Murder (The Office)

"Murder"
The Office episode
Michael, Dwight and Andy in a "Mexican standoff" after they reveal themselves as double agents.
Episode no.	Season 6 Episode 10
Directed by	Greg Daniels
Written by	Daniel Chun
Production code	610
Original air date	November 12, 2009
Episode chronology
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List of The Office (U.S. TV series) episodes

"Murder" is the 10th episode of the sixth season of the U.S. comedy series The Office and the show's 110th episode overall.^[1] It was written by Daniel Chun and directed by Greg Daniels. It originally aired on NBC on November 12, 2009.

In this episode, rumors spread that Dunder Mifflin is in financial trouble, so Michael tries to distract the office by having everyone play a murder mystery game called Belles, Bourbon, and Bullets. Andy uses the game as a way to ask out Erin, but fears he may have asked out Erin's character, instead of Erin herself, and Oscar tries to get updates on the status of Dunder Mifflin.

Synopsis

The day gets off to a rocky start when rumors from The Wall Street Journal point to financial troubles for Dunder Mifflin. In an attempt to get the worried staff under control, Michael (Steve Carell) and Jim (John Krasinski) call the monthly staff meeting to provide what few assurances and optimistic viewpoints they can on the steadily worsening news. In a moment of quick thinking, Michael pulls out a party game, Belles, Bourbon, and Bullets, and forces the rest of the staff to play along. Jim tries to stop him, saying they cannot afford to play around that day. Michael gets his way, saying Jim owes him 'one' after earlier insisting that Michael abandon his idea to run hamster tubes throughout the office.

The staff slowly warms up to the game, which is a murder mystery. It is set in Savannah, Georgia, and everyone has to adopt a Southern accent (with varying degrees of success). Thanks to Pam (Jenna Fischer), Andy (Ed Helms), and Phyllis (Phyllis Smith), the game quickly becomes a hit. Almost everyone present starts to play along, except for Oscar (Oscar Nunez) (who tries to get updates on the situation from corporate) and Creed (Creed Bratton) (who shows up late to work and flees after being told he is a suspect in a murder). Jim continues to believe the entire exercise is pointless.

Throughout the game, Andy is trying his hardest to make a move on Erin (Ellie Kemper), and with the possible impending closure of Dunder Mifflin, decides he needs to make a move now. While 'in character,' he asks Erin out for a weekend date, but becomes unsure if he really asked her out, or if he just simply asked out her murder mystery character, "Naughty Nelly." He is worried that Erin only said yes because Naughty Nelly, a promiscuous, flirtatious, and scandalous woman, "says yes to everyone and might be a murderer."

Just as the game seems to get interesting, Oscar returns and reveals even more bad news from corporate. Accounting has been notified to stop payments to vendors, which is in Oscar's words "unprecedented and should be a cause for concern." This brings the staff out of the game and back to the scary reality of losing their jobs. Michael tries to win them back, but accidentally skips to the game's conclusion, revealing who the murderer was (Phyllis). Although everyone else goes back to work even more stressed out, Michael refuses to give up, and continues playing the game with Dwight (Rainn Wilson).

After the game, Andy and Erin meet at the receptionist desk, where Erin asks him about their upcoming date. Andy slips up and indicates that the "date" was just part of the game, although that was not his original intention. In the silence that follows, Erin leaves Andy at reception, in embarrassment. She reveals to the camera crew she thought the date was real, and was excited about the idea.

In a vain attempt to salvage the day, Michael tries to introduce another murder and other twists to the story to pull his staff back into the party. This infuriates Jim to his breaking point, and they hold a private talk in Michael's office. Michael snaps at Jim and points out to Jim "they need this game" or they might cave in under the impending bad news and possible closure of Dunder Mifflin. CFO David Wallace (Andy Buckley) finally returns the phone calls to Jim, and reveals that while nothing has been officially decided yet, Dunder Mifflin is expected to be insolvent by year-end. Knowing how damaging this could be to his staff, Jim deliberately hides this news from them and nudges them back into the party. At the end of the day, Jim is "happy that we have two co-managers today," realizing it helps having someone to distract people from pressing issues.

At the end of the episode, Michael, Dwight, Andy, and Pam find themselves in a fake Mexican standoff lasting until 6:00 at night. Jim pulls Pam out so they can go home, and the others pretend to shoot each other to death.

Reception

This episode was watched by 8 million viewers, with a 4.2 rating and a 10 share in the 18-49 demographic.^[2]

"Murder" received generally positive reviews. Dan Phillips of IGN said that the episode was a "major step up" from the "disappointing" last two episodes. Phillips stated that the episode "struck a nice balance between unbound silliness and grounded drama, even if the silliness dominated at times." He gave the episode a 8.8 out of 10 score.^[3]

References

1. ^ "The Office 6.10 - Murder". NBC Universal Media Village. http://www.officetally.com/the-office-murder. Retrieved 2009-10-25. 
2. ^ http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/11/13/30-rock-the-office-csi-the-mentalist-up-up-the-vampire-diaries-down/33625
3. ^ http://tv.ign.com/articles/104/1045116p1.html

External links

• "Murder" at the Internet Movie Database