Tallahassee

Tallahassee
Season	8
Episode	15
Production Code	8015
Airdate	February 16, 2012
Written by	Daniel Chun
Directed by	Matt Sohn
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"Tallahassee" is the fifteenth episode of the eighth season of the American television comedy "The Office" and the show's 167th overall. The episode was directed by Matt Sohn and written by Daniel Chun. The episode aired on NBC February 16, 2012. It was viewed by 4.38 million viewers.

Synopsis

Dwight discusses the plan he has for the office staff on how their trip will go. He gets up early and allows for everyone to get ready by waking them up early as well. He scares Cathy awake, gets Erin up (who fell asleep reading the matress tag), wakes Stanley up by holding his nose, Erin pretends to seduce Ryan to get him up and the two are pranked when they go to wake Jim up. Jim, who has been up for awhile had set his hotel room up to look like he has been targeted by a gang and then proceeds to drop out of the closet pretending to be dead upon Dwight and Erin's arrival.

Dwight prepares for the important meeting they are to have with Nellie Bertram, the company's Special Projects Manager. Jim runs into Stanley driving a red sports convertible with sunglasses and invites Jim for a ride. At the meeting, Jim pranks Dwight by making him believe that he has poisoned Dwight. Nellie Bertram then arrives and begins to talk about the special project they are all here to work on. Jim and Dwight are horrified when they realize that Todd Packer is here as well, having landed on his feet after they sent him to Florida to pursue a fake coperate job as a ploy to get rid of him. Dwight begins to realize that he has severe pains and realizes he has to go to the hospital. He begins to leave as he is in horrible pain but suddenly realizes that Nellie is offering the position of VP of the project to anyone who can "wow her". Dwight decides to ignore his injury and stay. Dwight attempts to stay and participate but eventually falls over. He is escorted to the hospital.

At the office, the staff begin to wonder why its so quiet. They suddenly realize its because Erin has put all the phones on silence and there is no one to be the receptionist. Andy volunteers and begins to realize he really likes the job.

Dwight returns to the meeting, having had an appendicitus. He joins Jim, Ryan, Cathy, Erin, and Stanley as all the people have broken off into groups to all do a sales related topic. Dwight decides to give the presentation despite being the only group member to do not any research or help with the powerpoint. He attempts to give the presentation however he breaks off from the powerpoint and speaks his opinion. He further seems to embarress himself when he starts bleeding through his shirt.

Cultural references

• Dwight asks Ryan to stop posing for photos and calls him Twiggy, like the English model.
• Stanley asks Jim to play some Kenny Loggins, but Jim confuses his request for Loggins and Messina.
• Jim mentions that Pam made sure he kept in mind Florida's loose death penalty.
• After Andy buys the office new magazines, Creed is shown zealously reading Dwell.
• Dwight compares his team to the "enemies of Seabiscuit."
• At the very end of the episode Wally "Famous" Amos makes an appearance and attempts to talk about success before he is cut off by Nellie, who demands that he serve his famous cookies.
• The brief exterior shot of the hospital where Dwight had his appendix removed, is the same building that was used in the opening credits of General Hospital beginning in 1975. The Los Angeles County USC Medical Center, was also in a number of other movies and television shows over the years.

Connections to previous episodes

• Sabre's Pyramid tablet makes a reappearance, after making its debut in the episode The Incentive.
• Erin tries to wake up Stanley by screaming "Wake up, it's Pretzel Day!", referencing Initiation.
• Todd Packer references the episode where Jim and Dwight sent him to Florida to get rid of him (Todd Packer).
• Nellie Bertram references interviewing for the manager of the Scranton branch (Search Committee).
• When Dwight tries to pull down the screen he says "Right Dwight", "Right Dwight" over and over again. This is likely a world association trick so Nellie would think of Dwight whenever she thinks of something right. Michael tried a similar tactic by inserting "Manager" in all of his sentences in the episode "Manager and Salesman". Kelly also attempted to entice Charles Minor in this way by leaning on Jim's desk and waiting for Charles to call the secretary who name was also Kelly. When Charles would call for the secretary Kelly, Kelly Kapor would rush into his office saying, "Yes, Charles, you wanted me." Jim noted that it was not her worst plan. 

Amusing details/Trivia

• Dwight cleans his hotel room himself.
• While Stanely is in Florida you can here his voice during the scene at the office where the phones are put on silent.  Most likely an edited scene.

Cast

Main cast

• Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute
• John Krasinski as Jim Halpert
• B.J. Novak as Ryan Howard
• Ed Helms as Andy Bernard
• James Spader as Robert California

Supporting cast

• Leslie David Baker as Stanley Hudson
• Brian Baumgartner as Kevin Malone
• Creed Bratton (actor) 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

Recurring cast

• Lindsey Broad as Cathy Simms
• David Koechner as Todd Packer
• Wally Amos as himself