Jury Duty (The Office)

It was written by Aaron Shure and directed by Eric Appel, and guest starred Jack Coleman, Lindsey Broad, and Mark Proksch.

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 this episode, Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) returns from jury duty and Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) questions him on every detail of his case.

However, Jim later comes under fire when Dwight reveals he only served half a day on his single case then took the rest of the week off to spend time with his wife, Pam Halpert (Jenna Fischer), looking after their toddler and new baby, Phillip.

According to Nielsen Media Research, "Jury Duty" drew 5.31 million viewers and received a 2.8 rating/7% share in the 18–49 demographic, marking a 10% drop in ratings from the previous episode, "Pool Party".

Ashamed, Jim privately admits the truth to Andy, who insists that they keep the matter a secret so that he will not be held to his promise.

Realizing the stress that having young kids causes, the office workers ultimately forgive Jim for his behavior and allow him to leave early to help Pam.

Suspecting that Dwight is the real father, Oscar breaks his promise and tells him when he arrives at the hospital in search of Gabe.

Upon returning to Dunder Mifflin he drops his dispute with Jim, since his self-assumed fatherhood has given him a new appreciation for the duties of parenthood.

[7] The episode also marks the seventh appearance of Lindsey Broad, who plays Cathy, Pam's replacement during her maternity leave.

[2] Dwight mentions that Jim once tricked him into believing he had been chosen to appear in the popular police procedural drama NCIS.

[2] Kevin tells Angela that he bought her new baby Call of Duty, a popular first-person shooter video game.

Brian Marder from the New York Post wrote that, "['Jury Duty'] was a step, if not a leap, in the right direction for the show—which, let's be honest, is showing its fatigue and staleness; possibly nearing its end; clearly suffering without Steve Carell.

[17] He also complimented Krasinski's "understated" performance as well as Wilson's acting, citing the scene near the end of the episode wherein Dwight learns Angela's baby might be his.

Not too plot driven and chock-full of solid comedic writing plus a handful endearing moments that just made me feel good.

It may not have satisfyingly explored Jim’s character, but it ended with a clear statement of his role as a father, reintroducing Jenna Fischer into the cast and putting a button on that particular story development.