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Broke (The Office)
Encyclopedia
"Broke" is the 25th episode of the fifth season of the television series The Office, and the 97th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC
in the United States on April 23, 2009. In this episode, Michael
learns his paper company is broke, and tries to keep this fact a secret when Dunder Mifflin offers to buy out the Michael Scott Paper Company since the company has stolen most of Dunder Mifflin Scranton's clients.
The episode was written by Charlie Grandy
and directed by Steve Carell
, marking his directorial debut. "Broke" was the last of a six-episode arc involving Michael quitting to start the Michael Scott Paper Company
; it was also the last of six episodes to prominently feature Idris Elba
as Dunder Mifflin V.P. Charles Miner
. According to Nielsen ratings
, it was watched by 7.21 million households, and received the season's lowest rating in the 18–49 age group during its regular timeslot to that point in the season.
(Steve Carell
), Pam
(Jenna Fischer
) and Ryan
(B. J. Novak
) make early morning paper deliveries in a used van. The van has Korean writing
on it because it used to belong to a Korean church, and Pam correctly thinks it translates to "Hallelujah Church of Scranton." This routine, in addition to their regular duties at the Michael Scott Paper Company, takes such a toll on the group that they decide to look into hiring a delivery person. They are told by their accountant that their low prices and fixed-cost pricing model mean they will not only be unable to afford a delivery person, but they will be completely bankrupt in another month or so. This is particularly alarming for Pam, who has committed a great deal of money to her upcoming wedding and has had no luck with the other weekend part time job applications she's submitted around.
Meanwhile, at Dunder Mifflin, a fretful Charles Miner
(Idris Elba
) announces the Scranton branch, previously the company's most profitable office, has lost ten major clients to Michael's company. Chief Financial Officer David Wallace
(Andy Buckley) visits Scranton to see what can be done to stem the losses. In a blatant departure from his no-nonsense persona, Charles sucks up shamelessly to David, which Jim notices right away. David calls a meeting with Charles and Jim
(John Krasinski
), but Charles insists Dwight
(Rainn Wilson
) also be present because he believes Dwight to be a better employee than Jim. However, while Jim comes across as professional and intelligent (by suggesting that the corporate office offer a temporary price reduction to returning clients), Dwight repeatedly embarrasses Charles by suggesting unleashing a hive of bees to solve their crisis. When Charles kisses up to Wallace again, Jim makes a snide remark at Charles, leaving him to look visibly defeated.
David soon decides Dunder Mifflin must buy out the Michael Scott Paper Company, which is the cheapest option available. Jim, having learned the company's true financial situation from Pam, agrees to bring the idea of a buyout to Michael—though he uses this position to clue Michael's team to potential leverage in the negotiation. Dwight learns from a past client that Michael has been begging customers for more money, but Charles refuses to listen, having already been embarrassed by Dwight's earlier ideas. In addition, Jim quickly realizes what Dwight is doing, and sabotages him by asking him for details of his detective work, to which Dwight responds by talking about catching beet burglars. Charles is visibly irritated and sends the pair of them away in insults, ordering Dwight not to go anywhere near the conference room.
Michael, Pam and Ryan come in to discuss the terms of the buyout, taking pains to avoid revealing that their company is essentially broke. David suggests to Michael that his company is too small to be very successful, but a surprisingly shrewd Michael points out that Dunder Mifflin's best branch is "bleeding" and suggests David could be replaced during an upcoming major stockholder meeting as a result. After Michael rejects an initial offer of $12,000 to buy the company, David gives a second offer of $60,000, which is strongly considered, but Michael rejects this offer at the last second. When Ryan and Pam question his decision privately, he reveals another insight: he thinks it is more important for them to have full-time jobs with a steady flow of income than just a one-time windfall; getting their jobs back will cost more than $60,000 (due to benefits, insurance, and salary) to Dunder Mifflin and has the added benefit of making David and Charles wince. Michael asks for his old Dunder Mifflin job back, demands that both Ryan and Pam be hired as salespeople and asks for Charles to be fired. David does not agree to fire Charles and is reluctant to add three people to the company with full benefits, especially given Ryan's disastrous past tenure with the company. Michael insists unless his demands are met, he will continue competing with Dunder Mifflin, even if his current company fails. In an impressive speech, Michael declares that his paper company is worth "nothing" because business is "not about money". Seeing that Michael is not bluffing, David reluctantly agrees to hire the three back.
As Charles leaves Scranton to return to corporate, Michael does not allow him to have any final words, mirroring Charles's earlier poor treatment of Michael.
"Broke" was written by Charlie Grandy and directed by Steve Carell, who made his directorial debut with the episode. It was the last of a six episode story arc involving Idris Elba's character Charles Miner, although Elba has indicated the character would return in future episodes: "Mr. Charles doesn't leave the picture. [...] My storyline has come to an end, but there is a good indication that the writers see my character coming back." Elba made an appearance in "Company Picnic
", the fifth season finale. Elba said he did not watch "Broke" after it aired because "I'm hypercritical about my work, so I try not to torture myself."
The official website for The Office included three cut scenes from "Broke". In the first 90-second clip, Michael is running late because he overslept, and he instinctively runs into the Dunder Mifflin office by accident instead of his Michael Scott Paper Company office. In the second one-minute clip, Andy is angry that he cannot find his personalized coffee mug with his face on it, and he and the others around the office complain about losing their clients to Michael's new company. In the final 80-second clip, stress drives Ryan to the breaking point and he begins trashing the Michael Scott Paper Company Office, for which he quickly recovers and apologizes.
. The episode received a 3.7 rating/10 share among viewers aged 18–49, the lowest rating in that age group for the season during its regular timeslot. It received a 4.0 rating/12 share among viewers 18-34.
The episode received generally positive reviews. Alan Sepinwall of The Star-Ledger
called "Broke" a "great, great" episode, although he said he wished the Michael Scott Paper Company arc could have lasted longer. Sepinwall praised touches such as the Korean women who were constantly getting into the sales van, and Michael's moment of nervousness on the elevator, and said the ending when Michael came through was particularly satisfying. Will Leitch of New York
magazine described "Broke" as "a rousing, exuberant episode that continues one of The Office' s best runs in history". Leitch said the negotiations during the latter half of the episode had genuine tension, and that all the storylines of the Michael Scott Paper Company arc were wrapped up perfectly. Travis Fickett of IGN
said the episode was strong enough that it could have served as the season finale. He said the episode had lots of good throw-away moments, like Charles brown-nosing to David and realizing Dwight is eccentric, as well as several clever twists, like Jim's actions in tricking Dwight and helping the Michael Scott Paper Company get bought out. Eric Rezsnyak of the City Newspaper
said the episode was a strong finale to the Michael Scott Paper Company arc, which was "probably the best thing to happen to the show in the last two seasons". Rezsnyak praised Michael's impressive actions in the episode and said he was curious to see how Michael's relationship with several of the supporting characters would be recast as a result of this episode.
Margaret Lyons of Entertainment Weekly
said, "'Broke' was an incredibly brisk episode that covered a lot of ground, so it worked as a good capstone on the whole Michael-leaving-the-company plot." She also said although the plot arc was a good one, she looked forward to future episodes focusing more on the Dunder Mifflin supporting cast. Rick Porter of Zap2it
praised the episode, but expressed concern that the show would grow more stale now that Michael, Pam and Ryan were back to their old jobs at Dunder Mifflin; Porter particularly complimented the new aspects of the Charles Miner character presented in "Broke", including his interaction with David and his exasperation with Dwight. Dan Hopper of Best Week Ever
praised the episode and Michael's shrewdness, but also expressed worry that the quality of future episodes would dip now that Dunder Mifflin was back to normal. Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club
said of the episode, "Elba's stint on The Office went out on a high note. I'll miss his joyless scold of a middle manager but it's nice to have the gang reunited." Rabin also said the moment when Charles fails to listen when Dwight learns Michael's company is broke "rang a little false", but praised the episode as a whole. Meghan Carlson of BuddyTV
said she enjoyed seeing Michael so victorious at the end, and said, "as far as ends getting tied off cleanly, 'Broke' was an inspired episode, full of tension, suspense, and yes, humor."
"Broke" was voted the highest-rated episode out of 26 from the fifth season, according to an episode poll at the fansite OfficeTally; the episode was rated 9.17 out of 10. The episode was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award
for best episodic comedy.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
in the United States on April 23, 2009. In this episode, Michael
Michael Scott (The Office)
Michael Gary Scott is a fictional character on NBC's The Office, portrayed by Steve Carell, and based on David Brent from the original British version. Michael, the central character of the series, was the manager of the Scranton branch of paper and printer distribution company Dunder Mifflin Inc...
learns his paper company is broke, and tries to keep this fact a secret when Dunder Mifflin offers to buy out the Michael Scott Paper Company since the company has stolen most of Dunder Mifflin Scranton's clients.
The episode was written by Charlie Grandy
Charlie Grandy
Charlie Grandy is an American stand-up comedian, television writer and producer who has worked on series such as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Saturday Night Live and The Office...
and directed by Steve Carell
Steve Carell
Steven John "Steve" Carell is an American comedian, actor, voice artist, producer, writer, and director. Although Carell is notable for his role on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, he found greater fame in the late 2000s for playing Michael Scott on The Office...
, marking his directorial debut. "Broke" was the last of a six-episode arc involving Michael quitting to start the Michael Scott Paper Company
Michael Scott Paper Company
"Michael Scott Paper Company" is the twenty-third episode of the fifth season of the television series The Office, and the 95th overall episode of the series...
; it was also the last of six episodes to prominently feature Idris Elba
Idris Elba
Idrissa Akuna "Idris" Elba is a British television, theatre, and film actor. He has starred in both British and American productions. Elba grew up in Canning Town, East London. One of his first acting roles was in the soap opera Family Affairs. He has worked in a variety of TV roles including ...
as Dunder Mifflin V.P. Charles Miner
Charles Miner (The Office)
Charles Miner was the Vice President of Northeast Sales for Dunder Mifflin, having taken over the position vacated by Ryan and Jan. He is portrayed by Idris Elba.-Character history:Charles is first introduced in "New Boss"...
. According to Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, it was watched by 7.21 million households, and received the season's lowest rating in the 18–49 age group during its regular timeslot to that point in the season.
Plot
MichaelMichael Scott (The Office)
Michael Gary Scott is a fictional character on NBC's The Office, portrayed by Steve Carell, and based on David Brent from the original British version. Michael, the central character of the series, was the manager of the Scranton branch of paper and printer distribution company Dunder Mifflin Inc...
(Steve Carell
Steve Carell
Steven John "Steve" Carell is an American comedian, actor, voice artist, producer, writer, and director. Although Carell is notable for his role on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, he found greater fame in the late 2000s for playing Michael Scott on The Office...
), Pam
Pam Beesly
Pamela Morgan "Pam" Halpert is a fictional character on the U.S. television sitcom The Office, played by Jenna Fischer. Her counterpart in the original UK series of The Office is Dawn Tinsley....
(Jenna Fischer
Jenna Fischer
Regina Marie "Jenna" Fischer is an American actress and director. She is most widely known for her Emmy-nominated portrayal of Pam Halpert on the NBC situation comedy and mockumentary The Office, and has also appeared in several films, including Blades of Glory, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,...
) and Ryan
Ryan Howard (The Office)
Ryan Bailey Howard , played by B. J. Novak, is a fictional character on the US television sitcom The Office. He is based upon Ricky Howard from the original version of The Office , but his role is significantly expanded and he is a main character.-Character profile:Little is known about Ryan's...
(B. J. Novak
B. J. Novak
Benjamin Joseph Manaly “B. J.” Novak is an American actor, stand-up comedian, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for being a writer and co-executive producer for and playing the role of Ryan Howard on the US version of The Office, as well as appearing in Inglourious Basterds...
) make early morning paper deliveries in a used van. The van has Korean writing
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
on it because it used to belong to a Korean church, and Pam correctly thinks it translates to "Hallelujah Church of Scranton." This routine, in addition to their regular duties at the Michael Scott Paper Company, takes such a toll on the group that they decide to look into hiring a delivery person. They are told by their accountant that their low prices and fixed-cost pricing model mean they will not only be unable to afford a delivery person, but they will be completely bankrupt in another month or so. This is particularly alarming for Pam, who has committed a great deal of money to her upcoming wedding and has had no luck with the other weekend part time job applications she's submitted around.
Meanwhile, at Dunder Mifflin, a fretful Charles Miner
Charles Miner (The Office)
Charles Miner was the Vice President of Northeast Sales for Dunder Mifflin, having taken over the position vacated by Ryan and Jan. He is portrayed by Idris Elba.-Character history:Charles is first introduced in "New Boss"...
(Idris Elba
Idris Elba
Idrissa Akuna "Idris" Elba is a British television, theatre, and film actor. He has starred in both British and American productions. Elba grew up in Canning Town, East London. One of his first acting roles was in the soap opera Family Affairs. He has worked in a variety of TV roles including ...
) announces the Scranton branch, previously the company's most profitable office, has lost ten major clients to Michael's company. Chief Financial Officer David Wallace
David Wallace (The Office)
David Wallace is a character in the American television show The Office and was the chief financial officer of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, before being fired in late 2009 after the company was bought by Sabre. He is portrayed by Andy Buckley.- Character history :David Wallace was...
(Andy Buckley) visits Scranton to see what can be done to stem the losses. In a blatant departure from his no-nonsense persona, Charles sucks up shamelessly to David, which Jim notices right away. David calls a meeting with Charles and Jim
Jim Halpert
James Duncan "Jim" Halpert is a fictional character in the United States version of the television sitcom The Office, played by John Krasinski. The character is based on Tim Canterbury from the original version of The Office...
(John Krasinski
John Krasinski
John Burke Krasinski is an American actor, film director, and writer. He is most widely known for playing Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom The Office...
), but Charles insists Dwight
Dwight Schrute
Dwight Kurt Schrute III is a character on NBC's The Office portrayed by Rainn Wilson. He originally exactly resembled Gareth Keenan from the original UK version of The Office. Dwight is the top salesman and former acting manager for the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company and has won numerous awards for...
(Rainn Wilson
Rainn Wilson
Rainn Dietrich Wilson is an American actor and comedian. He is primarily known for his role as the egomaniacal Dwight Schrute on the American version of the television comedy The Office...
) also be present because he believes Dwight to be a better employee than Jim. However, while Jim comes across as professional and intelligent (by suggesting that the corporate office offer a temporary price reduction to returning clients), Dwight repeatedly embarrasses Charles by suggesting unleashing a hive of bees to solve their crisis. When Charles kisses up to Wallace again, Jim makes a snide remark at Charles, leaving him to look visibly defeated.
David soon decides Dunder Mifflin must buy out the Michael Scott Paper Company, which is the cheapest option available. Jim, having learned the company's true financial situation from Pam, agrees to bring the idea of a buyout to Michael—though he uses this position to clue Michael's team to potential leverage in the negotiation. Dwight learns from a past client that Michael has been begging customers for more money, but Charles refuses to listen, having already been embarrassed by Dwight's earlier ideas. In addition, Jim quickly realizes what Dwight is doing, and sabotages him by asking him for details of his detective work, to which Dwight responds by talking about catching beet burglars. Charles is visibly irritated and sends the pair of them away in insults, ordering Dwight not to go anywhere near the conference room.
Michael, Pam and Ryan come in to discuss the terms of the buyout, taking pains to avoid revealing that their company is essentially broke. David suggests to Michael that his company is too small to be very successful, but a surprisingly shrewd Michael points out that Dunder Mifflin's best branch is "bleeding" and suggests David could be replaced during an upcoming major stockholder meeting as a result. After Michael rejects an initial offer of $12,000 to buy the company, David gives a second offer of $60,000, which is strongly considered, but Michael rejects this offer at the last second. When Ryan and Pam question his decision privately, he reveals another insight: he thinks it is more important for them to have full-time jobs with a steady flow of income than just a one-time windfall; getting their jobs back will cost more than $60,000 (due to benefits, insurance, and salary) to Dunder Mifflin and has the added benefit of making David and Charles wince. Michael asks for his old Dunder Mifflin job back, demands that both Ryan and Pam be hired as salespeople and asks for Charles to be fired. David does not agree to fire Charles and is reluctant to add three people to the company with full benefits, especially given Ryan's disastrous past tenure with the company. Michael insists unless his demands are met, he will continue competing with Dunder Mifflin, even if his current company fails. In an impressive speech, Michael declares that his paper company is worth "nothing" because business is "not about money". Seeing that Michael is not bluffing, David reluctantly agrees to hire the three back.
As Charles leaves Scranton to return to corporate, Michael does not allow him to have any final words, mirroring Charles's earlier poor treatment of Michael.
Production
Company Picnic
"Company Picnic" is the fifth season finale of the American comedy television series The Office, and the 100th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on May 14, 2009...
", the fifth season finale. Elba said he did not watch "Broke" after it aired because "I'm hypercritical about my work, so I try not to torture myself."
The official website for The Office included three cut scenes from "Broke". In the first 90-second clip, Michael is running late because he overslept, and he instinctively runs into the Dunder Mifflin office by accident instead of his Michael Scott Paper Company office. In the second one-minute clip, Andy is angry that he cannot find his personalized coffee mug with his face on it, and he and the others around the office complain about losing their clients to Michael's new company. In the final 80-second clip, stress drives Ryan to the breaking point and he begins trashing the Michael Scott Paper Company Office, for which he quickly recovers and apologizes.
Reception
In its original American broadcast on April 23, 2009, "Broke" was watched by 7.21 million households, according to Nielsen ratingsNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
. The episode received a 3.7 rating/10 share among viewers aged 18–49, the lowest rating in that age group for the season during its regular timeslot. It received a 4.0 rating/12 share among viewers 18-34.
The episode received generally positive reviews. Alan Sepinwall of The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to The Jersey Journal of Jersey City, The Times of Trenton and the Staten Island Advance, all of which are owned by Advance Publications.The Newark Star-Ledgers daily...
called "Broke" a "great, great" episode, although he said he wished the Michael Scott Paper Company arc could have lasted longer. Sepinwall praised touches such as the Korean women who were constantly getting into the sales van, and Michael's moment of nervousness on the elevator, and said the ending when Michael came through was particularly satisfying. Will Leitch of New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
magazine described "Broke" as "a rousing, exuberant episode that continues one of The Office
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
said the episode was strong enough that it could have served as the season finale. He said the episode had lots of good throw-away moments, like Charles brown-nosing to David and realizing Dwight is eccentric, as well as several clever twists, like Jim's actions in tricking Dwight and helping the Michael Scott Paper Company get bought out. Eric Rezsnyak of the City Newspaper
City Newspaper
City Newspaper is the alternative weekly newspaper of Rochester, New York. It has been published since 1972 and its current circulation makes it the second-largest newspaper in the greater Rochester region....
said the episode was a strong finale to the Michael Scott Paper Company arc, which was "probably the best thing to happen to the show in the last two seasons". Rezsnyak praised Michael's impressive actions in the episode and said he was curious to see how Michael's relationship with several of the supporting characters would be recast as a result of this episode.
Margaret Lyons of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
said, "'Broke' was an incredibly brisk episode that covered a lot of ground, so it worked as a good capstone on the whole Michael-leaving-the-company plot." She also said although the plot arc was a good one, she looked forward to future episodes focusing more on the Dunder Mifflin supporting cast. Rick Porter of Zap2it
Zap2it
Zap2it is an American website and affiliate network that provides news, photos and video, local TV listings and movie showtimes. The site is produced by Tribune Media Services , part of the publishing division of the Chicago-based Tribune Company...
praised the episode, but expressed concern that the show would grow more stale now that Michael, Pam and Ryan were back to their old jobs at Dunder Mifflin; Porter particularly complimented the new aspects of the Charles Miner character presented in "Broke", including his interaction with David and his exasperation with Dwight. Dan Hopper of Best Week Ever
Best Week Ever
Best Week Ever is a weekly television program on the United States cable/satellite network VH1. It started airing in 2004 and was put on hiatus in the summer of 2009...
praised the episode and Michael's shrewdness, but also expressed worry that the quality of future episodes would dip now that Dunder Mifflin was back to normal. Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
said of the episode, "Elba's stint on The Office went out on a high note. I'll miss his joyless scold of a middle manager but it's nice to have the gang reunited." Rabin also said the moment when Charles fails to listen when Dwight learns Michael's company is broke "rang a little false", but praised the episode as a whole. Meghan Carlson of BuddyTV
BuddyTV
BuddyTV is an entertainment-based website based in Seattle, Washington, which generates content about television programs and sporting events. The website publishes information about celebrity and related entertainment news through a series of articles, entertainment profiles, actor biographies and...
said she enjoyed seeing Michael so victorious at the end, and said, "as far as ends getting tied off cleanly, 'Broke' was an inspired episode, full of tension, suspense, and yes, humor."
"Broke" was voted the highest-rated episode out of 26 from the fifth season, according to an episode poll at the fansite OfficeTally; the episode was rated 9.17 out of 10. The episode was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...
for best episodic comedy.