| "Vandalism" | |
|---|---|
| The Office episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 9 Episode 14 |
| Directed by | Lee Kirk |
| Written by | Owen Ellickson |
| Cinematography by | Matt Sohn |
| Editing by | Claire Scanlon |
| Production code | 9015[1] |
| Original air date | January 31, 2013 |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
"Vandalism" is the fourteenth episode of the ninth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the 190th episode overall. The episode was written by Owen Ellickson. It was directed by Lee Kirk, who is series star Jenna Fischer's husband. It originally aired on NBC on January 31, 2013. The episode guest stars Chris Diamantopoulos as Brian the boom mike operator, Mark Proksch as Nate, Brad William Henke as Frank, and Ameenah Kaplan as Val.
The series—presented as if it were a real documentary—depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. In this episode, someone vandalizes Pam Halpert's warehouse mural. Distraught, she enlists Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) and Nellie Bertram (Catherine Tate) to help her track down the vandal. Meanwhile, in their Philadelphia apartment, Darryl Philbin (Craig Robinson) is uncomfortable with Jim Halpert's (John Krasinski) uncleanliness. Angela Lipton (Angela Kinsey) begrudgingly allows Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez) and Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner) to attend her son Phillip's first birthday party.
The episode received mixed reviews from television critics; many felt that the subplot involving Brian (Diamantopoulos) being attracted to Pam was shoehorned into the series and served little function other than to create superfluous drama. The episode was viewed by 3.97 million viewers and received a 1.9/5 percent rating among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. Although the episode ranked first in its half-hour timeslot, it tied with the series finale of 30 Rock to be the second highest-rated NBC series of the night.