The Sting

"The Sting" is the fifth episode of the seventh season of the American comedy television series The Office and the shows 131st episode overall. It originally aired on NBC on October 21, 2010. The episode was written by co-executive producer Mindy Kaling and directed by Randall Einhorn. "The Sting" guest stars Timothy Olyphant as Danny Cordray. The series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. In the episode, a Dunder Mifflin client is stolen by a rival salesman named Danny Cordray (Olyphant), and Michael Scott (Steve Carell), Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), and Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) decide to set up a sting in order to uncover his sales secret. Meanwhile, Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) starts a band when he learns that one of his old college friends has a successful music career. "The Sting" is the first episode of the series to feature Olyphant, who appears in a recurring capacity during the seventh season. The episode received largely positive reviews from television critics, many of whom felt that while the main plot was not realistic, it was very humorous. "The Sting" was viewed by 6.87 million viewers and received a 3.4 rating among adults between the age of 18 and 49, marking a slight drop in the ratings when compared to the previous week. Despite this, the episode ranked second in its timeslot and was the highest-rated NBC series of the night that it aired. Synopsis Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) and Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) are sent on assignment to make a sales pitch to a client, and are eager to land the sale. However, Danny Cordray (Timothy Olyphant), a rival paper salesman from the very small Osprey company who steals more potential sales away from Dunder Mifflin than anyone, has also arrived for a sales pitch. Dwight also reveals that Danny had a romantic history with Pam Halpert (Jenna Fischer) four years previously. Jim and Dwight call in Michael Scott (Steve Carell), who is ecstatic at getting a chance to make a sale, to come and try to save them. The company ends up taking Danny's offer, even after Michael promises at-cost paper sales and weekend delivery. The trio leaves the client's office and head back home, defeated.