Friday, December 12, 2008

The Office: Moroccan Christmas

This week's episode was back to the great Office that I know and love. This season, so far, has been just a little disappointing to me. It hasn't been as laugh-out-loud funny as the previous seasons. But this episode completely changed that. I laughed non-stop and loved every minute of it!


It starts with a new, classic Jim prank on Dwight. Jim has wrapped Dwight's entire desk and chair and everything on his desk in great holiday wrapping paper. Dwight acts completely unimpressed and says that he can unwrap it all within 5 minutes. So he sets his briefcase down and sits in his chair and the enitre desk and chair both collapse. Jim had obviously replaced Dwight's work station with all cardboard stuff. This whole scene made me feel like I was back watching the great Office pranks and I knew that this was going to be a great Christmas episode.


As the new head of the Party Planning Committee, Phyllis has picked a theme for the Christmas party: Nights in Morocco. She is still very eager to make Angela's life a living hell, just like Angela used to do to her. She makes Angela put away her nativity scene that's at her desk because it is not part of the theme. We can see Angela slowly getting more and more irritated with Phyllis and she tries to tell her that she can't blackmail her anymore. Phyllis says it's not blackmail because there is no formal letter and we just continue to see the tension between them. I personally love how Phyllis is treating Angela because she completely deserves it in my opinion. Angela treated Phyllis so horribly for too long, and she's just getting her turn.


Dwight has found this holiday's hottest gift: Princess Unicorn. While personally disgusted about the improbability of a doll that's half-human and half-unicorn, he is excited about the money he is about to make. As he does every year, he has researched the demand, bought out the stock from local stores, and is awaiting the stream of desperate parents who will show up to buy the toy. Throughout the episode we see many clients come to buy the toys. We later see Toby talking to his daughter on the phone asking her about the doll. She is so excited when he mentions it and he can't wait to get a better gift for her than his ex-wife will get. So he cheerfully goes to buy one from Dwight, only to find out that Darryl has just bought the last one. Toby pathetically and heartbrokenly asks Darrly if he can buy it from him and Darryl agrees to sell it to him for $400, when Dwight has been selling them for $200. Toby quickly agrees and when Darrly gives Toby the doll, it is a black doll instead of a white princess. There is an awkward silence as Toby takes it all in and Darryl asks him if anything's wrong. Toby just says that it is even better than what he had imagined.


The party is underway and Mixmaster Michael is making some amazing drinks for people. He makes Meredith something he calls "One of Everything." It includes part scotch, absinthe, rum, gin, vermouth, triple sec, and two packs of Splenda. Meredith loves it and downs the whole drink in just a few seconds and asks for another. As the party continues, we see Meredith completely trashed and bellydancing around the office. She ends up getting a little too close to a decorative candle and catches her hair on fire without even noticing! Firefighter Dwight comes to her rescue and puts it out with a fire extinguisher. Michael recognizes that Meredith's drinking has gotten out of hand and he decides to hold an intervention, which he says is a surprise party for people who have addictions. The staff gathers around to confront her but she will have none of it. She swears that she is not an alcoholic, but she does admit to an addiction to porn, which repulses everyone. Michael insists on helping her even after everyone else has given up. He tricks Meredith and leads her to believe that the two of them are going to a bar to have some drinks together. But he really drives her to a rehab center and has to chase her all around the parking lot and drag her into the building, where he learns that you can't check someone into rehab against their will.

Back at the office, people are still trying to party and have a good time while Phyllis still bosses Angela around. Angela finally gets fed up and calls Phyllis out, saying that she would never tell anyone about her and Dwight. Angela is quite wrong though, as Phyllis blurts out to everyone that Angela is having sex with Dwight. Unfortunately, Andy is completely out of earshot and in a different room practicing songs on the sitar. But everyone else in the office finds out and looks completely stunned, except for Dwight who looks completely pleased with himself. Andy then comes in to play "Deck the Halls" for everyone and doesn't understand why nobody claps for him at the end. Angela quickly asks to be taken home and Andy never finds out what was said.

Favorite Moments:
  • Jim wrapping Dwight's desk and Dwight collapsing
  • Michael's creation of "orange-vod-juice-ka"
  • Meredith lifting up her shirt and "bellydancing"
  • Meredith continuing to dance while her hair is on fire.
  • Finding out that Michael privately celebrates Groundhog's Day
  • Kevin nicknaming Meredith "Fire Girl"
  • Michael: "What are you going to do when you come in to work and you're dead?" Dwight: "I would stab her in the brain with a wooden stick."
  • Michael chasing Meredith around the Rehab parking lot and dragging her into the building
  • Phyllis actually telling everyone about Dwight and Angela
  • Michael: "I need to find ways to push Meredith to the bottom. I think I can do it. I did it with Jan."

What to look forward to next week:

  • Will Andy finally find out about Dwight and Angela?? I hope so! It needs to happen soon!
  • Is Ryan gone forever? Will Kelly start dating Darryl again? We didn't see much of her at all during this episode.
  • When will Jim and Pam set their wedding date? We know they don't want a long engagement.
  • Will Jan ever come back into the picture?


Tuesday, December 9, 2008

The Office Christmas Episodes

The Office christmas episodes have been great in seasons 2 and 3, so I have very high expectations for this week's episode "Moroccan Christmas." I just wanted to give highlights of the previous christmas episodes before this new one comes on, just to get in the spirit!

Season 2: Christmas Party


Michael and Dwight attempt to carry a christmas tree into the office. It is extremely big and does not fit in the room. They cut off the top of it and Michael says that they are going to sell the top of the tree to charity because it is a perfectly good mini tree.

Jim got Pam's name for secret santa and got her a teapot that he knew she really wanted and filled it with inside jokes and got her a card that revealed his true feelings. Michael got a bonus for firing Devon and bought his secret santa a video iPod for his secret santa even though there was a 20 dollar limit. They start the party and turn off all the lights and count down to the lighting of the christmas tree. When the christmas lights come on, everyone is disappointed because Phyllis got tiny mini lights and they can barely be seen.



Secret Santa is going great until Ryan opens his iPod and Michael admits to getting a bonus and buying something great. Then when Michael opens his gift from Phyllis and finds a homemade oven mitt, he gets extremely upset because he thinks that Phyllis only loves him an homemade ovens mitt worth and he gave Ryan an iPod. Michael decides to turn Secret Santa into Yankee Swap. Everyone gets upset because they bought presents for specific people and now random people are getting their gifts.

Because the party is going so poorly, Michael buys 15 bottles of vodka and everyone starts drinking. Kelly kisses Dwight and Angela gets pissed off and goes outside and throws ornaments on the ground and stomps on them. Pam ended up with the iPod but traded with Dwight to get her teapot. Jim is very surprised and happy and shows Pam the inside jokes and she can't stop laughing.

Funny moments:

  • Kevin: "Why did you get the tree so big?" Michael: "A, that's what she said...."
  • Darryl wanting to be Santa for the day, but Michael wouldn't let him because he doesn't look like Santa.
  • Dwight running around with an elf hat and ears all day.
  • Jim getting one of Creed's old shirts for secret santa.
  • Michael: "Happy Birthday Jesus. Sorry your party's so lame."

Season 3: Benihana Christmas



Michael's girlfriend, Carol, comes into the office because she is upset with Michael. He had made a Christmas card with a photshopped picture of him with her and her 2 kids. He had put his face in the place of her ex-husband's. She doesn't know what to do about this action and about his proposal, so she breaks it off, leaving Michael with a pair of tickets to Sandals Jamaica

Pam tells Jim that she's been sending secret letters to Dwight pretending to be from the CIA and that his Christmas present is to send Dwight on his top secret mission. Jim declines because he doesn't feel that he should do such things now that he's been promoted.

To get Michael out of his depression, Andy insists on taking him to Benihana and Michael drags along Dwight and Jim. Dwight gets separated from the group and Jim plays pranks on him all night, making him realize that it was wrong of him to decline Pam's present.

Angela kicks Karen off the Party Planning Committee and Pam feels bad for being cold towards Karen since she started working there, so she reaches out to her and the two of them start their own Committee to Plan Parties. Their party is a smash hit while Angela's is boring and unsuccessful. They later agree to merge the two parties, once Pam and Karen realize that Angela is upset.

Michael and Andy return with "new girlfriends" from the restaurant who they think were their waitors, but they are really different girls. Michael then can't even distinguish between the two girls that they do bring back and can't tell which one is "his girlfriend." So he finds his girl and marks her arm with a Sharpie. The girls end up leaving after Michael offers his girl a trip to Jamaica, which she declines, because they say the party blows. Jim consoles Michael by telling him that he'd just had a rebound relationship. He says they can be a fun distraction, but at the end of the day, you're left thinking about the woman you really love. You can tell that he knows that Karen is just a rebound.

Before they leave for the night, Jim tells Pam that he's sent Dwight a message that tells him to wait on the roof for a helicopter to take him to a welcoming party at the CIA. Dwight waits on the roof and receives a text on his phone telling him that he's been compromised and he needs to abort and destroy his phone. So he throws his phone off the roof and leaves.

Funny Moments:

  • Michael: "Attention everyone. Christmas has been canceled." Stanley: "You can't cancel a holiday." Michael: "Keep it up Stanley and you'll lose New Year's."
  • Michael's talk on bros before hoes.
  • Michael listening to the same 30 seconds of a depressing song on iTunes because he doesn't want to buy it.
  • Angela stealing the karaoke's power cord.
  • Jim playing pranks on Dwight at Benihana's.










These episodes have great moments in them and I only hope that this week's episode has fun pranks and meaninful moments, just like these.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Schrute Farms

While browsing the NBC Office website, I found this great clip of Andy touring Schurte Farms. It was on Andy and Angela's Wedding Site, which you should definitely check out if you get a chance. It has their gift registry and stuff about the bachelor party and the wedding dress and honeymoon and all sorts of great hilarious stuff. But I thought this clip was so funny because it let us see even more of Schrute Farms, which is always enjoyable. We know that Dwight lives a pretty old-fashioned life, but this just helps prove it even more. There are many kinds of animals that he's obviously had stuffed and placed around his house. And the random decorations and old-fashioned technology are quite amusing. I hope you enjoy as much as I did!