Season 3, Episode 23 “Beach Games”
Wow is all I have to say right now.
Recap after the jump. Click here for behind-the-scenes photos of the making of the episode.
The episode starts off with some typical Michael-malingering and Dwight-overreaction, but things get serious when CFO David Wallacce invites Michael to interview for a job at Dunder-Mifflin HQ. Later, Jim is invited to apply for the same position, and Karen tells David that she also wants to be considered. David tells Michael to recommend a replacement for himself, so Michael throws a beach day for everyone in the office. Everyone, that is, except for Toby, who wistfully gives Pam his sunscreen after Michael tells him he can’t go to the beach.
But although Pam gets to go to Beach Day, it’s not all fun and games. Michael assigns her to note-taking and score-keeping duty for his Survivor-like competition. His four frontrunners are Jim, Dwight, Andy, and Stanley. Jim treats the competition as a joke, while Dwight attacks it with typical Dwight-army-of-champions gusto. Andy is similarly overzealous, and surprisingly, even Stanley gets his head in the game, until he can’t take it anymore.
There were so many great bits in this episode. Singing on the bus, Meredith’s accidental flash (flash #3 for Meredith, right?), picking teams & team names (who didn’t crack up when Jim & Team Voldemort started chanting), Kelly and Michael’s shared love of Amanda Bynes, and the sabotage mission Dwangela accomplished.
The egg race brought out the best in every Office team. Phyllis fumbles the egg, allowing Stanley to get back to his crossword puzzle. Jim leads Karen around imaginary holes and into the water. Ryan told Dwight he can’t compete when Dwight is yelling at him. Kelly takes off her bandanna, scared of hitting a big rock, allowing Andy to show off his good sportsmanship. And that he’s not angry. Really. (MALLARD!)
But in the end, it was all about our girl Pam. After sitting on the sidelines all day, watching her coworkers compete, she wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer when Michael told her she couldn’t walk on the hot coals. As the rest of the office listened to Dwight tell a terrible rendition of the aristocrats joke, Fancy New Beasly walked on the hot coals, then was inspired to take drastic emotional measures as well.
The penultimate scene of the penultimate Season 3 episode features Pam baring it all to her coworkers. She asks why no one came to her art show, and tells everyone that she feels overlooked at the office. She finally admits that Jim was the reason she broke off her engagement, and tells him that she really misses him, because he was her best friend before she left. “I miss having fun with you,” she tells him.
Jenna Fischer did every bit as amazing a job as John Krasinski in the Season 2 finale. Pam was realistically flustered as she delivered her speech, but she said what was on her mind. The reaction shots of the other characters were great, as everyone tried to process Pam’s painful but liberating monologue. This season has been all about Pam coming into her own, stepping up to the plate and no longer being content to stay in the background.
The question is, what will Jim do about it? And is Jim going to leave Scranton yet again? It wasn’t clear to me whether Karen was invited to apply for the position or simply submitted herself for consideration (I assumed she submitted herself since she used Jim’s cell phone). How will a competition for the same job affect the relationship? More importantly, what does Pam’s confession mean for Jim and Karen? And finally, who has enough ‘Hope’ factor to lead the office team?
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May 11th, 2007 01:49
wow is right… i keep watching the little recap preview for the next episode with part of her speech and just… wow
May 11th, 2007 04:45
Haha! Look at Andy in the way back. Haha, wow poor andy…
May 11th, 2007 05:39
Andy, floating away, to Angela:
“Look at what I’m doing, and then go tell people it!”
lololol
May 11th, 2007 05:49
Hooray for Pam!! Her speech was fantastic and I just loved the way Jim and Karen looked on the bus back from the beach. Neither one of them looking at each other. It’s about time something like this happened on the show…again, way to go Pam!!!
May 11th, 2007 08:00
It was night time by the end of the episode. I think that last clip from the bus was just a random funny clip of them singing. I don’t think it was them on their way back because outside it was daylight.
My favorite part- Creed. Again.
May 11th, 2007 08:03
Didn’t Ryan look happy singing “Meet The Flintstones?” Maybe a little TOO happy…
May 11th, 2007 08:06
My stupid tivo didn’t record the end of Pam’s speech.
What did she say after “I miss having fun with you?”
Did anyone (Jim) react?
May 11th, 2007 08:38
Lake Scranton is actually a reservoir for Scranton’s drinking water. There is a 4 mile path around the reservoir, and my wife and I used to walk there all the time when we lived in the area. Nobody ever told US about a “sandy beach” at Lake Scranton. How could we have missed it?
May 11th, 2007 08:39
yeah, my dvr is broke right now, so i didn’t get any of the epi recorded! I don’t know exactly what all Pam said. But Jim never spoke. He just watched her with a solemn look. but it was perfect. Best epi thus far IMO.
May 11th, 2007 09:04
Two things I was thinking…
My bet is that Karen gets the job in the next episode, which won’t end the relationship but will put enough strain on it to cause the relationship to eventually end next season. That way, Jim is still at Scranton with Pam and Karen becomes Jim’s Jan.
Two, did you notice during the hot dog competition that Angela said she doesn’t eat meat? Has this been part of her character? It seems oddly … humanitarian.
May 11th, 2007 09:29
Yes, Angela’s on the record as a vegetarian. I think it’s the ep where Michael orders balony, ktchup and tomato subs.
May 11th, 2007 09:32
She also mentions it in email surveillance at Jims barbecue
May 11th, 2007 09:32
Yeah, Angela revealed that in “Email Surveillance” at Jim’s party.
May 11th, 2007 09:36
Yes, WOW - I just loved Pam’s speech and the sweet sincerity of Jenna’s acting. So real. I kept recalling the deleted scene with Karen itending to take down the Art Show flyer. I was wondering if maybe in fiction-land Kevin had seen her do this and is that why he plays an important role in the Karen/Pam choice. Maybe he outs Karen. It was interesting that the scene was cut from the episode. I can’t wait to see next week, but I am afraid of another break without some solid movement forward in this part of the storyline. Waiting is so brutal. Also, gotta love poor Andy floating away…. Unfortunately, being in Canada I have not been able to see the deleted scenes - I would love to see them from this episode.
May 11th, 2007 11:18
I hear you Rebecca. I have the same problem in Ottawa.
Fanpop.com has most of the deleted scenes a few days later (as soon as someone uploads them I suppose).
But yesterday’s full episode is in DivX format, which I installed this morning to watch it, but which doesn’t seem to work . . . anybody have a more accessible clip of, like, the last 5 minutes of the show (my DVR stopped recording half-way through Pam’s confessional?)
May 11th, 2007 11:30
man, killer episode. pam rules!!! also, i think matt in the comments above is right, karen will get the job. i mean, michael can’t really get it because he’s this office boss and he can’t leave … jim left already so he won’t be going … it’s the moment for karen to go.
May 11th, 2007 13:14
I agree with Matt and Alex. It makes most sense for Karen to get the corporate job.
I think the decision will come early in the episode, though, and the rest of the episode will see Jim and Karen’s relationship fall apart. At the end of the episode, the show will probably tease Jim and Pam getting together.
May 11th, 2007 16:15
I also think Karen will get the job and, like Jan, pay visits to the Office to keep things interesting.
I think I would get bored if Jim and Pam got together. The tension is half the fun.
Maybe Jim and Karen will break up, she’ll come back with a new boyfriend from corporate and make him jealous, making Pam jealous that Jim is jealous?!
Creed fishing and poor Toby were my favorite parts!
May 12th, 2007 07:33
Where can I get those hilarious sumo suits?? Preferably a site that delivers worldwide.
May 13th, 2007 16:26
Did anyone catch the Mystery Science Theater 3000 reference (from Eegah!) as Michael stepped out on the beach?
Watch out for snakes!
May 13th, 2007 18:50
I was thinking about the episode and suddenly I realized something: “JAN LEFT DUNDER MIFFLIN!” I would be willing to put alot of money on the bet that Jan leaves. When Micheal asks David Wallace if Jan is on the phone with him at the beginning of the episode, David Wallaces says that she “is on vacation” Think about it, where is that open space for Micheal coming from? Think about it.
May 14th, 2007 05:14
Teddy, I think you are right…it makes perfect sense…Jan leaves, position opens. On another note, I loved the fact that Jim was prodding Dwight with the Harry Potter references. I wonder…did Jim know of that stuff on his own, or did he know that Dwight likes Harry Potter so he found out what to say that would make Dwight crazy? either way, hilarious.