The Cover-Up

The Cover-Up
Season	6
Episode	24
Production Code	6/24
Airdate	May 6, 2010
Written by	Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky
Directed by	Rainn Wilson
Episodes timeline
Previous	Body Language
Previous	Body Language
Next	The Chump
Next	The Chump

"The Cover-Up" is the twenty-fourth episode of the sixth season and the 124th episode of The Office overall. It was written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky who wrote "Scott's Tots" and "The Lover" and directed by Rainn Wilson, who marked his directorial debut with this episode. It will air on May 6, 2010 and will be the third to last episode of the season.

Synopsis

Michael is in a good mood due to his wildly successful relationship with Donna. However, during a meeting other members of the office, particularly Ryan and Kelly, convince him that she might be cheating on him. Worried sick, Michael hires Dwight to tail her to see if she is spending time with anyone else. Dwight follows Donna to her gym and attempts to seduce her. Donna rebukes him and calls security on him, whereby he openly admits he was sent there by Michael to watch after her. An enraged Donna comes to the office to talk to Michael about the whole situation, and the two forgive each other and reconcile by planning a private vacation together.

Andy receives a call from a concerned customer that a Sabre printer they bought caught fire during a routine print-job. He becomes frustrated when Gabe fails to take his customer's complaint seriously. Capitalizing on his fears, Darryl tries to prank Andy into believing he has uncovered a conspiracy as a retaliation for Andy pinning one of his mistakes on the warehouse a few years prior that put Darryl's career in jeopardy. After initially pretending to help Andy to not get fired, Darryl agrees to film Andy testing the printer in a typical fashion to test his burning printer theory. During the shooting of the video, where he pranks Andy into speaking with a high pitch voice, the printer indeed catches fire and explodes. This confirms Andy's suspicions, and terrifies Darryl.

While Donna and Michael are planning their trip, Pam investigates on Donna's Facebook account, and finds pictures of her hugging and kissing another man. At first she and Jim were skeptical of Donna cheating, and even berated Michael for having destructive tendencies with his personal life. But now they realize his fears are correct, and try to warn him as best they can. Pam shows Michael the pictures she found, and he confronts Donna with the evidence. At the end of the episode, Donna reveals that she is cheating but not on Michael but on her husband.

Trivia

• The episode is dedicated to the memory of Larry Einhorn, father of Randall Einhorn, the show's director of photography and occasional director.
• The episode title continues in the tradition of titles with multiple meanings. In this episode, there are two cover-ups: Donna hides her married status, and Sabre hides the fact that their printers catch fire.

Cultural References

• P.F. Chang's is a famous American restaurant chain that specializes in American-Chinese cuisine.
• Facebook is a widely popular social networking site that was launched on February 4, 2004.

Cast

Main Cast

• Steve Carell as Michael Scott
• Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute
• John Krasinski as Jim Halpert
• Jenna Fischer as Pam Beesly
• B.J. Novak as Ryan Howard
• Ed Helms as Andy Bernard

Supporting Cast

• Angela Kinsey as Angela Martin
• Kate Flannery as Meredith Palmer
• Leslie David Baker as Stanley Hudson
• Brian Baumgartner as Kevin Malone
• Oscar Nunez as Oscar Martinez
• Mindy Kaling as Kelly Kapoor
• Phyllis Smith as Phyllis Lapin
• Creed Bratton (actor) as Creed Bratton
• Paul Lieberstein as Toby Flenderson
• Craig Robinson as Darryl Philbin
• Ellie Kemper as Erin Hannon

Guest Cast

• Amy Pietz as Donna