Introducing a
new character to a long-running, well-established sitcom can be challenging. An
ensemble cast with 80+ episodes under its belt is like a stable atom and the
appearance of a new cast member can ruin that chemistry or come across as a
sign of desperation[1], which is what makes Secretary’s Day, the twenty-second
episode of the sixth season of The Office,
so important.
When we first met Erin Hannon[2] toward the end of season five, it was as Pam’s replacement as the office receptionist after Pam left to go work for the Michael Scott Paper Company. When Pam returned to Dunder Mifflin as a saleswoman, Erin kept her job but the writers did not do much with her for the next twenty episodes other than to establish 1) that Michael saw her as lesser version of Pam, who Michael saw as a sort of emotional woobie but was busy getting married, being pregnant, and learning her new job and 2) as a potential love interest for Andy (and the two do in fact start dating just prior to this episode). In other words, she was a bit of a cipher, not well-defined, and adding little to the show overall.
But that all changed in an episode that gave Erin a chance to shine. There is a B plot involving a parody video transposing Kevin’s voice onto Cookie Monster, but the episode’s main focus is on Erin, who is taken out to lunch by Michael to celebrate secretary’s day. She is, as Michael notes during a talking head, weird, and that energy manifests itself in a variety of random non-sequiturs: Erin takes a picture of Michael asking her to lunch (weird). In the car on the way to lunch, she asks him in what decade he would have wanted to be a teenager (very weird) and then tells him she would have picked the 1490s because that was when Columbus discovered America (even weirder, and also not factually accurate). The bit goes on at lunch, where we learn Erin’s prior job was at a Taco Bell Express but she quit when it became a full-blown Taco Bell because she could not keep up (?) and, out of nowhere, asks Michael how many pillows he sleeps on (??). Part of what makes these lines so funny is Kemper’s wide-eyed innocence. To her, these are completely normal questions to ask as casual chit chat with a co-worker whereas Michael recoils at the bizarreness of it all, looking at her like she has three heads when she asks him if he has a favorite age or month.[3]
Naturally, when the two do engage in what most of us consider normal conversation, things go completely off the rails. Michael asks her how things are going with Andy (normal) and when she asks Michael to tell her about him before they met (also normal) the reveal about Andy’s prior engagement to Angela sends Erin spiraling. Her line reading of a simple phrase - “uh oh” - should be studied by actors. Four little letters but delivered as a warning sign that this character knows when she is about to melt down – which she does – before dropping what might be the oddest line in the show’s history: “in the foster home my hair was my room.” Like, WHAT? Kills me every time.
When Michael and Erin return to the office[4] for cake with the rest of their co-workers, Andy singles out Angela for planning a great party as Erin seethes in the background before absolutely nailing him in the face with a huge piece of cake and confronting him about why he never told her about his relationship with Angela. Here again, Kemper really delivers, accusing Andy of sleeping with other members of the office (possibly together?) before storming out as the camera pans to the cake with her smiling face on it. She then gets some great one-on-one moments, first with Angela, who attempts to upbraid Erin for embarrassing her in front of everyone, to which Erin replies “take it up with the chief of police” (another odd, but hilarious comment) and then with Pam, who attempts to console Erin by sharing her own experience of having been engaged to someone else before she and Jim got together. At first, Erin assumes it was Andy (?) and then, after Pam tells Erin that sometimes the heart does not know what it wants, she misreads the comment entirely, assuming Pam is talking about herself and wishes Pam well in finding what she (Pam) is looking for.
It is a lot to cram into a single episode (much less one plot line within it) but in these brief scenes, Erin delivers an all-time comedic heater capped off when she and Andy have a private conversation in which she questions whether his real name is Andy Bernard or Lionel Frankenstein. It is just so … weird, but the timing, the mannerisms, the line delivery are all spot on, showing (not simply telling, as Michael did early in the episode) that this character is vibrating at a different frequency than the rest of the gang.[5]
The only critique I have is that the writers failed to capitalize on this bravura performance. After this brief moment in the sun, Erin mostly reverted to being a background player involved in a revolving door of office romances (Gabe, Andy (again), Pete) where the writers never seemed sure whether or not to turn her and Andy into a will they/won’t they Pam and Jim 2.0[6] and an effort to make Michael into a quasi-father figure to her (which never really landed). The series finale did offer a nice grace note – the pitch perfect casting of Joan Cusack and Ed Begley, Jr. as her birth parents, with a heartfelt reunion and some synchronized dancing at Dwight and Angela’s wedding that confirmed her parents were just as odd as she was.
[1]
Indeed, more than a
few “jump the shark” moments are attributed to such a decision (e.g., cousin
Oliver in The Brady Bunch).
[2] Real name Kelly, but due to
the other Kelly’s attempt to get Charles Minor to notice her, changed to her
middle name, Erin, so as to avoid confusion.
[3] While Michael has no
answer, hers is April when she was seven (also weird!)
[4] Shout out to Steve Carrell
for giving an ALL TIME eye roll you miss if you are not paying attention.
[5]
With the possible
exception of Creed, who is, as Ryan would say, on the freaking moon.
[6] Her Season Nine
relationship with Pete had the most chemistry, but was treated like it never
happened in the series finale.
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