"The Carpet" is the 14th episode of the second season of The Office (U.S. version). It was written by Paul Lieberstein

Paul Lieberstein

Paul Bevan Lieberstein is an American screenwriter, actor and television producer. An Emmy Award winner, he is most widely known as a writer, producer, and as supporting cast member Toby Flenderson on the U.S...

 and directed by Victor Nelli, Jr.

Victor Nelli, Jr.

Victor Nelli, Jr. is an American television director and producer.He began his professional career at Viacom, Inc. working as a cinematographer on the MTV and Comedy Central series The Real World House of Style, Mr. Show with Bob and David and number of other series. He eventually made his...

. It first aired on January 26, 2006 on NBC

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 this episode, a disgusting "thing" (implied to be human feces) is left in Michael's office, and Michael tries to discover who did it. While his carpet is being replaced, he uses Jim's desk, forcing Jim to move away from Pam into the annex.

Synopsis

When someone leaves a disgusting substance (heavily implied but never clearly shown to be human feces) on the carpet in 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...

's office, he spends the day at 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...

's desk, relegating Jim to the back room to suffer Kelly

Kelly Kapoor

Kelly Rajnigandha Kapoor , is a fictional character from the US television series, The Office. She is played by Mindy Kaling, who is also a writer and producer for the show....

's constant chattering. She asks Jim to hook her up with 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...

. Jim continues to yearn for Pam, but her groom-to-be

Engagement

An engagement or betrothal is a promise to marry, and also the period of time between proposal and marriage which may be lengthy or trivial. During this period, a couple is said to be betrothed, affianced, engaged to be married, or simply engaged...

, Roy, is in the office replacing the carpet along with Darryl

Darryl Philbin

Darryl Mathias Philbin is a fictional character from the US television series The Office. He is played by Craig Robinson.-Overview:Darryl Philbin is the foreman of the warehouse of the Scranton branch of fictitious paper distributor Dunder Mifflin....

, and Jim is unable to speak with her.

As the day wears on, Michael becomes convinced that what happened to his office is a hate crime

Hate crime

In crime and law, hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, social status or...

 and an act of terrorism

Terrorism

Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...

. Believing it to have been perpetrated by someone in the office, he begins to lose his faith in his employees, who he considers his "friends" (this suspicion is only fuelled by Oscar and Creed, laughing at the fact that each person thought the other committed the act) and says that he once would have donated an organ to save any of his office friends' lives but would now "let them get a monkey kidney". But his mood changes drastically when he finds out the prank was carried out by his "Best Friend Forever," Todd Packer. Michael instantly finds the joke hilarious, and his faith in his friends is restored.

At the end of the day, Jim is cheered up when he finds that all seven of his voicemail messages were left by Pam throughout the day.

Deleted scenes

The Season Two DVD contains a number of deleted scenes from this episode. Notable cut scenes include:

• Jim is seen eating his lunch in his car by the camera crew.
• Roy and Darryl have fun in Michael's office.
• Michael steals a client from Dwight.
• Jim asks Toby how he handled Kelly's loquaciousness, but Toby avoids giving him a clear answer.

Aspects of this episode's plot are taken from "Work Experience", an episode of the original UK series

The Office (UK TV series)

The Office is a British sitcom television series that was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 9 July 2001. Created, written, and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the programme is about the day-to-day lives of office employees in the Slough branch of the fictitious...

.

External links

• "The Carpet" at NBC.com