China (The Office)

"China"
The Office episode
Michael, frightened after reading about China's growing power.
Episode no.	Season 7 Episode 10
Directed by	Charles McDougall
Written by	Halsted Sullivan Warren Lieberstein
Production code	710
Original air date	December 2, 2010
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List of The Office (U.S.) episodes

"China" is the tenth episode of the seventh season of the American comedy television series The Office and the shows 136th episode overall. Written by Halsted Sullivan and Warren Lieberstein, and directed by Charles McDougall, the episode aired on December 2, 2010 on NBC.

Synopsis

When Michael reads an article about China's growing global power, he decides that China must be stopped before they take over the U.S. Oscar tries to correct one of the statements, but it turns out Michael made a correct statement about China. Everyone then mocks Oscar over the fact that Michael was actually right and Oscar was wrong, as Oscar is usually the smartest one in the office, having built this reputation by often interrupting his coworkers conversations with obscure information (and, occasionally, to correct their grammar). Oscar invites Michael for a cup of coffee, but the other employees realize that Oscar wants to discuss subjects Michael knows nothing about, in order to re-establish himself as the office's intellectual heavyweight. Seeing an opportunity to give Oscar a taste of his own medicine, they start quizzing Michael on different facts about random topics, but he can't answer, so he makes note cards to keep track. When Michael and Oscar have their conversation (with the other employees present) Michael blanks on one topic, but then changes the subject to conversation itself. The employees toast him, while Oscar is left baffled.

Everyone in the office complains about Dwight's building standards, such as un-plying toilet paper, adding motion sensors to the lights, and finally placing a gigantic roach billboard over the windows to the office. Pam, as office administrator, threatens to move everyone to a different building if nothing is done. She leaves and comes back with pictures of a newer office space and that they can move in three months. Dwight investigates and finds that the office building doesn't exist. When Dwight plays coy around Pam, she admits to Jim that she lied about the office building and that she doesn't want to fail again after failing as an artist and a salesperson. Nate, Dwight's building assistant, mysteriously gives Pam a book on the commonwealth building regulations. Pam confronts Dwight and tells him he's breaking the law, so Dwight puts everything back to normal. Dwight then admits (to the camera) that he overheard Pam's conversation with Jim and allowed her to win.

Darryl is sick of Andy's pointless text messages. After one text, Darryl tells Andy that he's one more bad text from being blocked, but Andy wagers that he's one good text from a high five, to which Darryl agrees. Darryl then gets a text from Andy telling him to come to the parking lot, where there are pigeons eating an ice cream cone. Darryl laughs and gives Andy a high five.

Production

The episode was written by producers Halsted Sullivan and Warren Lieberstein, their fourth writing credit on the series and directed by Charles McDougall, his fifth directing credit on the series. Warren Lieberstein is the brother of Paul Lieberstein, who is the current showrunner of the show.

Reception

In its original American broadcast on December 2, 2010, "China" was viewed by an estimated 7.31 million viewers and received a 3.7 rating/10% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49, dropping just slightly after one week off due to Thanksgiving.^[1] This episode got overwhelmingly positive reviews. On NYmag.com, the reviewer claimed "Last night’s episode was the best of the season so far." James Poniewoznik of Time said, "The China plot, which thankfully focused less on Michael's craziness than his (and his coworkers') relationship with Oscar, demonstrated how well-drawn the show has been even when it comes to its more peripheral characters." He also said the episode was "vintage Office."^[2] Myles McNutt of The A.V. Club said "China steps back and finds a small moment within that conflict." He also said that this was a good episode.^[3]

References

1. ^ Gorman, Bill (December 3, 2010). "TV Ratings Thursday: Grey's Anatomy, Office, Outsourced, Bones, Fringe Fall, 30 Rock, Apprentice Rise". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/12/03/tv-ratings-thursday-greys-anatomy-office-outsourced-bones-fringe-fall-30-rock-apprentice-rise/74156. Retrieved December 3, 2010. 
2. ^ Time. December 3, 2010. http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2010/12/03/office-watch-get-back/. 
3. ^ http://www.avclub.com/articles/china,48384/

External links

• "China" at NBC.com
• "China" at the Internet Movie Database
• "China" at TV.com