"The Office" Recap: Survivorman

Posted by Mike, Ryan and johnnysweeptheleg

As “Survivorman” begins, the talk around the office centers around the events of the previous weekend. It seems Ryan invited a bunch of the branch managers and Toby to a wilderness retreat, as sort of a get-to-know-you weekend, and Michael was not invited because, as Pam theorizes, “Apparently they already knew everything they needed to know about him.” Everyone seems to be relishing the fact that Michael wasn’t included — except for Michael, of course. Inspired by Les Stroud — “a guy who would go out into the middle of nowhere and just try not to die” — Michael decides to go all Survivorman and brave the Pennsylvania wilderness completely on his own. That is, unless Jim wants to join him. Which he doesn’t.

Michael sends Dwight to collect the only two things he’ll need to survive in the wild: duct tape and a knife. It’s a quick trip for Dwight, who — operating under the assumption that “it’s better to be hurt by someone you know, accidentally, than by a stranger on purpose” — has a cache of weapons hidden throughout the office.

Dwight agrees to drive Michael into the wilderness, despite summing up Michael’s survival instincts thusly: “Do I believe that Michael possesses the skills to survive in a hostile environment? Let’s put it this way … no, I do not.” In the car, Michael explains that the simulated disaster he will endure is that of being captured by and escaping from a serial killer. Dwight, playing the role of the killer, feels the scenario would be more realistic if Michael were unconscious, so as soon as Michael blindfolds himself with his tie Dwight begins to bludgeon him with a shoe until Michael makes him stop.

Back in the office, where Michael has left Jim in charge, Angela tells Jim that it’s Creed’s birthday and that a cake needs to be ordered. In fact, it’s birthday month. Kelly’s was last week, Creed’s is today, Oscar’s is the week after next, and Meredith’s is at the end of the month. [OK, now wait a minute. How can that be, when in the Season 1 episode “The Alliance,” Michael wanted to throw a party for the person in the office with the next birthday and Meredith was next in line despite the fact that her birthday wasn’t until the following month?]

Jim decides to combine the birthdays into one big party, and unsurprisingly, Angela doesn’t like the idea. And neither does anyone else. Meredith wants her own devil’s food cake. Creed wants a peach cobbler (“Tell [Angela] it’s for Creed. She’ll know what that means.”). Andy, who doesn’t even have a birthday this month, wants an ice cream cake called Fudgy the Whale. And Toby, whose birthday was virtually ignored two months ago, wants to be included. Jim probably just wants to go back in time before he suggested a joint party.

In the wilderness, Michael is alone with his thoughts and he’s lovin’ it — as in the way Justin Timberlake was lovin’ McDonald’s about four years ago. For Michael, that’s a relatively current reference. Michael can say whatever he wants, and what he wants to say is that he wishes he could have gone with Ryan on the cool retreat, that Jan has plastic boobs, and that he has hemorrhoids. Good to know. Later, after Michael has “tented his pants” — and somehow let an obvious “that’s what she said” opportunity pass him by — he tries to eat some poisonous wild mushrooms, and Dwight finally intervenes after watching from afar the entire time.

They return to the office in time for Creed’s party, and Jim is relieved to be relieved of his duties as acting manager. Who can blame him, after Phyllis accidentally called him Michael? Jim and Michael share a nice moment [see below] and the episode ends.

This was not the best episode of the season. In fact, it may have been the worst. But there was still plenty to enjoy, such as:

Mike says:

Best Quote: “I work hard all day. I like to know that there will be a break. Most days I just sit and wait for the break.” — Kevin, on why he doesn’t like Jim’s idea to reduce the number of office parties.

Best Moment: I loved the last couple of minutes. Initially horrified that he’s becoming Michael — even if it’s only in the eyes of his coworkers — Jim begins to understand why Michael is the way he is, leading to the following exchange.

Jim: “I don’t think I’ll be here in 10 years.”

Michael: “That’s what I said. … That’s what she said.”

Jim: “That’s what who said?”

Michael: “I never know. I just say it. I say stuff like that to lighten the tension when things sort of get hard.”

Jim: “That’s what she said.”

Employee of the Week: To me, this is a two-man race. There’s Dwight, who saved Michael’s life. And there’s Michael, who — using only duct tape and a knife — fashioned his pants into a hat, and later fashioned his hat back into pants. My vote goes to Michael.

johnnysweeptheleg says:

Best Quote: Dwight: “I would make sure that you were dead. Then I would remove your teeth and cut off your fingertips so you could not be identified. And they would call me the Overkill Killer.”

Michael: “You are as creepy as a real serial killer. For real.”

Best Moment: The montage of strategically hidden weapons that Dwight reveals around the office. Try picking a favorite; it’s tough. From the pair of sai hidden behind the water cooler, the folder of client “Mr. A. Knife” in the filing cabinet, the samurai sword housed above the ceiling tiles as potential victims/employees sit below, to the blow-dart in the toilet tank. Each one gets better and better. Do you think that samurai sword went up there before or after the bat incident?

Employee of the Week: Dwight. This was a welcome return to the creepy-Dwightisms we loved from the first season. For starters, Dwight has weapons stashed all over the office. Of course he does! And then there’s his scarily detailed account of how he would carry out being a serial killer. Did anyone else think of O.J.’s If I Did It?! I guess what happens at the Schrute Beet Farm stays at the Schrute Beet Farm. But it’s Dwight with a sniper rifle trained on Michael, only to realize the safety wasn’t on — that was the icing on the Dwight birthday cake for me tonight. “Safety is … [switches it] on.” Where in the office do you think he had that hidden? I shudder to think.

Ryan says:

Best Quote: “Well, it is a little chillier than I had thought, so I have fashioned my hat back into my pants.” — Michael demonstrating his wilderness survival savvy

Best Moment: Probably the moment when we realize that Jim has turned into Michael.

Employee of the Week: Jim. It was nice to see Jim be the bad guy and have the office turn against him. Jim thinks he has a great idea, which actually turns out to be awful. Maybe Jim will think again before trying to undermine Michael’s plans … but we hope he doesn’t.

2 Comments

  1. I had a feeling some people might enjoy this episode. The Michael as Survivorman portion of it was fine. I just can’t believe an entire subplot was wasted on the birthday thing. There was a nice payoff at the end, but most of the scenes inside the office seemed like filler, especially coming off such a strong episode last week.

  2. This was a great episode, I was hoping that when Michael ate those mushrooms he would start tripping out in the wilderness. That would have been hilarious for him to start hallucinating all kinds of bizarre things in the wilderness. I also enjoyed him screaming “Jan has plastic BOOBS!” That was great.

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