text: junior salesman " junior salesman " is the thirteenth episode of the ninth season of the american comedy television series the office and the 189th episode overall . it originally aired on nbc on january 31 , 2013 . the episode was written by carrie kemper and directed by david rogers . the episode features the return of several guest stars , including chris diamantopoulos as brian the boom mike operator , michael schur as dwight 's cousin , mose , mark proksch as nate , and several others . 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 the episode , dunder mifflin ceo david wallace ( andy buckley ) tasks dwight schrute ( rainn wilson ) with finding a part - time replacement for jim halpert ( john krasinski ) , and dwight must choose among clark ( clark duke ) and several of his close friends , including his cousin mose ( schur ) . the episode received mixed reviews from television critics , with many considering it superior to " vandalism " , particularly for the lessened presence of brian . " junior salesman " was viewed by 4 . 45 million viewers and received a 2 . 1 / 5 % rating among adults between the ages of 18 and 49 . although the office , ranked third in its timeslot , it ranked as the highest - rated nbc series of the night . plot dunder mifflin ceo david wallace ( andy buckley ) has tasked dwight schrute ( rainn wilson ) with finding a part - time replacement for jim halpert ( john krasinski ) . pam halpert ( jenna fischer ) is concerned about this , as jim 's replacement will be her new " deskmate " . clark ( clark duke ) feels he is ready for the position , citing his key role in the sales in " the whale " and " suit warehouse " , but dwight wants someone who he can be sure won 't team up with pam against him . to that end , he brings in a bizarre gallery of his relatives and close friends , including his cousin mose ( michael schur ) , best friend rolf , part - time private investigator trevor , former corporate executive troy , and his karate teacher ( " the fight " ) sensei ira . to dwight 's horror , though , none of his candidates are competent enough to even make it through the full job interview , much less be paper salesmen . clark ends his interview without answering any of dwight 's questions , simply pointing out that he has no choice but to hire him if he wants someone who can do the job . jim calls wallace to pitch for the ceo to invest in athlead . dwight puts the conversation on speaker phone , allowing him to hear wallace first tell jim his salary is going to be cut to reflect his part - time status , and then bluntly shoot down the idea of investing in athlead . dwight , though praising his friends ' outlandish delinquent behavior to the cameras , gradually comes to realize his professional integrity won 't allow him to hire any of them , and sadly notes that he outgrew all of his friends in just three hours . afraid they will hate him if he doesn 't pick one of them , he asks jim to pretend to take over the hiring decision and make the call to hire no one . being willing to do anything to save pam from being stuck with an unbearable deskmate , jim agrees . however , when jim announces the decision , rolf immediately that dwight is using jim as a scapegoat . dwight 's friends storm off to play paintball without him , later sending an e - mail with a photo of their paintball outing and the message " glad you 're not here " . clark gets the salesman job . pam is grateful to jim for arranging this but says she still misses her " old deskmate " , i.e. jim . pam briefly lifts dwight 's spirits by suggesting they " haze the new guy " , though she makes dwight stop that plan when he nearly suffocates clark with shrink wrap . it is also hinted that brian , the boom mike operator for the documentary crew , has grown a crush on pam . production " junior salesman " was written by executive story editor carrie kemper , who is the younger sister of cast member ellie kemper , making it her fourth writing credit for the series , following the ninth - season entry , " the whale " . the episode was directed by series editor david rogers , marking his eighth directing credit for the series , following the ninth season entry , " andy 's ancestry " . the episode features guest appearances from matt l. jones as dwight 's cousin , zeke . jones had initially been cast for a proposed office spin - off centered on dwight titled " the farm " . a backdoor pilot was filmed , but upon review , the spin - off was not picked up by nbc . the episode also features the first time appearance of eric wareheim as gabor and will mccormack as wolf . in addition to new guest stars , the episode saw the return of several minor characters , including lance krall as sensei ira , chris gethard as trevor , noel petok as troy underbridge , beth grant as dwight 's babysitter , , and james urbaniak as rolf . the press release for the episode included , " erin tries to find her birth parents with pete 's help " , although this plotline was completely absent from the episode . david rogers , who is also an editor on the series , said that storyline was cut because " we had so much great comedy and needed the time for dwight and his freaky friends and how jim and the gang reacted " . rogers also commented since they shoot in a documentary style , they can shoot faster than regular single - camera comedies , meaning their first cut of the episodes can be 15 – 21 minutes longer than the 22 - minute air length , and several scenes need to be cut . broadcast and reception ratings " junior salesman " originally aired on nbc on january 31 , 2013 , alongside the following episode , " vandalism " . the hour - long timeslot for the office followed the one - hour series finale of 30 rock . in its original american broadcast , " junior salesman " was viewed by 4 . 45 million viewers and received a 2 . 1 rating / 5 percent share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49 , marking a slight rise in the ratings from the previous episode , " customer loyalty " . this means that it was seen by 2 . 1 percent of all 18- to 49 - year - olds , and 5 percent of all 18- to 49 - year - olds watching television at the time of the broadcast . the office ranked third in its timeslot , and was the highest - rated nbc series of the night , although the hour - long installment of 30 rock received more viewers . 1 . 91 million viewers watched the episode through dvr playback , bringing the total viewership to 6 . 36 million . reviews the episode received mixed reviews from television critics . michael tedder of vulture awarded the episode — along with " vandalism " — four stars out of five . he called it one of the " one of the silliest episodes in recent memory " , and complimented the break from the dramatic ending of " customer loyalty " . he also complimented the maturation of dwight throughout the episode , calling this episode a " mile - marker " for his character . he considered it superior to the succeeding episode , " vandalism " . ign writer roth cornet said the dwight plotline yielded the " funniest and most disturbing moments of the night " , but that the episode didn 't allow for much work to be given to the rest of the ensemble cast . cornet also went on to criticize brian 's infatuation towards pam and the potential " " outcome for their storyline , stating that it would ultimately just be a " gimmick " . she gave the episode a 7 . 5 / 10 , calling it " good " . bonnie stiernberg of paste considered the episode to be a build - up to the " gut - punch " scene between brian and pam in " vandalism " , considering the only other important plot from the episode to be the dwight - jim one . stiernberg considered the dwight - jim subplot to be " moderately funny " , but " predictably bizarre " . she gave the episode a seven out of ten , along with " vandalism " . brett davinger of the california literary review called brian 's antics " creepy " , particularly his smile at the end of the episode . despite this , davinger complimented the episode for focusing on one single plot . nick campbell of tv.com wrote that " junior salesman " — along with " vandalism " — was " so much sharper than last week 's trial in " . campbell also complimented the return of michael schur as mose and the performances of matt l. jones and brian baumgartner . multiple critics considered the episode superior to " vandalism " , particularly due to their displeasure with the brian - pam storyline , which was more prevalent in " vandalism " .