The Small Hilarious Detail That You Might Have Missed On The Office
Like most great comedies, sometimes the background jokes on "The Office" are better than the actual characters' jokes. These jokes are often incredibly subtle, so much so that you may have watched the series a dozen times over and never have caught them if you didn't know where to look. Some of the best background gags or small details on "The Office" include Michael Scott's (Steve Carell) homemade salad dressing in Season 4, Episode 2 (which is named "Great Scott" and comes with a logo featuring his face), or the broken plasma screen TV from "Dinner Party" making a reappearance years later in "Garage Sale" when Michael is trying to sell it.
As funny as some of these are, not all of these hidden gags are for comedy's sake. A great example is the teapot that Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) gives Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) during Secret Santa. This teapot would go on to appear two seasons later in the episode "Branch Wars," when Pam uses it during a meeting of the "Finer Things Club," serving as a sweet reminder that shows just how important that gift is to her. Most of these small details can be caught on a first viewing if your eyes are sharp enough –- though there is one specific background gag that only really makes sense if you've seen the end of the episode.
Gabe fell for Robert's trick with his grandfather's medal
The gag in question revolves around Season 8, Episode 11, in which Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) travels to Florida to meet with Robert California (James Spader) about a promotion. Robert ends up rejecting him, and tries to offer Dwight a gold medal instead, which he says his grandfather earned for "acts of courage." Dwight rebuffs the offer and leaves, though some sharp-eyed fans may have noticed that a similar medal actually appears earlier in the episode in the office of Gabe Lewis (Zach Woods).
The medal in Gabe's office is identical to the one that Robert tries to give to Gabe, implying that Gabe too has gone to Robert seeking a promotion and that he was also rejected by Robert and offered a medal. Unlike Dwight, however, Gabe not only accepted the gift but actually had it framed and displayed in his office. This miniscule detail is barely even noticeable on the first watch, though knowing what the medal means on subsequent watches adds a whole other level of hilarity to the scenes in Gabe's office. Knowing that Gabe fell for Robert's ploy adds just another layer to the naivety and sycophantic nature of his character, and his little display case and medal are undoubtedly one of the funniest background jokes in the whole show.