Judgement

"Judgement"
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Episode no.	Episode 6
Original airdate	20 August 2001 (BBC 2)
Written by	Ricky Gervais Stephen Merchant
Directed by	Ricky Gervais Stephen Merchant
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Judgement is the sixth and final episode of the first series of The Office.

Plot

It is the day of judgment at Wernham Hogg: David Brent lets go a warehouse worker and is accused of positive discrimination because he fired an able bodied worker instead of a midget. As he takes his new secretary around the office, attempting to lighten the mood to no avail, he is asked by one of his employees, Malcolm, what will happen to the branch, and why he is hiring new staff when existing workers are being cut. Unsurprisingly, David gives a satisfactory answer for neither, and attempts to play off the situation with offensive bald jokes. David also holds a brief meeting with Tim in which he ridicules his desire to quit Wernham Hogg to pursue his education, despite his new secretary agreeing with Tim.

Jennifer's arrival in Slough brings the crescendo in the employees to a head. She informs David of an opening in her old position, as she has just been given partnership, and that the board has approved him to be promoted by a vote of 5 to 2 over Swindon manager Neil Godwin. If David takes the promotion, the Slough branch will be shut down and be absorbed by the Swindon branch. Naturally, Brent immediately chooses to take the promotion, fixating on what he calls a "landslide" in his favor. Expecting the office to be excited for him, he breaks the news to his "troops" with poor reception, as he attempts to portray his good fortune as a "silver lining" to the coming dark days. Glumly, everyone seems prepared for redundancy as personal dislike of David reaches an all-time high. Interviews with David's staff go between calling him a liar, or simply hurling personal insults at him. Gareth also bids a tearful farewell to David in his office.

At the party that night, nobody is in the celebratory mood. Gareth emotionally conveys his frustrations to Tim and Ricky, suggesting he will land on his feet and that hard working people like him are victims of political correctness. David goes onstage and announces that he rejected the promotion ("I told them to shove their job up their arses!") at corporate and that Slough will now absorb Swindon, securing everyone's job at his branch. This noticeably lightens the mood at the celebration, and the upbeat and grateful employees begin to enjoy the festivities. Malcolm confronts Brent with rumours that he didn't receive the promotion because of a failed medical examination from high blood pressure, rather than actually caring about his employees. Brent awkwardly attempts to convince the employee that he raised his blood pressure in order to deliberately fail the test. Back at the party, Brent offers a promotion to Tim in exchange for staying. As Tim explains the promotion and his decision to stay to Dawn with avid use of business buzz words, she seems disappointed and disillusioned with Tim giving up his dreams of University for the drudgery of Slough.

Quotes

• David: Well, there's good news and bad news. The bad news is that Neil will be taking over both branches, and some of you will lose your jobs. Those of you who are kept on will have to relocate to Swindon, if you wanna stay. I know, gutting. On a more positive note, the good news is, I've been promoted, so... every cloud. You're still thinking about the bad news aren't you?

• Gareth: Yeah, I work hard, I earn my keep. But unfortunately, the history books are full of just people who toil and fight for worthy causes and the freedom of others.
  Tim: That's the most profound thing you've ever said, mate.
  Gareth: And you do all that, only for foreigners of women or the disableds to take advantage of it.
  Tim: Yeah. Could I withdraw my last comment?

• David: You’ve seen how I react to people, make them feel good, make them think that anything’s possible. If I make them laugh along the way, sue me. And I don’t do it so they turn round and go "Thank you David for the opportunity, thank you for the wisdom, thank you for the laughs." I do it so, one day, someone will go "There goes David Brent. I must remember to thank him."

Music

The following songs are featured in this episode.

"Spirit in the Sky" - Doctor and the Medics
"Walking on Sunshine" - Katrina and the Waves
"Sexbomb" - Tom Jones featuring Mousse T.
"Tragedy" - Steps
"The Only Way is Up" - Yazz
"S Club Party" - S Club 7
"I'm Not in Love" - 10cc
"True" - Spandau Ballet

Trivia

• At the beginning of the first episode, David was hiring someone to be a fork lift truck driver, and at the beginning of this episode, he is firing a fork lift truck driver.

• David Brent announces that Ricky is leaving. Although Ricky didn't get a going-away present, David says "You should have seen what we got Pete Gibbons!" Peter Gibbons was lead character in the similarly-themed Office Space.

Gallery

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• For more images go to: Gallery:TheOffice_Judgement

External links

• BBC episode guide: "Judgement"