The Duel (The Office) - Reception

Reception

In its original American broadcast on January 15, 2009, "The Duel" was watched by 8.35 million viewers. It aired the same night as actor William Petersen's final appearance on the CBS drama series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which drew an unusually high viewership of 23.13 million viewers. Nevertheless, The Office outperformed CSI in the ratings among viewers between ages 18 and 34, earning a 5.0 rating/13 share compared to CSI's 3.8 rating/10 share. (Both shows were outperformed in that age group by the ABC drama series Grey's Anatomy, which drew a 5.2 rating/13 share, and a total of 12.95 million viewers for the night.) Among viewers between ages 18 and 49, "The Duel" drew a 4.3 rating/10 share, which was lower than both CSI and Grey's Anatomy. The Office also earned higher ratings in its timeslot than the Fox reality television series "Kitchen Nightmares" (4.28 million viewers) and the CW thriller series Supernatural (2.96 million viewers).

It's fun to see an episode of The Office that is more plot-driven, as opposed to the norm of being based on observational humor. The Andy/Dwight/Angela triangle has proven to be a lot of fun. They are the anti-Jim and Pam, and in this episode it all really pays off well.

"The Duel" received generally positive reviews. Andy calling off the wedding after learning Angela cheated on him with Dwight ranked number 6 in phillyBurbs.com's top ten moments from the fifth season of The Office. "The Duel" was voted the fourteenth highest-rated episode out of 26 from the fifth season, according to an episode poll at the fansite OfficeTally, where the episode was rated 8.11 out of 10. Alan Sepinwall of The Star-Ledger said the episode "brings the Dwight/Angela/Andy triangle to an effective close" that made him feel sympathy for both Dwight and Andy. He was disappointed, however, that the idea of David Wallace trying to learn from Michael seemed undeveloped. The A.V. Club writer Scott Tobias said "The Duel" efficiently resolved a major storyline in 30 minutes, and was "a nice mix of the wacky and the melancholy, though it’s perhaps a little long on the former and a little short on the latter". He called the David Wallace subplot "funny-but-forgettable". Travis Fickett of IGN said the episode was surprisingly intense and dramatic, and particularly highlighted the talents of Ed Helms. Fickett said "The Duel" was a great payoff to the Angela love triangle storyline and demonstrated how well The Office varies and paces stories from episode to episode.

TV Guide writer Shahzad Abbas called it possibly the best episode of the season. Abbas particular enjoyed the tension as Andy learned the truth and the resolution of the duel. Entertainment Weekly writer Alynda Wheat called it an "instant classic" and a vast improvement over the most recent string of episodes. Wheat called the interactions between Dwight and Andy "brilliance" and described the cold open "pretty genius". New York magazine writer Will Leitch said the Andy-Dwight-Angela triangle was like a "dirtier, meaner, crazier parody" of the Jim-Pam-Roy subplot from previous seasons, and Leitch appreciated that it was resolved in a darker way than the latter love triangle. Brian Howard of The Journal News called it a "great episode", and particularly enjoyed the moments between Angela and Dwight, and the way Jim tried to prevent Michael from telling Andy about the affair. Jay Black of TV Squad said he enjoyed seeing Angela get her comeuppance, and felt he could relate to the voyeuristic interest the office co-workers took in the duel. Black praised the Michael subplot because it "provided an ironic counter-weight" to the duel because Michael was being praised for his managerial skills while his co-workers fought each other in the parking lot.