‘The Office’: The tale of two Santas

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Santa Claus is coming to town! And over in Scranton, they get two!

At the onset, we learn Dwight is too tired in December to continue his evil plot against Jim. Thanks, Dwight! I was getting too tired of it, too! ‘Secret Santa’ saw Phyllis and Michael battling for the title of Santa in the office. And sweet ol’ Phyllis wasn’t about to back down easily, vowing to invoke the wrath of Bob Vance (of Vance Refrigeration) on Jim if he didn’t get Michael out of the other Santa attire. If only it were that easy. And if only the sequence wasn’t so long. Michael eventually hung up his Santa hat -- actually, he drenched it in punch -- and opted to turn his suit inside out and take on another character of Christmas: Jesus Christ. A logical choice. After all, ‘his last name is Christ. He has the power of flight. He can heal leopards.’

Otherwise, love is in the air at Dunder Mifflin. Andy continues to pine over Erin, making sure he’s her Secret Santa. But his gift was a little too inspired. A real-life 12 Days of Christmas seems sweet in theory, but in reality, giving someone you admire a flock of birds isn’t quite romantic. It’s just messy. And can result in scratches on the face. And Oscar -- not wanting more people to confuse Kevin for his mate, perhaps -- has developed a crush on the Matt, ‘gay warehouse guy.’ This is a relationship I would like to see explored. If it becomes a relationship. Not sure Oscar calling Matt ‘Mark’ would help. But Oscar says he knows what he’s doing. So, we’ll see...

Meanwhile, the bankruptcy storyline got some screen time. Dunder Mifflin has a buyer. Good news, right? For our friends in Scranton, maybe. But the future of David Wallace and other executives doesn’t look so promising. It will be interesting to see how the new corporate big wigs will stir things up when new episodes air in January. The show already has explored how Michael’s management style meshes with a new boss coming in -- and the result is that Scranton produces good numbers. But will that be enough this time around?

As the fate of the company remains uncertain, it’s nice to see that some of Dunder Mifflin’s traditions live on. The karaoke machine made a cameo! But Angela didn’t take the stage to reprise her rendition of ‘Little Drummer Boy.’ Just Dwight singing a Green Day song. How festive.

Here are some highlights from the episode:

-- Creed’s concern of having been a really naughty -- ‘more evil’ -- boy

-- Kevin’s surprise and happiness at finally getting the chance to sit on someone’s lap -- and he did it with gusto!

-- Kelly swooning over the Edward Cullen poster she received from her Secret Santa (Jim).

What did you think of the episode? Was it as fulfilling as ‘Office’ Christmas episodes of yore?

-- Yvonne Villarreal