Jan arrives during a "productivity meeting," and fails to understand how watching a movie can increase productivity. Stamford has their own brand of team-building: Call of Duty. Angela tries to convince Dwight he should take over the Branch Manager position.
Air date : October 5, 2006
Tropes
- Aside Glance: Michael gives several of these to the camera crew during his Secret Test of Character against Dwight.
- Badass Boast: When Dwight offers him doing Michael's laundry for a year in order to make it up to his boss, Michael screams at him "I HAVE A LAUNDRY MACHINE!!"
- Berserk Button: While Michael is clearly seething after Dwight's attempt to undermine him and steal his job, he manages to sufficiently control his temper as Tranquil Fury long enough for his scheme to trick Dwight to work. But it's when Dwight dismisses Michael's car despite having previously flattered it that Michael finally explodes and unleashes his wrath. The clear implication is that while someone trying to steal his job is clearly not going to put Michael in a good mood with them, pretending to be his friend is the real insult that sets him off.
- Beware The Nice/Silly Ones: Michael, who spends much of the series desperately trying to get people to like him and cravenly avoiding conflict, gets honestly, no-kidding-around furious with Dwight in this episode, and the results are actually quite frightening to watch. He sets up an intricate and effective Machiavellian scheme to set up Dwight and then, upon revealing the truth, is so angry and wrathful that Dwight is reduced to a terrified, blubbering wreck of a man pathetically curled up on the floor begging Michael not to fire him. The rest of the office look genuinely shocked and unsettled at what's happening, with Angela even being brought to tears as she turns away.
- Big Eater: Dwight's order at the diner.
- Blatant Lies: Dwight's dentist story. He also proves himself to be a comically Bad Liar when Michael finally catches on, claiming that he can eat candy because they used a fast-drying bond on his crown, and that his dentist's last name is "Crentist."
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: This episode more than any other highlights exactly why Michael has his manager position at Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch.
- Dirty Old Man: Creed blatantly stares at Pam's cleavage when she puts on a new shirt with a deeper neckline. Annoyed, she puts on a sweater and decides to leave the shirt for outside the office.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Andy angrily tells Jim that if he keeps sucking at Call of Duty, then he's going to shoot him in real life.
- Drunk with Power: It does not take Dwight long to start throwing his weight around and talking down to Michael when he thinks that they are about to swap jobs and Dwight will be the manager. Which makes it unfortunate for him that this isn't actually happening...
- Everyone Has Standards: Despite her bad history with Michael and the fiasco over Movie Monday earlier in the day, Jan wasn't about to replace him with Dwight, and almost immediately calls Michael to warn him about Dwight's attempted coup.
- False Friend: Half of the episode's conflict is built around Michael realizing that Dwight's subservience and loyalty to him was all an act, and that he's only nice to people when it benefits him which, as Michael's new boss (or so he believes), is no longer the case.
- Friendship Moment: When Michael is pretending to act like Dwight's taken his position, Kevin expresses concern for Michael's changing financial situation and warns him that he might get kicked out of his condo.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Dwight seems to sincerely think that after his laughably bad meeting with Jan that he will get Michael's job.
- Implausible Deniability: Dwight continues to insist that he went to the dentist despite eating an M&M (you're not supposed to eat anything for a while after having a crown put in) and his teeth not being flossed.
- Inelegant Blubbering: Dwight is reduced to this after Michael yells at him for trying to go behind his back to Jan.
- Ironic Echo: A subtle one; as soon as Michael describes himself as now "Assistant Regional Manager," Dwight politely but insistently corrects him as "Assistant to the Regional Manager," neatly turning around the Running Gag where it's Dwight claiming the former title and Michael having to correct him.
- Kick the Dog: Dwight responds to Michael's offer to loan him his Sebring by insulting the car and then refusing to apologize when Michael orders him to. This is what sends Michael over the edge as it convinces him that Dwight was only pretending to be his friend all this time.
- Lack of Empathy: Dwight literally claims to Jan that he has no loyalty and respect towards his coworkers, and that he'd fire most of them if he was made manager.
- Lady Macbeth: Angela, who disapproves of Movie Monday, encourages Dwight to go to Jan and talk her into letting him take over the Scranton branch. Angela's actions in this episode have been frequently compared to the Trope Namer herself.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: Michael, after learning that Dwight tried to steal his job and undermined him behind his back to Jan, decides he's going to get payback. It turns out that when the gloves come off he's a lot more effective at doing so than anyone would have expected.
- The Load: Jim, due to having never played Call of Duty before, is constantly dragging his team down with his poor playing and ineptitude at understanding the controls. Andy even declares that he will shoot Jim in real life.
- Metaphorgotten: Michael trying to describe Dwight's actions.Michael: Business is like a jungle. And I am like a tiger. And Dwight is like a monkey that stabs the tiger in the back with a stick. Does the tiger fire the monkey? Does the tiger transfer the monkey to another branch? Pun. There is no way of knowing what goes on inside the tiger's head. We don't have the technology.
- Moral Myopia: After giving Michael grief for Movie Monday, a
Deleted Scene shows that Jan has no problem with the Stamford branch spending their work hours playing Call of Duty, implying that she is just targeting Michael out of spite for being rejected. - My God, What Have I Done?: Angela looks away in shame while crying upon realizing that her machinations almost lost Dwight his job. Relatedly, Dwight is desperately begging and remorseful to Michael when it's revealed that his boss knows that he tried to get him fired.
- Not So Above It All: Everyone in the office looks genuinely shaken when Michael verbally destroys Dwight in their confrontation at the end, having clearly never witnessed this level of anger and wrath from Michael. Even Stanley, normally aloof to everything in the office and witheringly dismissive of Michael, can't stop himself from giving a brief nervous glance towards Michael's office when it's happening. And Ice Queen Angela, who prodded Dwight into trying to steal Michael's job in Lady Macbeth fashion, can't bring herself to watch Dwight be taken down a peg. And, of course, Dwight himself — normally the arrogant, swaggering, posturing egotist convinced of his own superiority over everyone around him — is reduced to a terrified, cowering wreck of a man pathetically crying and pleading for his job in the face of Michael's fury.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: Invoked by Michael, as he continues to guilt-trip Dwight during his Secret Test of Character.
- Oh, Crap!: Dwight goes from arrogantly throwing his weight around to cringing, desperate begging incredibly quick once Michael reveals that he knows full well about Dwight's plot to steal his job, to the point where he's on his knees sobbing and begging Michael to let him keep his job. And earlier, he freezes in fear when Michael casually points out that you're not supposed to eat anything for a while after having a crown put in after he just ate an M&M Michael offered him.
- Pull the Thread: Michael pulls this effectively on Dwight after learning that Dwight tried to steal his job. As Dwight gave the excuse of a dental appointment to get a crown, Michael lures him into having an M&M... only to note after Dwight takes one that you're not supposed to eat for some time after such a procedure.
- Previously on…: The Movie Monday format is to watch half-hour increments of a movie each week, and before starting, Michael has someone summarize the plot so far. In this case, Kevin catches everyone up on Varsity Blues.
- Rage Breaking Point: The thing that sends Michael over the edge revealing his knowledge of Dwight's attempted betrayal? An offhanded insulting remark about his car when he offers it to Dwight.
- Running Gag: Michael's obsession with Entourage is referenced yet again when Pam claims that he made the office watch an episode of Entourage six times for Movie Monday and Michael later insists that he and Dwight "hug it out."
- Secret Test of Character: Michael tests Dwight's loyalty by acting like Dwight's attempt at kicking him out to take his job actually worked. As soon as Dwight thinks he's won, he immediately stops showing Michael any respect and announces to the office that he intends to fire most of them immediately, failing with flying colors.
- Serious Business: Call of Duty has become this for the Stamford branch. Everyone stops regular business to continue the game, then Josh becomes concerned enough about how poorly they're doing in the game to call Andy and Jim into a private meeting to discuss matters. Andy immediately says Jim's Noob mistakes are ruining things, and threatens to shoot him in Real Life. Then Andy and Josh both lose it when Jim says he's planning on using a sniper rifle for the trap in the gunroom.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Pam orders a nice dress online and models it for Kelly, just in time for Roy to walk in and see her.
- Shout-Out:
- Jim's B-plot is all about him struggling to play Call of Duty.
- Michael punishes Dwight by making him wear a sign calling him a liar a la dogshaming
.
- Spot the Thread: Michael confirms Dwight's betrayal and his dentist excuse being false by first offering him an M&M (which he eats) and then noticing that Dwight's teeth aren't flossed.
- Tranquil Fury: After learning of Dwight's betrayal, Michael spends much of the episode in a low-simmering state of barely-restrained rage.
- What You Are in the Dark:
- This episode reveals a lot about what Dwight's true character is when he isn't sucking up to Michael. Once he (thinks he's) won Michael's position as manager, he immediately starts disregarding and even talking down to Michael. Particularly, when Michael offers him the keys to the Sebring saying Dwight always said he liked it, Dwight dismissively turns him down and insults his choice of car.
- But on the flipside, once Michael reveals his ruse, all of that confidence and bluster immediately goes away and Dwight begins blubbering for Michael not to fire him, exposing an extremely vulnerable side of himself and revealing that he's nothing like the corporate alpha male he thinks of himself as when push actually comes to shove.
- Woman Scorned: Dwight supposes Jan is mad with them for Michael rejecting her at Casino Night.
