In my first job out of college, 2 years in or so, the amount of web work was slumping (it was the first web bust). My boss and lead developer all went on vacation the same week and my boss gave me a fairly impossible job to do without the both of them helping out in some fashion.

I was not successful. So I'm quite familiar with the technique.

Basically, if you get the vibe that you're not well-liked, you should just leave or figure out how to.