The Office (USA)/E-mail Surveillance

E-mail Surveillance
Season 2, Episode 9
Airdate	November 22, 2005
Production Number	2008
Written by	Jennifer Celotta
Directed by	Paul Feig
Stream
← 2x08 Performance Review	2x10 → Christmas Party
The Office — Season Two

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E-mail Surveillance is the ninth episode of the second season of The Office, and the fifteenth episode overall.

Starring: Steve Carell (Michael Scott), Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute), John Krasinski (Jim Halpert), Jenna Fischer (Pam Beesly), B.J. Novak (Ryan Howard)

Guest Starring: Leslie David Baker (Stanley Hudson), Brian Baumgartner (Kevin Malone), Kate Flannery (Meredith Palmer), Mindy Kaling (Kelly Kapoor), Angela Kinsey (Angela Martin), Paul Lieberstein (Toby Flenderson), Oscar Nunez (Oscar Martinez), Phyllis Smith (Phyllis Lapin), Michael Naughton (Chris)

Co-Starring: Jonathan Browning (Steve), Trish Gates (Stacy), Ken Jeong (Bill), Nikki McCauley (Mark's Girlfriend), Jeffrey Muller (Mark), Anderson Reid (Dave), Dee Ryan (Marybeth), Colleen Smith (Stephanie), Omi Vaidya (Sadiq)

Uncredited: Wyatt Cenac (Improv Class Student)

Plot Overview

Michael has IT over to help install new email monitoring software which will allow him to read what everyone has been sending. Despite attempts to keep it secret, the whole office knows immediately and confronts him on it. Pam overhears Dwight recommending that Angela delete any 'sensitive emails' she may have. Fearing that this may suggest some romantic connection between them, Pam runs several tests pass the two to see if they're matched up but only when the camera crew points out to her that Angela bought Dwight a candy bar are her suspicions confirmed.

Browsing everyone email, Michael finds that Jim is having a barbeque at his place and has invited everyone but him. Dwight finds out that Michael is not invited and asks Jim about it and Jim quickly makes up the purpose of the party as a surprise for Michael. At the end of the day, Michael is unable to get invited to the party by everyone and attends his Improv class instead. Unable to get invited to a post-Improv get-together, probably because of his fascination with bringing guns into every improv skit, Michael is called into the party by Dwight later on where he dominates the karaoke machine.

Notes

• Excuses for weekend plans:

Kevin: My brother is in town and we are going to see the Alaska Film Festival.

Angela: Charity...Bake Drive.

Dwight: Practice...Soccer Practice. ...Clarinet.

Arc Advancement

Characters

• Jim tells Ryan that hasn't called Katy for a while now, and Pam overhears.

• When trying to litmus test the Dwight-Angela relation with Phyllis, Phyllis makes it clear she thinks that Jim and Pam are the 'office romance' being referred to.

• Dwight and Angela are clearly making out unnoticed in the bushes out back at the party.

Trivia

Allusions and References

• "You too, Dwight?" is probably a reference to the Shakespeare play Julius Caesar, and more specifically the famous line "Et tu, Brute?", spoken by Caesar when Brutus stabbed him in the back.

Quotes

• Oscar: Hey, what's the deal, Michael? Why are you spying on our computers?

Michael: Oh no! Everybody, Oscar's gone crazy! What other ghost stories do you have for us? That I'm a robot? (in a robot voice) I will destroy... everything... in my path. Uh, boop! Beep! Bop! Mohhh, boop boop! ... Oil can! ... Oil... can!

Oscar: Tin man. Actually, we just got a memo from IT saying you're doing e-mail surveillance.

Michael: Oh, well, that defeats the whole purpose.

Dwight: So it's true? You have access to our e-mails?

Michael: You know what the problem is?

Stanley: I think I do.

Michael: The problem is that when people hear the term "Big Brother", they immediately think it's scary or bad. But I don't. I think, "wow, I love my big brother."

• Kevin: I've gotta erase a lot of stuff. A lot of stuff.

• Dwight: I think one of the greatest things about modern America is the computerization of medical records. As a volunteer sheriff, I can look up anyone's psychiatric records or surgical histories... yeast infections... There are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably because we're down river from that old bread factory.

• Michael: You too, Dwight?