After Pam rejected Jim's Anguished Declaration of Love, he moved to the Stamford branch. Ryan has his old desk, and his old job. Toby confronts Michael for using "faggy" as a slur, and outs Oscar in the process.
Air date: September 21, 2006
Tropes
- Aside Glance: Discussed Trope. In her first Confession Cam bit, Karen talks about Jim's tendency to look straight into the camera.
- Beard of Sorrow: Roy grew one after Pam backed out of the wedding. He still has it, but it's more neatly-trimmed than it was in his mug shot.
- Brick Joke: Dwight claims that Jim once told him that Sharper Image sold a "gaydar", and so he and Michael call him up only for Jim to fake-type on his keyboard and claim that it's sold out on their website. At the end of the episode, he sends Dwight an actual "gaydar" in the mail (really a modified metal detector)... and it goes off when put over Dwight's metal belt.
- Call-Back:
- Jim puts Andy's calculator in Jell-O. We also see a bit of Foreshadowing to Andy's later anger management problem.
- Mr. Brown from "Diversity Day" is briefly seen giving the HERO lecture to the Stamford branch.
- Cannot Keep a Secret: Toby privately tells Michael that Oscar is gay and asks for his discretion. Michael immediately starts talking to Oscar about it within earshot of Angela and Kevin.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Michael spots Oscar's roommate Gil and wonders if he knows.
- Coming-Out Story: Along with A Day in the Limelight for Oscar. And Characterization Marches On , as during a season 2 discussion about their worst dates, Oscar speaks about a woman who had researched him thoroughly.
- Digging Yourself Deeper: Michael tries to justify his insult, and keeps piling insult on top of insult.
- Dude, Not Funny!: Jim puts Andy's things in Jell-O just like he used to with Dwight, but quickly regrets it when Andy reacts with barely-restrained aggression.
- Dumbass Has a Point:
- In denying being gay, Michael points out that if he were gay, he would be the most flamboyant Camp Gay imaginable, which, given his Attention Whore tendencies, is hard to argue with.
- As Michael and Dwight scheme to figure out the sexual orientations of everyone in the office so Michael doesn't accidentally offend anyone again, Dwight briefly asks why Michael doesn't just assume everyone is everything and stop making homophobic jokes altogether.
- Establishing Character Moment: Andy's first few scenes establish many of what will become his longstanding character traits, including his short-fuse temper and his choice of nickname for Jim "Big Tuna".Andy: I went to Cornell, you ever heard of it? I graduated in four years. I never studied once. I was drunk the whole time, and I sang in the A Capella group, "Here Comes Treble."
- Flashback Stares: Pam, seeing Ryan sitting at Jim's old desk, flashes back to her kiss with Jim in "Casino Night", though here we actually get to see what was said afterwards (Pam acknowledges that she loves Jim, but says she still plans to marry Roy).
- Forced Out of the Closet: Michael, inadvertently, when he decides to publicly apologize to Oscar in front of everyone in the office and thus expose Oscar to everyone as gay.
- Girl on Girl Is Hot: Michael asks Dwight if he can picture Angela with another woman. Dwight stares at Angela for several seconds with a leer.
- Internal Homage: The extended version of the Big Damn Kiss from "Casino Night", which was restaged for this episode.
- Jerkass Has a Point:
- Parodied. When discussing Angela's homophobia, he asks who should be the judges and juries of society. He admits that her reply of "judges and juries" is a pretty valid answer.
- Played straight with Dwight who, while far from the most politically correct person in the world, does offer the suggestion that Micheal could avoid offending gay people by not telling homophobic jokes anymore.
- Karma Houdini: Toby not only committed a serious ethical breach for a Human Resources rep by passing on information that Oscar had told him confidentially, but also Didn't Think This Through in telling Michael that Oscar was gay, since Toby knows better than anyone else how immature Michael is and should've known that Michael would let it slip to the rest of the office. Still, Toby faces no consequences for any of that.
- Literal Metaphor: Toby trying to explain to Michael that Oscar is gay.Toby: All right Michael, but Oscar's really gay.
Michael: Exactly!
Toby: I mean for real.
Michael: Yeah, I know.
Toby: No, I mean he's attracted to other men.
Michael: Okay, a little too far, crossed the line. - Malaproper: No, Michael, the show is not called "Queer as Fuck".
- Mistaken for Gay: Phyllis and the other students thought Michael was gay in high school.
- Noodle Incident: In-universe. Shortly after the incident between Michael and Oscar, Josh Porter mentions that the Stamford crew will have to undergo diversity training, explaining only that it's "because of some more problems at the Scranton branch". Jim gives a look to the camera that's partly "go figure" sarcasm, and partly relief that he's no longer subject to whatever craziness Michael is inflicting on his employees.
- Not So Similar:
- Jim believes that he can replicate his pranks on Dwight with Andy due to the latter also being egotistical and obnoxious. Unfortunately, he quickly learns that Andy is not a good prank target because he gets a lot more violently angry than Dwight.
- Pam likewise tries to replicate her snarky relationship with Jim using Ryan during one of Micheal's bizarre meetings. Ryan's just confused by her attempts, and she quickly gives up disappointed.
- Offscreen Breakup: Pam decided not to go through with the wedding and broke up with Roy sometime between Seasons 2 and 3. Given this show's love of melodramatic scenes, it was an unusual zig-zag to not depict this onscreen.
- Oh, Crap!: After pranking Andy, Jim is gleefully smirking...and then Andy kicks a bin across the room while screaming in rage. Jim immediately and pointedly gets back to work.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Andy calls Jim "Big Tuna" and Jim doesn't think anyone knows his real name.
- Put on a Bus: Oscar goes on vacation at the end of the episode and won't be back until "The Return."
- Spoof Aesop: Oscar gives a talking head explaining that however hard it is, sometimes it pays to be gay... in the sense that that the company offered him an extremely generous benefits package in exchange for him not suing them over Micheal outing him.
- Straight Gay: The reason no one suspects Oscar is gay.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: When Michael nearly assaults him, Oscar loses it.Oscar: I don't want to touch you! You're ignorant. And insulting. And small!
- That's What She Said: Michael at the end of the episode."I am glad that today spurred social change. That’s part of my job as regional manager. But you know what? Even if it didn’t, at least we put this matter to bed...that’s what she said! Or, he said."
- Took a Level in Kindness: After Pam called off the wedding and broke up with Roy, he went off the rails. We see he's trying to be a better man, to try and win her back.
- Wham Shot: Roy meets up with Pam in what seems to be an intimate encounter. However, the cameraman zooms in on Pam's ring-less finger, and she reveals that she ended up getting cold feet and called the wedding off.
