(S03E10) This week brought us a special 60-minute holiday episode of The Office, and as you just saw, a lot of things happened, and we're sure to see a number of new storylines take shape over the next few episodes.
Last year's holiday party episode was a classic, so it was with eager anticipation that I plopped myself down in front of the TV to see what would take place this year. Although it probably could have been cut down from 60 minutes to one of those NBC "super-sized" 40-minute episodes, this one was satisfying enough for me and for most viewers, I'm sure.
The opening teaser with Dwight bringing in a freshly killed goose and his pleading to prepare it for the staff party didn't do a whole lot for me, but it segued nicely into the story which focused on the holiday party plans. In the meantime, Michael was all excited about his purchase of two tickets to Jamaica and bringing his girlfriend Carol but, of course, he always takes things to the extreme, and his Photoshopping of her family skiing picture with his image pissed off and scared her enough to break it off with him.
As we know all too well, Michael doesn't seem to know how to keep things on an even keel, and his reaction to her walking out was certainly in line with his character. He's so destroyed that he wants to cancel the Christmas party because he is in pain over Carol, but Andy actually does something to help (much to Dwight's chagrin) and offers to take Michael to lunch at Benihana's, and Jim and Dwight go with them. (More on that later.)
When Jim turned down Pam's offer to help play a prank on Dwight with regard to his desire to work for the CIA, there certainly was a look of disappointment on her face, however slight it was. Jim tells us that he has to take his respsonsibility as the number 2 in Scranton a little more seriously, but it seems hard to believe.
Angela, the Christmas Party Committee Nazi, alienated Pam and Karen enough for them to organize their own "way more fun" Margarita-Karaoke Party, and it becomes a battle of wills as to which party the staffers will attend. (The tearing down of each other's party flyers on the wall reminded me of the classic Bugs Bunny confrontation with Daffy Duck--"Duck Season!" "Wabbit Season!")
The dynamic at Benihana was interesting, to say the least. Andy is doing his best to ingratiate himself with Michael, and his success in having Dwight sit at the far end of the hibachi grill was a shrewd move on his part. It was this part of the overall episode that I thought could have been condensed--was Dwight's conversation with the chef about knives that necessary?
Meanwhile, the duelling party planners take things to a fever pitch, and when Angela got the go-ahead from Dwight to start her party, the fun begins. Of course, Stanley has one of his classic wordless reactions as he stood up and, after the commercial break, he turns toward Pam and Karen's party, and the floodgates open. The rest of the staff, for the most part, go to the break room and party there. Meredith is particularly happy because booze will be there.
Kevin's dilemma is on deciding which party he should attend--his "double fudge/Angela" monologue accurately depicted his difficult choice. He eventually attends Angela's party along with Phyllis and another staffer, but Angela's regimented control quickly drives Kevin away. Things get even stickier when the guys return from Benihana's with a couple of waitresses and Michael brinigng along his new "girlfriend". Angela is clearly pissed off, and we learn that the karaoke portion of the other party hasn't gone off because a power cord is missing. Hmmm... But, Darryl pitches in and plays electric piano to lend some musical accompaniment.
For me, probably the single funniest moment of the entire show was Kevin's rendition of Alannis Morrissette's "You Oughta Know". I don't think I'll be able to ever hear that song again the same way. I'll just be thinking of Kevin...ugghh.
Eventually, the parties merge, and Angela "finds" the power cord. Let the karaoke begin! Andy and Michael's duet of "Your Body is a Wonderland" (I'm not familiar with this one, so some assistance here would help) was a bit creepy, and Kelli's "We Belong" by Pat Benatar and her adding "Ryan" was predictable.
Eventually, the waitresses from Benihana decide to leave. Michael couldn't figure out which girl was his, and his leaving a mark on one of their arms was hillarious. He's feeling down on himself again since she turned down his offer to go to Jamaica with him, but after Jim "consoles" him, his spirits lift.
Let's not forget that the dynamic between Dwight and Angela got a little more interesting, especially with actually being tender with her by putting his hand over hers during the party. And when he wins the raffle and gets some walkie-talkies, his contacting her by using the phrase, "Monkey, this is Possum!" actually warmed my heart. Her rendition of "Little Drummer Boy" with Dwight supplying the drum rolls was wonderfully disturbing.
To top things off, Oscar, who has been gone since the first show of the season on a company-sponsored "holiday" to make up for the mess surrounding his sexuality, shows up, but his "Too soon" comment may prove interesting in the long run.
The big mystery, of course, is who Michael called to go to Jamaica with him. The person on the other line accepts, so let the speculation begin. Naturally I, along with most other viewers, would assume it was Jan who he called, but could there even be a shred of a possibility that he called Carol back and she relented? Probably not, but we'll have to wait a bit to see who he took to Jamaica. He certainly will let us know soon enough.
We again saw another scene where Pam observed Jim and Karen sharing a moment together, and she clearly is puzzled by the whole situation. It seems she's still sorting out her feelings about Jim, but he's giving off the impression that he has moved on. Will Pam make a move on Jim? The end saw Jim getting back into his prankster mode and helping Pam make Dwight wait for a CIA helicopter on the building's rooftop.
Overall, a very good and entertaining episode. As I mentioned earlier, it probably could have been cut down a bit here and there, but there were enough truly funny moments to make it a very satisfying viewing experience.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
12-14-2006 @ 10:40PM
shawn said...
i would like to note that Harold Ramis understood the tone and the pacing of the office and directed the show efficently. There was no flashy, over the top, visual ques. it was just a solid episode of The Office.
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12-14-2006 @ 10:41PM
Noah said...
you might have to go back and re watch this amazing episode you missed quiet a bit in the undertones, the biggest thing you missed was Jim's speech on the "rebound girl." When he was talking to Michael about the whole Benihana waitress but you know once he said to the extent "you go out with somebody just to get back at the person that broke your heart and said that you still care for them during the other meaningless relationship" (you know Jim was thinking about his whole situation, with Karen being his rebound girl.) ohhh boy, to stop from going on forever I'll end now, peace out
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12-14-2006 @ 10:48PM
... said...
Your Body is a Wonderland = a John Mayer song.
I thought the conversation between Jim and Michael where he discusses rebounds being fun...but just something to take you away from the girl who broke your heart to be the most interesting part of the episode since it kind of confirms his own confusion over the situation.
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12-14-2006 @ 11:04PM
Will Teullive said...
Who knew Michael has mad Photoshop skills?
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12-14-2006 @ 11:15PM
gwangi said...
Am I the only one that screamed "Oscar!" at the TV when he showed his face?
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12-14-2006 @ 11:16PM
SJ said...
Why do I have a feeling that Pam will get back with Roy? There was that worrying look Jim gave when he saw them talking, and then Karen mentions to Pam that she should date Roy.
The 'rebound girl' speech was great...it clearly showed that Jim is still in love with Pam.
Steve Carrell's expressions in this episode were hilarious. I lost it when he 'marked' his 'girlfriend'.
Some other great moments:
-Creed stealing a toy.
-Angela trying to stop Kevin from taking seconds. "Are you kidding me??"
-Dwight telling the waitress how to slaughter a goose.
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12-14-2006 @ 11:35PM
Guffin GacGuffin said...
I actually liked the opening sequence, because it gave us some great Toby stuff. I loved the "Dwight, we talked about this...for like half an hour."
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12-14-2006 @ 11:47PM
Roxie said...
I loved toby too...so glad he got his robe
amazing ep.
i thought michael was gonna bring cindy back tho........
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12-14-2006 @ 11:50PM
chaosrain said...
I remember back when Jim was in Stamford and Toby almost asked Pam out (he ended up chickening out). I thought that when Pam gave the bathrobe to Toby it might have been a sign that something may happen between them. I suspect Jim will dump Karen and try to get Pam back only to discover that she and Toby have been going out a few times and she wants to give it a fair shot. That's just me.
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12-15-2006 @ 11:36AM
Brian said...
I think the main reason Jim finally did the CIA prank with Jen was because he clearly didn't like Pam and Karen getting along. I do not know why I didn't see this sooner, but Pam and Karen becoming good friends and pranking others could create some interesting stories down the road.
Overall it was a great episode and it's fun trying to spot the small stuff, like Meredith declining any margarita stuff and just taking the whole bottle.
However, I am a little tired of Ryan and Kelly. First off, Ryan was interesting when he was temp and they used it with some of the jokes. Furthermore, the entire Ryan/Kelly dating thing is starting to be forced and getting old.
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12-15-2006 @ 12:20AM
Nic said...
I don't think the person on the other end of the line was Carol because Michael actually mentioned that they would be going to Sandals to the other person. I'm pretty sure that Carol already knew that the trip was to Sandals so it wouldn't make sense for him to describe it again.
While it could possibly be Jan on the other end of the line, perhaps this is an opportunity for the show to introduce another (long lost?) love interest for Michael.
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12-15-2006 @ 12:42AM
Melissa said...
I loved Michael's schpeel about "Bro's before Ho's" continuously referring to Carol as his Ho.
"She aint my Ho... no mo'." !!!
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12-15-2006 @ 12:47AM
Zach said...
So I don't know how this show does it, it is 30 or so episodes in and there has not been a single bad episode, i love how dwight takes everything absolutely serious like accepting the validity committee and immediately requesting to be a part of it, the best part is Jim pretending to put alot of thought into it, denying him, and than Dwight accepting his decision, knowing the right decision was made, that might sound a little weird but i was cracking up. I also loved when he was told that his mission was compromised and to dispose his phone and he immediately chucks it off the building.
and i'm totally with gwangi about Oscar
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12-15-2006 @ 1:15AM
baron said...
while it seems most likely michael talked to jan about going to a sandals resort in jamaica, i think it would be wayyyy funnier if it was his mom. that would seem to fit in perfectly with the show and his character.
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12-15-2006 @ 1:39AM
Mark said...
LOL! It seems like Michael isn't the only person who thinks all Asians look alike - the reviewer and all the commenters so far failed to notice that the two waitresses that Michael and Andy brought back *were not* the same two they were scoping out at the restaurant before the commercial break (ie, the one serving them, and the other cute one their waitress was talking to, with the blond streaks).
Andy and Michael had to go for "sloppy seconds" - a bit chunkier, a bit more facial acne, (though still cute!). I can't be the only person who noticed this - I said to my wife "omg! they scored sloppy seconds!" as soon as they all came into the office.
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12-15-2006 @ 1:44AM
Donnie said...
Uhhhh, that's not what "sloppy seconds" means.
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12-15-2006 @ 1:59AM
Erin said...
I too thought the episode dragged a teensy bit, but I loved having more of my favorite show. And I agree with comments above about the most interesting part of the show being Jim's little speech to Michael about rebounding. You could tell he was definitely thinking about Pam and his feelings for her. I still can't figure out why he didn't try to pursue her after she and Roy broke it off, but I guess he was too bruised by her initial decision to go ahead with the wedding she'd been planning. I hope Roy and Pam don't get back together, but I can see it heading in that direction, especially since earlier in the season they made a big deal out of Roy saying he was going to get her back, then him seeing Pam at the Diwali party dancing with someone else and leaving, then Karen's pointed comment about dating him. I'd be more interested to see a Toby/Pam pairing myself, but I don't think Toby has enough of a backbone to actually act on his interest.
Loved Stanley, as always. The man has great comedic timing. Kevin's rendition of "You Oughta Know," especially the ending, was fabulously painful.
It would be hilarious if Michael took his mother with him to Sandals, if not disturbing on several levels.
I thought it was interesting that Jim and Karen gave each other the same DVD. Kind of a subtle way of showing that they have the same sense of humor, perhaps, and are on the same page?
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12-15-2006 @ 2:05AM
Mark said...
Donnie - fine, "b-team", "backups", whatever, I thought that was one of the funniest subtle things in the episode. It's funny because I know a lot of people this has happened to ;)
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12-15-2006 @ 6:23AM
Clint said...
I think the whole Jim and Karen movie thing had more to it. They both the said the movie was horrible, probablly from a common experience. I think that they were watching it, found it awful, and maybe decided to leave the comforts of the living room for the bedroom. Therefore it was a joke and a refrence to their first time. Maybe I'm breathing too much into it, or have got my hands around it! -That's what she said!
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12-15-2006 @ 8:02AM
BoomFoxx said...
I agree with #13. When Michael was on the phone and got the person to agree to go to Sandals with him, my first thing that popped in my head was 'I'll bet he called his mom.'
Does anyone know what movie Jim and Karen got that they said sucked? I couldn't make out the cover art.
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