Night Out - Plot

Plot

Ryan Howard (B. J. Novak) arrives at the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company and is noticeably friendlier than on his previous visits. Ryan shows the staff at the branch the new Dunder Mifflin website, "Dunder Mifflin Infinity 2.0", the previous version of which was shut down because sexual predators had invaded the social networking component of the site. As Ryan leaves, he tells Michael Scott (Steve Carell) of the women he meets in clubs in New York City. Michael and Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) subsequently decide to go to New York, locate Ryan, attend parties with him, and try to meet women while doing so.

In New York, Michael and Dwight locate Ryan after discovering which club Ryan frequents; Ryan is thrilled to see them but appears to be under the influence of drugs though Michael and Dwight do not notice. Later, Michael, Dwight, Ryan and Ryan's colleague, Troy Undercook (Noel Petok) (who Dwight is certain is a Hobbit due to his short stature) wait outside another club, but fail to get in because they do not have dates. Dwight comes to the rescue when he manages to pair each of them with members of a women's basketball team, who are also waiting in line. Inside the club, Ryan's dancing becomes erratic and aggressive, and he accidentally hits a girl, prompting her friends to attack Ryan. Dwight and Michael escort him out of the club, and after Troy advises them not to take Ryan to a hospital, he runs off. Michael and Dwight bring Ryan back to his apartment, where he tells them that he thinks his "friend Troy" has a drug problem, and asks what he should do about it. Michael, oblivious to the fact that Ryan is obviously referring to his own drug addiction, gives him hypothetical advice involving a wiretap and snitching on a drug dealer. He then tells the camera that he has been watching The Wire but does not understand what is going on in the show.

Back in Scranton, the rest of the employees are going to be forced to work on a Saturday to record their own sales as the website's sales, which is, according to Ryan, "a temporary procedure to increase the legitimacy of the website." With no one eager to participate, Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) decides to ask everyone to stay in the office late instead of coming in for the Saturday. They all agree to the plan, and after working until 9:00 pm, they are shocked to find the parking lot gates locked. Jim had forgotten to tell the security guard that they were staying late. They are unable to return to the office because Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) locked the door from the inside, and Dwight, miles away in New York, has both the spare and master keys. Jim repeatedly calls Hank the security guard (Hugh Dane). Sitting in the lobby area waiting for the security guard to arrive, the employees exchange jokes and during a moment of levity, Toby Flenderson (Paul Lieberstein) affectionately places his hand on Pam's knee. After an awkward silence, Toby proclaims that he is moving to Costa Rica; he then hops the parking lot fence and runs away. The cleaning staff arrives and lets the group out. At the end of the episode, Hank finally shows up but is upset because everyone but the cleaning staff is gone.