"Turf War" is the twenty-third and penultimate episode of the eighth season of the American comedy television series The Office, and the show's 175th episode overall. The episode originally aired on NBC on May 3, 2012. "Turf War" was written by Warren Lieberstein and Halsted Sullivan, and was directed by Daniel Chun. The episode guest stars Chris Bauer, Andy Buckley, and Dan Castellaneta.
The series—presented as if it were a real documentary—depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. In the episode, Robert California (James Spader) drunkenly shuts down a branch in Binghamton, and Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) and Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) must outsmart a salesman, Harry Jannerone (Chris Bauer), from the Syracuse branch. Meanwhile, Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) decides to land an important client as a "rogue" and jumpstart his Dunder Mifflin comeback by using his success as leverage with Robert.
"Turf War" received mixed reviews from critics, with many criticizing the show's decision to recycle elements of the Michael Scott Paper Company fifth season story arc. "Turf War" was viewed by an estimated 4.44 million viewers and received a 2.3 rating/7% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. The episode ranked third in its timeslot and was also the highest-rated NBC series of the night.
Synopsis
Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) and Gabe Lewis (Zach Woods) argue over whose workout regimen is superior. Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) suggests they have a thigh curl contest to settle the argument. During the contest, Jim props their elbows up on pillows and tricks them into thinking they each have phone calls, then takes a picture, editing it as a computer wallpaper to make it look like Gabe and Dwight have had a gossipy sleepover. Dwight and Gabe are angered that Jim is mocking them for “perfecting [their] bodies,” but can’t properly walk to the conference room, forcing Dwight to have Jim support him.
While "celebrating the finalization of his divorce", Robert California (James Spader) drunkenly shuts down the Binghamton branch of Dunder Mifflin. The resulting commotion allows the sales team in Scranton, specifically Jim and Dwight, to begin poaching former customers of the closed branch. Harry Jannerone (Chris Bauer), an angry employee from the Syracuse branch of Dunder Mifflin arrives in Scranton to berate Jim and Dwight for taking New York clients even though those particular clients are closer to Scranton than Syracuse. The two argue, dropping the name of a particularly large client, Prestige Direct Mail Solutions, that is up for grabs. Andy Bernard (Ed Helms), who is cooking lunch for everyone in the office, overhears the argument and gets an idea: if he can win the client, he might be able to use the account as leverage to get his job as manager back.
Andy rushes to Prestige Direct and impresses the CEO (Dan Castellaneta) with his dedication—in addition to his personal phone number, he also gives him a copy of his house key. Meanwhile, Dwight, Jim, and Harry rush to the company in an attempt to win the client, only to hear that the company has gone with Andy. After Andy wins the client, he calls Robert and offers him the client if Robert will re-hire him. Furious at his attempt to blackmail him, Robert profanely threatens Andy, and hangs up on him. This leads Andy to seek help from David Wallace (Andy Buckley), the former Chief Financial Officer of Dunder Mifflin who has become a multi-millionaire. Andy tells David that, despite being in poor shape, Dunder Mifflin could be worth twice its net worth if the company's management is restructured. This piques David's interest, who allows Andy to come into his home and talk to him about his business proposal.
