Get the Girl

"Get the Girl" aired on March 15, 2012.[1] The episode was viewed by an estimated 4.88 million viewers and received a 2.3 rating/6% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49.[8] This means that it was seen by 2.3% of all 18- to 49-year-olds, and 6% of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast.[9] This marked a decrease in the ratings from the previous episode, "Last Day in Florida".[9] The episode finished second in its time slot, beating a rerun of the Fox supernatural series Touch and The CW teen drama series The Secret Circle.[9] Despite this, the episode was defeated by the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy which drew a 3.0/6% rating.[9] In addition, "Get the Girl" was the highest-rated NBC television episode of the night, barely beating the return of Community.[9]

Catherine Tate's performance as Nellie Bertram received mixed reviews from critics

The episode received a wide variety of mixed reviews from critics, ranging from largely negative to moderately positive. Matt Dougherty noted that "Get the Girl" returned The Office "to what it was before the Florida storyline, which is bad." Furthermore, he called the episode "the worst ... of the show simply because it lacked any form of logic or emotion."[10] He ultimately gave the episode a 2 out of 10 rating.[10] A review from Clique Clack called the main plot "miserably insufferable".[11] Other reviews were more mixed. Myles McNutt from The A.V. Club gave the episode a C+ rating.[12] A review from WHTC noted that the episode was "rather predictable, somewhat inconsequential, a bit silly and representative of perhaps a slight step back."[13]

Not all reviews were negative. TV Equals called the episode "pretty funny," particularly praising the episode's cold opening.[6] Jeffrey Hyatt from Screen Crave awarded the episode a 7 out of 10, noting that "There have been worse. And this is another one I will re-watch later and probably like better the second time around."[7] IGN reviewer Cindy White gave the episode a 7.0 out of 10 rating, signifying a "good episode."[4] Brett Harrison Davinger from the California Literary Review awarded the episode "faint praise", noting that it was "slightly greater than the sum of its parts."[14]

Many reviews criticized the Andy-Erin plot. White wrote that, "If the Andy and Erin scenes in this episode were supposed to make me root for them, I'm afraid it didn't quite work."[4] Dougherty wrote, "Was anyone else rooting for Erin to just stay down there? I certainly was."[10] McNutt bluntly wrote, "I'm not buying this relationship."[12] The WHTC review noted that the arc was "a total carbon copy of the Jim/Pam version that sucked us all in years ago."[13]

Reviews were split on the addition of Nellie Bertram to the Scranton office. McNutt criticized Nellie Bertram, noting that, despite the character's potential, the show "places her into the series as a blind antagonist without any sense of what drives her to these actions."[12] Craig McQuinn from The Faster Times argued that the producers of The Office seemed to be using her only because "'British people are ridiculous and are completely different to Americans'".[15] Dan Forcella from TV Fanatics, on the other hand, praised Catherine Tate's acting and her character, writing, "Tate's first appearance last season was intriguing, and her stint as head honcho down in Florida was entertaining, but in "Get the Girl" it became obvious that Nellie Bertram as branch manager could be exactly what The Office needs to stay afloat."[16]

Several reviews criticized the decision to film Erin in front of a green screen for one of her talking heads.[6] White attributed the "terrible green-screen effect" among other things, to Wilson's "offbeat sense of humor and style."[4] McNutt proposed that the reason for the "obnoxious" effect was because the show had lost that lawn set but wanted to add an additional talking head scene.[12]