Counseling (The Office)

This article is about the season 7 Office episode. For the season 3 episode, see Grief Counseling (The Office).

"Counseling"
The Office episode
Michael laying down on a couch enduring counseling sessions with Toby.
Episode no.	Season 7 Episode 2
Directed by	Jeffrey Blitz
Written by	B. J. Novak
Production code	702
Original air date	September 30, 2010[1]
Guest stars
Eric Zuckerman Vincent Angelo Michael Schur
Episode chronology
← Previous "Nepotism" Next → "Andy's Play"
List of The Office (U.S.) episodes

"Counseling" is the second episode of the seventh season of the American comedy television series The Office, and the show's 128th episode overall. Written by B. J. Novak and directed by Jeffrey Blitz, the episode aired on NBC in the United States on September 30, 2010.^[2]

In the episode, Michael is forced to have six hours of counseling with Toby after he physically reprimanded Luke, but Michael refuses to make Toby's job easy. Meanwhile, Pam attempts to finagle a promotion to office administrator and Dwight boycotts the Steamtown Mall after a shop owner refuses to serve him. This episode has received mostly positive reviews.

Synopsis

Michael is forced to have six hours of counseling with Toby after he physically reprimanded Luke, but Michael refuses to make Toby's job easy. One hour in, Michael realizes that if he just sits there and stares at Toby that he will get no credit for being there, so he begins telling ridiculous stories. Toby sneakily suggests they stop the counseling, play some games and "talk" to pass the rest of the 6 hours. Oddly enough, Michael lets his guard down and opens up to Toby about his personal history and relationships with people, and Toby makes an important discovery that Michael needs to be liked. Michael realizes what is happening, ends the counseling session, and yells at Toby. Toby gives up, gives Michael the official form to send to corporate, allowing him to fill it out however he wants. In his haste, Michael accidentally indicates on the form that he is severely depressed and homicidal.

Meanwhile, Pam realizes that although she has her dream job of salesman, a position she fought for a few seasons back, that she just might not be cut out for it after all since she makes few sales and very little money. A chance visit from a vendor gives her an idea to finagle a promotion to office administrator, hopefully for some added income. She informs Gabe of her promotion "from a few months back" and tells him she hasn't been paid accordingly, to which Gabe promises her he'll get the missing wages if she can get all of the department heads to sign off on it. While she's busy convincing everyone that she has become the new administrator, Gabe catches on that she might be lying, and confronts her about it. Using a strategy she learned from watching Poker, she stands her ground against Gabe and becomes 'de facto' Office Administrator.

Dwight has decided to boycott the Steamtown Mall after a shop owner refuses to serve him, going so far as to cancel orders to businesses there. Jim and the rest of the office convince Dwight to get revenge on the shop owner by making Dwight appear to be high-class as Julia Roberts did in the film Pretty Woman ("Beautiful Girl" according to Dwight). Using tips from the rest of the office to make himself appear more sophisticated, Dwight, with Jim and Andy, return to the shop. It is revealed Dwight came by with beet juice soaked hands, easily confused for human blood, and was refused service on security grounds. The group leaves somewhat embarrassed, but not before Dwight buys what he came here for: a pewter wizard holding a crystal ball.

At the end of the episode, Michael is told that he accidentally indicated he was majorly depressed by Toby. Although he initially blames Toby for the mishap, he turns his ire to Gabe, even making Toby laugh. Michael openly offers to return to the break room with Toby and "bang this out". At the end of the episode, we see them both talking and drawing pictures as Toby returns to his sneaky psych method.

Production

"Counseling" was written by B. J. Novak, who also plays Ryan on the show.

"Counseling" was written by B. J. Novak, a producer and screenwriter for the series who also plays Ryan. It was directed by Jeffrey Blitz, who had worked on several previous episodes of The Office. "Counseling" features Eric Zuckerman, Vincent Angelo and Michael Schur in guest appearances as a store teller, a vendor and Mose Schrute, respectively.

Reception

In its original American broadcast, "Counseling" was viewed by an estimated 7.36 million viewers with a 3.7 rating/10% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49 decreasing in a million viewers and 14% in the 18–49 demographic from the previous episode.^[3][4]

Joel Keller of TV Squad called it a "vast improvement" from last week's episode.^[5]

References

1. ^ "Shows A-Z - office, the on nbc". The Futon Critic. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/showatch/office/listings/. Retrieved October 1, 2010. 
2. ^ "The Office: Counseling, 7.02". OfficeTally. http://www.officetally.com/the-office-counseling. Retrieved October 1, 2010. 
3. ^ Gorman, Bill (October 1, 2010). "Thursday Finals: Grey’s Anatomy, Big Bang Theory, $#*! My Dad Says, CSI Adjusted Up; Vampire Diaries, Private Practice, Apprentice Down". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/10/01/thursday-finals-greys-anatomy-big-bang-theory-my-dad-says-csi-adjusted-up-vampire-diaries-private-practice-apprentice-down/66070. Retrieved October 2, 2010. 
4. ^ Gorman, Bill (October 1, 2010). "TV Ratings Thursday: My Generation Crashes; 30 Rock Steady; Most Shows Fall". TVbythenumbers. http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/10/01/tv-ratings-thursday-my-generation-crashes-30-rock-steady-most-shows-fall/65945. Retrieved 2010-10-10. 
5. ^ Keller, Joel (October 1, 2010). "'The Office' Season 7, Episode 2 Recap (VIDEO)". TV Squad. http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/10/01/the-office-season-7-episode-2-recap-video/. Retrieved 2010-10-03. 

External links

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