. 

Angela [00:52:07] Well, for Nate, they’re called Natepons. 

Jenna [00:52:10] Yes. 

Angela [00:52:10] And Darryl’s rich in them. 

Jenna [00:52:12] I had an idea for the ultimate, like, coupon that, like, a husband could give a wife. 

Angela [00:52:18] Okay. 

Jenna [00:52:18] Now, I’m going to preface this by saying that I’m making some assumptions, but probably some correct assumptions, about invisible labor that happens in a relationship with men and women who are parents. 

Angela [00:52:31] Okay? 

Jenna [00:52:32] I dare a man to give this coupon to his wife for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Christmas, whatever it is. 

Angela [00:52:40] What is it? 

Jenna [00:52:42] It says, For one year, I will read and deal with every email from our children’s school. 

Angela [00:52:51] No. There are so many. There are so many. 

Jenna [00:52:54] I will take this on. This is no longer your responsibility. 

Angela [00:52:59] For a year? 

Jenna [00:52:59] For a full year. That means if we get an email about picture day, I’m going to put picture day on my calendar. I’m going to make sure that the kids’ clothes are clean, that their hair is cut for picture day. I’m on it. Anything. Field trip. I’ve got that. 

Angela [00:53:12] Parent teacher conferences. 

Jenna [00:53:14] I’m scheduling them. Yes. Oh, Was there a request to bring in something for Teacher Appreciation Day? I’m on it. I’ve got it. Every single email from the school is my responsibility for one year. You get one year off coupon. 

Angela [00:53:31] Wow. 

Jenna [00:53:31] If you do it, write me a letter. Let me know how it goes. I want to know your wife’s reaction. 

Angela [00:53:37] And then. And then report back in a year. 

Jenna [00:53:40] Report back in a year. I suggested this to some friends. We were having a barbecue at our house and I said, What do you think of us coupon idea? The wife actually had a mild panic. She was like, they both panicked in the moment. Like it was so clear to me. Right?

Angela [00:53:56] Right. 

Jenna [00:53:57] And she was like, I don’t know if I could not read them. Like, I don’t know if I can turn that over. Right? But this is the reason why we get stuck with all this invisible labor is because we don’t turn it over. And also because we don’t sometimes allow our husbands to step up. I think this would be a really great exercise. I don’t know. Let me know. 

Angela [00:54:21] That’s definitely. That’s a juicy coupon. 

Jenna [00:54:25] That’s a juice pon. 

Angela [00:54:26] That’s a juice pon. Darryl is going to compliment Val on the bouquet of roses that she received, and she says, They’re from my mom. And he’s like, Oh, really? Because your mom called me. Had kind of a deep voice. Brandon was the name your mom gave? And she’s like, Yep, that’s my mom. 

Jenna [00:54:46] Well, now Darryl knows where he stands because Val’s lying about her boyfriend. It was a love beanie. 

Angela [00:54:54] Val, what is going on? 

Jenna [00:54:56] Mm hmm. Dwight has cleaned out the conference room now of all of his weird Florida stuff, and he’s going to have a real meeting because no one dropped out. Here’s his team. And guess what? People surprise him. They are eager. They are engaged. They’re presenting good ideas. 

Angela [00:55:17] Yeah, Dwight is coming around. He’s like, You know what? Maybe this isn’t such a bad team after all. Perfectenschlag. 

Jenna [00:55:24] I loved this conference room scene. It warmed my heart. 

Angela [00:55:27] Me too. I’m excited for them. 

Jenna [00:55:29] I loved how earnest and excited everyone was. 

Angela [00:55:33] Erin is going to have a talking head where she says she’s going to Florida and she’s not coming back. 

Jenna [00:55:37] Oof! Myles McNutt really liked that talking head. He liked that Erin was doing this for other reasons. 

Angela [00:55:46] Yeah. Again, you can’t go there with logic. Like why Sabre would put together this specific team of people for this specific project.  

Jenna [00:55:58] Yes, it makes no sense that we need both Erin and Cathy. 

Angela [00:56:02] Yes. 

Jenna [00:56:03] Two admins. One of whom is not a permanent employee. 

Angela [00:56:07] That’s right. In fact, if they did let Cathy go, since Pam has come back, they would be recouping that salary. 

Jenna [00:56:16] True. 

Angela [00:56:17] Can’t go there, Myles. We can’t go there. 

Jenna [00:56:21] This episode ends with the Florida group getting into a van for the airport. Everyone saying goodbye. 

Angela [00:56:28] Wait, wait. Cathy is on the phone. 

Jenna [00:56:30] Yeah, She’s talking to her friend on a bench. 

Angela [00:56:33] Yeah. She says all expenses paid. Yeah. Jim’s going to be there. Their marriage is not good. Nobody knows better than me. Definitely we will. It’s three weeks in Tallahassee. What else is there to do? Dun dun dun. 

Jenna [00:56:52] Guess who wouldn’t care for this talking head? 

Angela [00:56:54] Who? 

Jenna [00:56:54] Sydney in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

Angela [00:56:57] What you got, Sydney? 

Jenna [00:56:58] Sydney wrote in and said, The ending of this episode dot, dot, dot. Cathy? Boo! The start of this new Jim Cathy storyline. How did you guys, Jenna especially, feel about this whole quote new girl tries to steal Jim storyline? I get that Jim and Pam need conflict, but it’s gross and I just don’t like Cathy at all. And I feel bad because I’m sure the actress is very nice, but she had to play such an icky character. Well, Sydney, how I felt about it was that I didn’t feel like we earned it. Sydney, I didn’t think we earned this moment on the bench for this character of Cathy. We hadn’t seen her look at Jim, pine away for Jim, be interested in Jim. And now all of a sudden she thinks she’s going to have an affair with him? It makes her seem delusional. 

Angela [00:57:49] Yeah, well, they took out so much that they wrote for her that would have been a slower build to this moment. I believe that someone Cathy’s age in that office could be enamored with Jim. 

Jenna [00:58:05] Sure. 

Angela [00:58:05] Have a type of, like, emotional crush on him. 

Jenna [00:58:08] Mm hmm. 

Angela [00:58:09] I could see where Jim might like the attention, even if he doesn’t realize he does. 

Jenna [00:58:14] But none of that happened. 

Angela [00:58:16] I know, because it’s all cut out. So it does seem out of absolute left field. Yeah. 

Jenna [00:58:23] That’s how I felt about it. Yeah, it didn’t feel earned. And then, as for what’s going to happen, we’ll get to it. 

Angela [00:58:29] We’ll get to it. Well, that was Special Project. You guys, thanks so much for sending in your questions and comments. 

Jenna [00:58:35] Thank you, Steve Burgess, for getting back to me about a few of those tidbits I was wondering about. I’m going to put on my zipper earrings and I’ll walk out of here feeling like fashionable mom. And we’ll see you next week. 

Angela [00:58:48] We’ll see you then! 

Jenna [00:58:49] We hope you have a great one. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. 

Angela [00:58:57] Office Ladies is produced by Earwolf, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. 

Jenna [00:59:01] Our senior producer is Cassi Jerkins. Our in-studio engineer is Sam Kieffer. Our editing and mixing engineer is Jordan Duffy. And our associate producer is Aynsley Bubbico. 

Angela [00:59:11] Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.