Michael is feeling left out after finding out Ryan took a handful of branch managers and even Toby on a wilderness retreat, but didn't invite him. In order to get back with nature, Michael asks Jim if he would consider a camping trip together. Hypothetically, Jim answered yes.
WAR
58
Wins Above Replacement
“Survivor Man” ranks #166 of 183 The Office episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 83.1 — Elite. The episode packs 58 scored jokes at 2.8 per minute, averaging 7.1 on craft and 6.9 on impact, with Michael landing the most laughs. Every joke is ranked below with its individual craft and impact scores.
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Top Jokes
Jim · Michael: 'Well, I don't think I'll be here in ten years, but...' / 'That's what I said.' [Pause] 'That's what she said.'
Jim Michael Callback Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Dwight: I lied to Michael. I said that I would leave him alone, but I will not. I will remain close by to provide unseen moral support. But I will never help him. I will let harm befall him. I will even let him die. But I will never let him lose his dignity.
Dwight Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Phyllis · Jim: Hey, Michael. I mean Jim. / Yeah. Phyllis called me Michael.
Dwight: People say, 'Oh, it's dangerous to keep weapons in the home or the workplace.' Well, I say it's better to be hurt by someone you know, accidentally, than by a stranger on purpose.
Dwight Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Dwight · Michael: The serial killer scenario — Dwight elaborates that he would 'make sure you were dead,' remove teeth, cut off fingertips so Michael can't be identified, and they would 'call me the Overkill Killer.'
Standout Moments
Dwight: I lied to Michael. I said that I would leave him alone, but I will not. I will remain close by to provide unseen moral support. But I will never help him. I will let harm befall him. I will even let him die. But I will never let him lose his dignity.
Dwight Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Phyllis · Jim: Hey, Michael. I mean Jim. / Yeah. Phyllis called me Michael.
Jim · Michael: 'Well, I don't think I'll be here in ten years, but...' / 'That's what I said.' [Pause] 'That's what she said.'
Jim Michael Callback Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback All Jokes — 58 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Toby: Oh, it wasn't camping. It was more of a wilderness retreat.
Toby Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Jim: Ryan invited some of the branch managers and Toby into the woods for a get-to-know-you weekend. Michael wasn't invited.
Jim Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Jim: Apparently they already knew everything they needed to know about him.
Jim Irony/Sarcasm Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Toby: We ate so many s'mores. I finally had to say, 'No more s'mores. No more s'mores.'
Toby Wordplay/Pun Character Comedy Ryan · Jim: Ryan enthusiastically recounting the trip in a TH; Jim walks in and flatly says 'Hey. Nobody cares. Nobody cares. I need that room at some point, so just wrap it up.'
Ryan Jim Reaction Beat Deadpan/Understatement Jim: Talking-head cut: 'Michael wasn't invited.'
Jim Deadpan/Understatement Running Gag Callback Dwight · Michael: And... Do you know what 'hypothetical' means? Not real. Got it.
Jim · Michael: When Michael plays the hypothetical game, I always say yes. / Oh, do you want to go today? / And I am always busy.
Michael · Jim: How often can you actually donate blood? Is there a limit? I don't... / Your body only has a certain amount.
Michael: What's that? Oh, I'm on Broken Mountain.
Michael · Jim: I think you go camping by yourself in the wilderness. It's not with a group of guys frolicking around in tents. It's one guy or two guys, if your plans change. / They're not going to change.
Dwight: I keep various weaponry strategically placed around the office. I saved Jim's life with a can of pepper spray I had Velcroed under my desk.
Dwight Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Dwight: People say, 'Oh, it's dangerous to keep weapons in the home or the workplace.' Well, I say it's better to be hurt by someone you know, accidentally, than by a stranger on purpose.
Dwight Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Michael · Jim: Where he will then leave me to either die or to survive. The choice is yours. / No. The choice is actually yours.
Michael: This is a very personal, private experience in the wild that I wish to share with me, myself and I.
Michael Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Dwight: Do I believe that Michael possesses the skills to survive in a hostile environment? Let's put it this way. No, I do not.
Dwight Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Dwight · Michael: The serial killer scenario — Dwight elaborates that he would 'make sure you were dead,' remove teeth, cut off fingertips so Michael can't be identified, and they would 'call me the Overkill Killer.'
Dwight: It would be better if you were unconscious.
Dwight Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement Pam · Jim: Jim, we need to order a cake for Creed's birthday... It's birthday month.
Pam Jim Setup/Punchline Observational Jim: Michael's toast types — 'Look at those wrinkles. Blacks do crack. Not crack the drug.'
Jim Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Jim: He only sings the high harmony to Happy Birthday.
Jim Character Comedy Observational ★ Rewatch Jim: He is a very big believer in surprise parties. Maybe even, arguably, possibly to a fault. [Cut to: Happy Birthday! — apparent failed surprise party reaction]
Jim Misdirection Visual Gag Jim · Dwight: Do you think it's a good idea? / No. I think it's a great idea.
Jim Dwight Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Dwight: Dwight in the background of the office scene on his cell phone: 'You know, try sending them another invoice...'
Dwight Visual Gag Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Dwight · Michael: Dwight spinning Michael around after dropping him off to 'confuse his sense of direction.'
Michael: I am in the interior of the vast Pennsylvania wilderness... The sun is in the two-thirds easterly quadrant, which would make it about 2:00 in the afternoon.
Michael: Watch that I don't hit my carotid artery here.
Michael Dark/Subversive Character Comedy Michael: I'm going to wear what was once one of my pant legs. / See, this is a beautiful piece of material. This can be used for all sorts of things, some sort of kerchief to keep my neck nice and comfortable.
Michael: Michael fashioning his pants into various survival tools — pant leg as hat, pant leg as kerchief — while narrating gravely.
Michael Physical/Slapstick Character Comedy Andy · Jim: Me likey the ice cream cake, okay? Fudgie the Whale. / Not your birthday. / Well, I'm just saying, if you want to make people happy, namely me...
Michael: Michael alone in the woods: 'I am totally alone right now with only my thoughts. I love it. I can literally say anything I want. No one is going to hear me.' [Pause] 'Wish I could have gone with Ryan on that cool retreat. Jan has plastic boobs. I have hemorrhoids.'
Michael Character Comedy Escalation ★ Rewatch Michael: I am totally alone right now with only my thoughts. I love it. I'm loving it. / I can literally say anything I want. No one is going to hear me. / Wish I could have gone with Ryan on that cool retreat. / Jan has plastic boobs. / I have hemorrhoids.
Michael Character Comedy Escalation ★ Rewatch Dwight: Dwight's TH about Michael: 'Michael's a man of great depth and passion. I don't know what he's searching for out here. But I hope he finds it.'
Dwight Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Michael: 'About two more minutes.' [Cut to Michael with a crudely sharpened spear he's apparently been whittling.]
Michael: I have been without food for a good three hours or so. Starting to feel it a little bit.
Michael Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Kevin · Meredith: What is Jim thinking? It's a birthday. So what if there's a lot of them? / I work hard all day. I like knowing there's going to be a break. Most days I just sit and wait for the break.
Stanley · Unknown: I took an extra shot of insulin in preparation for this cake today. If I don't have some cake soon, I might die. / Why don't you just have an apple? / Why don't you mind your business?
Kevin: Jimmy had his birthday three weeks ago so he doesn't care. I think the power went to his head.
Kevin Character Comedy Observational Michael: Michael's 'pants tent shelter' — he's fashioned his pants into a small lean-to and is narrating it proudly.
Michael Physical/Slapstick Visual Gag Michael: 'And this little guy may be Dunder Mifflin paper someday.' [Michael holds up a small sapling or tree.]
Michael Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Dwight: Dwight in the woods with a scoped rifle: 'Nothing to worry about. Just using the scope. Safety is on.'
Dwight Dark/Subversive Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Dwight: Nothing to worry about. Just using the scope. Safety is on.
Dwight Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Toby · Jim: Toby's birthday was two months ago. There was no party. Michael scheduled it for 4:58 on a Friday. People sang in the parking lot.
Toby Jim Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Jim: Toby's great. He's great. But sometimes he can be a little bit much. 'I don't see the harm in that.' Well, it's a cake, Toby, so come on.
Jim Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Angela · Unknown · Jim: Angela explodes about the party plans: '...these little magic party elves to do your bidding. We already have Devil's Food, peach cobbler, Fudgie the Whale, mushroom caps...' / 'I'm allergic to mushrooms.' / 'That's a bummer.'
Jim: So who has problems with the birthday thing? One, two, three, everybody. Okay, so then we just shouldn't do it.
Jim Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Jim · Kevin · Unknown: What am I supposed to do with two cakes and a pie? / I'll take them. / Well, nobody's touching my cobbler.
Michael · Dwight: Michael eating what he thinks are wild mushrooms: 'These are nature's best mushrooms. Wild, and damn tasty.' / Dwight off-camera: 'Stop. No. No, Michael. No.'
Dwight: Stop. No. No, Michael. No. No. No. / Get them out.
Dwight Physical/Slapstick Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Jim · Office Staff: Happy birthday being sung while someone skips around the room; Jim: 'Okay, all right, yikes. Don't do that. You're going to break something.'
Michael: Man became civilized for a reason. He decided that he liked to have warmth and clothing and television and hamburgers and to walk upright and to have a soft futon at the end of the day. He didn't want to have to struggle to survive.
Michael Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Michael: I don't need the woods. I have a nice wood desk. I don't need fresh air because I have the freshest air around, AC.
Michael Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Michael: Michael reveals a ceiling tile or panel that, when opened, shows the sky painted on it, saying 'I can also make it the sky.'
Michael Visual Gag Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Jim · Michael: I tried to put all the birthdays together at once. / Oh. So, terrible idea. / Yeah. / Okay, I did that. Rookie mistake.
Michael · Jim: That's what who said? I never know. But I just say it, you know, to lighten the tension when things sort of get hard. / That's what she said. / Hey. Nice.
Michael Jim Meta/Self-Referential Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Top Episodes — The Office
