Episode 13 - Secret Santa
14 February 2010
Review
Synopsis: Jim allows Phyllis to be Santa at the office Christmas party which infuriates Michael who also dresses as Santa. Michael competes with her and then changes into a Jesus costume and heckles her. He calls David Wallace to complain and learns that the company is being sold. He tells everyone but they are relieved to hear from David that they will keep their jobs. Meanwhile Andy gives Erin the “12 Days of Christmas” and Oscar flirts with Matt from the warehouse.
The Good: Andy’s romance with Erin looks set to come to a suitably saccharine and secretly heart warming conclusion. His attempt to give her the actual “12 Days of Christmas” was suitably sweet, foolish and over the top.
Oscar’s cool guy brush off of Matt was an interesting little moment. It would be nice to explore Oscar’s character further, as it would with practically all the characters. Pam’s delight at playing matchmaker for him seemed entirely plausible and fun. Kelly’s ridiculous happiness at being given a Twilight poster was very also appropriate.
Even through his petulance Michael managed to be funny. He referred to Phyllis as “Trannyclaus” before declaring “Phyllis is only pretending to be a man. I am the real thing. Sit down on my lap and there will be no doubt” to many a noise of discomfort. His inappropriateness continues as he tries to force Ryan to sit on his lap exclaiming “I need this.” It suited his character well to then try and trump Phyllis by dressing as Jesus. His sarcastic heckling did have one fun moment when he pointed out that Stanley’s adultery was a sin.
The announcement that Dunder Mifflin is being sold answers the question of what was going to happen to the company in the short term. Presumably it will allow for a management shakeup which will drive the arc plot for the second half of the season. I did enjoy the way both Michael and David’s assistants were listening in to the call much to Michael’s shock.
The Bad: Otherwise this episode largely failed as a story. This season has seen way too much Michael. He has dominated every story and I think it has damaged the show, overexposing one of their greatest assets. Petulant child Michael becomes tiresome to watch here, his pouting drags down any sense of momentum in the story. The scene where he encourages Kevin to sit on his lap and then regrets it felt far too obvious and went on too long. Kevin is made to look too much like a simpleton when he accepts things like Michael’s sarcastic offer of helium balloons. I didn’t really see how Michael’s thoughtful present to Dwight fit into the story either. Instead of counter balancing his bad behaviour it felt very out of place.
David Wallace’s calm presence will be missed from the show. But you have to think he looks like a moron for telling Michael any news at this point. The way Michael conned David into speaking to him again was the same joke as when he got through to Jim and Pam on honeymoon (605). I also didn’t particularly like the way Angela’s character was handled. The joke seemed to be that her Christianity is all judgemental and ignored how sacrilegious it was for Michael to dress up as Jesus. But it seemed inconsistent and would have been more enjoyable if she had taken a more understandable stance on his behaviour.
Comic Highlight: Michael prepares to tell everyone the news that they will soon be out of a job and launches into one of his inappropriate outpourings: “All of you feel like my family. Ryan you are my son and Pam you are my wife and Jim. And Angela and Phyllis you are my grandma’s and Stanley you are our mailman...” You knew something vaguely racist had to be coming and Stanley’s look of confusion just made me giggle.
That’s what I said: For me The Office is reverting to seasons two and three when Michael’s irritating behaviour made me question why the show was so popular. At the start of the episode we got one joke where Jim and Dwight tried to explain their unveiling of the tree and were heckled by everyone. It reminded me of how much fun the dynamic of them having to work together was last season (514, 515, 526). Those dynamics exist elsewhere in the office and we need to see more of them because Michael alone can drag the show down.
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