Here we have two VERY strong episodes from the first 4 seasons. Beach Games is the second to last episode of season 3, while Goodbye, Toby is the season finale of season 4. Because many Office fanatics believe that The Office drastically decreased in quality after season 4, Goodbye, Toby could be considered the last of the "oldies".
3.22 "Beach Games"
Cold Open
Michael got really sick after Dwight gave him a lot of paper work that needed done, obviously faking to get out of work. David Wallace then called Michael and asked him to interview for a job at corporate. It wasn't really funny, but the entire episode deals with Michael deciding on who would replace him if he got the corporate job. + 1 Star
Story
The interesting thing behind this episode is that there is only 1 plotline. This is the first time I encountered an episode with only one plotline. Basically, Michael is using a beach day in order to evaluate possible candidates for his job, as he assumed he would get the corporate job David Wallace asked him to apply for. Michael took his staff, minus Toby, to the beach to play games. While the staff thought that they were simply going for a fun day at the beach, Michael was actually judging all of them because he could not decide who to recommend to take over his job, assuming he will get the corporate job. Michael then forced the staff to play "funtivities" in the role of "Survivor". While Michael thought that the staff would really enjoy his games, most of the workers just goofed around. Pam was not allowed to play in the games because Michael wanted her to take notes to help him decide who is best fit for his job. Michael decided to let everyone know that he would recommend the winner, which turned everyone into fierce competitors. Dwight then conspired with Angela to sabotage Andy, as it was clear that Andy was the frontrunner in the competition. After the sumo wrestling competition, Andy fell into the water still wearing his sumo star and floated away in the lake. It was revealed that Jim and Karen are also candidates for the corporate job. Michael then presented that the last challenge would be to walk across burning hot coals. Pam was the only one who wanted to walk across the coals, but Michael wouldn't let her. Michael was then persuaded by Jim to walk across himself, but chickened-out after hyping it up for a long time. Dwight then volunteered to walk across the coals, and stopped and stood on the coals and refused to get off the coals until Michael awarded him the job. Dwight eventually fell to the ground and was dragged off the coals. Pam then walked across the coals while no one was looking, which was very fulfilling to her. She then confronted her coworkers, specifically Jim, asking why no one showed up to her art show. She explained to Jim that she called her wedding off because of him, which obviously made everyone uncomfortable. The episode ended with Michael explaining that what she said was amazing, but wanted someone with a background in sales.
This episode was effective in setting up the season finale with the emergence of the "new corporate opening" that we found out that Karen, Jim, and Michael are all applying for. Given these facts, we must assume that Karen, Michael, or Jim will be leaving the office. As significant as this is, it is not as significant as Pam opening up to Jim, and the rest of the office, and making her feelings of loneliness public. The episode leaves us on a cliffhanger because we now know that Jim could potentially be leaving the office, and Pam had just poured her heart out to him. + 4 Stars
Jokes
I remember this episode being funnier, but after I rewatched it, I found that the humor wasn't all that impressive. Creed, as usual, entertained us with his mastery of fishing, and Angela had a funny moment rooting on Dwight in the sumo wrestling competition. The comedic highlight of the episode was Andy, dressed in a large sumo outfit, falling into the lake and floating away, seemingly left in the lake overnight. There was a nice moment when the entire staff sang songs on the bus, and I was pleased that Stanley and Angela joined in. I was somewhat disappointed that Michael and Dwight didn't really perform up to their normal hilarious standards, but Stanley and Andy stepped it up to save the humor score. + 3 Stars
Mistakes
No mistakes found
Best Quote
"Go tell them I'm floating away, obviously!" -Andy, to Angela, after Angela asks what she should do about Andy falling into the lake
Here we have two VERY strong episodes from the first 4 seasons. Beach Games is the second to last episode of season 3, while Goodbye, Toby is the season finale of season 4. Because many Office fanatics believe that The Office drastically decreased in quality after season 4, Goodbye, Toby could be considered the last of the "oldies".
3.22 "Beach Games"
Cold Open
Michael got really sick after Dwight gave him a lot of paper work that needed done, obviously faking to get out of work. David Wallace then called Michael and asked him to interview for a job at corporate. It wasn't really funny, but the entire episode deals with Michael deciding on who would replace him if he got the corporate job. + 1 Star
Story
The interesting thing behind this episode is that there is only 1 plotline. This is the first time I encountered an episode with only one plotline. Basically, Michael is using a beach day in order to evaluate possible candidates for his job, as he assumed he would get the corporate job David Wallace asked him to apply for. Michael took his staff, minus Toby, to the beach to play games. While the staff thought that they were simply going for a fun day at the beach, Michael was actually judging all of them because he could not decide who to recommend to take over his job, assuming he will get the corporate job. Michael then forced the staff to play "funtivities" in the role of "Survivor". While Michael thought that the staff would really enjoy his games, most of the workers just goofed around. Pam was not allowed to play in the games because Michael wanted her to take notes to help him decide who is best fit for his job. Michael decided to let everyone know that he would recommend the winner, which turned everyone into fierce competitors. Dwight then conspired with Angela to sabotage Andy, as it was clear that Andy was the frontrunner in the competition. After the sumo wrestling competition, Andy fell into the water still wearing his sumo star and floated away in the lake. It was revealed that Jim and Karen are also candidates for the corporate job. Michael then presented that the last challenge would be to walk across burning hot coals. Pam was the only one who wanted to walk across the coals, but Michael wouldn't let her. Michael was then persuaded by Jim to walk across himself, but chickened-out after hyping it up for a long time. Dwight then volunteered to walk across the coals, and stopped and stood on the coals and refused to get off the coals until Michael awarded him the job. Dwight eventually fell to the ground and was dragged off the coals. Pam then walked across the coals while no one was looking, which was very fulfilling to her. She then confronted her coworkers, specifically Jim, asking why no one showed up to her art show. She explained to Jim that she called her wedding off because of him, which obviously made everyone uncomfortable. The episode ended with Michael explaining that what she said was amazing, but wanted someone with a background in sales.
This episode was effective in setting up the season finale with the emergence of the "new corporate opening" that we found out that Karen, Jim, and Michael are all applying for. Given these facts, we must assume that either Karen, Michael, or Jim will be leaving the office. As significant as this is, it is not as significant as Pam opening up to Jim, and the rest of the office, and making her feelings of loneliness public. The episode leaves us on a cliffhanger because we now know that Jim could potentially be leaving the office, and Pam had just poured her heart out to him. + 4 Stars
Jokes
I remember this episode being funnier, but after I rewatched it, I found that the humor wasn't all that impressive. Creed, as usual, entertained us with his mastery of fishing, and Angela had a funny moment rooting on Dwight in the sumo wrestling competition. The comedic highlight of the episode was Andy, dressed in a large sumo outfit, falling into the lake and floating away, seemingly left in the lake overnight. There was a nice moment when the entire staff sang songs on the bus, and I was pleased that Stanley and Angela joined in. I was somewhat disappointed that Michael and Dwight didn't really perform up to the their normal hilarious standards, but Stanley and Andy stepped it up to save the humor score. + 3 Stars
Mistakes
No mistakes found
Best Quote
"Go tell them I'm floating away, obviously!" -Andy, to Angela, after Angela asks what she should do about Andy falling into the lake
Overal Score
8 Stars
4.14 "Goodbye, Toby"
Cold Open
The Open showed us Jim playing a prank on Dwight, classic. Jim forwarded Dwight's cell phone calls to Jim's headset. After Dwight tried to reprogram his cell phone to his work phone, he found out that Jim had also reprogrammed that phone to his ear pierce. Dwight then proceeded to smash his cell phone against his desk. Very funny, but had nothing to do with the episode. + 1 Star
Story
Goodbye, Toby is a two-part episode that was a very significant part of The Office. It was Toby's last day at the office, a new character named Holly was introduced, Jan is pregnant, Pam would soon be leaving to live in New York, Andy and Angela got engaged, Ryan had been arrested for fraud, and Phyllis discovered that Dwight and Angela were having an affair. This episode was the season finale of season 4, which is widely accepted as the last episode before a severe drop off in the show's quality. Besides planning for the huge party, there weren't a lot of other plotlines. We knew that Jim was planning to propose to Pam, but there wasn't enough footage to consider this a "B" story. Michael's growing relationship with Holly became the counter plotline to Toby's actual party, but the two were intertwined well enough to hide the fact that there were two stories happening at the same time.
In the beginning, Michael was so excited about his nemesis Toby leaving for Costa Rica, that he planned a humongous party to celebrate his departure. Part of Toby's last day was to train the new HR rep, Holly. Michael instantly despised Holly, but was pleasantly surprised that she was nothing like Toby. This, for Michael, immediately turned into a love interest, which Holly seemed to respond positively towards. As an office prank, Dwight convinced Holly that Kevin was retarded. Holly showed special interest in Kevin, which led Kevin to believe that Holly was interested in him. When Michael gave Toby a rock for his going away present, he was fooled into offering him his watch in order to save his image in front of Holly. Michael's ability to give his watch away really showed his feelings for Holly, given his level of hatred towards Toby. Michael's affection towards Holly grew deeper after Holly consoled him after Michael discovered that Ryan was arrested for fraud. During the party, it was obvious that Holly was interested in Michael. Following Jim's advice, Michael keeps distance between him and Holly, which made Holly feel that Michael was not interested in her. Michael was then called to the grocery store by Kevin, and found out that his ex-girlfriend, Jan, was pregnant. Although Michael was not the father of Jan's baby, Michael was still convinced that he was, in some way, going to be a father. This plotline closed with Holly being disappointed that Michael did not want to go out with her for desert, which obviously hinted towards a love affair in the future.
After Jim found out that Pam had been accepted into a prestigious art school in New York, Michael asked him for advice on courting Holly. During Jim's explanation, he realized that a large percentage of his relationship with Pam had started right there in the office. Jim then offered to pay for fireworks for the party, and admitted to the cameras his intent to propose to Pam during the party. Right as Jim started his proposal, Andy upstaged him by publicly proposing to Angela. Angela, reluctantly, accepted. It was later discovered by Phyllis that Dwight and Angela were having an affair.
In all, I loved how this episode worked. There was so much story progression and interesting twists that really left me satisfied. This is exactly what you want in a finale episode; the ability to create cliffhanger moments that the audience can't wait to see played out in full. There are several HUGE story lines to look forward to in the next season, as "Goodbye, Toby" completely threw The Office upside down. I loved it. + 5 Stars
Jokes
While the story in this episode was nothing short of amazing, the humor actually left me wanting more. Creed, AGAIN, pulled through with an excellent bit. I am amazed at how effective Creed is. I feel that if his character was used any more than it is, Creed would be too much. Michael did have some funny one liners while dealing with Toby and Jan, and Dwight convincing Holly that Kevin was retarded was amazing. Toby had a funny/awkward yell after requesting a picture with Pam, but I was disappointed in Andy and Dwight. Dwight was good, but he didn't perform as well as he needed to in a finale. Andy was basically not in the episode until he proposed to Angela. The highlight of the episode was Michael singing "Goodbye, Toby", where it was completely obvious that this was one of the best days of Michael's life.
The jokes were good, don't get me wrong, but I was expecting more for a finale episode. Being that this episode was a two-parter, I felt that something could have been worked out to include Andy more. While I was blown away by the actual story, the humor was about average. + 3 Stars
Mistakes
Michael claims that his grandmother sends him "9-10 birthday checks" per year because she is starting to go crazy. In season 5, Michael visits his grandmother and she is perfectly fine. It is possible he is talking about his other grandma, but this is unlikely. This is not a mistake for this episode, because Michael's grandmother had not yet been mentioned or seen in an earlier episode. This is a mistake in the season 5 episode, however.
While Jim was talking to Michael about Holly, he claimed that the first place he and Pam had kissed was "right outside". Jim and Pam's first kiss was at Chili's in the episode "The Dundies". It is possible that Jim is referring to their first "true kiss" because Pam was very drunk during their kiss at Chili's. Nonetheless, their first kiss was not at the office.- 1 Star
Andy introduces his father as Andrew Bernard, though in a later episode he explains how his name was found in a baby book and that his father's name is not Andrew. Again, this is not a mistake in this episode, but in the future episode where the writers suddenly forgot that they had already introduced Andy's dad as "Andrew".
Best Quotes
"Toby has been cruisin' for a bruisin' for 12 years, and I am now his cruise director. And my name is Captain Bruisin'." Michael
"You cheated on me? When I specifically asked you not to?" -Michael to Jan
Overall Score
8 Stars
THE VERDICT
Again, this is a matchup of two very important episodes of The Office. Goodbye Toby is a two part episode, and a finale, which is a big advantage. Goodbye, Toby, also, had a clear mistake in story and was also the source for other mistakes down the road. If there is one thing I hate, it is when the writers goof up and include something that is impossible to happen. Beach Games was very, very good. The problem was that Beach Games was a set up episode, while Goodbye, Toby was an episode that delivered. Weighing the pros and cons, I have determined that...
GOODBYE, TOBY is the better episode and will move on in the tournament by a tie breaker score of 8-8.
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