Special Project

"Special Project" is the fourteenth episode of the eighth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the show's 166th episode overall. The episode aired on NBC in the United States on February 9, 2012. It was written by Amelie Gillette and was directed by David Rogers.

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, Pam Halpert (Jenna Fischer) returns from her maternity leave, and Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) and Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) must select employees to accompany Dwight to Tallahassee, Florida after he is sent on an assignment. Meanwhile, Darryl Philbin (Craig Robinson) receives a beanie from warehouse worker Val (Ameenah Kaplan) and is unsure if she intended it as a romantic gift or simply one of friendship.

"Special Project" introduced a six-episode arc which featured several of the office workers working on a special project for Sabre in Tallahassee. The episode received largely positive reviews from critics, with many reviewers looking forward to the "special projects" storyline. The ending scene featuring Cathy's phone conversation about Jim and Pam's marriage has also received significant attention from critics. According to Nielsen Media Research, "Special Project" drew 5.16 million viewers and received a 2.5 rating/6% share in the 18–49 demographic, marking a three-tenths drop in ratings from the previous episode, "Jury Duty", and becoming one of the lowest-rated episodes of the series. Despite this, it was the highest-rated NBC series of the night.