"Moroccan Christmas" is the eleventh episode of the fifth season of the The Office television series, and the entire episode of the eighty-three show. This episode aired in the United States on December 11, 2008 on NBC.
This is the third Christmas-themed episode of The Office and the first in two years, because the planned edition in 2007 was abandoned because of the Writers Guild 2007-2008 strike.
In this episode, Phyllis throws a Moroccan-themed Christmas party as chairman of the Party Planning Committee, angering the former head of Angela. The party took a dark turn when Meredith drank and accidentally set her hair on fire. Meanwhile, Dwight makes money by taking advantage of the latest toy, Princess Unicorn doll.
Video Moroccan Christmas
Plot
Phyllis (Phyllis Smith) held a Moroccan-themed Christmas party, her first Christmas party as chairman of the Party Planning Committee. Alcohol is served at the party, which Meredith (Kate Flannery) takes full advantage - she gets so drunk that she accidentally styles her hair while she dances. Dwight (Rainn Wilson) extinguished the fire with the fire extinguisher and the party stopped. Michael (Steve Carell) then begins an intervention by gathering everyone in a circle to discuss how Meredith's alcoholism affects them. As Meredith continued to deny his alcohol, the rest of the office found the best to return to the party. Michael then talks with Meredith in his office before leaving the building. Meredith was told by Michael that they were going to the bar, but he actually took her to the rehab. When Meredith sees this, he tries to run away, but Michael grabs her and drags her to the middle. However, Michael knew that the staff would not check anyone against their will, so he and Meredith went and returned to the office.
Dwight has done research to determine what toys are most popular from the current Christmas season: a doll called "Princess Unicorn". Dwight had bought every doll he could find in a local toy store and explained that he would sell the doll to desperate parents for a big profit. Jim (John Krasinski) is skeptical that people will pay high prices for a doll, but he sees a lot of customers coming all day to buy dolls from Dwight, all paying the asking price of $ 200. Toby (Paul Lieberstein) wants to buy a doll for his daughter, Sasha, so he can be a hero this Christmas, which will make his ex-wife feel upset. When he goes to Dwight to buy one, he discovers that Darryl (Craig Robinson) has bought the latter. Toby begged Darryl to close in tears, and Darryl offered to sell it to him at double the price. Toby tells him that he has no money with her, but Darryl allows him to pay him back later, and Toby becomes happy looking. She was, however, a little surprised when the doll she got from Darryl was the black version of the doll, but she decided not to complain.
Throughout the day, Phyllis continues to order Angela (Angela Kinsey) to perform various tasks for the party, such as preparing a plate of bread and hummus, or getting rid of the scene of the Nativity and releasing the Christmas tree (because none of them are on the Moroccan Christmas theme). When Phyllis told Angela to return the Christmas tree after Michael and Meredith left, Angela refused. He points out that Angela's affair with Dwight is one that Phyllis holds, and she believes Phyllis will not just give up. However, Phyllis immediately announced Angela and Dwight's affairs to the office. Everyone was surprised by the revelations, except for Dwight, who was amused. Andy (Ed Helms), however, was not present for Phyllis's announcement, for being in a pavilion that taught him to play the sitar. At the end of the episode, she returns to the party to play "Deck the Halls" for Angela in the sitar, before she asks her to take her home. The rest of his office was empty in Phyllis's phrase and neglected to reveal Angela's secrets to Andy.
Maps Moroccan Christmas
Production
"Moroccan Christmas" was written by Justin Spitzer and directed by Paul Feig. Kate Flannery said the filming of this episode was "probably the most fun I've ever done in front of a camera". Though Flannery had taken his own action in previous episodes, including when he was hit by a car in the fourth season premiere of "Fun Run", a stuntwoman was used for a scene where his hair was burned in "Moroccan Christmas".
Cultural reference
Shortly after Meredith's hair caught fire, Kevin called it a "fire girl". This is a reference to the second season episode of "The Fire", during which Ryan Howard accidentally set fire to the office, earning himself the nickname "fire man". When Meredith angrily stated that he was okay during the intervention, Michael referred to the two entertainers when he replied, "Is John Belushi okay? Is Bob Hope all right?" While Michael is a caring bar during the party, he makes Jim a drink that contains orange juice and vodka. Though commonly known as Screwdrivers, Michael nonchalantly referred to it as "Orange-Vod-Juice-Ka", implying that he was the first to blend it.
Reception
Phyllis's takeover of the Party Planning Committee and the ensuing bout with Angela ranked number 9 on phillyBurbs.com 's top ten moments of the fifth season The Office . However, "Christmas Morocco" was chosen as the second lowest episode of the fifth season 26, according to an episode poll on OfficeTally fansite; The episode was rated 7.08 out of 10.
Brian Howard of The Journal News mixed in his review of "Morocco Christmas". He praised the cold open scene, Toby's reaction to the doll and Andy's reaction at the end of the episode. But Howard said he did not enjoy the theme of a Moroccan Christmas party, and felt the alcoholism scene Meredith and Michael dragging him into rehabilitation more clumsily than funny. "Morocco Christmas" received generally mixed reviews. Alan Sepinwall, television columnist with The Star-Ledger, highly praised "Christmas Morocco," which he said featured "a consistent joy mixed with some of the sharpest emotions we've ever had from a Jim & Pam Story ". Sepinwall called it a powerful episode for the characters Dwight, Andy, Meredith, and Phyllis, and especially praised the acting of Phyllis Smith. TV writer Shahzad Abbas called it an "excellent episode," referring to the intervening scenes and battles between Phyllis and Angela as "very intense". Abbas said he was looking forward to seeing new developments unfold, and said Ed Helms had "never been better with his' where these 'spirits'' 'souls'' reacted.
New York-based magazine writer Will Leitch criticized the episode, claiming the main story between Meredith and Michael seemed to be forced and unsuccessful. Leitch is very fond of Phyllis's subplot, claiming his negative behavior toward Angela is incompatible with character and ineffective.
References
External links
- "Morocco Christmas" at NBC.com
- "Moroccan Christmas" in IMDb
- "Morocco Christmas" on TV.com
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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