Junior Salesman

"Junior Salesman" is the thirteenth episode of the ninth season of the American television comedy series The Office and is the show's 189th episode overall. It was written by Carrie Kemper and directed by David Rogers. It aired on January 31, 2013. It was viewed by 4.45 million people.

In the episode, David Wallace tasks Dwight with finding a new part-time salesman to fill in for Jim. Dwight assembles a super-team of his cronies, starting with Mose. Pam tries to figure out who will be her new desk mate.

Synopsis
Dunder Mifflin CEO David Wallace has tasked Dwight with finding a part-time replacement for Jim. Clark feels he is ready for the position after 12 grueling weeks of work at Dunder Mifflin, but Dwight makes it clear he doesn't want Clark to get the job. Instead, he brings in a bizarre gallery of his relatives and close friends, including his cousin Mose, best friend Rolf, part-time private investigator Trevor, former Corporate executive Troy, karate teacher Sensei Ira, and a few others.

Pam and Jim are both concerned about Dwight's ideas, as Pam is worried about who will take over Jim's desk and Jim feels guilty that his work in Philadelphia will leave Pam at the mercy of Dwight's questionable judgment. It quickly becomes apparent, though, that none of Dwight's candidates are remotely qualified to be paper salesmen, and while Dwight dismisses Clark again after he aces his interview, he is too committed to making a good hire to actually give the job to someone like Mose, Rolf or Trevor.

Dwight gets a few cheap shots in at Jim's expense when Jim makes a phone call to Wallace in hopes of getting the CEO to invest in Athlead. Jim is forced to have the conversation on speaker phone, and gets double-punched when Wallace first says that Jim's salary is going to be cut to reflect his part-time status, and then bluntly shoots down the idea of putting any money towards Athlead.

Meanwhile, Dwight is stuck between not being able to honestly hire any of his friends and being afraid they will hate him if he doesn't just pick one of them. He tries to get Jim to take over for him, and Jim refuses, but they agree to a plan where Jim will let everyone down easy by claiming he made the call to hire no one.

Unfortunately, Dwight completely overplays his "anger" at Jim for not hiring them, and Rolf and everyone else immediately realize Dwight lied to them and wasted their time. They elect to play paintball without him, later sending a rude e-mail that says "Glad you're not here", and Dwight sadly notes that he lost all of his friends in just three hours. Clark does get the salesman job, and Pam briefly lifts Dwight's spirits by suggesting they "haze the new guy", though she makes Dwight stop that plan when he nearly suffocates Clark with shrink wrap. It is also hinted at that Brian, the boom mike operator for the documentary crew, has developed a crush on Pam.

Amusing details and trivia

 * Sensei Ira wears a necktie under his karate outfit.
 * The Erin Hannon "Get Glue" sticker was released alongside this episode.
 * When asked if he wanted to haze Clark, Dwight replies, "Absolutely I do", the same phrase Jim uses whenever asked by Dwight to join him in something.
 * Despite Creed leaving to play paintball with Dwight's friends, he doesn't appear in the picture that Dwight receives at the end of the episode.
 * The press release for this episode included a storyline involving Erin trying to find her birth parents with Pete's help. According to episode director and series editor David Rogers, this was cut out to make more room for "Dwight and his freaky friends."
 * Ed Helms (Andy Bernard) is credited but does not appear in this episode.

Cultural references

 * Clark compares his twelve weeks at Dunder Mifflin to an entire season of Homeland. Each year, the show releases twelve episodes, one each week for twelve weeks.
 * Clark describes having to compete for the promotion as the Thunderdome, referring to the arena in the post-apocalyptic movie Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.
 * Dwight establishes an "axis" to compete with Jim and Pam's "alliance". World War II, the "Allied powers" (led by the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union) defeated the "Axis powers" (Germany, Italy, Japan).
 * When Jim asks if he's clean, Clark replies, "Dove men", a line of men's toiletries produced by Dove.
 * Jim sarcastically observes that Clark doesn't listen to music at work because he's not at "a Florence + the Machine concert". Florence + the Machine is an English indie rock band.
 * When Dwight poses a problem, Clark says he'd "Kobayashi Maru" the problem, referring to a no-win exercise in Star Trek designed to test a cadet's character. Captain Kirk won the no-win scenario by surreptitiously reprogramming the computer (i.e., cheating). Clark attempts a similar tactic, by declaring victory without solving the problem.
 * On his r&eacute;sum&eacute;, Mose lists Dow Chemical, one of the world's largest chemical producers.
 * Dwight went to a school based on the fictitious School for Gifted Youngsters from the X-Men comic book series. It is a school for children with superhuman powers, known as "mutants" in the comic book series.
 * Dwight compares his friends to Spider-Man, a fictional superhero who gained spider-like powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider.
 * Dwight asks Rolf to sell him a piece of paper but it fails. Dwight tries to illustrate the technique of salesmen. He references the memoir written by Jordan Belfort called The Wolf Of Wall Street. The film adaptation highlights this technique.
 * Dwight complains that the situation is bullcrap, and later calls it "a load of B.C." The usual term is bullsh–t, commonly abbreviated "B.S."

Main cast

 * Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute
 * John Krasinski as Jim Halpert
 * Jenna Fischer as Pam Halpert
 * Ed Helms as Andy Bernard

Supporting cast

 * Catherine Tate as Nellie Bertram
 * Leslie David Baker as Stanley Hudson
 * Brian Baumgartner as Kevin Malone
 * Creed Bratton as Creed Bratton
 * Clark Duke as Clark Green
 * Kate Flannery as Meredith Palmer
 * Ellie Kemper as Erin Hannon
 * Angela Kinsey as Angela Lipton
 * Oscar Nunez as Oscar Martinez
 * Craig Robinson as Darryl Philbin
 * Phyllis Smith as Phyllis Vance

Guest cast

 * Chris Diamantopoulos as Brian
 * Beth Grant as Melvina
 * Chris Gethard as Trevor
 * Matt Jones as Zeke
 * Lance Krall as Sensei Ira
 * Will McCormack as Wolf
 * Mark Proksch as Nate
 * Michael Schur as Mose
 * James Urbaniak as Rolf
 * Eric Wareheim as Gabor
 * Hideotoshi Imura as Hidetoshi Hasagawa
 * Noel Petok as Troy Undercook
 * Andy Buckley as David Wallace (voice) (uncredited)