n i c e h e a r t

Business Trip to Winnipeg

14 Nov 2008 5 Comments

by niceheart in Books, movies, music, TV, Winnipeg Tags: Steve Carell, The Office, Winnipeg

Business Trip episode of The Office

Warning: Spoilers Alert

Okay, I guess I have to write about the episode since I plugged it here last time.

I was sort of excited but the episode of The Office called “Business Trip,” which features Winnipeg, is not really about Winnipeg at all. And I think that’s why I was a little bit disappointed. I guess I expected more.

Well anyway, I like the story line. So, Michael’s boss, David Wallace, decides to send him to a business trip to do a presentation to an international client. It’s sort of a consolation price to Michael because he’s been feeling down since the company transferred Holly to Nashua when David found out that she and Michael were dating. But the real reason behind Michael going is that David knows it’s hard to find somebody who wants to go up to Winnipeg. In November. Just to update those who don’t know about Winnipeg, it is cold and windy, and right now slippery, here in Winnipeg in November.

But Michael is all excited about the trip and he somehow has this illusion that it is some kind of exotic trip and that he’s flying business class. And he gets intrigued when David tells him to ask the concierge about the night life in Winnipeg. Now Michael thinks that “concierge” is the Winnipeg equivalent of a geisha. Wrong. A concierge is just a concierge, a hotel staff that assists guests and makes reservations for tours or tells you about the places where you can go to.

And so this is the part where I got sort of disappointed. Concierge Marie mentions these places that I’ve never heard of in my entire 19 years of stay here in Winnipeg. A sushi place called Matsuki, a pub called the Huntsman in the Financial District, and Astro Cleaners in St. James Place. We have a place here called the Exchange District, but not a Financial District. There is a St. James Street, but no St. James Place. And the number 17 bus that she mentioned runs until around 1:00 a.m. Most buses here do. Not 9:00 p.m.

I didn’t see any Winnipeg Airport luggage tags, or The Bay shopping bags, or Old Dutch potato chips. (Or did I just miss them?) But the glasses of dark drinks that you saw Michael and Concierge Marie drinking is, what I think, the local Fort Garry pale ale. It’s also supposed to make an appearance at the show.

The bar scene is hilarious. Andy tries to hook up Michael and Marie. Michael flirting and talking to Marie as if she’s foreign. It’s just Canada, your neighbour, and we do speak English here. Okay and some French. Andy also tries to hook up Oscar with two gentlemen who he thinks are gay. Not. And Oscar asking Andy what he sees in Angela. And the revelation that she hasn’t had sex with him yet. And we all know that she’s been doing it with Dwight at work. So Oscar convinces the drunk Andy to call Angela, and we hear Dwight in the background. That’s why I don’t get it. Why does Angela want to marry Andy when she’s obviously still into Dwight ? ? ?

We saw Michael making out with Marie and coming out of her apartment. This is where I can get slow. Did they do it? Because Michael seems disappointed.

The next morning at the meeting with the potential client, Michael is explaining how people continue to come back to Dunder Mifflin. It’s because “they feel cared for, they feel respected and they feel that their needs mattered. They are treated like human beings.” And he gets a bit choked up.

My favourite scene is at the airport when he was talking to David on the phone. He reports that he made the sale, locked them up for two years. And then he tells David how the trip sucked. It was a bad trip. The flight wasn’t a business class, it was coach. The hotel sucked. And he finally blurted it out. “Why did you send her away? You knew I liked her. It’s a sucky thing to do.” Of course he was referring to Holly. And you know what? I also liked Holly. I hope she comes back. She was good for Michael.

And then Michael’s monologue: Why have I stayed at Dunder Mifflin for so long? It’s not the paycheck. They respect me. A boss that will not fire me even if I tell him off the phone. That’s respect.

Sometimes I also ask that to myself. Why I’ve stayed at my work for so long. It’s also not because of the paycheck. I also feel that my bosses care for and respect their staff. Of course I wouldn’t tell them off the phone, I might get fired for that. But you know what I mean.

Other things worth mentioning:

Ryan tries to seduce Kelly and convinces her to break up with Darryll on the phone. And when Darryll answers, it’s cool, Ryan’s a bit disappointed. He doesn’t seem to be too happy that he and Kelly are back together. What’s up with that?

Pam fails art school. Big dilemma. Does she retake the course and stay in New York for 12 more weeks? Can she and Jim stay apart for that long? Here’s what’s funny. Dwight isn’t surprised that she failed. He points out to her painting of the building where the shadows are coming from two directions. “What? Are there two suns? Uh, last I checked that’s not an office in the Andromeda galaxy!” Well, anyway, in the end, there’s Pam at the parking lot waiting for Jim. She’s back!

Andy bonding with Oscar and saying that he had to go all the way to Canada to know a guy who sits 20 feet away from him, and he’s delightful! Don’t you find that just oh so true sometimes?