The Worst Thing Meredith Palmer Ever Did On The Office

On NBC's "The Office," the characters are often caught on camera doing chaotic and off-the-rails shenanigans, all while in the mundane setting of the Dunder Mifflin office. Of course, Michael Scott (Steve Carell) is always up to some harebrained scheme meant to motivate his staff (and perhaps endear him to them, finally). Then there's Jim (John Krasinski) and Dwight (Rainn Wilson), both of whom are guaranteed to be caught in their umpteenth round of what is a neverending prank war that only gets more elaborate with every passing day. And we can't forget about Andy Bernard (Ed Helms), the acapella-loving WASP prone to hilarious levels of ineptitude, or even Kevin (Brian Baumgartner), who is operating on a wavelength that is unlike anyone else's at Dunder Mifflin. Truly, the employees on "The Office" are a chaotic bunch.

One of the most chaotic characters (and that's really saying something) is Meredith Palmer, played by Kate Flannery. Over the course of the show's nine seasons, Meredith has been caught and seen doing a multitude of outrageous acts. As "The Office" YouTube channel reminds us, those acts include: shaving her head in the middle of the workday because Pam made her believe she brought lice into the office; sleeping with an important Dunder Mifflin client in exchange for Outback Steakhouse coupons; casually eating hand sanitizer during office hours; and, in one memorable episode, grossly misinterpreting the meaning of "casual Friday" attire.

However, these incidents are nowhere near the worst thing Meredith has ever done on "The Office." If anything, the worst thing she's ever done occurred late in Season 9, and it's a real doozy.

The writers on "The Office" saved Meredith's worst moment until the very end of the series. During the series finale episode, aptly titled "Finale" (via IMDb),  viewers get to witness Angela's (Angela Kinsey) bachelorette party before she finally marries Dwight. As the small but mighty party of Angela's female office co-workers gathers together, we find out there's going to be a male stripper. Sounds exciting, right? Wrong.  

The plot twist here is that the stripper turns out to be Meredith's son, Jake (Spencer Daniels), who many of the Dunder Mifflin ladies in the room have presumably known since he was a child. Rather than leave the room in disgust or become horrified by seeing her son in such a way, Meredith proceeds to assist Jake with his stripping act. In "Mean Girls," it was funny when "cool mom" wannabe Mrs. George (Amy Poehler) helps Regina (Rachel McAdams) from the crowd with her – slightly over-sexualized "Jingle Bells" performance. But this alarmingly similar TV situation is a bit different when it's a full-on striptease performance.

Abject horror over the unfolding situation aside, it is quite an amusing scene. More importantly, Meredith enjoying and encouraging her son's stripping is definitely her worst moment.