Mafia (The Office)

"Mafia"
The Office episode
Michael, Dwight and Andy have a "sit down" with Grotti.
Episode no.	Season 6 Episode 6
Directed by	David Rogers[1]
Written by	Brent Forrester[1]
Production code	606
Original air date	October 15, 2009
Guest stars
Mike Starr as Grotti[2]
Episode chronology
← Previous "Niagara" Next → "The Lover"
List of The Office (U.S. TV series) episodes

"Mafia" is the 6th episode of the sixth season of the U.S. comedy series The Office and the show's 106th episode overall and originally aired on October 15, 2009 on NBC.^[3]

In this episode, Michael Scott (Steve Carell) becomes convinced that an insurance salesman visiting the office is a part of the mafia, and Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) and Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) accompany Michael to a meeting with him. Meanwhile, Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner) accidentally cancels Jim's credit card, while Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) and Pam Halpert (Jenna Fischer) are on their honeymoon in Puerto Rico.

It was written by Brent Forrester and directed by David Rogers. "Mafia" received positive reviews from critics and was viewed by an estimated 8.03 million viewers and received a 4.1/10 in the 18-49 demographic.

Synopsis

Michael (Steve Carell) meets with a tenacious insurance salesman named Angelo Grotti (guest star Mike Starr) in the office and is later convinced by Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and Andy (Ed Helms) that he is part of the mafia. Oscar (Oscar Nunez) tries to convince them otherwise to no avail, and later notes that since Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) are on their honeymoon in Puerto Rico, the "coalition for reason" in the office is very weak. Oscar tries to call them about the situation but they urge him not to bother them on their honeymoon unless it's a dire emergency. Michael calls for a lunch meeting with Grotti to finalize a deal, convinced by Dwight and Andy to meet him in a public place where Grotti can't become violent. They accompany him to the meeting, despite Andy's reluctance.

Andy comes disguised as a mechanic and brings a tire iron so he can hit Grotti, in the event he tries to harm Michael. At the lunch meeting, Grotti successfully convinces Michael to sign the deal despite reservations from Dwight and Andy. A woman with her child at the restaurant then asks Andy, mistaking him for an actual mechanic, to help jump start her car, which he is unable to actually do. Michael later starts feeling guilty about the situation, particularly since it cost so much, so he calls Jim for help, but Jim blows him off by pretending to lose his signal and hangs up on him. Dwight and Andy then tell Michael that Grotti wasn't part of the mafia, and that he was just scaring Michael into a deal. Michael calls Grotti to cancel the deal, much to Grotti's dismay. When he hangs up, Dwight and Andy say that he was part of the mafia and congratulate Michael on standing up to him. When Michael announces this to the rest of the office, Oscar says that he was an actual insurance salesman from Mutual of Harrisburg, but Michael ignores him.

Meanwhile, Kevin (Brian Baumgartner) uses Jim's office to pass gas in and eventually sets up a temporary workspace in there. Jim's credit card company calls his office phone inquiring about some unusual charges and Kevin uses one of Jim's pay stubs to give them his address and social security number. They say that there have been charges that occurred in Puerto Rico and that they will cancel his card. Kevin tries to stop them after realizing his mistake, but to no avail, and Oscar tells Kevin he just committed identity fraud. At the end of the episode, Kevin calls Pam to admit what he did, but after receiving a harsh message from Pam to not bother them during their honeymoon, especially after receiving information that their credit cards were canceled, he instead just tells her to say hi to Jim, without them knowing it was his fault.

Production

The episode was written by Brent Forrester, his first writing credit for the season and seventh writing credit for the series. The episode was directed by David Rogers, his first directing credit for the season and second for the series.^[1] The episode originally aired October 15, 2009 on NBC as the sixth episode of the sixth season and the 106th episode of the series in all.

The episode also guest stars Mike Starr as Grotti, the Insurance salesman.^[2] The plot of the episode was revealed by executive producer of The Office, Paul Lieberstein at the Television Critics Association press tour.^[4]

Reception

In its original American broadcast, "Mafia" was viewed by 8.03 million viewers, with a 4.1 rating and a 10 share in the 18-49 demographic coming second in its timeslot after Grey's Anatomy going down seven-tenths from last week's episode, "Niagara" according to the Nielsen Media Research.^[5]

Dan Phillips of IGN gave the episode an 8.8 saying it was "great" and "Mafia" isn't one of the show's greatest episodes, but it is a highly enjoyable one. By the time Dwight and Andy convinced Michael to finally stand up to the pushy salesman, I realized I had been giggling practically nonstop since the episode started. It's one of those episodes that's just too silly not to love."^[6] Leonard Pierce of [[The A. V. Club]] gave the episode a B saying "Overall, this was a strong if not essential episode -- it didn't move any major story arcs along at all, but it was solidly funny, and proved that the show can survive taking both Jim and Pam out of the picture for a full episode".^[7] Joel Keller critizised the main plot saying "It was more than a post wedding let down; it was one of the worst episodes in years"^[8] The episode currently ranks 23rd on the OfficeTally's ranking list of Season 6 episodes.^[9]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} http://www.tv.com/the-office/mafia/episode/1298176/cast.html?flag=6&tag=episode_header;cast TV.com Retrieved 2010-06-09
2. ^ ^{a b} http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1520196/fullcredits#cast Internet Movie Database Retrieved 2010-06-09
3. ^ "The Office 6.05 - Mafia". NBC Universal Media Village. http://www.nbcumv.com/listing_detail.nbc/nbc-20091015210000.html. Retrieved 2009-10-13. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ Keller, Joel (August 8, 2009) http://www.tvsquad.com/2009/08/08/an-office-wedding-and-michael-scott-talks-to-the-mafia-tc/ TV Squad Retrieved 2010-06-09
5. ^ http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/10/16/broadcast-finals-bones-the-office-greys-anatomy-the-mentalist-up-private-practice-down-a-tick/30682
6. ^ http://tv.ign.com/articles/103/1036055p1.html
7. ^ Pierce, Leonard (October 15, 2009) http://www.avclub.com/articles/mafia,34206/ The A.V. Club Retrieved 2010-06-09
8. ^ Keller, Joel (October 16, 2009) http://www.tvsquad.com/2009/10/16/the-office-mafia/ TV Squad Retrieved 2010-06-09
9. ^ http://www.officetally.com/officetally-survivor-poll-season-6 OfficeTally Retrieved 2010-06-24

External links

• "Mafia" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Mafia" at TV.com