Thu, 8 November 2007
OK folks, one down tonight, one more to go. Once again, this has the potential of being a completely ridiculous episode. Michael is lost in the woods by himself, which could be the equivalent of ten pizza boy kidnappings and fifteen cars being driven into lakes. Still, I have faith. Survive on, oh ye survivor man. Survive on. From the NBC website: SURVIVOR MAN
9/8c TV14 11.08.2007 
INTO
THE WOODS-SPECIAL GREEN WEEK EPISODE - After Ryan (B.J. Novak) excludes
Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) from a corporate wilderness
retreat, Michael heads into the woods for his own survival adventure
with nothing but the suit on his back. Back at work, Jim (John
Krasinski) tries to revolutionize the office birthday party. Rainn
Wilson, Jenna Fischer, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Ed Helms,
Angela Kinsey, Kate Flannery, Oscar Nunez, Phyllis Smith, Mindy Kaling,
Paul Lieberstein, Creed Bratton and Craig Robinson also star.
Category:general
-- posted at: 7:19pm EST
Comments[29]
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Matt wrote: I guess what it comes down to is that you either have to sit back an enjoy this episode, or pick apart all the \\\"errors.\\\" Matt, I\\\'m going to argue that there\\\'s a third option, which is to enjoy the episode despite noticing details that are a little off, and then go discuss them to death with a like-minded bunch of \\\"Office\\\" geeks here on TWSS. I think this is part of what makes our community here lovably dysfunctional -- not unlike the Dunder-Mifflin Scranton branch :-) I actually loved the whole Jim as manager/office birthday plotline -- it felt very real to me, and it was funny too. And I didn\\\'t even notice the time on the video camera clock. Kevin -- you make a good point about Phyllis. They are really making her nasty this year. Too many comments about her being matronly and unnattractive, perhaps? Is anyone here doing National Novel Writing Month? I couldn\\\'t help laughing when a weekly pep talk from Sue Grafton arrived in my inbox yesterday. Maybe that\\\'s why she was too busy to appear in the Dunder-Mifflin commercial...
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a) Branch Managers - three other branch managers but it clearly said \"some of the branch managers\" b) Time on the video. No, that\'s not the time of day. I assumed that was Michael\'s camcorder. So, what\'s on the first two hours? Sex tape with Jan, perhaps? c) Birthday continuity. IMHO, this is a detail that the writers can be forgiven for missing. Believe it or not, hardcore fans pay far more attention to these details than even the writers of the show. Yes, they blew it. Should we be harping on them for doing so? No, not at all. That\'s my opinion anyway. Lastly, are there better emotional moments on the show than those between Michael and Jim? I love the JAM stuff too, but moments from Booze Cruise and The Convention were great, as was the ending moment here Interestingly, the credits were not overlaid in the version on nbc.com; maybe they\'ll do more \'credits over cold close\' in future episodes in order to squeeze out every last drop of content for the show?
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For those that didn\\\'t like the episode... I wonder if they (we) are wanting more than randomness from Dwight and Michael and plot-development for Jim. This episode was really just the 3 of them. No other side plots at all. I don\\\'t think it has been mentioned, but the quick-talking between Jim and Creed was pretty funny... I forget the name of the style (private I. style ... maybe Film Noir)... but it reminded me of that.
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> I doubt he\\\'d have been recording for 5 hours straight. You\\\'ve got to be kidding me, right? This is Michael Scott we\\\'re talking about. :-) If it was the time, why does the counter show less than a second like a camcorder does. Clocks don\\\'t do that. (OTOH - maybe it WAS supposed to be showing the time, but the attention to detail was lacking. Another unintentional error by the creators of the show, perhaps?)
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I\\\'d rather they just get on with making great comedy than addressing continuity issues. The last scene was very touching and made the episode for me. Not enough laugh out loud moments but the birthday surprise montage was a highlight, also the pre-credit Toby stuff. Good Jim/ Pam banter, but not enough Dwight.
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Well for those of you looking for \\\"growth\\\" from Mr. Halpert here you go. Are you happy now? I really liked this episode, especially various things from Dwight. I laughed a lot at his weapons montage and the way he talked to the camera in the woods. I also liked the deleted scene where he goes to find Jim. And I really loved the way Michael spoke to the camera while in the woods, like he was some sort of wilderness expert. He talked EXACTLY like they do in those shows for the Discovery Channel, et. al. Lots of funny stuff in the woods (\\\"this guy could be Dunder Mifflin paper one day\\\" LOL). His clothes cut to bits and then taped together: funny stuff. And let\\\'s hear it for Ms. Beesly for letting Jim hang himself. Jim CAN take his job seriously (\\\"I need to make some phone calls\\\") and as someone who hates office birthdays I think this storyline resonated really well as a commentary of today\\\'s office politics. Krasinski did a great job with this material. BTW - after this episode, is anyone on \\\"Team Phyllis\\\" anymore? She\\\'s a really mean-spirited person (which I attribute to being married to meanie Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration). That comment \\\"Michael, I mean Jim\\\" was completely uncalled for. Booooo Phyllis!! Congrats to Steve Carell for writing another great episode.
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Wow, what an interesting discussion this week! The thing that stood out for me this week was not the birthday thing (I had forgotten that too), but didn\'t they say that all the regional managers were invited but neglected to say if Karen was invited or if she went? Especially on the heels of last week\'s episode I thought that was a little glaring--to the point I asked my husband out loud if they missed her? As for laugh-out-loud moments, I thought the point of this show is that the humor is more subtle. You\'re SUPPOSED to have fewer LOL moments than a sitcom in front of a studio audience. That\'s my opinion though. Can\'t argue that Dwight hitting blindfolded Michael over the head with his shoe trying to knock him out didn\'t make you LOL. Hilarious. As for the last scene, what I loved most about it is that Steve Carrell got the credit for writing it. What a lovely insight into the character of Michael Scott--I felt like I was getting insight from Steve about Michael. And I think it is always wonderful when Michael slips into Yoda mode.
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I find that the episodes I like have that special Jim-Michael moment, like Booze Cruise and Benhihana Christmas. I guess because Michael gets to give advice like the father he wants to be, and Jim doesn\'t try to make fun of Michael. I liked this episode, because as someone who\'s birthday is often overlooked by most people including family, the amount of attention Michael gives to each and every one of his employees for their birthday made me envious. A little attention to that day makes a big difference. Even when Michael was away, he still remembered Creed\'s birthday! Even going back to the \"Alliance\" episode, the staff seems to get into the birthday thing then too, even if it was a little earlier than planned. All I\'m trying to say I think is that even though Michael may be the only that feels the office is his family, his employees unknowingly do so too. Hopefully the continuity issues get fixed in future episodes, because that makes getting older seasons on DVD even more worthwhile. And Dwight is becoming the coolest Nerd ever. Survivor skills, hidden weaponry, Secondlife, and his own farm? Skills, man, he got skills.
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Thank you, Tracie, for understanding where I was coming from. The detail-missing doesn\'t kill the humor of the plot line, it is just surprising to me that a show that frequently refers back to past episodes/jokes/etc (much to the chagrin of new watchers) would miss glaring errors (not really a \"throwaway gag\" as most of The Alliance centered around Meredith\'s early birthday party --maybe they just chose Meredith to get a few of those charming hysterectomy jokes in). Don\'t fret, I\'m still loving the show, just curious about connections from one show/season to the next.
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Jim and Michael\\\'s bonding moment remined me of Benihana Christmas when Jim told Michael that a rebound is fun but....whatever he said about still liking the person who broke your heart. Now it is Michael talking him through a disappointment. I guess they need each other\\\'s wit and wisdom. Anyway- loved Oscar\\\'s birthday surprise!
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I understand what you\\\'re saying, Matt, but I don\\\'t understand what purpose this particular continuity lapse serves. Anyone could have been that last birthday person and anyone could have preferred devil\\\'s food cake -- there wasn\\\'t any reason it needed to be one of the few characters whose birthday had been a plot point in an earlier episode, or one who had said she was lactose intolerant. For that reason, I\\\'m not convinced it was intentional. And no, it wasn\\\'t a big deal, nor did it affect my enjoyment of the episode. But isn\\\'t over-analyzing these things the TWSS way? ;-)
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Like Jim, I liked Toby and felt sorry for him until Jim and Pam\'s relationship was \"outed\" (by Toby). As I recall, when Jim went to Toby to fill out the paperwork of an office relationship (assuming Jim has some sort of management position), Toby brushed it off saying, in a sense, let\'s see if it lasts. That\'s the first time Toby became a jerk to me. I understand his interest in Pam. But he missed his opportunity during his feeble attempts at approaching her at her desk. Pam had broken up with Roy and was available. I think Jim was in CT at the time. My favorite line, this week, was when Toby was describing, the event with Ryan, to most of the crew. He looked at and pointed to Pam and said, \"You should have been there.\" I\'m sure he meant it.
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I (also) originally thought that the final shot should have been of Jim\'s reaction to Michael saying he didn\'t want to be there ten years either....but after some consideration, I think that the actual closing with Jim and Michael \"TWSS-ing\" was better. It\'s sometimes really easy to fall back on what a hellhole D-M is, and how Michael is the epitome of \"I don\'t want to become THAT\". But (as it\'s been shown many times before), Michael is not a bad guy; he\'s trying his best.
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The birthday discrepency did jump out at me, and it\\\'s too bad. I imagine DVD-watching fans like us do remember more details than the writers, but there was no reason that Meredith had to be one of the birthdays in this episode -- there are plenty of other people in the office. It didn\\\'t ruin the show for me -- it\\\'s just a surprisingly sloppy detail for a show that references details from past episodes as often as The Office does. God, Ryan is such a douchebag! I mean, I wouldn\\\'t want to spend the night in the woods with Michael either, but to keep having these invitation-only events that exclude him is petty and mean. As much of an idiot as Michael is in this episode, I do feel for him at the beginning and love him in that last awesome scene with Jim. Best dialogue: Michael - When I return, I hope to be a completely changed human being. Jim - That\\\'d be great. Re: Dwight\\\'s weapons cache -- well, we only saw him empty the weapons from his desk, right? He wouldn\\\'t be very prepared if he only had them there. What if someone tries to kill him in another party of the office. I loved it that the office issue Jim tried to tackle in his first manegerial act was the office birthday thing, which really can be fraught with peril. I used to work in an office where my boss from hell sent me on ridiculous errands to make everyone\\\'s birthday celebration \\\"special\\\", and at my husband\\\'s office, there have been grumbles over the timing of combined parties (closer to the birthdays of the named partners, so the subordinates\\\' celebration feels tacked on). So it definitely felt ripe with comic potential. I also loved how Pam seemed to realize he was walking into a vipers\\\' nest. The stuff with Michael in the woods didn\\\'t do anything for me. Everything he did and the fact the Dwight stayed to watch over him was pretty predictable, and his destruction of his suit was way over the top. It was awesome how Michael was wearing a Battlestar Gallactica sweatshirt at the end. It must have been in the trunk of Dwight\\\'s car with all the pelts he keeps in there. Martin, honey -- you seem angry. Are you sure you actually like this show?
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There were so many laugh out loud moments last night. Dwight\\\'s serial killer strategy and Michael\\\'s birthday surprise montage were hilarious. Not a flawless episode, but it certainly was funny. And speaking of flaws, I love how Jim\\\'s character is constantly getting shot down. It creates so much depth (as opposed to being the \\\"alpha male.\\\") I always love those moments where and Michael actually bond. It showcase how, at times, Jim is one of the few people that finds the human side of Michael Scott.
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They totally did a throwback to S3 with the montage of Dwight having weapons around the office. I love that they filled up a box of the weapons in S3, and now we find out that Dwight STILL has more! Did he bring them in? Did he not report them in S3? I have to know... Overall, I thought this was an excellent episode, and I especially loved the birthday surprise montage--Kelly\'s was awesome! And Matt, now you have more TWSS quotes to put into your opening segment!
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Matt, I wasn\'t criticizing (re: Meredith and dairy) as much just making an observation, it certainly didn\'t hamper my enjoyment of the show. But it is curious that no one on the set remembered this, as they easily could have changed the line to have Meredith request a \"dairy-free devil\'s food cake\"...
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The writers are really incredible... parallels all the time in our episodes. This week: Michael (barely) survives the wilderness of nature. Jim (barely) survives the wilderness of management. I also like that Michael returned to his domain, where he was the king... but Jim returned to... nothing really. Here\\\'s where we get to see character growth/pay-off for this character. I wonder if any of the \\\"birthday surprise\\\" moments were real... like, if Steve actually snuck up on anybody.
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I absolutely loved it. One of the best of the season, and maybe of the series. This just makes me more sad that they are striking, even though I support them. And yeah, the last scene killed me, too. That\\\'s the Michael I love, right there. And i LOVED their TWSS exchange. \\\"I just say it sometimes.\\\" Heee!
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Hey Matt \"Survivor Man\" was one ep I had concerns with, but once again, The Office proves itself surprisingly adept. The Michael plotline was out there, but not, in your words, \"over the top\". Dwight once again shines in showing off his survival skills (I like that his Fortress of Solitude extends beyond his desk), and him tackling Michael in the wilderness was a great callback to season 3. Jim handling the office and slowly turning into Michael (him putting down Toby was an inspired moment) was also a great plotline. And the way the two plotlines dovetailed in the credits scene trumps the scene of them in \"Booze Cruise\" as the best \"Jim/Michael connecting\" scene in the series. Not a laughs heavy episode, but a great character/plot developing episode. To bad the strike has shut the show down because I can see a turning point coming up in the lives of these characters.
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There was a bit of a discrepancy in this episode. Angela reports there are many staff birthdays this particular month (Kelly last week, Creed today, Oscar week after next) with Meredith\'s birthday being at the \"end of the month.\" But, in the Season One episode \"the Alliance\" when Michael wants to throw a party he has Pam find out when the next staff birthday is. She says there are no \"birthdays for weeks\" except for Meredith\'s which is \"next month.\" All of a sudden there seems to be a rash of birthdays 3 years later? Hmmm...maybe the writers were already striking.
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