Drug Testing (The Office)

Did You Know?

• During Michael's anti-drug meeting, he misidentifies hookah as an illegal drug; Toby points out the fact that it is merely a pipe.
• Dwight notes that he'll have to bring in his bō staff, a long staff weapon used in Okinawa and feudal Japan, to protect the office.

Plot

Dwight Schrute, acting as a volunteer sheriff deputy, discovered a partially smoked marijuana joint in the Dunder Mifflin Scranton parking lot and began investigating who it belonged to. After Dwight organized urine tests for the office, Michael Scott became anxious that a "clove cigarette" he had smoked at an Alicia Keys concert might trigger a positive result. To divert attention and get himself out of testing, Michael held an anti-drug meeting. When Dwight told Michael he was not exempt, Michael pressured Dwight into giving him a cup of his own clean urine, which Michael then used to pass the test. Feeling this broke his deputy oath, Dwight resigned his badge. Guilty over the situation, Michael appointed Dwight as "Honorary Security Advisor" for the branch.

Separately, Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly accidentally said the same thing at the same time. Pam called "jinx," which meant Jim could not speak until he bought her a Coke. The vending machine was empty, so Pam insisted the rules still applied. Jim stayed silent even as Pam teased him by letting Kelly talk at him nonstop. When Pam joked, "you can tell me anything," Jim gave her a serious, longing look and then looked down, leaving Pam without words. Later, Pam bought Jim a Coke and urged him to buy it from her so he could talk again. She told him how strange it felt not speaking all day. They smiled at each other and went to the kitchen to eat and discuss the day's events.

In a talking head interview, Jim reflected on Dwight giving up his badge for Michael. He asked, "I just don't get it. What does he get out of that relationship?" The camera then cut to a shot emphasizing Jim's own relationship with Pam.

Production

"Drug Testing" was penned by Jennifer Celotta, with Greg Daniels, the show's executive producer and show runner, directing. Jenna Fischer pointed out that the silent subplot between Jim and Pam carried weight because, as she put it, the two characters could communicate volumes without speaking, echoing the famous 27-second quiet moment from "Booze Cruise." The idea of Pam jinxing Jim had been in the works for a while, and once the writers realized John Krasinski could deliver powerful silent performances, they decided to go ahead with it.

Steve Carell had injured his finger that week, and the swelling made it impossible to remove his wedding ring. Rather than cutting the ring off, the production team just wrapped a bandage around it, which is why Michael sports a bandaged finger in the episode. When Michael orders Pam to "write this down," Fischer's reaction—looking at the camera with empty hands—was completely unscripted. She later explained on her MySpace blog that she found it amusing to be told to take notes without having any paper or pen, so she simply showed the camera her lack of supplies.

Dwight's voice-over about his father came from an improvised talking head recorded for the pilot episode. It didn't make the cut then, but Daniels liked it so much that he kept waiting for the right moment to use it. Jim's impression of Stanley was inspired by Krasinski's real-life knack for doing impressions around the set. This episode was the last one filmed for the season, even though it wasn't the final one to air.

Fischer compared the mood on set to the last day of school, with everyone feeling giddy. That energy shows in her performance: Pam skips after Jim into the break room, bounces on her toes during the "fake crying" talking head, and taps her soda can three times to break the jinx.

Reception

"Drug Testing" first aired on NBC in the United States on April 26, 2006. In the Nielsen ratings, it scored a 3.9/10 among viewers aged 18 to 49, meaning 3.9 percent of households with someone in that age range watched it, and ten percent of all TV sets in use at the time were tuned to NBC. The episode drew 7.8 million total viewers.

Critical reception was mostly positive. Rolling Stone’s Lindsey Thomas ranked Dwight’s interrogation of the office staff after finding a joint in the parking lot as the 15th best moment in the series. Alan Sepinwall of The Seattle Times said the episode allowed the show to finally make “The Leap.” Brendan Babish of DVD Verdict gave it an A−, praising the focus on Dwight and calling it “a far better showcase for Dwight’s many charms than ‘Dwight’s Speech.’” M. Giant of Television Without Pity awarded it an A.

Not all reviews were glowing. Michael Sciannamea of AOL TV was less impressed, writing that he “didn’t think this episode was so hot” and that its premise was “a good idea that didn’t really take off.” He also criticized the Jim and Pam subplot as “rather childish” and said it “didn’t seem to go anywhere.”