After Hours

"After Hours" is the sixteenth episode of the eighth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the show's 168th episode overall. The episode aired on NBC in the United States on February 23, 2012. "After Hours" was written by co-executive producers Halsted Sullivan and Warren Lieberstein and directed by Brian Baumgartner, who portrays Kevin Malone on the series, marking his directorial debut. The series—presented as if it were a real documentary—depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. In the episode, Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) and Todd Packer (David Koechner) compete for a job. Meanwhile, Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) has to deal with Cathy's sexual advances in his hotel room. Also, Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) has everyone stay late to cover for their co-workers in Florida. "After Hours" received mixed reviews from critics. According to the Nielsen Media Research, "After Hours" was viewed by an estimated 5.02 million viewers and received a 2.6 rating/7% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49, marking a 16% rise in the ratings from the series low ratings of the previous episode, "Tallahassee". The episode also ranked as the highest-rated NBC program of the night. Synopsis Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) and Todd Packer (David Koechner) compete to become VP under Nellie Bertram (Catherine Tate) by seducing her after work at the hotel bar. For most of the night, Packer seems to be the most successful, so Dwight has Gabe Lewis (Zach Woods) keep Nellie distracted while Dwight helps Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) with something in his hotel room. Gabe takes it upon himself to spike Packer's beer with his asthma inhaler, which causes Packer to vomit on Gabe's pants and leaves Dwight alone with Nellie. Dwight eventually succeeds in seducing Nellie as she asks for a key to his room. Upon kissing her and realizing that what he is doing is wrong, Dwight secretly scratches off the magnetic strip on his hotel card before giving it to Nellie, stating the seduction was only to gain approval.