Paying tribute to the series that made him a star, director John Krasinski includes a clever Easter egg to his The Office character Jim Halpert in A Quiet Place Part II. As John Krasinski’s biggest directorial project so far, A Quiet Place is joining the list of horror franchises that don’t seem to have an end in sight. A Quiet Place 2 picks up from Krasinski’s character Lee’s death in the first film, taking the rest of the Abbott family on a journey to find other survivors in their post-apocalyptic world. The sequel removes Krasinski from behind the camera for only a small opening scene, letting his father-figure replacement, Emmett (Cillian Murphy), take over the reins with Regan (Millicent Simmonds) for the rest of the film.
Krasinski began acting in small film and television roles like Messenger No. 2 in Taxi (2003), until getting his big break in the main role of Jim Halpert on the U.S. version of The Office. His 9-season role as Jim opened up the world to Krasinski’s comedic timing, romantic-lead potential, and nonchalant charisma that would help define his future roles until taking over as the star in the darker, more dangerous Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan action series on Amazon Prime. Though Krasinski has taken roles in major films like Leatherheads and It’s Complicated, as well as an executive producer role in Oscar-winning film Manchester by the Sea, he’ll always be associated with the prankster Jim Halpert, though his success with A Quiet Place may be changing this.
As a way to appreciate his roots and give a nod to fans who have been with Krasinski since The Office’s first season in 2005, A Quiet Place 2 adds a subtle connection to a major Jim Halpert plotline from The Office season 3. The reference comes early in the movie when Regan is looking at Lee’s old map of the New York coastline. The camera focuses on Stamford, Connecticut near the New York area islands, which happens to be the location of the Dunder Mifflin branch that Jim transferred to for the first half of season 3.
A more obvious reference would be to focus on Scranton, Pennsylvania where the bulk of The Office took place, but since Stamford is a big city near the coast, it was the easiest way to insert a connection within A Quiet Place 2’s plot. This isn’t the first time Krasinski has made a callback to The Office; A Quiet Place (2018) features a scene where Lee and Evelyn slow dance while sharing headphones connected to an iPod, which mirrors a tender moment between Jim and Pam sharing an iPod while they listen to Jim’s new music in season 2.
The fun of Krasinski making references to The Office in the first two A Quiet Place installations makes it possible that he’ll extend the fun into further adaptations. Maybe in A Quiet Place 3, the Abbotts will find an old ream of Dunder Mifflin paper, opening up the possibility of an A Quiet Place/The Office universe. Since the nine-season run of The Office featured a bit where the longest the branch could go without making noise was about 15 minutes, it’s safe to say the Dunder Mifflin team wouldn’t have lasted as long as the Abbotts in A Quiet Place’s post-apocalyptic world.