'The Office' Season 9 Episode Guide

Guide to the 2012-2013 Season of 'The Office' on NBC

The Office
Ed Helms and Ellie Kemper in the episode 'The Boat' from 'The Office' Season 9. Photo courtesy of NBC

The eighth season of "The Office" was the first without original series star Steve Carell as Michael Scott; he was replaced with new cast member James Spader as Sabre CEO Robert California, while Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) was promoted to regional manager of the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch. In the ninth and final season of the show, Spader is gone, and the focus returns to the core cast (with the addition of Catherine Tate as Nellie Bertram).

Episode 1: “New Guys”

Andy returns after going on an Outward Bound retreat meant to improve his leadership skills. Annoyed that Nellie is still working at the office, he sets out to humiliate her. With Kelly and Ryan both gone, there are two new young employees (Clark Duke, Jake Lacy) in the office. Dwight and Jim both see reflections of themselves in the younger men, which makes them insecure. Dwight attempts a crazy stunt to prove his manhood, while Jim agrees to join a new company being founded in Philadelphia by his old college friend. Original airdate: September 20, 2012.

Episode 2: “Roy’s Wedding”

Jim and Pam go to Roy’s wedding, and seeing Pam’s ex-fiancé with his new bride makes them worry that they no longer surprise each other. Nellie initiates a program to give money to charity, and Dwight refuses to participate, and they end up in a standoff. New employee Clark convinces Erin to come over to his house for a “news audition” that involves her wearing revealing clothes, and fellow new employee Pete foils the plan by getting Andy to tag along. Original airdate: September 27, 2012.

Episode 3: “Andy’s Ancestry”

Erin decides to learn a new language in order to impress Andy’s family, and Dwight convinces her to learn Dothraki (from "Game of Thrones") rather than French. After having Nellie research his genealogy online, Andy discovers that he’s distantly related to Michelle Obama (except Nellie actually made it all up). Everyone in the office thinks that it means that Andy’s ancestors owned slaves. Pam helps Nellie learn to drive, and they become friends. Jim finally tells Pam about his new job in Philadelphia. Original airdate:October 4, 2012.

Episode 4: “Work Bus”

When EMF radiation is discovered in the building’s walls, Dwight has the building shut down for repairs, and everyone has to work in a bus in the parking lot. Jim convinces Andy to make Dwight take the bus on a trip to a pie stand as a treat for Pam. Nellie is trying to adopt a baby, and Erin helps her with the paperwork. Andy at first declines to sign the employer recommendation, but when he sees how much Erin wants to help Nellie, he changes his mind. Original airdate: October 18, 2012.

Episode 5: “Here Comes Treble”

Andy invites the current version of Here Comes Treble, the Cornell a cappella group that he belonged to in college, to entertain at the office Halloween party. Andy gets upset that the group doesn’t value his past contributions and instead looks up to his friend/rival Broccoli Rob (Stephen Colbert). Dwight finds an anti-anxiety pill in the office and is determined to find out who it belongs to. Jim meets with his partners in his new sports-marketing company and agrees to invest $10,000, which makes Pam angry. Original airdate: October 25, 2012.

Episode 6: “The Boat”

Andy’s father blows through the family fortune and runs off to Argentina with a younger woman, and Andy has to deal with the fallout. Andy reluctantly plans to sell the family’s boat in order to help his mother out. Erin tries to cheer him up, and inadvertently inspires him to sail the boat to the Bahamas himself. Kevin finds out about Oscar’s affair with Angela’s husband the state senator, and Oscar is worried he’ll let the secret out. Original airdate: November 8, 2012.

Episode 7: “The Whale”

David Wallace assigns Dwight to land the important Scranton White Pages account, and the head of the company turns out to be Jan Levenson, who only called the meeting so she could talk to David. Dwight turns things around by using Clark to prey on Jan’s weakness for younger men. Jim struggles to find a quiet place for his conference call with his new business partners, and they tell him his telecommuting isn’t working out. Angela tells Oscar that she suspects her husband of having an affair and brings Oscar along to help her spy, which leads to her discovering that Oscar is the one her husband is cheating with. Original airdate: November 15, 2012.

Episode 8: “The Target”

After discovering that Oscar is having an affair with her husband, Angela turns to Dwight for help, and hires a weird friend of his to break Oscar’s kneecaps. Dwight stops things before they go too far, leaving Oscar feeling guilty and Angela feeling devastated. Jim takes Stanley and Phyllis to lunch to convince them to help cover for him while he spends part of his time working at his new sports-marketing job. Pam finally gets to work on painting the warehouse mural. Pete leads the office in a time-wasting activity of building a tower out of customer complaint cards. Original airdate: November 29, 2012.

Episode 9: “Dwight Christmas”

The party planning committee forgets to organize a Christmas party, so Dwight leads a strange Pennsylvania Dutch-style celebration. Jim is headed to Philadelphia to start his new job, and Darryl is upset that Jim has forgotten his promise to take Darryl along. Jim leaves the Christmas party early, but comes back to spend more time with Pam, and to let Darryl know he has a job interview. Erin gets an email from Andy saying that he’s going to spend a few weeks in the Bahamas, and she responds by cozying up to Pete. Nellie kisses Toby so that he’ll stop rambling on about the Scranton Strangler case. Original airdate: December 6, 2012.

Episode 10: “Lice”

With Jim in Philadelphia working with his new business (and having a meeting with basketball legend Dr. J), Pam is having a tough time dealing with the kids on her own. Their daughter gets lice, and Pam brings it to the office, although everyone blames Meredith when they get affected. Darryl gets Val to break up with him because he secretly wants to be single, but when Phyllis, Kevin and Nellie feel sorry for him, they convince Val to take him back, to his secret disappointment. Original airdate: January 10, 2013.

Episode 11: “Suit Warehouse”

Darryl goes to Philadelphia to interview for a job at Jim’s sports-marketing firm, and Pam tags along. Darryl worries that he blew the interview, but then he gets hired. Dwight goes to pitch family-owned company Stone & Son Suit Warehouse and enlists Clark (who just returned from his romantic getaway with Jan) to pose as his son in order to relate to the owner. Clark brings back an espresso machine and everyone in the office gets way too wired. Original airdate: January 17, 2013.

Episode 12: Title: “Customer Loyalty”

Jim gets stuck in Philadelphia in a meeting and misses his daughter’s ballet recital, which leads to a huge fight between him and Pam. An upset Pam is comforted by one of the documentarians, on camera for the first time. Erin and Pete team up to create a Dunder Mifflin Facebook page, which creates tension thanks to their continued flirtation. Dwight gets upset when he learns that Darryl is working part-time with Jim’s company and tries to convince Darryl to stay at Dunder Mifflin. Original airdate: January 24, 2013.

Episode 13: Title: “Junior Salesman”

David Wallace enlists Dwight to hire a new junior sales associate to fill in for Jim while he’s away, and Dwight brings in his weird friends to interview for the position. Dwight doesn’t want to hire any of them, so he gets Jim to break the news, and then hires Clark for the job. After Jim’s company loses a major investor, he pitches David Wallace on investing, but Wallace declines. Documentary sound guy Brian gets reprimanded for talking to Pam, but it’s clear that he’s smitten with her. Original airdate: January 31, 2013.

Episode 14: “Vandalism”

Someone defaces the mural that Pam has been painting in the warehouse, and Dwight helps her take revenge on the culprit, warehouse employee Frank. When Frank attacks Pam for damaging his car, Brian steps in to help and gets fired from the documentary for interfering. Darryl and Jim start sharing an apartment sublet in Philadelphia, and Darryl gets annoyed at how messy Jim is. Angela’s husband invites Oscar to their son’s first birthday party, but he’s only there as a token minority for a photo opportunity. Original airdate: January 31, 2013.

Episode 15: “Couples Discount”

On Valentine’s Day, Pam and Jim go out to lunch with Brian, who reveals he’s splitting up with his wife. Jim gets mad that Pam never told him about crying in front of Brian. Andy returns from his three-month boat odyssey a day early to everyone’s annoyance, taking credit for all the successes while he was gone, accidentally blowing a big account, and meeting with David Wallace to make it seem like he was there the whole time. But then Erin finally breaks up with him, and David Wallace inadvertently discovers that he took an unauthorized leave of absence. Original airdate: February 7, 2013.

Episode 16: “Moving On”

David Wallace decides not to fire Andy for his unauthorized absence. Andy is devastated over being dumped by Erin, who’s now dating Pete. In retaliation, Andy hires Pete’s ex-girlfriend as a consultant and also brings back Erin’s ex, Gabe. Dwight asks Angela to help take care of his ailing aunt. After she helps him, they end up making out, but she says they can’t be together. Pam goes to Philadelphia for a job interview. After not getting the job, she tells Jim she’s not sure she wants to move to Philadelphia. Toby visits the Scranton Strangler in prison and learns that he convicted the right man. Original airdate: February 14, 2013.

Episode 17: “The Farm”

In a storyline that would have served as the pilot for a spin-off, Dwight’s Aunt Shirley dies, and his family members come to the funeral. Shirley leaves her farm to Dwight and his two siblings, as long as they agree to run it together. Todd Packer brings cupcakes to the office claiming that he’s making amends for his past offenses, as part of his addiction recovery. Pam tries to convince everyone not to eat the cupcakes, which turns out to be a smart decision since Packer actually laced them all with drugs. Only Pam ends up avoiding a fate of hallucinations and/or diarrhea. Original airdate: March 14, 2013.

Episode 18: “Promos”​​

Promos for the upcoming documentary about the office get posted online, and the employees start worrying about what private moments will be shown in the documentary. Pam meets with Brian to try to get some inside info. Dwight is worried that his new girlfriend Esther, a neighboring farmer, is just using him to get him to split a tractor lease with her father, but she turns out to be genuinely interested. Jim and Darryl have an awkward meeting with baseball star Ryan Howard. Original airdate: April 4, 2013.

Episode 19: “Stairmageddon”

While the building’s elevator is out, the employees have to use the stairs. Stanley refuses to go out on a sales call until the elevator is fixed, and Dwight knocks him out to get him to go. The first review of the documentary comes out, and it convinces Andy that he’s going to be a big star, so he meets with a talent agent (played by Roseanne Barr). Responding to rumors of what’s in the documentary, Angela’s husband announces that he’s gay. Jim and Pam decide to go to couples counseling, and Jim asks Toby what to expect. Original airdate: April 11, 2013.

Episode 20: “Paper Airplane”

WeyerHammer Paper sponsors a paper airplane contest in the office, with the winner getting $2,000, and Erin gets very competitive. Dwight and Angela passive-aggressively play out their renewed attraction to each other now that Angela is separated from her husband (although Dwight is still with Esther). Andy’s agent gets him a part in a training film, and he freaks out about having to use an eyewash station. Jim and Pam attempt to implement the advice of their marriage counselor. Original airdate: April 25, 2012.

Episode 21: “Livin’ the Dream”

Jim takes some time off from his job in Philadelphia to spend more time with Pam, and when a huge offer comes in for the sports marketing company that would involve lots of travel, he turns it down. David Wallace is planning to fire Andy, but before he says anything, Andy announces that he’s quitting to pursue his show business career. After everyone advises him against it, he decides to stay, but then changes his mind again and leaves for good. David decides to promote Dwight to be the new manager. When a broke Angela gets kicked out of her apartment, she ends up moving in with Oscar temporarily. Original airdate: May 2, 2013.

Episode 22: “A.A.R.M.”

When Angela can no longer afford daycare, she brings her son to the office. Dwight plans to ask Esther to marry him, but eventually realizes he’s in love with Angela and asks her instead. She says yes, and admits that Dwight is really the father of her son. Andy auditions for a TV singing competition and completely fails. Darryl tries to leave Dunder Mifflin without saying goodbye to travel for his sports marketing job, but everyone wants to spend time with him before he goes. Pam is worried that Jim isn’t going to be happy in Scranton, and he has the documentarians put together a video of the important moments in their relationship to show her how much she means to him. Original airdate: May 9, 2013.

Episode 23: “Finale”

A year after the documentary airs on PBS, the documentary crew returns to record a panel discussion featuring the employees, as well as Dwight and Angela’s wedding. Andy’s become a viral video sensation thanks to his pathetic reality-TV audition and has ended up working in the Cornell admissions office. Michael returns briefly to be Dwight’s best man. Kelly and Ryan hook back up at the wedding and run off together (leaving Kelly’s husband and Ryan’s baby behind). Oscar is running for state senate. Erin finally meets her birth parents. Creed faked his death after it was revealed he was wanted by the FBI. Stanley is happily retired and divorced in Florida. Darryl is working with Athlead, now based in Austin, and Pam agrees to move there with Jim so he can finally pursue his dream. Original airdate: May 16, 2013.