The Farm (The Office)
"The Farm" is the seventeenth episode of the ninth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the 193rd overall. It originally aired on NBC on March 14, 2013. The episode guest stars Majandra Delfino, Matt Jones, Thomas Middleditch, Blake Garrett Rosenthal, David Koechner, Allan Havey, Nora Kirkpatrick, Mary Gillis, and Michael Schur.
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. The episode revolves around Dwight Schrute attending the funeral of his Aunt Shirley at Schrute Farms, where his family reunites. Meanwhile, Todd Packer returns to the office claiming to be a reformed man.
"The Farm" was produced to serve as a backdoor pilot for a proposed spin-off series starring Wilson as Dwight, which NBC ultimately did not pick up. The episode received mostly negative reviews from television critics, with many criticizing Dwight's farm storyline and some critics calling it a "Frankenstein episode". The episode was viewed by 3.54 million viewers and received a 1.9/5 rating among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. The episode ranked fourth in its timeslot, and it was the highest-rated NBC series of the night.
Plot
Dwight Schrute informs the office that his Aunt Shirley has died. The only co-worker he invites to the funeral is Oscar Martinez, who flees when Dwight begins shooting the corpse with a shotgun to ensure it is really dead. At the funeral, Dwight's family gathers: his cousins Mose and Zeke, his brother Jeb, his sister Fannie, his nephew Cammy, and his uncle Heinrich. The family learns that Aunt Shirley has willed the siblings her estate on the condition that they all come back home to run it. Though Jeb and Fannie do not share Dwight's enthusiasm for country life, Dwight manages to convince them to move back to Scranton and help him run the farm, thereby inheriting it.Meanwhile, Todd Packer visits the office and announces that he wants to make amends for his past behavior. He makes rude remarks masked as apologies and hands out store-bought cupcakes. Pam Halpert argues that they should not eat the cupcakes to spite Packer. She remains adamant on this point even after Packer leaves, but the remaining employees eat their cupcakes. Packer reveals to the documentary crew that he spiked the cupcakes with drugs in retaliation for his firing. He then visits Jim Halpert and Darryl Philbin at Athlead in Philadelphia, pulling the same trick on them. In the morning, Pam returns to the office and announces she is going to eat her cupcake, only to find everyone else reeling from the aftereffects of Packer's deed.
Production
The episode was written and directed by executive producer and former showrunner Paul Lieberstein, marking his thirteenth writing credit, sixth directorial credit and fourth dual credit. "The Farm" was the fifth episode produced, but was the seventeenth aired, as noted by its production number. It was originally supposed to act as a backdoor pilot for a spin-off series, also called The Farm starring Wilson and focusing on Dwight. As such, Wilson was initially slated to appear in only 13 episodes of The Offices ninth season before leaving for the spin-off. Paul Lieberstein, the showrunner for The Office for seasons five through eight, stepped down at the start of season nine in order to focus more energy on the potential spin-off. However, upon review, the spin-off was not picked up by NBC. Executive producer Greg Daniels revealed that the episode would have additional material shot so that it fits better into the season, as the original version contained "certain aspects that were appropriate for a pilot of a new show".The episode guest stars Majandra Delfino, Blake Garrett Rosenthal, Thomas Middleditch and Matt Jones as members of Dwight's family, who were intended to form the main cast of The Farm with Wilson; Delfino plays Dwight's sister Fannie, Rosenthal plays Dwight's nephew Cammy, Middleditch portrays Dwight's brother Jeb, and Jones portrays Dwight's cousin Zeke. Tom Bower appears as Dwight's great uncle Heinrich in a deleted scene only, although he retains his credit in the broadcast episode. Jones had previously appeared in the ninth season entry, "Junior Salesman".