The Return (The Office)

"The Return" (originally titled "Oscar's Return"^[2]) is the fourteenth episode of the third season of the American version of The Office and the show's 42nd overall. In the episode, the office celebrates the return of Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez) who had been on vacation since the first episode of the season. Meanwhile, a recently departed Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) finds a job at Staples.

The episode was written by Michael Schur, Lee Eisenberg, and Gene Stupnitsky, and it was directed by series creator Greg Daniels. Actor Oscar Nunez returned to The Office after having left to film the television series Halfway Home. The annoying personality of Ed Helms's character Andy was noted by multiple observers, and even irritated the actor's own mother to such a degree that she could not watch the episode. "The Return" marked Helms' departure from The Office until the season's nineteenth episode "Safety Training".

For its first American broadcast on January 18, 2007 on NBC, "The Return" aired to an estimated 10.15 million viewers according to Nielsen Media Research. It was positively received by television critics, with several focusing on the character development of Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey). Along with "Traveling Salesmen", NBC later re-broadcast "The Return" as a combined hour-long episode as part of their sweeps week. As a result, both episodes underwent editing which included the addition of four minutes of previously unseen footage.