The Search

"The Search" is the fifteenth episode of the seventh season of the American television comedy series The Office and the show's 141st overall. It was written by Brent Forrester and directed by Michael Spiller. It originally aired on February 3, 2011. It was viewed by 7.29 million people.

Cold open
Kelly asks for everyone's attention as she and Ryan walk out of the break room, holding up her hand to show she is wearing a wedding band. Just as everyone starts to congratulate them, Kelly drops the ring on the floor and announces that she and Ryan are now divorced, leaving everyone confused. Kelly then explains how they had spent the weekend in the Poconos, where after walking by a chapel they decided to get a divorce, furthering everyone's confusion. Andy asks when did they get married, and Kelly says a week ago while they were drunk. Andy asks why they chose not to invite or tell anyone, and Ryan chides him for asking as they are getting a divorce. Kelly then tells Ryan she is reconsidering the divorce, but Ryan insists on the divorce, claiming "with the messed up laws in this country, I don't want to be married until everyone can be married." Oscar sarcastically tells Ryan that he "talked to the other gay guys, and we're okay with it. We all agreed it's fine for you to get married" but Ryan insists on his stand. Kelly tells Ryan she does not want a divorce now, upon which Ryan asks who in the office supports him in the divorce, but no one replies to him. Kelly attempts to do the same, but is equally met with silence.

Plot
Michael continues to try to ask Holly to get back together with him, but she continually refuses, stating she doesn't want a relationship with someone she works with again. Michael and Jim then go out on a sales call. After landing the sale, an irritable Michael needs to stop to use the bathroom. While at a gas station, Jim gets a call from Pam's mother Helene, who was taking a feverish Cece to see the doctor when she accidentally locked the child in the car. Jim leaves to attend to Cece, but not before attempting in vain to tell Michael through the door of the bathroom; he also tells a man in coveralls to tell Michael what happened, but the man is a customer rather than a gas station employee and drives away. Michael is left at the gas station with no way of contacting the office, as his cell phone and wallet are with Jim and he doesn't remember the office's number, so he ends up wandering around Scranton and making stops at a pet store and a hot dog stand.

Jim, now with Cece, calls Pam and tells her Michael is at the gas station, so Holly and Erin plan to head out to look for Michael before Dwight insults them both and says that he'll lead the expedition. Dwight and Erin are rude to Holly, but when Dwight suggests that Michael walked back to the office, Holly correctly guesses that he went in the direction of the bakery next door "just for the smell of it." After stopping at a grocery store to get some things for Pam, Dwight and Erin notice Holly changing cell phone services at a kiosk outside the store. They and the kiosk attendant are annoyed to discover that Holly used a joke name to complete the forms in order to get a rubber stress ball, but when the attendant mentions that someone else had done the exact thing earlier, Dwight and Erin recognize a fake name that is used by Michael. Believing that Holly can subconsciously determine where Michael has been, they follow her to a Chinese restaurant, where they find his picture on the wall along with others who have dined there without paying (Creed also being among them, twice).

Michael eventually runs away from the camera crew so they can't find him. Dwight demands Holly to tell him where Michael is, but Holly says she doesn't know. She suggests that they find a high vantage point at which they can try to spot him, but Dwight rejects this idea, and the two split up. Holly walks away while Dwight decides to look in a bowling alley. Holly heads up to the roof of a tall building to see if she can spot Michael from above. On the roof, she finds Michael who was similarly trying to spot the office from above. They both admit that they've missed each other and kiss. Erin, who opted to follow Holly instead of Dwight, walks in and is happy for Michael.

Meanwhile, Pam notices her Sabre printer doodle on the refrigerator has funny captions that insult Sabre, and she gets the office to participate in a caption contest involving a cartoon of two dogs on a tropical island. Gabe, who finds the captions insulting, implements a list of annoying rules, stating that they can't insult Sabre or use pop culture references, and that they have to use new Sabre "sticky quips". The office instead decides to use an instant messenger to share quips. Gabe catches them and prints out the list of quips and reads them to the office, which start off insulting Sabre before they attack Gabe personally. The favored entry involves one where one of the dogs says he's going to piss on one of the palm trees because it reminds him of Gabe; an interview reveals that Angela came up with that one. The office continues to get good laughs out of the ones that insult Gabe, who is once again defeated and miserable.

Captions for Pam's drawings

 * First drawing of an anthropomorphic Sabre printer
 * "I'm a Suck-Suck-Suckety Sabre!" - Andy
 * "I'm supposed to be wearing red gloves, but my color cartridge portal got jammed.... again." -Oscar
 * Second drawing of two dogs on a deserted island
 * "Darn it, Bob, I told you not to buy a Sabre brand lifeboat." - Unknown, possibly Kevin
 * "Wake up, Fred. The power cord on your Sabre printer shocked you into a coma, and you're dreaming you're a dog on a desert island." - Darryl
 * "You don't have to sniff my rear end anymore, Bob. I'm the only one here." - Gabe
 * "Is that a palm tree, or did Gabe get skinnier? Either way, let's pee on it." - Angela, although she wouldn't admit it, winner of the contest
 * "Oh, thank God. I had a horrible nightmare that I was stuck in America with Gabe." - Oscar
 * "I know what it smells like but I didn't roll in anything. It's from listening to all of Gabe's bull****." - Meredith
 * "Isn't this the perfect romantic getaway, Erin? Sitting on a desert island in dog costumes? I'm Gabe, and I'm a weirdo." - Andy
 * "Gabe's mom. Hmm... Gabe's mom? Wait! Tall woman? Looks like Gabe? Yeah, I banged her." - Phyllis

Cultural references

 * Dwight categorizes Michael's facial style as marsupial. Most marsupials are characterized by the fact that they carry their young ones in a pouch; there are no universally common facial features among different marsupials that could apply when describing the face of a person. Dwight most likely thinks that Michael looks like a possum.
 * According to Erin, Michael responds to Michael J. Fox, Mr. Fox, and The Incredible Mr. Fox, in addition to his own name.
 * Michael's name for his millionaire character who farts popcorn is Orville Tootenbacher.

Connections to previous episodes

 * The jokes about Sabre printers malfunctioning reference back to "The Cover-Up".
 * Creed is on the Chinese restaurant's wall of shame for stealing because he loves to steal "Casino Night".
 * Pam has a picture on her desk of her, Jim and Cece dressed as Popeye characters from "Costume Contest".
 * In a close up of the fridge, there is a magnet for Terry's Diner, previously mentioned in "Goodbye, Toby" where Holly first appeared.

Trivia

 * When Jim calls Pam to ask her to pick up Michael, she says she'll put out an APB, adding it also stands for "Ask Pam Beesly." An APB ("All-Points Bulletin") is a call from one police unit to others in the area to look out for and apprehend a particular subject. To make it fit her initials she uses her maiden name - she has been Pam Halpert for a year and a half.
 * Michael used to carry money in his shoe ("Goodbye, Toby") but apparently no longer does.
 * Nobody is able to find out who wrote the IM caption about Gabe being a palm tree, but they should've been able to just look at the IM username.
 * Michael and Holly officially get back together as of this episode. Their last kiss was when they broke up in "Employee Transfer".
 * Jim does not appear for the rest of the episode after calling Pam, nor is he in the cold open.
 * Instead of telling a stranger, Jim could have told the documentary crew to tell Michael where he went. On the other hand, given their unhelpfulness to Michael in the episode, the documentary crew would likely have decided not to relay the message.
 * Scenes at Mr. Choo's Chinese Food restaurant was filmed at Kung Pao China Bistro located at 11838 Ventura Boulevard in Studio City California. The property was ultimately chosen for the episode was because of the large parking lot situated directly adjacent to the restaurant. The location manager was excited that there was a parking area where all of the production trucks could be held that was in such close proximity to where filming would be taking place.
 * Ryan and Kelly do not appear in this episode outside of the cold open.
 * Erin's measurement of attractiveness for Holly is:
 * Personality: 3/10
 * Sense of humor: 2/10
 * Ears (left and right): 7/10 and 4/10

Amusing details

 * Creed appears on the wall of thieves at the Chinese restaurant twice. The picture to the left of his is of him in a wig.
 * Dwight asks Erin to drive as his car is full of fox meat.
 * Erin and Dwight high five after he tells Holly she isn't a tracker.
 * Erin appears to be holding back her laugh when Dwight tells Pam he is obviously going to get what Pam asked.
 * Michael tells the parrots in the pet store that he wishes he could understand them, incorrectly calling his wish a metaphor.
 * When hinting to Pam that her drawing is on the break room fridge, he says "You have a better chance, if you think Bob Vance", referencing his signature greeting "Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration."
 * Dwight spends a long time picking up the supplies for Pam, telling Erin "There's too many brands."
 * The documentary crew do not tell Michael what had happened, instead choosing to watch him try to make his own way back. To be fair, Michael was never in any real danger in the small town in which he grew up.
 * Michael is at first concerned that something has happened to Jim when requesting to use the store clerk's phone.
 * Gabe threatens to fax the captions made about Sabre to Jo. Given her previous annoyance at being contacted about minor issues, it would have been more likely that she would be upset with Gabe for wasting her time than anything else.
 * Holly and Erin walked up fifteen floors by the stairs.

Quotes

 * see The Search 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
 * Zach Woods as Gabe Lewis
 * Amy Ryan as Holly Flax

Recurring cast

 * Linda Purl as Helene Beesly (voice only)

Guest cast

 * Ben Wang as Chinese Restaurant Waiter
 * Eugene Cordero as Gas Station Attendant
 * Cris D'Annunzio as Joe the Hot Dog Vendor
 * Jesse Mackey as Jumpsuit Guy