DWIGHT CHRISTMAS

The Office
Season 9 (2012)

The first Christmas episode of The Office is a real gem, and while the show offered up quite a few holiday episodes the quality dwindled with each subsequent season.  Dwight Christmas is from the final season of the show so my expectations were low, though apparently not quite low enough.  

My lack of knowledge of the later seasons’ storylines and characters also interfered with my ability to enjoy this episode.  Where is Kelly? Where is Andy?  Who is this random guy flirting with Erin?  I love you, Catherine Tate, but what are you doing here? Why is Jim leaving for a job in Philadelphia?  Angela was engaged and Oscar slept with her fiancé?!    Oh, Office Season 9, you disappoint me so.

We start with the staff of Dunder Mifflin suddenly realizing that today is the day for their office Christmas party, which apparently everyone forgot about.  I was instantly confused by this opening scene, as we get a shot of a paper turkey, so at first I thought it was November and the party was meant to be happening early.  But no, I guess it’s December and they just didn’t bother taking down the Thanksgiving decorations?  As a sort of parting gift for Jim (who is leaving for the aforementioned job in Philadelphia), Pam convinces the party planning committee to let Dwight take the lead and host a “traditional Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas.”

Hark! Belsnickel draws nigh

Pam and Jim have fully morphed here from likeable underdogs to sneering cool kids, treating Dwight’s heartfelt efforts and traditions as fodder for their mockery.  They even rush to make fun of him when they spot him holding a candle and reading aloud.  Maybe he has it coming after 9 seasons of annoyance but really? Dwight, normally the antagonist, comes across as the bullied do-gooder in this episode.  His traditions, rooted in obscure-but-real German holiday festivities, involve serving pig stomach and dressing as Belsnickel, a sort of anti-Claus.  As Belsnickel he judges each co-worker either “admirable” or “impish,” respectively resulting in either a gift or a thrashing with a bundle of sticks.  Upset when Jim leaves the party early, Dwight gives him a hard thrashing in one of the episode’s standout moments.

Yeah, I'm not really feeling this party either.

After Dwight loses his shit the rest of the staff reclaims the party, transforming it into a more familiar office Christmas party (and a somewhat melancholy reminder of the show’s former Christmas glory).  There are like three other subplots also going on; like the current season of Parks & Recreation this episode suffers from subplot overload, with way too many characters running around doing way too many inconsequential things. Overall, it’s a mixed bag.  Belsnickel adds some spark and there are a few funny moments but overall it just isn’t very festive—and that can’t be blamed on the pig stomach but rather a show that didn’t know when to bow out gracefully.

Christmas Quotient: Not even the final scenes, which harken back to the Christmas Office episodes of old, can elevate this past a 2.

See It, Skip It, Own It?
December is flying by and there are lots of quality episodes to watch so skip this one.