The Office Review - 8.10 'Christmas Wishes'
Posted by Mike Nasiatka on 12.09.2011
It's Christmas time in Scranton, Pennsylvania and Andy's girlfriend is coming to Andy's first ever office Christmas party as regional manager. How will our favorite Dunder-Mifflinites ring in the holiday season? Find out in 411's The Office review.
The day has finally arrived. The Office Christmas episode is finally here! I have not kept my affinity for Office Christmas episodes much of a secret. So many of the show’s best moments have occurred during Christmas episodes. My personal favorite moment occurred during season two’s “Christmas Party” when Creed finally became Creed.
As I have said in previous columns, despite my almost constant dislike of this season, I was hoping the Christmas episode would deliver. After watching “Christmas Wishes,” I can confidently say it did. The episode, like the season, was flawed, but I can say for the first time this season that I thoroughly enjoyed an entire episode.
Firstly, as far as this episode is concerned, I am glad Andy Bernard was the choice to replace Michael Scott as regional manager was the best possible one. I loved how much Michael Scott cared about making Christmas special for the office, and Andy Bernard is no different. Tonight’s episode did a great job of showing just how much Andy cares for everyone. For a bonus, the “hard-ass” hat bit was great.
Speaking of Andy, tonight we FINALLY received some hints of story progression. It seems as if we will surely receive some sort of culmination in the Andy-Erin saga. While were waiting, at least Andy finally has a real, tangible girlfriend to keep the storyline churning.
While I haven’t been a fan of the show’s consistent stalling, tonight’s stalling was the good sort. All us viewers were undoubtedly intrigued by the little Robert California and Erin situation toward the end. While nothing of any concrete significance happened, we can accurately guess Andy’s feelings, which in itself is significant.
As for Erin, she has just been fantastic as of late. Drunk Erin somewhat reminded me of drunk Pam from “The Dundies,” but was different enough to feel fresh. I hope the writers really continue the hard sell on Erin as the season continues.
Another consistently great performer this season has been Darryl. Tonight, Darryl had his first touching moment as he dressed in a tuxedo to make Val feel less embarrassed. Darryl has been one of this season’s few highlights, and with a good story arc, his character can really move to the next level.
The rest of the cast contributed solid stuff to round out the episode. The Jim and Dwight thing seemed repetitive but I got a few laughs out of it. Plus, it was cool to see a porcupine in the office. Kevin’s oatmeal bit had me laughing out loud. Also, Ryan has had some great contributions these last few weeks with little lines or gestures. His point to Robert California after the Black Eyed Peas diatribe was brilliantly done.
Robert California was kind of a downer this week, as he really added nothing to the episode. He was useful in the Erin angle, but other than that, he wasn’t his normal self. I suppose this is a good thing, as the cast needs to be able to function without him. Furthermore, does his wife leaving him mean Maura Tierney was just a one-off appearance? Was there really any point to her being on the show?
While I have to say this was my least favorite Office Christmas episode, it was easily my favorite episode this season and one of the better episodes of the entire series. Every year The Office Christmas episode manages to capture a special feeling from its viewers. Who can ever forget the karaoke from “A Benihana Christmas.” This year’s Trans-Siberian Orchestra attempted to capture such feeling. It did the job, but I couldn’t help but think about how this quality may not return.
The 411: Season 10's clear highlight thus far. "Christmas Wishes" amped up the laughs and got us caring about at least a few characters again. The Office once again delivered a more than solid Christmas offering. While the pessimist in me predicts a return to poor form after this, I will at least enjoy what this week's episode brought us.
Last weeks episode was best 10/10.
This weeks episode second best 9/10.
Posted By: Guest#2807 (Guest) on December 09, 2011 at 01:31 PM
Great show this week. Loved to see Jim and Dwight back to old pranks and drunk Erin was a lot of laughs.
Posted By: Guest#8652 (Guest) on December 09, 2011 at 03:39 PM
I agree this was the best episode of the season. I am wondering if the Erin/Robert thing was supposed to endear us more to Robert, whom up to this point we've had an emotional disconnect with. Robert making sure Erin was taken care of as drunk as she was, was a nice touch.
Kelly as Erin's friend fighting for her was also a highlight of the episode for me.
Posted By: NortheGreat (Guest) on December 09, 2011 at 04:35 PM
I'm sorry but this episode sucked. It was the worst episode I ever saw of this show and I hope they can bounce back before being cancelled without a true ending.
Posted By: Guest#6174 (Guest) on December 11, 2011 at 05:32 PM
I hate Erin, and Andy has been and always will be my least favorite character on the show. The fact that the whole series is now all about them makes me very very sad.
Posted By: Mike (Guest) on December 19, 2011 at 08:05 AM
"Season 10's clear highlight thus far."
It's Season 8.
Posted By: MM (Guest) on December 26, 2011 at 10:55 PM
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