Season 3 episode 5. It’s initiation time for the former temp Ryan as Dwight takes him out on his first sales call with a side trip to the Schrute family beet farm. Back at the office, it’s the annual Pretzel Day for the employees of Scranton Business Park–an exciting day for very few people.
Show Recap ▼
This episode had elements of The Cosby Show just like the previous episode, “Grief Counseling.” Remember when Theo gives brain teasers to Vanessa and Rudy and makes them do chores for him? Here, Dwight gives brain teasers to Ryan. Unfortunately, Ryan seems to have heard them and knows the answers as well as Dwight does. Dwight’s “Plan Voodoo” = failure (Survivor reference!).
It seems that Ryan has been at Dunder Mifflin for a year and has yet to make a sale as a salesman. This leads me to believe that he has not done anything as a temp. To make his first sale, he seeks the advice of Dwight, who seeks to recruit Ryan into the Dwight Army of Champions.
Dwight, for some reason, takes Ryan to the Schrute family beet farm to see Cousin Mose and to “vanquish fear!” Tasks at the farm include stealing a beet seed from Dwight’s hand, planting said beet seed in “bull cr*p” (just as Dwight plants his seed in Ryan…lal), answering questions like “what is the Dharma Initiative,” wrestling Mose to the ground, and getting into a coffin that is supposed to be filled with animals. This must be why Dwight is the best midsize paper salesman in the Northeast?
Back in Scranton, where people are doing just as little work, it’s Pretzel Day for the workers at the Scranton Business Park. For Stanley, this is the only thing he is excited about for the entire year. It makes you wonder what kind of pretzel he gets if it makes his grief worth it. Could it be a sweet pretzel with “The Works” (18 different toppings!)? I’m guessing it’s a standard soft pretzel with the chunky salt pieces, though those sweet pretzels sure sound good. It’s nice to see Stanley get excited over something and even get along with Michael (when they “BOO!” at Phyllis when she tries to cut in line while pretending to say “hi” to
Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration). The other people from the Dunder Mifflin office that get pretzels are being Michael, Kelly, and Phyllis.
While Michael waits in line for what seems to be over an hour, Pam is forced to take notes on what Michael is doing all day for corprate to analyze. I’m sure it wouldn’t take much analysis to find out that Michael is a complete idiot.
Following Ryan’s eventual failure at the his first sale, Dwight and Ryan seem to be friends (or friend-like) after Dwight reveals that he just wanted to be friends with him, after failing with Jim. I’m sure Ryan still thinks Dwight is a nut.
Dwight: Just think, that temp agency could have sent you anywhere.
Ryan: I think about that all the time.
Overall, pretty good episode. I know some people didn’t really like the Dwight-Ryan storyline, but I liked how Ryan finally got more screen time. I mean, he’s in the opening credits but usually gets fewer lines and less screen time than Angela or Kevin. See you next week! “364 days…’til the next pretzel day.”
(Be sure to leave your favorite episode scene/quote in the comments section!)
