Office Ladies – Second Drink: Dunder Mifflin Infinity Part 2
Podcast: Office Ladies
Hosts: Jenna Fischer & Angela Kinsey
Date: November 24, 2025
Overview
In this “second drink” episode, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey continue their in-depth rewatch and discussion of The Office Season 4, Episode 4: “Dunder Mifflin Infinity Part 2.” They offer behind-the-scenes insights, answer fan mail, share deleted scenes, and provide context about iconic moments from the show. Highlights include a “lost” Thanksgiving episode pitch, stories from filming the infamous "drive the car into the lake" scene, and reflections on sound, background acting, and character moments.
Main Themes & Structure
- Fan mail and accessibility for listeners
- Lost/alternate scenes: Cold opens and the never-made Thanksgiving episode
- Behind-the-scenes details, especially about the lake stunt
- Character and prop trivia from the set
- Reflections on The Office’s unique production style
- Support and inspiration within the Office Ladies fan community
- Iconic lines and memorable moments from this episode
Key Highlights, Quotes & Timestamps
1. “Lost” Cold Open and Deleted Scenes Discussion
[02:23–06:03]
- Fans wrote in to ask about the alternate cold open now shown in the Superfan episodes, where Toby brings his girlfriend Amy (played by Paul Lieberstein’s real-life wife Janine) into the office and awkwardly kisses her in front of Jim and Pam.
- Jenna: “Toby awkwardly kisses his girlfriend for way too long and then jokes with Pam about violating his own PDA rule.” [02:52]
- Angela: “I even remember shooting it because…Paul’s real life wife, Janine…She’s such a lovely person. She’s really talented.” [03:38–03:47]
- The kissing “was so, like, confident, which is, like, very unlike Toby.” – Jenna [04:56]
2. The Never-Filmed Thanksgiving Episode Pitch
[07:13–12:30]
- Jenna shares the pitch for a proposed Thanksgiving themed episode from Season 3, found in her old digital files.
- Plot included Angela suing the company for $8.6 million after being slapped by Oscar, Michael planning to spend Thanksgiving with Carol (which he doesn’t), Dwight bringing Angela to Schrute Farms (secretly), tension with Dwight’s family, and a Jim-Karen-Pam triangle at the food pantry.
- Notable pitch line: Angela (on Oscar): “She was probably being a real bitch and he had had it all right.” [08:28]
- Jenna: “How good were our writers? None of that even got made.” [12:32]
- Both hosts reflect on the volume of unused story ideas:
- Angela: “What a fun, fun pitch. And I wonder how many times they had to break out and work on a pitch and then it never even saw the light of day.” [12:41]
3. Accessibility & Inclusivity: Podcast Transcripts
[15:46–17:02]
- Answering fan Jesse S.’s question about transcripts:
- Caitlin: “We do have a transcription for every single episode going back to the pilot, and you can find it on officeladies.com.” [15:49]
- Angela and Caitlin highlight their personal connections to accessible content.
4. Behind-the-Scenes: Kissing Scenes & Sound Production
[17:02–21:38]
- Angela reveals awkwardness in filming kissing scenes with Rainn Wilson due to his food choices:
- Angela: “He was usually eating something disgusting right beforehand. And I'd be like, Rainn, dang it!” [18:05]
- Discussion of on-set audio, minimal use of ADR, and shout-out to the Emmy-winning sound team:
- Caitlin: “All the other projects I've gone on, you have like an ADR day...On the Office, I only did ADR once.” [20:09]
- Angela: “Our sound engineers were Emmy award winning. They won Emmys for their sound design on our show.” [20:40]
5. Fan Community and Uplifting Stories
[24:38–25:54]
- Caitlin shares fan Cecilia B.’s story about advocating for herself at work after listening to the podcast’s advice.
- Cecilia B.: “All I kept hearing was both of you ladies in my head saying, just go for it. Ask for what you want. And I'm so happy...” [24:31]
- Sam reports a thread on the fan Facebook group about women succeeding in salary negotiations inspired by the show: “There's a whole thread of people underneath it who realized that they...are not going to do it anymore.” [25:22]
6. Office Set and Prop Trivia
[34:10–36:45]
- Angela confesses her “basket problem” after discussing Michael’s gift baskets: “My husband says my nickname should be baskets.” [34:44]
- Angela: “I donated them to a church in our neighborhood that does outreach...but it was hard to say goodbye.” [35:21]
7. Iconic Lines and Set Moments
[39:22–40:14]
-
Dwight: “Okay, okay, I do want to be friends, plus a little extra. Also, I love you.” [39:23]
- Angela: “I have seen this, like, stitched on a pillow....People have written this to their…boyfriend or girlfriend, and they've shared it with me online.” [40:03]
-
Andy: “Cash basket! Cash basket!”
- Jenna: “Cash Basket became an inside joke for all of us on the office for years and years and years.” [45:09]
- After Ed Helms’ line, “John was on the floor in tears, laughing the entire time because he couldn't get past cash basket.” [46:12]
8. GPS and Driving into the Lake: Full Breakdown
[65:12–76:12]
- Extensive fan mail about the iconic lake scene.
- Jenna (from Steve Carell): “Yes, they really drove a real car into a real lake. He said they did the stunt twice all the way through, and that Randall, our camera operator, was in the backseat.” [65:41]
- Randall explained: Car had no engine/gas tank/oil, was pulled in on a controlled rig, Randall was in the back seat with a $130,000 camera. Protective housing on camera. [67:08–68:15]
- Angela: “Randall, I mean, he's a big guy and he's scrunched in the back of this Ford Taurus with a gift basket and a camera that costs, like. I mean, my God, it's like as much as a house.” [68:54]
- Rainn Wilson (audio clip):
“My main fear wasn't, like, drowning or the car or anything like that. It was kind of like, this water is not the cleanest...I was just really afraid of like an eye infection or something like that. It was, like, kind of eerily warm. The water was not cold at all. But it was super fun....How often do you get to kind of drive your car into a lake? It was fantastic.” [71:52]
- Real-world inspiration: Jen Salata found warnings in a GPS manual not to “drive into water even if the GPS tells you to.” There are actual news stories of people doing this! [74:44–76:12]
- Angela recounts real news articles: e.g., “Robert Jones... kept insisting the path was the road...only realized how wrong he was…just inches from a 100 foot drop.” [76:12]
9. Other Fun Tidbits & Set Observations
- Actors really stayed in the background for talking head scenes, not edited in: “He had to sit there...for nine years.” (re: Leslie David Baker as Stanley) [22:36]
- Angela and Jenna’s real-life love for post-it notes and baskets mirrored Pam and Angela’s TV characters. [42:04–42:45]
- Andy’s crush on Ryan: “Number three, smells like Pierce Brosnan.” [54:06]
Notable Quotes
On the strength of the writers:
“How good were our writers? None of that even got made.” – Jenna Fischer [12:32]
On doing stunts for a TV comedy:
“It's just one of those kind of days where you're kind of like, wow, this is what I do for a living today. Playing a fictional weirdo and driving my car into a lake.” – Rainn Wilson [72:10]
On background acting:
“Poor Leslie David Baker. He was always in the background. He was always there. You could see him at his desk. And he was such a trooper.” – Angela Kinsey [22:39]
On podcast inspiration powering real-life action:
“All I kept hearing was both of you ladies in my head saying, just go for it. Ask for what you want...Now I get to have an extra hour with my daughters...” – Cecilia B. [24:31]
On set in-jokes:
“Cash Basket became an inside joke for all of us on the office for years and years and years.” – Jenna Fischer [45:09]
Timestamps for Important Segments
- [02:23] – Superfan cold open and cast behind-the-scenes
- [07:13] – Lost Office Thanksgiving episode breakdown
- [15:49] – Podcast accessibility and transcripts
- [17:02] – On-screen kisses, ADR, and sound department shout-outs
- [22:36] – Stanley's background acting in talking heads
- [24:31] – Listener stories of empowerment
- [34:44] – Basket confessionals
- [39:23] – Dwight’s “plus a little extra, also I love you” scene
- [45:09] – The “Cash Basket” bit and inside jokes
- [65:12] – The “drive into the lake” stunt: full technical breakdown
- [71:52] – Rainn Wilson’s story of the lake scene
- [74:44] – How the writers came up with the GPS/lake idea
- [76:12] – True-life car/GPS disaster stories
- [83:13] – Ryan tries and fails to recruit Pam
- [84:33] – Michael and Dwight return for the gift basket and the missing turtles
- [85:12] – “I drove my car into an effing lake”
- [86:41] – End of episode reflection, more deleted scenes goodies
Tone & Style
Playful, warm, and candid throughout. Jenna and Angela mix fan engagement, comedic banter, and heartfelt appreciation for the show and its fandom.
This summary captures all major discussion points, behind-the-scenes stories, and memorable moments from Office Ladies’ “Second Drink: Dunder Mifflin Infinity Part 2.”
For Office fans and podcast listeners, this episode is a treasure trove of anecdotes, trivia, and genuine friendship.