When Michael burns his foot with his George Foreman mini-grill, he requires the entire office staff to work around his new injury. When the workers aren't so keen on obliging, Michael gets angry and calls in a man in a wheelchair to put out the message that disabled people are people too. Meanwhile, Dwight acts stranger than usual, acting really nice and helpful towards Pam. It isn't until the end of the day when everyone realizes that the car accident Dwight was in earlier that day gave him a concussion (but was overshadowed by Michael's dramatization of his own burn), and Jim and Michael immediately take him to the hospital. Needless to say, Michael doesn't appreciate the extra attention that the doctors and nurses pay Dwight.
WAR
119.1
Wins Above Replacement
“The Injury” ranks #4 of 183 The Office episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 97.0 — Elite. The episode packs 74 scored jokes at 3.2 per minute, averaging 7.7 on craft and 7.6 on impact, with Michael landing the most laughs. Every joke is ranked below with its individual craft and impact scores.
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Top Jokes
Michael: Michael's bedtime bacon ritual: he lays strips on the grill before sleep, then wakes up to plug it in, goes back to sleep, then wakes to smell of bacon
Michael Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Billy · Michael: Billy: 'You know what, Michael? Let me stop you right there... and leave.'
Jim · Dwight · Michael: 'Dwight, what is your middle name?' 'Danger.' '...Something with a K.' 'It's Kurt.' 'Wow, I'm so sad that I know that.'
Billy: Talking head: 'I wanna clamp Michael's face in a George Foreman grill.'
Billy Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Callback Stanley · Michael: Stanley: 'I'm not disabled, and neither are you.' Michael: 'What does this look like to you, Stanley?' Stanley: 'Mail Boxes, Etc.'
Standout Moments
Michael: Michael's bedtime bacon ritual: he lays strips on the grill before sleep, then wakes up to plug it in, goes back to sleep, then wakes to smell of bacon
Michael Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Billy · Michael: Billy: 'You know what, Michael? Let me stop you right there... and leave.'
Jim · Dwight · Michael: 'Dwight, what is your middle name?' 'Danger.' '...Something with a K.' 'It's Kurt.' 'Wow, I'm so sad that I know that.'
All Jokes — 74 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Michael · Pam: Michael's urgent distress call opens to reveal he burned his foot on a Foreman grill
Michael · Kevin: Michael tries hopping and bumps his elbow, now reporting a 'protruberence' on his elbow as an additional injury
Michael · Dwight · Jim · Pam: Dwight volunteers to rescue Michael despite Michael explicitly not wanting him
Dwight · Jim · Pam: Dwight immediately crashes his car into a pole while rushing to rescue Michael
Jim · Pam: 'He's still driving.' followed by 'Dwight... you forgot your bumper!'
Jim Pam Escalation Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Callback Michael: Michael calls back after all this, still hoping for a non-Dwight rescuer: 'Please don't send Dwight.'
Michael Callback Character Comedy Callback Michael: Michael arrives at the office on a wheelchair/crutches, commanding everyone 'Don't freak out. I forbid anybody to freak out.'
Michael Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Pam · Michael: Pam didn't mention to corporate that Michael 'cooked his foot' — and Michael corrects 'burned, Pam'
Stanley: Stanley: 'So where are you shipping your foot?' — then repeated after Michael's confused reaction, perfectly deadpan
Stanley Deadpan/Understatement Wordplay/Pun Michael: 'Your job is being my friend, Pam.'
Michael Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Michael · Pam: Michael: 'I just want you to treat me like you would a family member who's undergone some sort of serious physical trauma.' Pam: 'Do you want some aspirin? Because you seem a little fussy.'
Michael Pam Deadpan/Understatement Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Michael: Michael: 'I'm sitting here with a bloody stump of a foot.' — for a Foreman grill burn
Michael Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Dwight: Dwight's confessional is interrupted — he appears to have forgotten what he was saying mid-sentence
Dwight Reaction Beat Awkward Silence ★ Rewatch Callback Michael · Dwight: Michael demands specific food: dark meat rotisserie chicken, yams from the Stroudsburg location specifically, and is outraged the gas station didn't have them
Jim · Pam: Jim's Russian music website joke with Pam — 'the only thing is, all the songs are in Russian'
Jim Pam Setup/Punchline Misdirection Jim · Pam: Jim calls Pam 'Pan' as he leaves — an apparent concussion symptom
Jim Pam Reaction Beat Running Gag ★ Rewatch Callback Michael · Pam: Michael asks Pam to rub butter on his foot — he has Country Crock
Dwight · Pam: Dwight demonstrates the 'indestructible' CD case to Pam by having her throw it — it breaks immediately
Jim · Pam: Jim's talking head: 'So I guess Pam and Dwight are friends now.' Cut to Pam: 'Oh God, no. Dwight isn't my friend.'
Jim Pam Reaction Beat Irony/Sarcasm Pam: Pam's immediate follow-up talking head: 'Oh my God... Dwight's kind of my friend.'
Pam Character Comedy Reaction Beat ★ Rewatch Callback Michael: Michael on the phone with his mom: 'No, I'm not gonna call Jan. She'd just worry. Drive down here and make a big thing.'
Michael Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Callback Michael: Michael: 'It was mutual.' — about his fake breakup with Jan
Michael Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy Callback Dwight: Dwight's apparently inappropriate attempt to flirt with the temp/someone: 'Do you like candy? Because you're sweeter than candy.'
Dwight Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Jim · Pam: Pam and Jim watch something off-camera — 'Hey, cut...' — implying Dwight is doing something alarming or bizarre
Jim Pam Reaction Beat Visual Gag ★ Rewatch Callback Michael: Implied visual/physical gag: 'Hey, cut...' — something happens with the camera/documentary crew that Michael addresses
Michael Meta/Self-Referential Reaction Beat ★ Rewatch Dwight: Someone (Dwight) apparently dives into food or something immediately and without social convention: 'Wow, you just dive right in. You know, around age 12, I just started going for it.'
Dwight Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Callback Michael · Jim: Michael falls off the toilet and gets wedged between the toilet and wall
Michael · Jim: 'Not you. Someone else. Get Pam.' / 'I don't think Pam's gonna want to come into the men's room.'
Michael · Jim: Michael demands Ryan 'clean me up a little bit. Bring a wet towel.' Jim: 'Ryan is...dead.' Michael: 'No he's not.' Jim: 'Dead.'
Jim · Michael: Jim tells Michael that Ryan is 'dead.' Michael: 'No he's not.' Jim: 'Dead.' Michael: 'I just saw him.' Jim: 'He's...'
Jim · Pam: Jim: 'Do you think Dwight's being a little weird today?' Pam: 'No... He's actually been really nice and helpful.' Jim: 'And that isn't weird?'
Jim Pam Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Michael · Oscar · Stanley: Michael's disability meeting: 'Do you know what it's like to be disabled?' then attempts to name people in the room with 'real' disabilities
Michael · Creed: An older employee (likely Creed) says 'When I was a teenager, I was in an iron lung.' Michael responds: 'What... how old are you?'
Michael: 'Although I'm sure Stanley has had his fair share of obstacles.'
Michael Cringe/Discomfort Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Stanley · Michael: Stanley: 'I'm not disabled, and neither are you.' Michael: 'What does this look like to you, Stanley?' Stanley: 'Mail Boxes, Etc.'
Michael · Stanley: Michael: 'What does this look like to you, Stanley?' [gestures to foot] Stanley: 'Mail Boxes, Etc.'
Michael: Michael: 'Shut...it.' to Stanley after 'Mail Boxes, Etc.'
Michael Character Comedy Reaction Beat Callback Michael · office staff: 'Imagine if you had left Stevie Wonder on the floor of that bathroom instead of me.' / 'Oh, we wouldn't. We love Stevie Wonder.'
Michael · Jim · Pam: Michael's disability awareness poster wall includes Tom Hanks — twice — from different movies
Michael · Stanley: Stanley doing a crossword puzzle during the meeting. Michael: 'A crossword puzzle Stanley? Seriously, are you learning nothing here?'
Billy · Michael: Billy the wheelchair user arrives and immediately reveals someone parked in the handicapped space
Michael · Billy: Michael to Billy in wheelchair: 'You are so brave.'
Michael · Billy: Michael asks Billy how long it takes him to brush his teeth. Billy: 'About 30 seconds.' Michael: 'Oh, my God. That's three times as long as it takes me.'
Michael · Billy: Michael asks Billy: 'How did you get in your wheelchair? This morning?' Billy: 'Just like every other morning. Just climbed on in.'
Michael Billy Cringe/Discomfort Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Billy: Talking head: 'I wanna clamp Michael's face in a George Foreman grill.'
Billy Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Callback Michael · Billy · Dwight: Michael repeatedly interrupts Billy's actual property management announcements with raised hands and disability parallels
Jim · Pam: Talking head discussion about Dwight: 'The moon-faced kid who crashed into the pole. He looks like he has a concussion.'
Jim Pam Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Callback Ryan · Michael: Ryan finds pudding cups at a gas station in Carbondale — Michael celebrates this as a major achievement
Michael · Ryan: 'Did you get the yams?' 'No, the gas station in Carbondale did not have fresh yams.'
Michael: Michael declares his foot healed because of 'Ryan's kindness' and chocolate pudding
Michael: 'My body's literally healing itself. It is amazing what the human body is capable of when you have a powerful brain.'
Pam: Pam's talking head: 'I ground up four extra strength aspirins and put them in Michael's pudding. I do the same thing for my dog to get him to take his heartworm medicine.'
Pam Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Callback Michael: 'I can feel the blood coursing through my foot veins.'
Jim · Pam · Michael: Nobody wants to take Dwight to the hospital — each person tries to pass responsibility to someone else
Dwight · Jim: Dwight doing 'Vietnam sounds' — possibly moaning, humming, or making sound effects — on the way to the elevator
Dwight · Pam: Dwight: 'Tired. Can't lay down. Wake up!' — Pam tells him to take a rake...
Pam · Dwight: Pam says goodbye to Dwight as if he's going off to war, 'It's gonna be different.' Dwight doesn't understand why. 'It's just hard to explain.' 'Oh, Pam, you're adorable.'
Pam Dwight Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Callback Michael: Michael calls shotgun for the hospital van from the hospital gurney/elevator
Michael Character Comedy Setup/Punchline Michael · Jim: Michael, from the front seat, calls 'Shotgun!' — Jim: 'You don't think you should sit in the back with Dwight?'
Michael: 'The rules of shotgun are very simple and very clear. The first person to shout shotgun when you're within the sight of the car gets the front seat. That's how the game's played. There are no exceptions for someone with a concussion.'
Michael Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Michael · Jim · Pam: Michael on seeing it's a minivan: 'Oh God, a minivan. What is Meredith's problem? Well, I think she has a kid. Yeah, she has one kid and no husband. She's not going to find one driving this thing around.'
Dwight · Michael: Dwight thinks they're going to Chuck E. Cheese and expresses exhaustion with it: 'Oh, God. I'm so sick of Chuck E. Cheese.'
Dwight · Jim · Michael: Dwight finds a bottle under the seat and drinks from it in the van on the way to the hospital
Jim · Michael: The hospital admission form: Jim writes 'bringing someone to the hospital' under reason for visit instead of his own symptoms
Michael · Doctor: Michael to the doctor: 'Doctor, what is more serious — a head injury or a foot injury?' Doctor: 'A head injury.' Michael: 'Well, you don't have all the information.'
Michael · Doctor: Michael argues that his foot 'healed quickly. Very quickly. Actually, like suspiciously quickly.' — advocating for a CAT scan of his foot
Michael · Doctor · Dwight: Doctor: 'Does the skin look red and swollen?' Michael: 'That's what she said.' Doctor's reaction. Michael: 'That's my joke. Damn it, Dwight.'
Michael: Michael to Dwight as he's taken away: 'Well, you should have thought of that before you crashed your head on your way to pick me up, so... we'll see you when you get out.'
Michael Character Comedy Dark/Subversive Callback Jim · Pam: Jim and Pam phone call: tender reconciliation, then immediately both say 'Okay, uh, yeah, no' — talking over each other and neither saying anything meaningful
Jim Pam Awkward Silence Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Pam · Oscar: Pam goes out of her way to tell Oscar that Dwight is okay, framing it as something she 'thought he'd wanna know.' Oscar's confused 'Okay.'
Pam Oscar Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Callback Dwight · MRI Technician: The MRI technician trying to get Dwight to follow breathing instructions: 'Sir, stop that. Stop... stop that.' — presumably Dwight is doing the wrong thing confidently
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