Todd Packer (episode)

"Todd Packer" is the eighteenth episode of the seventh season of the American television comedy series The Office and is the 144th episode overall. It was written by Amelie Gillette and directed by Randall Einhorn. It originally aired on February 24, 2011. It was viewed by 6.12 million people.

Plot
Traveling salesman Todd Packer comes to Dunder Mifflin looking for a desk job in the office. However, the office is unsure if they want him to work there due to his previous behavior. Holly gives him a job as a salesman, forcing Dwight to leave his desk and move to the annex. Todd repeatedly offends everybody with his "jokes," especially Kevin, although Kevin pretends to go along with it. Only Michael, who has a similar sense of humor, is un-offended by Todd. Holly, who was at first excited to have Todd in the office per Michael's recommendations, quickly discovers how insensitive Todd is and asks Michael to get him under control.

Michael and Todd have coffee in the lobby, where Todd says he wants to make the effort to be a better person. Michael gets Todd to apologize, but everyone can tell that the apologies are insincere. Dwight and Jim scheme to get rid of Todd, first by planning to pull pranks on him, but eventually taking more drastic measures. They call him, pretending to be Corporate offering him a job in Tallahassee, Florida, a job which Todd readily accepts. When Michael finds out about the scheme, he plans to tell Todd that Dwight and Jim have tricked him. Before he has a chance to, however, Todd insults Holly, which causes Michael to keep Dwight and Jim's scheme a secret and allow Todd to take the "job" in Florida. As Michael and Holly witness Todd drive away from the view in his office, Michael smiles as he refers to Packer as "an ass" before they embrace.

Meanwhile, when office administrator Pam gets a new computer for the receptionist's desk to replace the current, ancient one, Andy wants a new computer too. Pam states that if she were to get a new computer for one sales rep (Andy), she would have to get one for every sales rep, which leads to the entire office momentarily believing that new computers are being freely handed out. Since Pam refuses to give him a new computer, Andy switches his computer with Erin, a trade Erin seems to be fine with. Pam is angry with him, saying that the computer was not meant for Erin personally but for the receptionist's desk in general, and therefore it was not hers to switch.

Pam tells Andy that the only way he can get a new computer is if his breaks, which leads to him accepting all cookies, intentionally opening pop-up ads, and placing food in the disc drive. Pam then buys Andy a new computer, but they scratch it up as to not make it look brand new. When they pretend to argue about it in front of the office, Pam claims that she found it in the warehouse. Darryl subtly confronts Pam later regarding finding the computer in the warehouse. As he knows everything that's in the warehouse and where, he leverages Pam into giving him more sick days. Pam appears to be excited that she is now "corrupt" and trading favors.

Cultural references

 * Packer says that he has "a couple love bumps on my ding-dong so, game-over!" "Ding-dong" is slang for penis, so he is saying that he has contracted a venereal disease. "Game over" is a slang expression, in this case, meaning that his days of promiscuity are over.
 * Michael says, "It was the best of times, it was the awesomest of times," a reference to the famous opening line of : "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
 * Packer flatters Holly by comparing her to actor .
 * Pam jokes that Erin's old computer was so old, "It has an IP number of one." Each computer on the Internet is assign a number known as an, although they are not assigned sequentially.
 * Dwight throws away Holly's miniature .
 * Andy enthusiastically watches a video of a regatta (a series of boat races) on his computer. He reacts to the event with specialized boating terms, reflecting his boating experience due to his privileged background.
 * Erin's new computer is an ; according to Andy, pop star also owns this computer.
 * Andy asks if Phyllis would play mahjong faster if she had a new computer. Andy is likely referring not to the, but rather the based on the same tiles.
 * Dwight compliments Kevin by saying that in culture, he would be a promising up-and-comer. This somehow cheers him up.
 * Erin asks Holly to take Dwight's  back to the annex.
 * Holly compares Packer with comedians, and the YouTube video .
 * Dwight asks Jim if the macabre author and poet knows about his idea of messing with Packer.
 * Dwight mishears the name of pop star and asks, "Who is Justice Beaver?"
 * Packer asks Michael if he can open the kimono with him, asking if he can be completely honest.
 * Dwight tells Packer to check out the in Florida. He is referring to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which is in Orlando.
 * Packer is "a huge  nerd" and "a huge ".
 * Holly says, "You are" in a thick Boston accent, which was a catch phrase of the ' recurring sketch "". She adds, "What are you, wicked smart?", recalling the scene in the movie ' in which Will intellectually dominates a Harvard student in a bar, prompting his friend to say, "My boy's wicked smart."

Connections to previous episodes

 * The toy parrot from the rum that Jim and Pam gave Michael as a souvenir from their honeymoon in "The Lover" appears again in the cupboard in Michael's office.
 * When Andy switches computers with Erin, his desktop photo is one of him with his grandmother. Andy previously stated in "Classy Christmas," that "I don't have kids or anything, but if my grandmother ever dies, I'm going to kill myself."
 * Jim and Dwight, pretending to be from the Sabre HQ, call Packer and invite him over to Jo Bennett's house and to swim in her pool. In "St. Patrick's Day" Michael finds out that even he is not really welcome at Jo's house or pool in Florida.
 * Hank brings a guitar with him for a jam session with Ryan. He also played guitar in "Crime Aid."

Amusing details

 * When Michael is showing pictures from when Packer was a sit down salesmen, a receptionist that we've never seen before is in the shot. This was likely Pam's predecessor.
 * When Michael shows pictures of when Packer was still there, Creed can be seen in both pictures.
 * Kevin says he knows how to read but in another episode he fails at being able to recognize the letters of the alphabet.
 * Dwight claims he "got this awesome hot chocolate recipe from my wife," but he doesn't have a wife.
 * According to the sign up sheet, Andy has taken three separate mods for private meetings, Ryan has taken three separate mods for jam sessions, Phyllis has one for a knitting circle, Angela has one for a conference call, and Kevin has one for a nap.
 * Hank is one of the people who comes with Ryan for a jam session.
 * The "Dunder Mifflin Family" map that hangs above the copier still has New York listed, even though the Dunder Mifflin Corporate offices were shut down some time around "The Banker."
 * In a talking head, Todd Packer claims to be a huge alligator nerd, knowing every genus and subspecies of alligators, yet there are only two species and one genus of alligators.

Trivia

 * Bloopers from this episode's cold open appear on the Season 6 DVD, meaning it had originally been filmed for Season 6, but went unused until this episode.

Main cast

 * Steve Carell as Michael Scott
 * Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute
 * John Krasinski as Jim Halpert
 * Jenna Fischer as Pam Halpert
 * B.J. Novak as Ryan Howard
 * Ed Helms as Andy Bernard

Supporting cast

 * Leslie David Baker as Stanley Hudson
 * Brian Baumgartner as Kevin Malone
 * Creed Bratton as Creed Bratton
 * Kate Flannery as Meredith Palmer
 * Mindy Kaling as Kelly Kapoor
 * Ellie Kemper as Erin Hannon
 * Angela Kinsey as Angela Martin
 * Oscar Nunez as Oscar Martinez
 * Craig Robinson as Darryl Philbin
 * Phyllis Smith as Phyllis Vance
 * Zach Woods as Gabe Lewis
 * Amy Ryan as Holly Flax

Recurring cast

 * David Koechner as Todd Packer
 * Hugh Dane as Hank Tate