The Office Recap and Review: All Aboard Dwight’s ‘Work Bus’!

The Office Recap and Review: All Aboard Dwight’s ‘Work Bus’!

After a week off because of the presidential debates, The Office is back with its fourth episode, “Work Bus.”

It’s been awhile since Dwight’s role as landlord has been brought up, but this week’s episode brought that plot back front and center.

Dwight learns the office building is full of bad wiring giving off EMF (electro-magnetic field) radiation. The office staff isn’t too happy with being surrounded by radiation, but since “mainstream studies are inconclusive” on the radiation’s harmful effects, Dwight refuses to insulate the wiring.

On a less expected note, it turns out Nellie’s trying to adopt a baby. Nellie turns to Andy for a character reference. Andy turns her down, not willing to be take part in her “plagiarism entrapment scheme.”

Having been an orphan herself, Erin knows a bit about the adoption process and decides to help Nellie with her paperwork.

Jim wants to thank Pam for being on board with his side job in Philadelphia, so he uses his uncanny pranking abilities to trick Dwight into thinking the EMF radiation needs to be fixed. What does this have to do with Pam? Dwight would have to shut down the office for a week to fix the wiring, giving Pam (and everyone else) a week off from work…or so he thinks.

Jim’s plan backfires when Dwight fulfills his contract as landlord, and brings in a temporary work space while the office is being repaired. “Say goodbye to wasteful buildings,” says Dwight, as he introduces…the work bus – a cramped, converted prison bus filled with office furniture.

Needless to say, everyone absolutely hates the work bus. Jim feels horrible for creating the situation (especially for Pam), and does what he can to turn things around. Dwight refuses to help Jim, so Jim goes to Andy with the idea of moving the work bus right outside Pam’s favorite pie place in rural Scranton. Everyone but Dwight loves the idea, and the work bus goes on the move.

The bus doesn’t immediately make it to its destination, as Dwight has a fit and storms onto the roof of the bus. Jim follows him to see what’s up, and discovers that Dwight thinks he’s infertile because Angela’s child didn’t come from his loins and because Jim convinced him that the EMF radiation can cause infertility.

‘Work Bus’ was a surprisingly heavy episode. It was still really funny, with Dwight’s misinterpretation of Jim’s prank and Creed randomly showing up, but it also dealt with Dwight’s insecurities as a man and Nellie’s dreams of being a mother.

It’ll be interesting to see where this goes — with Nellie trying to adopt a child and Dwight feeling insecure because he can’t have a child, will the two find some common ground to wind up raising an adoptive child together? It may be a stretch, but  at this point, anything can happen.


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Author Profile: Consumer Expert Marlan Moore

Marlan Moore is a freelance writer just getting his feet wet in this pond called the Internet. He hopes to one day write for film, TV, and comics, but until then, he is the managing editor of Inside AX - Anime Expo's official news and review site. His favorite drink is Thai iced tea, but he could really use a root beer float right about now.

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