Mrs. California
"Mrs. California" is the ninth episode of the eighth season of the American comedy television series The Office, and the show's 161st episode overall. "Mrs. California" aired on NBC in the United States on December 1, 2011. The episode was written by consulting producer Dan Greaney, marking his first writing credit for the series, and was directed by Charlie Grandy.
The series—presented as if it were a real documentary—depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. In the episode, Robert California brings his wife into the office for a job, and tells Andy Bernard behind her back not to give her one. Meanwhile, Dwight Schrute opens a gym in the building and tries to get Darryl Philbin to join it.
Tierney was brought in to play the role of California's wife because showrunner Paul Lieberstein stated that he was "a big fan of hers". "Mrs. California" received mixed responses from television critics. According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode received 5.74 million viewers and received a 2.9 rating/7% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49, staying even with the ratings from the previous episode, "Gettysburg". The episode also ranked at first in its time slot.
Synopsis
While Andy Bernard is having a meeting with Jim Halpert in his office, Robert California appears at the window and frantically says that his wife Susan is looking for a job in the office, and that Andy must not give her one. When Susan arrives, Andy compliantly tells her that they have no openings, but Robert insists that they have a look around before coming to any conclusions. Susan looks at the different departments, and decides on accounting. Andy again claims the office is already fully staffed, but Robert insists that he give her a job, even pressuring Andy by reminding him of his power as CEO. Confused by Robert's mixed messages, Andy relents and gives her a job, but Robert later calls Andy on the phone to berate him for hiring Susan. Andy asks everyone in the office to treat her poorly to drive her out, which makes everyone uncomfortable as they like her, but end up doing so nevertheless.When Susan notices their behavior, she complains to Robert, who asks Andy to discuss the issues with Susan in the conference room and leaves. Susan eventually realizes it was Robert's idea to drive her away. When they call Robert out, he vehemently denies it. Andy tells them Jim also heard him say he did not want her working at the office, which Jim overhears, prompting him to flee the office, not wanting to be part of the drama. Robert finds out Jim has fled, and orders security to close the gate, preventing Jim from leaving. Jim then runs all over the building, but Andy and Robert find him and take him back to the office. After trying unsuccessfully to deflect their questions about what Robert told Andy, Jim blurts out that he is baffled at Robert's attitude, since Jim enjoys working in the same place as his wife Pam Halpert and misses her while she is on maternity leave. Andy and Jim leave the conference room and after a short while, Robert and Susan leave. In the parking lot, Andy apologizes to Susan and after brief small talk, Susan asks Andy out on a date, leaving him surprised.
In the episode's b-plot, Dwight Schrute opens a gym in the building, which intrigues Darryl Philbin, who has been looking to lose weight. However, Dwight's gym is only filled with his farming equipment as exercising equipment. Darryl says he needs actual equipment, which Dwight finally gets, but sees that Darryl is barely using it, in part due to Dwight's insistence they focus on working the pelvic bowl. Dwight asks more employees to join to help motivate Darryl to exercise harder, getting only Gabe Lewis to join. During a bench-press, Dwight refuses to spot Darryl unless he says his motivation to work out. Darryl finally says it is to impress the new female warehouse worker Val, though Dwight believes he is referring to Val Kilmer.
Production
"Mrs. California" was written by consulting producer Dan Greaney, his first writing credit for the series after joining the writing staff in the eighth season. Greaney had previously worked with executive producer Greg Daniels on The Simpsons. It was directed by co-executive producer and frequent Office writer Charlie Grandy, the first episode he has directed for the series after previously directing The Podcast webisodes. "Mrs. California" features a guest appearance from Maura Tierney, who played Robert California's wife, Susan California. Showrunner Paul Lieberstein stated that he was "a big fan of hers" and said he was excited for her guest appearance. The episode also marks the third appearance of Lindsey Broad who plays Cathy, Pam's replacement during her maternity leave. She is currently set to appear in a recurring role for the season. Due to Jenna Fischer's actual pregnancy Pam did not appear in the episode. The Season Eight DVD contains a number of deleted scenes from this episode. Notable cut scenes include more office workers joining Dwight's gym, Andy and Jim trying to get out of Mr. and Mrs. California's difficulties, and more scenes of Jim running away.Cultural references
Ryan mentions his desire to found the "Dream for a Wish Foundation," a play on the actual Make-A-Wish Foundation. During Dwight and Darryl's gym scenes, Darryl sardonically corrects Dwight by telling him that the pronunciation for LeBron James is actually "LeJon Brames." Later, Dwight attempts to get Darryl to stretch his pelvic bowl by telling him that The Fonz did it to become cool. Near the end of the episode, Darryl admits that he is attempting to impress Val from the warehouse, but Dwight believes he is talking about male actor Val Kilmer.In addition, several films are mentioned or alluded to. Erin makes a reference to the 2006 film The [Devil Wears Prada |The Devil Wears Prada]. Darryl comments that Dwight's gym looks like "a scene out of Saw V." Finally, Andy mentions that he "was watching a movie, and a bunch of apes took over San Francisco."