In the fifth season of The Office, after feeling ignored and underappreciated by his corporate overlords, Michael Scott left Dunder Mifflin to start his own paper company. He recruited Pam and Ryan to round out his sales team, moved into a tiny office space downstairs from Dunder Mifflin, and started poaching their business. The Michael Scott Paper Company quickly became a fan-favorite storyline, but it was wrapped up in just four episodes. The Michael Scott Paper Company arc radically altered the character dynamics of The Office and shook up the show’s formula just as it was starting to become stale. Loyalties were tested as the two paper suppliers went to war with one another. This premise was juicy enough to be stretched out into a full season-long arc, but the show only touched on the conflicts that arose briefly and everything went back to normal a couple of episodes later.
The notion of the Michael Scott Paper Company first came about in the episode “Two Weeks.” After handing in his two weeks’ notice and running out the clock at Dunder Mifflin, Michael came to the alarming realization that finding a new job wouldn’t be so easy in the midst of a trying economic climate, so he decided to create his own job by starting his own company. At the end of the episode, Michael was joined by Pam – who was sick of being a receptionist and wanted to work in sales – and the Michael Scott Paper Company was born.
In “Dream Team,” Michael and Pam set out to assemble a crack sales team, ended up with just Ryan, and leased a cozy office space underneath Dunder Mifflin’s men’s room. In “Michael Scott Paper Company,” they hosted a pancake luncheon in the parking lot and scored their first client. In “Heavy Competition,” the battle between Dunder Mifflin and Michael Scott heated up as Dwight turned on Michael and Michael stole Dwight’s biggest client. Then, in “Broke,” they ran out of money, sold the company to Dunder Mifflin in exchange for their old jobs, and the status quo resumed.
Instead of hastily wrapping up in time for the season 5 finale, this storyline should’ve continued throughout season 6. The actual sixth-season storyline ended up being one of the show’s weakest. Jim was promoted to co-manager, which worked against his character finding his work dull and boring as he suddenly took his job seriously, and Dunder Mifflin was acquired by Sabre, which put too much focus on corporate protocols and not enough on the characters and their relationships. Season 6 would’ve been a lot more exciting if it continued the Michael Scott Paper Company storyline instead.
Michael and Dwight went from friends to enemies and then back to friends in the space of just two episodes. At first, Dwight provided Michael with insider info that helped him steal clients from Dunder Mifflin, but when Michael’s replacement Charles Miner (played by deadpan guest star Idris Elba) found out, he put an end to it. Dwight allied with Charles and looted Michael’s Rolodex from his office, prompting Michael to go after Dwight’s most important account. Since the beginning of the series, Dwight had been Michael’s most trusted confidant and right-hand man. When Dwight turned on Michael, their passionate friendship turned into an equally passionate rivalry. This rift should’ve been explored in more depth over the course of a whole season.
More employees could’ve defected from Dunder Mifflin to the Michael Scott Paper Company if the latter company’s lifespan had been a little longer. Jim was caught in the middle as an employee of Dunder Mifflin and the fiancé of their closest rival’s top sales rep. If Charles caught him helping them out, he might’ve been fired from Dunder Mifflin and forced to take up Michael’s offer to work for his new company. Andy never did a great job at Dunder Mifflin and, as the kind of underdog that Michael likes to take a chance on, he would’ve been a perfect addition to the Michael Scott Paper Company’s sales team. If their business expanded, they would’ve needed an accountant to do their finances. Oscar and Angela are too sensible to leave their secure jobs at Dunder Mifflin to work for Michael in a glorified closet, but Kevin could’ve been convinced to switch sides.
The Michael Scott Paper Company is one of the best story arcs in The Office’s nine-season run, but it was all too brief. It was hugely satisfying to see Michael unleash his inner business genius in the buyout negotiation with David Wallace (“I don’t think I need to wait out Dunder Mifflin; I think I just have to wait out you”), but it would’ve been a lot more satisfying if his war with Dunder Mifflin had lasted longer than a couple of episodes.