St. Patrick's Day

"St. Patrick's Day" is the nineteenth episode of the sixth season and the 119th episode overall. It was written by Jonathan Hughes, who wrote "The Office: Subtle Sexuality," and directed by Randall Einhorn who directed "Golden Ticket" and "Blood Drive". It aired on March 11, 2010. Kathy Bates guest stars. It was viewed by 7.51 million people.

Cold open
It's St. Patrick's Day, and everyone in the office is thrilled, since it is one of the biggest holidays in Scranton. Meredith left her kids somewhere, while everyone looks forward to celebrating after work. Everyone except Angela dresses up in green, and many things across the office are green as well. Michael happily declares that it is a huge deal in Scranton, and "The closest the Irish will ever get to Christmas."

Synopsis
Jim is welcomed back by the rest of the office from paternity leave, but comes back to see Dwight using three desks (comprised of his own, Jim's and Pam's) to make up a huge "mega desk," which Jim takes apart. Dwight is extremely angry that his mega desk is getting destroyed. Later, Dwight sets up mega desk again, to the dismay of Jim, who takes it apart on seeing it. Jim and Pam talk about Cecilia, and Jim is sad that he is missing it. Dwight tries to get him to go back home so that he can have mega desk and tries to convince him that Cecilia is finding the world without him and that Mose was scarred without his father. Although Jim realizes what Dwight is doing, he realizes that he is missing her and Pam.

Dwight starts to play "Cat's in the Cradle" loudly to show Jim that he is missing fatherhood. Jim calls Pam and decides to keep working for the meantime, but he is surprised that Dwight's plan is working. Dwight continues to try to get Jim to leave.

Jo Bennett comes back to the office and is thrilled to see everyone in team spirit for St. Patrick's Day. It is her last day at Dunder Mifflin Scranton for a while, and she says that the people at the branch are lovely. Michael comes to talk to Jo and gives her a gift. She thanks him and offers him a room at her house in Tallahassee, which he takes very seriously. Jo holds an office meeting and asks if anyone has any ideas relating to the business. Michael bothers Jo by telling her details about everyone who asks her a question and tries to get her to like him. Darryl tells Jo about how Sabre's delivery system isn't efficient, and proposes a better alternative. Jo accepts Darryl's plan and, being impressed, offers Darryl Jim's old office. Gabe tells her that he is working there, but scared of Jo, tells her that it's okay and he will go clean it out immediately.

Michael hugs Jo and tells her he bought tickets and planned a trip to visit Jo in Tallahassee. Jo is shocked, and says that he should have checked with her office. When Michael continues to bother her, she snaps and tells Michael, "Enough!" leaving the office in shock. Michael is confused why Jo still doesn't like him despite his attempts. Michael asks Jo out to lunch, and she tells him to do some work. Michael asks Darryl why Jo likes him and asks him if her family owes him something. Michael says that he is going home for the day, and Jo says that he can go if he believes that he did a great day of work, while she decides to stay to work. Michael tells everyone not to leave because Jo wants them to stay until they have done superb work. Kevin then throws his hat on the floor and expresses his outrage in a talking head.

Dwight claims to have a late meeting with a client, but Jim gets in ahead of him and tells Jo that he himself has to meet a late client, but stresses that such meetings never happen normally. Dwight tries to tell Jo that he has a late client meeting, only to tell her he will reschedule after she stares him down. Michael calls an inebriated Todd Packer who's been drinking since three and complains that the girls are fat and ugly. Glenn and the rest of the warehouse workers come to ask Darryl to leave to celebrate, but he turns them down after Jo glares at him. The cleaning crew comes to the office, but then awkwardly leave since Jo and everyone else are still there. Angela explains in a talking head that she wants to leave, not to celebrate, but instead protest St. Patrick's Day. Gabe helps get Jo's bags and explains that he has no time for a personal life because Jo is very demanding. Michael enters the conference room, explains to Jo that it's a holiday and he is dismissing his hard-working employees so they can enjoy their evening. He also lets her know that he's cancelled his Florida trip, but is looking forward to their working relationship, a sentiment she reciprocates.

Todd Packer and Michael enjoy the St. Patrick's Day party at Cooper's. Michael says that he rather be with people he likes than Jo who he has just met. Michael is then humped by Todd Packer who is in turn humped by a drunken Meredith.

Meanwhile, Erin and Andy are going on their first date, despite Erin being sick. Jo sends her home, because she doesn't want her dogs to catch a bug. Andy decides to pretend to be sick in front of Jo, who also sends him home. Andy comes to Erin's house, even though she is sick and they hold hands while watching a movie. It is revealed that Erin was a foster child and still lives with her foster brother, who seems to have an interest in her. Andy realizes this and becomes threatened by the thought that someone else likes Erin. Andy leaves the date dejected, until Erin kisses him on the cheek to his happiness.

Dwight enters the office the next day and sees Jim sitting at the top of the three desks that have been arranged to form what Jim calls "Quad-Desk." Dwight points out the name is illogical since there are only three desks, and Jim sighs and says they will have to rename it then. A phone then rings from below the desks and Dwight bends down to see his nameplate and phone on a small desk. Without skipping a beat, he crawls into the small space to answer the phone.

Deleted scenes

 * Michael explains to Oscar that he is leaving for Tallahassee, and Michael tells Oscar that they are close. Oscar says that Jo is very friendly, but doesn't always mean what she says. Jo then comes up and tells them that they are both skinny and good-looking.

Connections to previous episodes

 * Dwight enjoys a variety of games. He used to replicate his real life in "Local Ad."
 * Jo Bennett's great danes were last seen in "Manager and Salesman."
 * The cleaning crew has changed since "Night Out," when the cleaning crew was a group of Spanish-speaking ladies, whom Oscar talked to.
 * Meredith and Packer also had a bit of a relationship in other parties, especially when they are drunk, first seen in "Christmas Party."
 * Michael tells Charles Miner that Oscar broke up with a man but never brought it into work in "New Boss", while he tells Jo in this episode that Oscar is a "homosexual accountant".

Trivia

 * This episode was originally scheduled for March 18, however, it moved to March 11 when "The Delivery" changed from a two-part episode to an hour-long episode. The producers wanted to include footage from Scranton's St. Patrick's Day, but that became impossible due to the rescheduling.
 * First appearance of Todd Packer since Season 3.
 * Erin reveals she was hospitalized when she was three years old until she was six years old.

Amusing details

 * The water tank near Stanley's desk is green, not blue.
 * Even the exit sign (normally red) is green.
 * Michael and Jim have Scottish roots. Michael explains that he was Scottish and "2/15" Native American in "Diversity Day" while Jim's dad wears a kilt at Jim and Pam's wedding in "Niagara". Andy also wears a kilt although it is unknown if it is for St. Patrick's Day or for Scottish roots.
 * Angela's mask has her name embroidered on it in red.
 * Michael's desk flag is Italian (green-white-red) instead of Irish (green-white-orange).
 * Gabe laments that because of his schedule he has no girlfriend and therefore must go to Amsterdam seven times a year, presumably for sex with a prostitute.
 * When Reed enters, he immediately starts drinking from Andys's bottle of Gatorade.
 * Oscar sits next to Matt at the bar.
 * Ryan exhales heavily when Jo says this is the last time to ask her any questions.
 * Dwight nods his head when Jo asks the office if they knew that liquid paper was not created by an engineer, his knowledge on paper was previously shown to be almost encyclopedic in "The Job."
 * Andy, Stanley and Phyllis stop what they are doing to turn and look at Dwight's reaction to Jim's pranks.
 * When Michael offers to buy drinks for everyone, he dramatically pulls out two credit cards, suggesting that he is close to his credit limit on all of his cards and needs to spread the charge across two cards. Michael's financial difficulties were the focus of the episode "Money", and he doesn't seem to have learned anything from it.

Goofs

 * Andy says that his kilt is his sister's old field hockey skirt; however, Andy does not have a sister. He could've lied about it being his sister's to avoid admitting he owned a skirt himself.
 * At the end of the episode, when Dwight sees Jim using "Quad-desk", a tiny chair appears. In the first shot of the encounter, there is no chair in front of Dwight's desk setup underneath Quad-desk. However, when Dwight's phone rings, Dwight crouches down to answer his phone and places his briefcase on a tiny chair that was not originally in the frame.

Cultural references

 *  is an annual holiday on March 17 that celebrates Saint Patrick. Over time, it has turned from a religious holiday to a holiday to celebrate Irish culture. Symbols of the holiday include shamrocks,, and the color green. (Even the beer is colored green.) Ireland is predominantly Catholic, and they do celebrate Christmas, despite Michael's remarks to the contrary.
 * Andy wears a , a skirt-like article of clothing for men. While more closely associated with Scottish culture, the kilt also has a place in Irish culture. (However, Irish kilts are solid colors.)
 * Michael calls green "nature's Viagra."  is the brand name for a drug to treat erectile dysfunction, and according to folklore, green M&Ms are an aphrodisiac.
 * Dwight calls Jim and Pam Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumbass, referring to the characters ' from the children's story '.
 * Andy greets Erin by saying "", an Irish phrase which means "Ireland Forever". The phrase is associated with St. Patrick's Day. Erin doesn't understand this and responds, "Andy go Bragh."
 * Dwight disputes the statement that No man is an island, a phrase famously used by writer in .
 * Michael reveals information in the spirit of "fool disclosure", misstating the phrase "full disclosure."
 * Dwight taunts Jim by listening to (and singing along to) the song , a song about a father who is too busy to spend time with his son.
 *  is a television show told in flashback form in which the main character describes to his children the events leading up to meeting his future wife.
 * The office cleaners listen to the song Yarilo, by the Pagan Metal band (Аркона in Russian).
 * Todd Packer tells Michael that he booted (vomited) and rallied (resumed drinking) twice.
 * ' is an American musician (not an Irish poet) best known for his song '.
 * Jo misunderstands Michael's gift to mean that she's been naughty. According to American culture, good kids get presents from Santa Claus while naughty kids get a lump of coal.
 * Jo wears  glasses, a brand of high-end luxury items. She also

Quotes
For quotes see: St. Patrick's Day Quotes.

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

Special guest star

 * Kathy Bates as Jo Bennett

Recurring cast

 * Zach Woods as Gabe Lewis
 * David Koechner as Todd Packer
 * Calvin Tenner as Glenn
 * Sam Daly as Matt

Guest cast

 * Sean Davis as Reed
 * Boris Kievsky as the Cleaner