Lotto

"Lotto" is the third episode of the eighth season and the 155th episode overall. It was written by Charlie Grandy and directed by John Krasinski. The episode originally aired on October 6, 2011.

In the episode, the entire warehouse staff quits after winning the lottery, leaving Andy and Darryl to scramble for replacements while several of the office workers get a taste of the warehouse life.

"Lotto" has received mostly positive reviews from critics. According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was viewed by 5.82 million viewers and received a 3.2 rating/8% share among adult between the ages of 18 and 49, marking a slight drop in the ratings from the previous episode, "The Incentive".

Plot

The six warehouse workers win $950,000 in a lottery pool, and quit in a celebratory fashion of running through the office, making a mess and mooning the staff. Darryl was originally part of the pool (with his birthday being the winning numbers) but stopped when he was promoted, and falls into a depression, unable to find any motivation to work and further dismayed when his ex-wife's response to him not winning is to ask for the number of his pool-winner friend Glen. Everyone else speculates how they would spend a hypothetical lottery score, with Jim and Pam ultimately deciding to fuse their two main ideas into one for a lovely brownstone located in the great outdoors.

Andy has a hard time finding any office workers who will step in for the day and make sure that the day's important orders shipped out. Jim, Erin, Dwight and Kevin take over the process, but don't know how to use the heavy-lifting equipment and discover that they are not strong enough to fill the truck by hand. Upon Kevin's suggestion, they create an oil luge to slide the boxes across the floor, which results in a lot of damaged inventory, a failed shipment, and Phyllis losing a large client.

A melancholic Darryl finally assembles a conference room meeting with several potential new hires, but utters several discouraging remarks about the job and exits, leaving Andy alone to take charge of the process. Andy doesn't know what he's doing and all of the workers simply leave. Darryl blames himself for the failure and asks Andy to fire him, but Andy refuses, thinking/hoping Darryl is speaking in code.

Andy finally manages to hire three workers: a bodybuilder from Oscar's gym, Dwight's building handyman Nate, and a PhD candidate who can only work two days a week. Darryl demands anew to be fired, then switches gears: he tells Andy to give him the manager job, saying he deserves it and wants that or a pink slip. Andy then steps up and bluntly tells Darryl he not only isn't going to do that, but Darryl was not the runner-up to Andy in the selection process; as he brings up Darryl's short temper, his hiring of the unqualified Glen, and his loss of interest in taking business education courses, Darryl finally snaps out of his funk and listens to him. Andy tells Darryl that Jo Bennett loved him and saw something in him, and he simply stopped striving after that. He convinces Darryl to stay on board, and they head down to the warehouse, only to find it has become a slick mess.

Cultural references

Pam tells Jim that in his lottery fantasy "we're Stephen King characters", due to his desire to live in Maine.
Andy does a Mr. T impression.
Tour de France is an annual multiple stage bicycle race primarily held in France.
During one sequence, the scene begins in media res when Jim and Dwight are having a conversation about the films Message in a Bottle and The Postman, both of which involve Kevin Costner.^[1]
Toby Flenderson mentions that, if he won the lottery, he would spend most of his money on launching his true crime podcast, called The Flenderson Files.
Andy is sad when no one in the office appears to be a fan of the stand-up comedian and actor Bob Newhart.

Trivia/Amusing Details

James Spader (Robert California) is credited but does not appear in this episode
Oscar breaks the window so the dog doesn't get too hot. However, the sunroof was clearly open when Dwight poured his beverage in it.

Cast

Main Cast

Supporting Cast

Recurring Cast

Hugh Dane as Hank Tate
Ameenah Kaplan as Val
Mark Proksch as Nate

Guest Cast

Michael Daniel Cassady
Barak Hardley
Jason Walsh
Mike E. Winfield

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