The Office Episode 8.11 Trivia

The team members all sit in silence, exchanging glances. They're trying to set some sort of office record for silence. Dwight's phone rings. He hangs up without speaking. Andy fights off his own temptation to speak: he notices a raccoon eating a hamburger in the parking lot. It's been over 14 minutes and the tension is building. Kevin unwraps a candy bar and takes a bit. "Oh, yeah!" he exclaims loudly, to the dismay of his co-workers. So much for the record. They all vow to try again.

Andy gathers the team in the conference room and conducts a brainstorm. He writes a list of uses for paper on his white board. His exasperated workers wonder why he's forcing this seemingly meaningless exercise. As it turns out, the office is $800 short of meeting its quarterly goal to double sales. Andy hopes that by pointing out the myriad uses for paper, the employees might be inspired to buy enough paper for themselves to push the revenue number over the top.

Later Andy visits with individual employees and tries to nudge them into buying some paper. He goes on to ask Oscar to cook the sales books just a bit. Oscar replies that he can't stick around to help because he's due at a big trivia tournament in Philadelphia. The prize in tonight's "Triviacolypse" is $1000. Andy has a brilliant idea: he'll bring his co-workers to the tournament, and the winnings will be used to buy paper and boost the sales number.

Meanwhile, Dwight travels to Sabre's corporate headquarters in Florida. After noticing an open position for a manager slot on the Sabre website, he's decided to drop in on Robert California and pitch himself for the job. He blusters into the front lobby, headstrong and determined to present himself in the very best light. Surprised, Robert California feigns being too busy to meet and foists Dwight off on Gabe, whose office is right in the lobby. Reluctantly, Dwight pitches himself to Gabe, despite the obvious enmity between the two of them.

Andy brings a large contingent to The Wishing Well, a gay bar in Philadelphia that's hosting the trivia contest. They'll divide into three teams: The A team (Andy, Jim, Darryl and Ryan), a Backup Team (Stanley, Phyllis and Angela) and the "Just Here to Have a Good Time" Team (Erin, Kelly, Kevin and Creed). The latter names themselves The Einsteins. All three teams will be up against a field of trivia teams with far more experience, including Oscar's team, known as Aesop's Foibles. They settle in, and the tournament gets under way.

Back in Florida, Gabe listens to Dwight's pitch and then takes pleasure in summarily turning him down for the job. Humiliated by the whole experience, Dwight insists that Gabe take him to see Robert. Gabe resists, but Dwight uses physical force to persuade Gabe to take him to Robert's condo. Hearing a commotion in the courtyard, Robert invites Dwight inside.

At The Wishing Well, the tournament is turning up the toughness. Ryan tries to look up some answers on his smart phone only to be busted by the tournament officials. He decides he really can't be away from his phone for any real length of time and withdraws from Andy's A Team.

Robert's finishing up a training session with a wrestler in his living room; he invites Dwight to make himself at home as he freshens up. Robert clearly does not want Dwight in the manager's job either. He tries a personal gesture as an alternative: giving Dwight a military medal once belonging to his grandfather. Dwight rejects the gesture, saying he's not here to collect junk. Finally, Robert levels with him: you're not right for the job, he says. When something comes up that's appropriate, he'll try him out, Robert tells him.

Leveraging their knowledge of reality TV, food and more, The Einsteins makes it to the finals of Triviacolypse along with Oscar's Aesop's Foibles. The other two Dunder Mifflin teams are out of the running. In the final speed round, the question comes up "How many pounds are indicated on a standard doctor's scale?" The Einsteins show no hesitation. Kevin triumphantly announces the answer: 300 pounds. The Einsteins win the thousand dollar prize.

Flush with victory, The Einsteins stick around for another tournament. But they're no match for the big league competitors.