The Farm

This page needs serious attention!
This article does not currently meet the standards set at Dunderpedia: The Office Wiki. Please feel free to edit it, and pose any questions you might have on the article's talk page.

"The Farm" is the seventeenth episode of the ninth season of the American television comedy series "The Office" and is the show's 193rd episode overall. It was written and directed by Paul Lieberstein. It aired on March 14, 2013. It was viewed by 3.54 million people.

In the episode, Dwight travels home for a customary Schrute funeral. He and his siblings receive a surprise inheritance that's not entirely welcome. Back at Dunder Mifflin, Todd Packer tries to make amends for a lifetime of bad behavior.

Synopsis

Dwight arrives dressed in black clothing which he tells the office that he is dressed according to the rules of Schrute mourning. He tells the office staff that his Aunt Shirley has died. While people try to express their condolences, Dwight is not interested and explains that the two pails he holds each contain either red, fertile dirt in which if he throws it in your face, you are invited to the funeral and the other contains black, acidic dirt to which if thrown in your face he asks that you keep away from him during his time of mourning. He throws the black dirt in everyone's face except Oscar. When he gets to Jim, Dwight fills his hand with acidic dirt, but instead of throwing it at Jim, he throws it directly on and across Pam's cheek. Then he soaks another one in coffee and throws it in Jim's eye.

Dwight relaxes in a rocking chair on the porch at his house at Schrute Farms, watching Mose running around. His cousin Zeke pulls up on his motorcycle to take Dwight to the funeral at Shirley's farm nearby. Both of them argue over who has to get in the sidecar however the argument culminates in both of them in the drivers seat. Dwight and Oscar meet at the funeral and Oscar expresses surprise when he see's Dwight's brother pull up in a car that drives into the grave intended for Aunt Shirley. Oscar is even more struck by Dwight's beautiful sister, Fanny from Chicago. She is a single mother of a boy named Cameron.

While at the funeral, rather than recall fond memories of Shirley like most families, all the guests instead state a fact about her while she was alive to which Oscar sarcastically says of the Schrutes "they're a descriptive people". A group of farmers arrive at the funeral and Dwight flirts with Esther, one of the girls there. Oscar becomes worried and leaves however after Dwight takes a shotgun and begins firing at the coffin in order to ensure that Shirley is dead and not just a deep sleeper as incidents in the past have occurred.

Back at the office Todd Packer reappears and admits that he is in rehab and is on a step in which he must apologize to everyone that he has wronged. He proceeds to apologize to everyone. However Pam points out that he is just insulting people and disguising it as an apology. Packer realizes this and to show he is truly sorry, begins to distribute cupcakes that he bought for everyone. Everyone seems willing to accept his apology however Pam calls a meeting in the conference room as she is not willing to let everyone forgive Packer just because he is handing out cupcakes.

As everyone gathers in the living room at the funeral, they watch a tape Aunt Shirley wanted her family to watch upon her death. In the video, she tells Dwight, his brother Jeb, and Fanny that she believes that they are the rightful heirs to her farm. She finds that Jeb, a pot farmer in California, and Fanny, a single mom in the city, that they need to return home and get back to their family traditions. Jeb seems interested however Fanny doesn't want to and Dwight's usual means of manipulation don't work on his sister.

Pam convinces the office that they should not accept Packer's offering. Packer meanwhile continues to insult people and Kevin struggles not to eat his cupcake as everyone tries to distract him.

Dwight uses the tactic of nostalgia to convince his sister to return home. As the Schrute family sings, Fanny begins to realize that she misses her home and becomes impressed when Dwight begins to court Esther by placing a pair of crow's beaks at her feet. According to Schrute tradition, if the girl is interested, she will crush the beaks to which she does. Dwight later goes to the barn at night and begins to do his usual work and Cameron follows him. He observes Dwight perform the task of taking eggs from hens to which Cameron overcomes his fear of chickens to take an egg from one to which Dwight seems proud. Dwight later tries to show him how to milk a goat, but when Cameron fails to know the difference between whether the milk is good or bad, Dwight loses his patience and his uncle instincts wear off a bit.

When Pam comes in the next morning, she realizes that everyone has broken down and eaten their cupcake-however Packer had laced the cupcakes with a wide range of drugs. It turns out as Packer proudly tells the cameras, he was never in rehab and was getting revenge on the office staff who he believes were responsible for his firing. Everyone is recovering from the effects they felt and tells stories of the incidents that occurred. When people ask Andy what his effects were, he and Kevin start acting very awkward and pretend that nothing happened, as the cameras show clips of them becoming high and performing a number of weird activities such as rubbing each other's faces, trying on each other's clothes, and dancing.

Fanny realizes how much she misses home and sees that Cameron seems to enjoy the farm life. She agrees to return home and work Shirley's farm with Dwight and Jeb. As they arrive at her farm and realize how big it is, they all look at each other and agree that they are ready for the task.

Todd Packer is seen apologizing to two men who are unseen before he hands each a box with a drug-filled cupcake in it. The cameras reveal that the two men are Jim and Darryl and Todd is visiting them at Athlead. Both thank Todd for this and Todd proceeds to give a devilish smile at the camera.

Connections to previous episodes

Dwight's nephew, Cameron (Blake Garrett), is seen coming out of the Hay Ride from Dwight's Hay Place in Season 7 Episode 9, "WUPHF.com"

Amusing details/Trivia

The Farm was meant to be a spin-off of The Office, but it was turned down and included part of its footage to be part of this episode. The song intended for "The Farm" can be heard just before the ending credits.
- Paul Lieberstein wrote and directed the episode and intended to be showrunner of the spinoff. This is why he stepped down as showrunner for season 9.
- Had the spinoff been Rainn Wilson probably would have left The Office midseason.
Blake Garrett, who appears in this episode as Fannie’s son Cameron, can be seen playing at Dwight’s Hay Place in the episode titled “WUPHF.com”
Blake Garrett (Cameron) and Matt Jones (Zeke) later play a father and son in “Mom”.
The farm house is the same house owned by Stanley Richmond in Jericho (2006 TV Series).