In an effort to take their relationship to the next level, Michael helps Holly conduct the office's ethics training seminar. However, when Michael offers "immunity" so that people will talk about their ethics violations, Meredith ends up revealing that she's sleeping with a supplier in return for discounts. Unwilling to fire Meredith, Michael tries to convince Holly to let it go. Meanwhile, when Dwight insists that he doesn't ever waste company time, Jim starts recording all the time that Dwight spends not working to prove him wrong.
Tropes
- Being Personal Isn't Professional: Holly tells Michael to stop treating the Scranton branch like they're his family. He doesn't take it well.
- Beyond the Impossible: Dwight is so committed to not wasting company time that he sneezes with his eyes open.
- Deadpan Snarker: Stanley gets off a good one.Holly: It's called "time theft", and it's seen as taking money from the company. Can anyone think of examples of things that are over-the-line time wasters?Stanley: This meeting?(laughter and cheering)Michael: Yeah, you can't set 'em up like that.
- Dumbass Has a Point: When Holly tries explaining the reason for the ethics training seminar without mentioning the name of the culprit or incident in question, Kevin points out they all know she's talking about Ryan and he got rehired anyway.
- Easily Forgiven: The instant Holly gets yelled at by corporate, Michael is back to being her friend again, and by the next episode, the rest of the office seems to treat her the same as before.
- Lawful Stupid: Despite losing the respect of everyone in the office, including Michael, Holly still insists on following protocol to the letter. It takes a chiding call from corporate HR for her to finally change her mind.
- Noob: Jim does this on purpose to aggravate Dwight, talking to Andy about how the new Battlestar Galactica is exactly the same as the original and full of Klingons and Wookiees.Andy: That doesn't sound right.
- Sarcastic Confession: In the middle of his hypothetical extended metaphor about whether it is ever acceptable to steal, Dwight tells Andy, "You are being cuckolded by a stronger, smarter male", which is a (subjective) summation of what Dwight is doing to Andy's fiancee.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: When Holly reports what Meredith has been doing to corporate, they don't care because it's been saving the company money. All they really cared about was her conducting the seminar and getting all the employees' signatures for legal purposes.
