Christmas does have a tendency to bring out the weirdness and tonight was no exception on The Office. Previous Office Christmases have prompted romantic issues among the staff. There was the year that Michael asked Jan to go with him to Jamaica (Sandals! All inclusive!) and the year that everyone found out about Dwight and Angela’s secret affair... Everyone except Andy, that is. This year, Erin let her true feelings about Andy’s girlfriend be known and Andy let us know how he felt about Erin through his actions at the end of the episode.
I would’ve loved a flashback glimpse at this “Mo Rocca” themed Christmas party that Stanley complained about, but alas we never actually saw it. It sounds glorious though. Stanley got his Christmas wish this year in that there was no theme to the party. Andy was trying to grant people their Christmas wishes, which included a ride home for Meredith, and beachside property on the light side of the moon for Dwight.
Andy’s girlfriend Jessica made her first appearance tonight and, while Erin went out of her way to be polite to her at first, that fell apart after she had a few drinks and admitted to Andy that her Christmas wish was for Jessica to be dead. Andy responded to that angrily but later we saw him driving to Erin’s neighborhood, likely checking to see if Robert, who was giving Erin a ride home, was “taking her home” or just taking her home. Andy’s look of relief at seeing Robert leaving Erin on the sidewalk with some advice about drinking lots of water spoke volumes. Then again, we already knew Andy still had feelings for her. The question is, will he dump Jessica and pursue Erin? Or will they continue to dance awkwardly around each other and never be together?
Speaking of dancing, Dwight and Jim were challenged by Andy not to prank one another. If one was caught pranking the other, that person would hand over their commission check to the other. So, instead of spending the night trying to prank each other, they spent the night trying to frame the other one for pranks on themselves. Dwight brought a porcupine into the office and tried to blame Jim. Jim defaced a picture of his daughter and nearly got Dwight fired for it.
The effort to get creative with Jim and Dwight’s pranking was notable but it didn’t really do much for me. In the end, Andy called it quits on the deal, realizing it was a bad idea. Jim conveniently forgot to tell Dwight, who was too busy spray-painting Jim is Awesome on his own car.
I did laugh when Dwight blasted some Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and when Kelly and Ryan gave Angela a shirt that says, “Ask, then touch.” Angela seemed thrilled. And Darryl scored points tonight when he left to put on a tuxedo to match the formal attire worn by Val. She took his comment about people getting dressed up to mean formalwear, so it was kind of his fault, but he fixed it and it seemed like he might have won her over a bit when he returned to the office as dressed up as she was.
Overtime
“Just give me plain, baby Jesus, lyin’ in a manger Christmas!” Stanley.
“Gam-gam’s name is Ruth Jim! You should know. I introduced her to you on speakerphone that time...” - Andy, frustrated that Jim forgot.
“I’m so tired of the Black Eyed Peas! It’s rock ‘n roll for people who don’t like rock ‘n roll. It’s rap for people who don’t like rap. It’s pop for people who don’t like pop...” - Robert California. This included an approving nod from Ryan.
“I am always acting in self defense. Occasionally preemptive self defense.” - Dwight, just before he hit Jim.
“My ex is meeting my sex, which is always scary... And not just because you think they might talk about your penis. That’s just part of it.” - Andy, on Jessica meeting Erin.
“I get really pranky when I drink.” - Jim
“Jiminy Christmas!” - Erin, after doing a shot.
“I meant dressed up compared to normal. You usually dress like a Ghostbusters.” - Darryl, to Val, who dressed too formally for the party.
“I don’t want to put you out but if someone’s making oatmeal, I’ll take an apple cinnamon and a maple brown sugar in one bowl, with whole milk.” - Kevin, placing an oatmeal order.
“I wish Jessica was in a graveyard, under the ground, with worms coming out of her mouth.” Erin on Jessica.
“Jessica, did you just fart?” Kelly, doing her friendly duty to embarrass Jessica on Erin’s orders.
