joshua alston of "newsweek" criticized the episode and the introduction of the charles character. although alston said elba's acting was fine, he said the character "sucked the funny out of every scene he was in" and created an awkwardness inappropriate for the show. during the week following the episode's original broadcast, many fans theorized on the internet that michael said "i acquit" rather than "i quit", and that michael's supposed resignation was something of a prank. jenna fischer, who plays pam on "the office", addressed this issue on her myspace blog, saying, "he said 'i quit'. and he meant it. you will see how it all plays out this week on the show."