David Wallace calls Michael to ask him to interview in New York for a position at corporate. This prompts the Beach Games, which will allow Michael to test his employees' leadership skills.
Air date: May 5, 2007
Tropes
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: The sing-alongs on the bus are one of the rare times when everyone is smiling and Michael's Michael-ness is not just tolerated, but appreciated.
- Beach Episode: Sort of, although no one actually wears swimsuits (without clothes over them, anyway).
- Butt-Monkey: Michael doesn't allow Toby to come, because he wants "beautiful memories." This is compounded when Pam mentions that she is wearing a 2 piece swimsuit.
- Andy especially so, he gets knocked down by Dwight twice in the sumo suit and falls into Lake Scranton, being left there to float by Angela and goes unfound by his coworkers and left there by some other group in the dark.
- Call-Back: Michael says he doesn't have to do the fire walk since he already burned his foot once.
- Cannot Tell a Joke: Dwight tries to tell the routine from The Aristocrats. Instead, he merely describes the premise of the joke rather than properly tell it.
- Character Development: Pam's story arc of the season concludes with a firewalk and an epic speech to her co-workers, especially Jim.Hey, I want to say something. I've been trying to be more honest lately, and I want to say a few things. I did the coal walk. I did it! Michael, you couldn't even do that. Maybe I should be your boss. Man, I feel really good right now. Why didn't any of you come to my art show? I invited all of you. That really sucked. It's like sometimes some of you act like I don't exist. Jim, I called off my wedding because of you. And now we're not even friends. Things are just weird between us, and that sucks. And I miss you. You were my best friend before you went to Stamford, and I really miss you. I shouldn't have been with Roy. There were a lot of reasons to call off my wedding, but I didn't care about any of those reasons until I met you.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Creed decides to go fishing by snatching fish from the water barehanded. Later, during the hotdog eating contest, he appears again, the fish picked down to the bone.
- Comically Missing the Point: While Michael is impressed by Pam's speech, he says that he's looking for someone with sales experience, which she doesn't have. But Pam didn’t make the speech as part of a play for his job, she made the speech because she was hugely emboldened by being the only one in the office to do the fire walk.
- Earlier, Michael criticises Jim in a talking head for not working hard enough, saying that a project that would take him all day can be done by Jim in half an hour. He misses the point that Jim is clearly far more efficient and capable than he is: it’s not how long it takes you to do something that matters so much as how efficiently you can get it done.
- Funny Background Event: When Michael annoyedly questions where Andy has gone to, the camera zooms in on Andy in the lake kicking the water.
- Golden Snitch: Michael ends the trials with a winner takes all comedy contest for a hundred points.
- Hypocritical Humor: Michael insists that the next manager of the Scranton branch must be capable of walking across hot coals, but when his coworkers insist he prove it by doing it himself, he gets cold feet.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: Michael's Pros/Cons list for Andy.Michael: Pros: He's classy, he gets me, he went to Cornell, I trust him. Cons: I don't really trust him.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Michael, as usual. He describes Lake Scranton as the eight largest lake in America, a "fact" which is quickly Jimmed. At just over a third of a square mile in area, tiny Lake Scranton is absolutely dwarfed by the 9 sq mi Lake Wallenpaupack, which doesn't even crack the top 100 in American lakes.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: When Michael confirms that he really is basing who he picks as his successor on the winner of the beach games, Stanley immediately chomps down on a hotdog because he refuses to let anyone else become his boss.
- Naked People Are Funny: Meredith lifts her shirt to show off her new swimsuit, forgetting that she was going to change at the beach.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Angela's strategy to sabotage Andy is to pretend she doesn't hear anything he says.
- On Three: Michael asks whether he does the fire walk on "go" or on "three", but he clearly just does it to stall for time.
- Scary Black Man: Stanley's "game face" during the sumo wrestling match, much to Jim's terror.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Stanley really tries to play along with Michael's antics when he learns he might get Michael's job if he wins, but he can't tolerate stupidity for long enough and leaves.
- Shout-Out: To Survivor. And to Harry Potter. And The Aristocrats.
- This Is Gonna Suck:Micheal: Everybody, may I have your attention, please? Today, we are not just spending a day at the beach.
Stanley: Oh sweet mother of god...
