"Business Trip" is the eighth episode of the fifth season of the

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series o ...

'', and the show's eightieth episode overall. The episode aired in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

on November 13, 2008, on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. In this episode, Michael, Oscar and Andy are sent to

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

on a business trip, where Michael has trouble understanding the actual purpose of the concierge and Andy and Oscar bond. Meanwhile, Jim and the rest of the office eagerly wait for Pam's return from art school.

Synopsis

CFO David Wallace (

Andy Buckley Andrew P. Buckley Jr. (born February 13, 1965) is an American actor and financial analyst best known for his role as David Wallace on the NBC comedy series ''The Office'' from 2006 to 2013. Early life Buckley was born in Salem, Massachusetts, ...

) sends Michael Scott (

Steve Carell Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He played Michael Scott in ''The Office'' (2005–2011; 2013), NBC’s adaptation of the British series created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, where Ca ...

) on a sales call to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

to alleviate the stress of having

Holly Flax Hollis Partridge "Holly" Scott (''née'' Flax) is a fictional character from the US television series ''The Office'', played by Amy Ryan. She is an original character, and not based on any character from the British version of the show. Initia ...

relocated. Michael brings

Andy Bernard Andrew Baines Bernard is a fictional character from the NBC comedy television series ''The Office (U.S. TV series), The Office'', portrayed by Ed Helms. He is introduced in Season 3 as the Regional Director in Charge of Sales at the Stamford br ...

(

Ed Helms Edward Parker Helms (born January 24, 1974) is an American actor and comedian. From 2002 to 2006, he was a correspondent on Comedy Central's ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''. He played paper salesman Andy Bernard in the NBC sitcom '' The Offi ...

) and Oscar Martinez (

Oscar Nunez Oscar Nunez (born November 18, 1958), sometimes credited as Oscar Nuñez, is a Cuban-American actor. He is best known for his role as the Dunder Mifflin accountant Oscar Martinez on NBC's ''The Office''. He was a member of The Groundlings and l ...

). David suggests Michael go to the concierge to find activities to do in the city. Michael is attracted to the concierge, Marie (

Wendi McLendon-Covey Wendi McLendon-Covey (née McLendon; born October 10, 1969) is an American actress and comedian. She is known primarily for her work in comedic and improvisational roles. Since 2013, McLendon-Covey has played the role of Beverly Goldberg, a fam ...

), believing a concierge is the Winnipeg version of a

Geisha {{Culture of Japan, Traditions, Geisha {{nihongo, Geisha, 芸者 ({{IPAc-en, ˈ, ɡ, eɪ, ʃ, ə; {{IPA-ja, ɡeːɕa, lang), also known as {{nihongo, , 芸子, geiko (in Kyoto and Kanazawa) or {{nihongo, , 芸妓, geigi, are a class of female J ...

. Michael and Marie have a few drinks and spend the night in her hotel room. Andy reveals to Oscar that he and Angela Martin (

Angela Kinsey Angela Faye Kinsey (born June 25, 1971) is an American actress. She played Angela Martin in the sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2013) and appeared in the sitcoms '' Your Family or Mine'' (2015) and ''Haters Back Off'' (2016–2017). Since ''The ...

) have not had sex. Oscar tells Andy to call Angela. Andy calls Angela, who is with Dwight Schrute (

Rainn Wilson Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, and writer. He is best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'', for which he earned three consecutive Em ...

), though Andy does not notice, and tells her he does not like that they have not had sex. Angela berates him for calling her while drunk and hangs up on him. The next morning, Oscar brings up Andy's call to Angela, and a sobered-up Andy exclaims that he thought that was a dream. Andy calls Angela to apologize, saying afterward that Angela has put them back on "first base", meaning Andy gets to kiss her forehead. Despite this, Andy is glad he had the chance to bond with Oscar. Michael secures the sale with the client and calls David, who congratulates him. Michael then tells David he had a terrible time in Winnipeg and berates him for taking Holly away from him before hanging up. He gets on the plane to Scranton, mentioning he stays with the company because they respect him enough that he can talk down to his boss without being fired. Pam Beesly (

Jenna Fischer Regina Marie "Jenna" Fischer (born March 7, 1974) is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Pam Beesly on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2013), for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Suppor ...

) fails an art school class and calls Jim Halpert ( John Krasinski) to tell him she needs to stay in New York to retake it. Pam is unsure whether she wants to spend another three months away, but Jim reminds her that she went to New York for her benefit and should return to Scranton "the right way". After work, Jim finds Pam in the parking lot. Pam tells Jim she is returning "the wrong way" because she did not like graphic design and Scranton is her home. Ryan Howard ( B. J. Novak) moves back to the annex with

Kelly Kapoor Kelly Rajanigandha Kapoor is a fictional character from the American television series ''The Office'', portrayed by Mindy Kaling. She is the customer service representative at the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin from seasons 1 to 8. Followin ...

(

Mindy Kaling Vera Mindy Chokalingam (born June 24, 1979),Additional archive on June 25, 2015. known professionally as Mindy Kaling (), is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter and producer. She first gained recognition starring as Kelly Kapoor in the N ...

) and shows off by doing

push up The push-up (sometimes called a press-up in British English) is a common calisthenics exercise beginning from the prone position. By raising and lowering the body using the arms, push-ups exercise the pectoral muscles, triceps, and anterio ...

s. Kelly says she has no intention of breaking up with

Darryl Philbin ''The Office'' is an American television series based on the British television comedy of the same name. The format of the series is a parody of the fly on the wall documentary technique that intersperses traditional situation comedy segments wi ...

( Craig Robinson) before the two kiss. Kelly breaks up with Darryl via text message, and Darryl responds saying "it's cool." Ryan and Kelly confirm they are back together, with Ryan visibly uncomfortable while Darryl happily walks back to his truck.

Production

Writer Brent Forrester selected Winnipeg, saying "Winnipeg seemed to strike the right balance between exotic and obscure." As the episode was filmed in Los Angeles, the Winnipeg tourism promotion agency sent local paraphernalia including airport baggage tags and items from distinctive local businesses such as The Bay,

Old Dutch In linguistics, Old Dutch (Dutch: Oudnederlands) or Old Low Franconian (Dutch: Oudnederfrankisch) is the set of Franconian dialects (i.e. dialects that evolved from Frankish) spoken in the Low Countries during the Early Middle Ages, from aroun ...

potato chips, and Fort Garry brewing company.CBC News (October 23, 2008).
From Scranton to Winnipeg: The Office goes north
. ''

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca ...

''.

References

External links

"Business Trip"
at NBC.com * {{The Office US Episodes The Office (American season 5) episodes 2008 American television episodes Manitoba in fiction