Todd Packer returns to the office to supposedly make amends, but Pam has trouble buying into it. Dwight attends his aunt Shirley's funeral.
Tropes
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Acting for Two: Dwight's nephew Cameron was also one of the kids in Dwight's Halloween pumpkin patch. - The Atoner: Subverted. Packer comes back, claiming to be here to apologise for his past behaviour and offering cupcakes as restitution. Not only are his apologies barely-veiled insults, he's also spiked the cupcakes with various drugs as an act of petty revenge.
- Backhanded Apology: Packer's attempts to apologize to the office workers result in these, which Pam calls out.
- Breather Episode: The only episode in Season 9 to not advance any arcs.
- The Bus Came Back: Todd Packer returns after getting fired in Season 8.
- The Dreaded: Nobody is happy to see Todd walk in the door, and when Clark asks Pam who he is, Pam can only answer "Bad."
- Evil Is Petty:
- Most of the workers have never really done anything to get on Todd's bad side personally, yet he decides to give them all cupcakes laced with drugs anyway (including Clark, who he didn't even know). On top of that, he then travels all the way to Philadelphia to give them to Darryl and Jim too.
- Specifically, he gives them all cupcakes laced with drugs because he blames them for him getting fired. This is all despite the fact that it was only Nellie who had a role in his sacking, and even then it was Robert California who did the actual firing.
- Freaky Funeral Forms: It is tradition in Dwight’s family to shoot bullets into the recently deceased in order to make sure that they are actually dead. This is due to the family having a history of accidentally burying people who were just heavy sleepers.
- Intoxication Ensues: Packer's revenge plot involves replacing cupcake frosting with drugs and laxatives and giving them to the office workers. Andy's and Kevin's shared experience is seen in the most detail.
- Make Sure He's Dead: The Schrutes have a tradition of loading bullets into a family member's corpse with a shotgun to make sure they're really dead, after a history of caskets being discovered with scratch marks.
- Poorly Disguised Pilot: This episode was made as a pilot for a new spin-off aptly titled "The Farm", which would have focused on Dwight and his siblings running Aunt Shirley's farm. After the pitch was rejected, the episode was reworked to try to feel more like a The Office episode, but many critics still felt that they were watching something made for a completely different show.
- This episode subverts one common issue with a Poorly Disguised Pilot; that the episode has no bearing on the show itself. This episode sets up Dwight's ownership of his aunt's farm and his relationship with Esther, both of which are relevant for the rest of the series.
- Remember the New Guy?: All of Dwight's family members that appear (except for Mose and Zeke) had never been seen or mentioned previously, and they never appear again afterwards.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Packer wants revenge on the Dunder Mifflin workers who got him fired, and he not only stops by the Scranton branch to pull it off, but later goes all the way to Philadelphia to get revenge on Jim and Darryl as well.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Oscar flees Aunt Shirley's funeral when Dwight begins shooting at her corpse.
- Spiteful Will: Aunt Shirley has her will videotaped, and it contains her criticizing Dwight and his siblings for their life choices, even though she does ultimately pass her farm on to them.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Dwight's Aunt Shirley passes away after making her debut in the previous episode.
