The Office "A Benihana Christmas" (2006)

An hour-long episode featuring a classic office party? Sign me up. This was certainly the best episode of the season thus far. We have PB & J angst returning to the scene, petty office rivalries, and Michael and Carol are over opening the door to the true disaster that is sure to be the Michael/Jan relationship. I'm not sure if the creators of the series consider this to be one episode or two separate ones joined into an hour block, but I've chosen to review it as one single episode. The first half is mainly comprised of Michael's break-up and the two committees in charge of planning the office Christmas party (or rival parties) getting ready for the ultimate showdown leading to a cliffhanger ending that would certainly had me on edge had this been a serialized show like 24 and we had to wait a week to see its resolution. Stanley stands and is the first person to choose which party to attend. I've always loved Stanley and thought it was perfect for him to break the seal since he usually couldn't care less what goes on in the office anyway.

Michael has certainly crossed the line yet again which directly leads to his break-up with Carol. I'm surprised they're even still an item after the inappropriate proposal in "Diwali" and the way in which things were left unresolved. It's a shame as he certainly was looking forward to their island holiday getaway and thought maybe he had a chance of patching things up. Cue the photo-shopped Christmas card featuring Michael's head on Carol's ex-husband's body in a family photo. He sinks into a deep depression and even wants to cancel Christmas ("Jim, take New Year's away from Stanley!"). Andy decides to take Michael out to lunch and Michael needs his entourage which includes Jim and Dwight. Ryan with his massive workload, impending illness, multiple allergies and having eaten there last night is unable to attend. Picking up some attractive Asian waitresses seems to change his mood and they decide to make their way to the Christmas party.

Or parties as the Party Planning Committee's internal dissension had led to the formation of the Committee to Plan Parties. Teaming up Pam and Karen is a brilliant move and the two work surprisingly well together. They take great joy out of needling Angela about their rival party with karaoke and alcohol as opposed to the more traditional fare Angela has planned. Jim, initially wary of his current girlfriend and his past (or is it?) love working together, decides to allow them to have their fun by forming a committee to determine the validity of the new party committee. It's hilarious when he tells Dwight he is in session and that he cannot join his new committee. Considering how it must be Dwight's worst nightmare that his sworn nemesis now is Michael's number two, it's fitting with his character that he never questions Jim's final decisions as he is all about the chain of command.

Obviously the drunken singing party is a greater hit with the office staff and it impacts Angela a lot harder than expected. I think her role of party planner puts her in a position to be liked in the office despite her icy demeanor. She throws the parties which the employees should enjoy and therefore be thankful to her for. However it seems not everyone cares for her ideas of fun and she takes it personally that people like Karen and Pam over her. Pam being the caring soul that she is, and we love her more for it, knows when enough is enough and makes peace with the rival party and suggests the two merge into one. We did get to see a pretty public display of affection when Dwight takes Angela's hand in comfort and later holds the microphone while she sings "The Little Drummer Boy". I think deep down Angela wants to be liked by her office mates as they're probably the only friends she has. After all she hasn't even spoken to her sister in sixteen years over an argument she can't even remember.

I grow a little more disappointed with Jim in each episode following the branch merger. Pam takes a step toward reconciling and he takes a step back. Here she spends weeks preparing the perfect gift for Jim having fooled Dwight into thinking he is being recruited into the CIA. She gives him the opportunity to be the one to decide what his mission should be. Jim backs off and says he shouldn't be participating in these activities anymore given his new position. Pam is quite visibly upset over his decision and most likely certain of his real reasons. His thinly veiled excuse that he should move past his previous immature pranks against Dwight is an internal justification for also not goofing off with Pam. We've already seen he is more than willing to have fun at Dwight's expense and is more interested in keeping his distance than showing his new found maturity.

In the end, in what certainly spells doom for the Jim/Karen romance, when comforting Michael about his second break-up of the day, he tells Michael he was just on the rebound. It was a fun distraction to keep him from thinking about the one he's really loved and lost. Looking toward reception as he speaks these words, I believe Jim begins to realize just how much he has been pushing Pam away the last few weeks. He makes amends by telling Pam that Dwight is expected in D.C. for an ice cream social with his new fellow agents and should meet the helicopter on the roof of the building. I'm glad to see PB & J reconciling their rift and being friendly toward one another again, but it looks like Jim has already come to the conclusion that his relationship with Karen is only a rebound which casts a dark gloom over the future for the couple. I was hoping to bask a little longer in this fun couple but it looks like we can't always get what we want, but as it turns out, if we try sometimes, we get what we need. (Thanks Mick Jagger via Drs. House and Cuddy) And we certainly need a PB & J relationship that fans have been clamoring for since the very beginning.

Favorite moment: Michael marking the waitress's arm with a Sharpie so he can tell which one is his date for the party has to be one of the funniest moments of The Office that I have seen since I started watching the show. I still can not believe he would do that but I have to say he was pretty smooth about it. She never even notices she now has a mark on her arm. The practical, yet still unreal, action is perfectly in tune with Scott's character and hopefully signifies the return of socially awkward Michael and less of depressed lonely Michael.