A new executive comes to Scranton, and Michael clashes with his no-nonsense manner of business.
Original air date: March 19, 2009
- Badass Boast: After announcing he has quit and he begins walking out the door, Michael turns back and calmly tells a dumbfounded David Wallace "You have no idea how high I can fly" as a warning that Michael Scott isn't someone to be trifled with.
- Celebrity Paradox: Charles is played by Idris Elba. Even though Michael has seen 'The Wire', he never notices Charles is a dead ringer for Stringer Bell.
- Department of Redundancy Department: Michael tells David to call him "ASAP as possible."
- Digging Yourself Deeper: Having already not made a good first impression with Charles, every attempt by Jim to smooth things over ends up making him look worse.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: After Michael lays out how poorly he's been treated by Dunder Mifflin (particularly recently), David Wallace clearly misses Michael's underlying points and instead offers a bunch of ways to improve Michael's party and make it great. Judging by Michael's Death Glare he gives Wallace following this, Wallace didn't understand that, more than his anniversary party being ruined, Michael is upset that his party being ruined is yet another case of Dunder Mifflin screwing him over when he has been a loyal employee of them for more than 15 years.
- Dumbass Has a Point:
- "I think I thrive under a lack of accountability" might not be the most sensible way to put it, but the fact remains that Michael has brought the company a lot of money, and his branch is the only one that isn't struggling. And in fact, trying to hold Michael accountable is actually what comes to screw Charles and the company over within the next few episodes.
- He also frames it in rather childish and petty terms, but Michael isn't wrong to be upset and feel taken for granted by Dunder Mifflin's rather condescending and dismissive treatment of him in light of the above. There's also the unspoken detail that Dunder Mifflin has treated Michael poorly for most of his career there (i.e., the mere fact that Michael was being supremely underpaid for his position as Regional Manager following the merger between the Scranton and Stamford branches until Darryl directly pointed out to him how unfair this was and he had to ask for the first raise he'd requested for in the entire time he'd been working at Dunder Mifflin), and it's only very recently Michael has started to figure out that he desires to be given more respect and dignity by the company he's sacrificed his blood, sweat and tears (along with well over a decade of his entire life) to.
- Empathic Environment: It is raining most of the episode, which stands as a contender for the Darkest Hour for the entire the show.
- Jerkass Has a Point: At least, with regards to David Wallace (normally depicted as something of a Reasonable Authority Figure) representing Dunder Mifflin, which is being depicted as a pretty Jerkass corporate organization. When Michael complains to David about his treatment, one of the points he brings up is the amount of sacrifices he has made for the company. Among these, he lists "putting starting a family on hold". Dumbfounded, David points out that isn't a sacrifice Dunder Mifflin ever asked him to make.
- Line-of-Sight Alias: Michael Scott is having trouble getting to talk to boss David Wallace over the phone. Dwight decides to take the phone in his place and tries to give a pseudonym. He uses Michael's real first name and then the last name of the first thing he sees - a roll of scotch tape. Thus, Michael Scotch. Later averted when Michael winds up being redirected to Charles Miner, the very person he had wanted to complain to David about; when Charles asks who is calling, Michael simply replies "I was never given a name" and hangs up on him.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: As David Wallace comes to realize later on, Michael's inability to phone a direct line to him without being transferred to Charles forced him to have to drive all the way to New York to confront him, and in large part fueled the frustration that drove him to quit Dunder-Mifflin and start his own paper company.
- New Meat: Charles, a newly-arrived career manager, is alarmed by all the shenanigans going on at Dunder Mifflin Scranton, so he takes a very hands-on approach to supervising the branch.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Jim panics when he realizes that Charles Miner has come for a visit, as he showed up to work in a tuxedo just to annoy Dwight.
- As soon as Michael tells David Wallace he's quitting, David's confident smile (having thought he'd yet again managed to curtail Michael's Manchild nature and make him fall in line with the company) immediately falls and he looks genuinely shocked/concerned.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Pam's Oh, Crap! moment when Michael starts childishly repeating what Charles says.Pam: I can tell Michael's mood by which comedy routine he chooses to do; the more infantile, the more upset he is. And he just skipped the Ace Ventura talking butt thing. He never skips it. This is bad.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Jim's general attitude after having made himself look like an utter idiot in front of his new boss Charles for a whole day.
- Wham Line: After David says he'll pull every string possible to ensure that Michael has the greatest anniversary party in history, including his beloved figs, Michael stands and says the two words that no one expected him to say: "I quit!"
