Turf War (The Office)

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.

Meanwhile, Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) decides to land an important client as a "rogue" and jumpstart his Dunder Mifflin comeback by using his success as leverage with Robert.

During the contest, Jim props their elbows up on pillows and tricks them into thinking they each have phone calls, then takes a picture, editing it as a computer wallpaper to make it look like Gabe and Dwight have had a gossipy sleepover.

The resulting commotion allows the sales team in Scranton, specifically Jim and Dwight, to begin poaching former customers of the closed branch.

Andy Bernard, who is cooking lunch for everyone in the office, overhears the argument and gets an idea: if he can win the client, he might be able to use the account as leverage to get his job as manager back.

Andy rushes to Prestige Direct and impresses the CEO with his dedication—in addition to his personal phone number, he also gives him a copy of his house key.

After hearing several which paint a life for Nellie that is sad and lonely—she is unable to adopt a child and she has maxed out her credit cards—Pam relents and tells Robert that she will not help him anymore.

Jim jokingly says that he would be a beet growing competitor during the national contests while Harry would retire after selling one big item such as an airplane.

[2] The episode features the second consecutive appearance of David Wallace (Andy Buckley), former CFO of Dunder Mifflin, after his reappearance in "Fundraiser.

[12] Jeffrey Hyatt from ScreenCrave wrote, "The immediate, don't over-analyze opinion here is that 'Turf War' is a top three episode of season 8, with a chance of it being number one.

He noted that the episode's closing scene, wherein Jim, Dwight, and Harry talk about Robert California ruining the company, was an example of a retcon that "the shift to a world with actual consequences is certainly a step in the right direction for the series, and one that slightly elevates 'Turf War' if not the season as a whole.

"[7] However, McNutt was largely critical of the writing, noting that the closure of the Binghamton branch was a "cheap segue" that "render[ed] the show's characters as subservient to the narrative whims of the writers.

"[7] He argued—specifically citing the unconcernedness that the Scranton employees showed after hearing that a neighboring branch was shut down—that many of the characters' motives were not effective because they simply acted as ciphers, through which the larger plots could unfold.

Dyanamaria Leifsson from TV Equals wrote "Instead [of Andy making a mention to the Michael Scott Paper Company] the similarities were ignored and we were expected to treat this as a novel idea.

"[13] Craig McQuinn from The Faster Times sardonically wrote "remember how good the Michael Scott Paper Company storyline was?"

California Literary noted that, "The string of good, relatable cold opens ends tonight as Dwight and Gabe engage in a manliest man contest.