The Negotiation (The Office)

Roy Anderson enters the office and tries to attack Jim Halpert for kissing Pam Beesly, but Dwight Schrute subdues him with pepper spray. The pepper spray fumes also incidentally affect himself and others. Toby Flenderson and Michael Scott fire Roy, and a grateful Jim tries to show his appreciation to Dwight for saving him, but Dwight politely declines each gesture, believing he only acted in the line of duty and thus is undeserving of any special praise. Pam apologizes to Jim that Roy attacked him but her assurance that her relationship with Roy is over for good is met with skepticism. Roy picks up his last paycheck, apologizes to Jim for threatening him, and asks Pam to join him for coffee. Their meeting at a local diner is awkward and ends their relationship. Roy encourages Pam to pursue her feelings for Jim but she says she will not because he is dating Karen. Roy says he does not understand Pam. They hug and leave. Throughout the day, Angela Martin asks people from the office to tell her the tale of Dwight's heroics, which arouses her. Believing themselves to be alone at the end of the day, the two kiss passionately. However, Jim sees them and decides that keeping their relationship secret will be his gift to Dwight to make things "even". Andy Bernard returns from anger management, and a vindictive Dwight subdues him with pepper spray. This prompts Toby to confiscate the rest of Dwight's arsenal hidden in his desk. Meanwhile, Darryl Philbin asks Michael for a 10 percent raise due to the extra workload resulting from Roy's termination. When this is refused because it would make his pay exceed Michael's, Darryl goads him into going to corporate to negotiate his own raise. Jan Levinson tries to keep their romantic relationship out of the negotiations but ultimately gives Michael the maximum 12 percent raise that was authorized despite his continued inability to negotiate properly. Toby becomes annoyed with Ryan Howard and Kelly Kapoor's constant making out and arguing in the cubicle next to his. ==Production==

"The Negotiation" was written by supervising producer Michael Schur and directed by Jeffrey Blitz. It concluded a story arc featuring Roy Anderson's attempt to win back Pam, his former fiancée. Roy's portrayer, David Denman, reported he was "really grateful" that executive producer Greg Daniels allowed his character to develop, "where all of a sudden, he wasn't just a complete idiot but felt bad for being a bad boyfriend and wanted to try to get the girl back. It's so rare to have that on a television show, because so often everyone wants you to be the same character every week. It was quite refreshing creatively to get to do that." Denman felt it was "inevitable" that love triangles on any TV series are resolved, or "it gets kind of tiring and old. I think it was the appropriate time [to leave], and I had such a great experience working with all those guys." Denman added that Daniels told him the decision stemmed from a desire to advance the Jim–Pam storyline, rather than having anything to do specifically with Denman himself. Denman briefly returned in the series' fifth, seventh, and ninth seasons. , who played Pam's former fiancé Roy. Actress Kate Flannery, who plays Meredith Palmer, attributed her love of the episode to Craig Robinson, because the two shared an enjoyment of singing together ever since the first season episode "Basketball". She explained, "We sing on the set and in the hair and makeup trailer. We sound good together, but sometimes people are not in the mood to hear our amazing duets, mostly from the '80s." "The Negotiation" featured the return of character Andy Bernard, who had last been seen in the episode "The Return", as he was attending anger management classes. At the time "The Return" aired, no one was certain Helms would be returning, but in early February, NBC confirmed Helms had been hired on as a series regular for the rest of the year. In early 2007, the first half of "The Negotiation" was screened before fans at Paleyfest, along with its preceding episode, "Cocktails". According to Eric Goldman of IGN, "the crowd reacted gleefully to watching the series in the group setting... laughing uproariously at the never ending stream of terrifically funny material." == Reception ==

"The Negotiation" first aired on April 5, 2007 in the United States on NBC as a "super-sized" episode, According to Nielsen Media Research, it was viewed by an estimated 6.7 million people and earned a 3.2/10 ratings share among adults aged 18 to 49, the highest of the night. This means that it was seen by 3.2 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds, and 10 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. The episode received generally positive reviews from television critics. IGNs Brian Zoromski rated "The Negotiation" 9.7 out of 10, an indication of an "amazing" episode. He opined that it "had something for everyone – uncomfortable moments, laugh-out-loud ridiculous situations, and scenes progressing various ongoing storylines." Writing for AOL TV, Jay Black sympathized with Roy's actions but faulted the writers for "just treading water" with the Jim-Pam relationship. Though he called the episode a "let down", Black did find some episode highlights, such as Angela's "lusty" responses to Dwight's defense of Jim. Television Without Pity graded the episode with an A. In her review for Give Me My Remote, Kath Skerry wrote that the episode "left me satisfied and smiling," (a reference to a line from the episode "Sexual Harassment") partly attributing this to Roy's attack as a "way to make a very heavy, not [so] funny moment hysterical." She again expressed her dislike for Karen, but thought it "was a fun episode for my two favorite Dunder Mifflin couples: Ryan & Kelly and Dwight & Angela." Entertainment Weekly columnist Abby West enjoyed the Dwight-Angela scenes, asserting that "some of the best moments on screen are when those two let their freak flags fly." For his work on this episode, Michael Schur received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, but lost to Greg Daniels for his work on "Gay Witch Hunt". ==References==