The Inner Circle (The Office)

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"The Inner Circle"
The Office episode
Episode no.Season 7
Episode 23
Directed byMatt Sohn
Written byCharlie Grandy
Featured music"Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence
Cinematography bySarah Levy
Editing byClaire Scanlon
Production code7023
Original air dateMay 5, 2011 (2011-05-05)
Guest appearances
  • Deangelo Vickers
  • Jordan Garfield
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Goodbye, Michael" 		Next →
"Dwight K. Schrute, (Acting) Manager"
The Office (American season 7)
List of episodes

"The Inner Circle" is the twenty-third episode of the

television series The Office and the show's 149th episode overall. The episode originally aired on May 5, 2011, on NBC. The episode also marked Will Ferrell's final appearance as Deangelo, having signed up for four episodes. Cody Horn
also makes her first guest appearance for the series as Jordan Garfield.

The series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. In this episode, new office manager Deangelo begins picking favorites among the staff, revealing his true management style. After he only picks men to join his "inner circle", many of the female staffers begin to believe he is sexist.

The episode was written by

Nielsen rating and 10% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49 marking a drop in the ratings from the previous episode, "Goodbye, Michael
".

Synopsis

New office manager

Jordan Garfield (Cody Horn), who turns out to have no business experience (having previously worked at Anthropologie
) over other qualified candidates, including a friend of Pam's. Kelly later attempts to tell Deangelo the truth about Ryan's actual position as a temp worker, but Deangelo simply appoints Ryan as the department head rather than figuring out the truth.

Jim is kicked out of the inner circle after pointing out what the women of the office had said, and an enthusiastic Andy replaces him (despite having previously denounced Deangelo after deciding that he was sexist). Pam interrupts a mock basketball session the inner circle is having in the office in order to quiet it down, and an annoyed Deangelo reinvites Jim back into the circle. Jim instead challenges him to try a real dunk, which Deangelo claims he can do, at the warehouse basketball hoop downstairs. Deangelo brings everyone down to the warehouse, including Dwight, who Deangelo finally loses his temper with and directly orders him downstairs or be fired (ironically earning Dwight's respect, as he "respond[s] to strong leadership"). Deangelo then attempts to dunk from the free-throw line, only to severely injure himself by crashing down with the basketball stand on top of him. He is immediately taken to the hospital, leaving Dunder Mifflin Scranton without a manager.

At the end of the episode, Deangelo makes it back to the office, still in his hospital gown, with an IV tube trailing from his arm. His attempts to tell a bar joke come out as random gibberish. Gabe and Jim lead him out of the office after Erin Hannon (Ellie Kemper) calls for an ambulance.

Production

"The Inner Circle" marked Will Ferrell's fourth and last appearance on The Office.

The episode was written by supervising producer

eighth season.[5] In the final scene, Krasinski can be seen breaking character and putting his head down.[6]

The official website for The Office included three cut scenes from "The Inner Circle" within a week of its release. In the first 38 second clip, Deangelo invites Dwight on a weekend trip to a Los Lobos concert which Dwight declines once he learns he can't drive the bus. In a talking head, Dwight reveals that Deangelo makes his skin crawl.[7] In the second 144 second clip, Andy tries to become Deangelo's new executive assistant while in a talking head Pam decides to give up trying to impress Deangelo. It is also revealed in the same talking head that Michael named his new dog after Pam.[8] In the third 82 second clip, Jim attempts to get back into the inner circle.[9]

Reception

Ratings

In its original American broadcast on May 5, 2011, "The Inner Circle" was viewed by an estimated 6.90 million households and received a 3.5 rating/10% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49.[10] This means that it was seen by 3.5% of all 18- to 49-year-olds, and 10% of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. This marked a 17% drop in the ratings from the previous episode, "Goodbye, Michael", but marked a rise from the last regular episode, "Michael's Last Dundies".[10] The episode tied for first in its timeslot beating Bones which received a 3.2 rating/9% share in the 18–49 demographic, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation which received a 2.3 rating/6% share and Nikita which received a 0.8 rating/2% share. The episode also tied for first in its timeslot with Grey's Anatomy.[10] "The Inner Circle" was the fifth most-watched scripted show for the week of broadcast among adults aged 18–49.[11]

Reviews

For now, at least, the show is no longer about discomfort, and it's no longer about drudgery. It's about all the quirky characters in an office, which isn't much different than any workplace sitcom that has been on TV in the last forty years. If this show didn't have seven years of history to back it up, this episode would have made you feel like you were watching Suddenly Susan without a laugh track.

Joel Keller,

TV Squad[12]

The episode received mixed reviews from critics.

TV Squad writer Joel Keller wrote that while "the episode did have its funny moments", "overall, you can just feel that the show has changed in a very fundamental way".[12] Alan Sepinwall of HitFix criticized the writers for still not finding Deangelo's character out commenting that "the fact that the writers so clearly had no idea what to do with Ferrell doesn't fill me with confidence for whatever guest stars turn up in the final episodes – nor do I feel especially great right now about the idea of an outside character coming in as the permanent new regional manager."[14]

IGN reviewer Cindy White praised the writing for Deangelo's character saying that "Ferrell is much better carrying the show on his own than being second banana to Carell. It seemed like he was having more fun with the role in this episode".[6] She ultimately gave the episode a 7.0/10.[6] New York's Phoebe Reilly wrote that "while it was nice to see the staff responding to someone new, it didn't feel like enough to make an audience antsy to come back after a long summer."[15] Hillary Busis of Entertainment Weekly also gave the episode a mediocre review commenting that "judging by tonight's episode alone, the transition from the Carell era to the post-Carell era is going to be shaky, to say the least".[16] "The Inner Circle" was voted the fourth lowest-rated episode out of 24 from the seventh season, according to an episode poll at the fansite OfficeTally.[17] In another poll, the episode was voted the third lowest-rated episode out of 24 from the seventh season and was rated 6.86 out of 10.[18]

References

  1. ^ "The Office: The Inner Circle, 7.23". OfficeTally. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
  2. ^ Keller, Joel (May 18, 2011). "Paul Lieberstein of 'The Office' on Steve Carell's Exit & the Star-Studded Season Finale". AOL TV. Archived from the original on October 2, 2012. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
  3. ^ Fleming, Mike (January 26, 2011). "Will Ferrell Helping Steve Carell's Exit From 'The Office' With Four-Episode Arc". Deadline. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  4. ^ Ausiello, Michael (February 15, 2011). "Exclusive: Meet the Newest Office Staffer". TVLine. Archived from the original on June 13, 2011. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
  5. ^ Sepinwall, Alan (August 2, 2011). "Interview: 'The Office' showrunner Paul Lieberstein on James Spader and more". HitFix. Retrieved August 5, 2011.
  6. ^ a b c White, Cindy (May 6, 2011). "The Office: "Inner Circle" Review". IGN. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
  7. ^ "The Inner Circle – Clip One". NBC.com. Archived from the original on May 9, 2011. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
  8. ^ "The Inner Circle – Clip Two". NBC.com. Archived from the original on May 14, 2011. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
  9. ^ "The Inner Circle – Clip Three". NBC.com. Archived from the original on May 13, 2011. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
  10. ^ a b c Seidman, Robert (May 6, 2011). "TV Ratings Thursday: 'Bones,' 'American Idol,' 'Parks & Rec,' '30 Rock' 'Private Practice,' 'Nikita'Rise; 'Grey's Anatomy,' 'The Office,' 'Big Bang Theory,' 'CSI' Fall". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 9, 2011. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
  11. ^ Seidman, Robert (May 10, 2011). "TV Ratings Broadcast Top 25: 'American Idol,' 'The Voice,' 'Modern Family,' 'Dancing with the Stars,' 'NCIS' Top Week 33 Viewing". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 12, 2011. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
  12. ^ a b "'The Office' Season 7, Episode 22 Recap". TV Squad. May 6, 2011. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
  13. ^ a b McNutt, Myles (May 5, 2011). "The Inner Circle". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
  14. ^ Sepinwall, Alan (May 6, 2011). "Review: The Office – The Inner Circle: The rise and fall of Deangelo Vickers". HitFix. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
  15. ^ Reilly, Phoebe (May 6, 2011). "The Office Recap: Deangelo Vickers, We Hardly Knew Ye". New York Magazine. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
  16. ^ Busis, Hillary (May 6, 2011). "The Office recap: Daft Dunk". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
  17. ^ "Survivor Poll: Season 7". OfficeTally. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  18. ^ "The Office Season 7 Fan Ratings". OfficeTally. Retrieved July 24, 2011.

External links

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