Moroccan Christmas
Encyclopedia
"Moroccan Christmas" is the eleventh episode of the fifth season of the television series
The Office, and the show's eighty-third episode overall. The episode aired in the United States
on December 11, 2008 on NBC
.
It is the third Christmas-themed episode of The Office and the first in two years, as 2007's planned edition was abandoned due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
.
In this episode, Phyllis throws a Moroccan-themed Christmas party as head of the Party Planning Committee, infuriating former head Angela. The party takes a dark turn when Meredith gets drunk and accidentally catches her hair on fire. Meanwhile, Dwight takes advantage of the latest toy craze - a Princess Unicorn doll.
-themed Christmas party, her first Christmas party as head of the Party Planning Committee. Alcohol is served at the party, of which Meredith
(Kate Flannery
) takes full advantage—she gets so intoxicated that she accidentally sets her hair on fire while she is dancing around. Dwight
(Rainn Wilson
) puts out the fire with an extinguisher and the party comes to a halt. Michael
(Steve Carell
) then stages an intervention
by gathering everyone in a circle to discuss how Meredith's alcoholism affects them. When Meredith continues to deny her alcoholism, the rest of the office find it best to go back to the party. Michael then talks with Meredith in his office before leaving the building. Meredith is told by Michael that they are going to a bar, but he actually takes her to a rehabilitation center
. When Meredith sees this, she tries to escape, but Michael grabs her and drags her into the center. However, Michael learns that the staff will not check anyone in against their will, so he and Meredith leave and head back to the office.
Dwight has been performing research to determine what will be the most popular toy of the current Christmas season: a doll named "Princess Unicorn", which is (as the name implies) a princess with a unicorn horn on its head. Dwight has bought every doll he could find in the local toy stores and explains he is going to sell the dolls to desperate parents for an enormous profit. Jim
(John Krasinski
) is skeptical that people would pay a high price for a doll, but he watches numerous customers come in throughout the day to purchase a doll from Dwight, all paying his asking price of $200. Toby
(Paul Lieberstein
) wants to buy a doll for his daughter, Sasha, so he can be the hero this Christmas, which would irritate his ex-wife. When he goes to Dwight to purchase one, he finds that Darryl
(Craig Robinson) has already purchased the last one. Toby begs Darryl to the verge of tears, and Darryl offers to sell it to him for twice the price. Toby tells him that he does not have the money with him, but Darryl allows him to pay him back later, and Toby becomes visibly happy. He is, however, slightly shocked when the doll he gets from Darryl is a black
version of the doll, but he decides not to complain.
Throughout the day, Phyllis continues to order Angela
(Angela Kinsey
) to do various tasks for the party, such as preparing a plate of bread and hummus
during Michael's intervention, or putting away her Nativity
scene and removing the Christmas tree (as neither of those are in the theme of Moroccan Christmas). When Phyllis tells Angela to bring back the Christmas tree after Michael and Meredith leave, Angela refuses, telling Phyllis that she will no longer fulfill Phyllis' demands. Phyllis threatens to inform everyone of Angela's affair with Dwight, but Angela still refuses, as Phyllis would no longer be head of the Party Planning Committee if she did. As Phyllis despondently heads toward the door, she suddenly turns around and announces to the office that Angela is having an affair with Dwight, much to everyone's shock. Angela is visibly upset while Dwight is visibly amused. Pam
(Jenna Fischer
) claims that she knew it all along, which Jim initially doubts, but then decides to believe her in the spirit of Christmas. Andy
(Ed Helms
), however, was absent for Phyllis' announcement, having been in the annex teaching himself to play a sitar
. At the end of the episode, he returns to the party to play "Deck the Halls" for Angela on the sitar, before she asks him to take her home. The rest of the office decide not to reveal Angela's secret to Andy.
and directed by Paul Feig
. Kate Flannery said shooting this episode was "maybe the most fun I have ever had working in front of a camera". Although Flannery has done her own stunts in previous episodes, including when she was struck by a car in the fourth season
premiere "Fun Run
", a stuntwoman was used for the scenes in which her hair catches fire in "Moroccan Christmas".
episode "The Fire", in which then-temp Ryan Howard
accidentally sets a fire in the office, earning himself the nickname "fire guy" from Kevin. When Meredith angrily declares she is fine during her intervention, Michael refers to two entertainers when he responds, "Was John Belushi
fine? Was Bob Hope
fine?" While Michael is bar tending during the party, he makes Jim a drink containing orange juice
and vodka
. Though commonly known as a screwdriver (cocktail)
, Michael ignorantly refers to it as an "Orange-Vod-Juice-Ka" implying that he was the first person to concoct it.
' s top ten moments from the fifth season of The Office. However, "Moroccan Christmas" was voted the second lowest-rated episode out of 26 from the fifth season, according to an episode poll at the fansite OfficeTally; the episode was rated 7.08 out of 10.
Brian Howard of The Journal News
was mixed in his review of "Moroccan 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 Moroccan Christmas party theme, and felt scenes of Meredith's alcoholism and Michael dragging her to rehab were more awkward than funny. "Moroccan Christmas" received generally mixed reviews. Alan Sepinwall, television columnist with The Star-Ledger
, was highly complimentary toward "Moroccan Christmas", which he said featured "consistent hilarity mixed in with some of the sharpest emotion we've ever gotten from a non Jim & Pam story". Sepinwall called it a strong episode for the Dwight, Andy Meredith and Phyllis characters, and particularly complimented the acting of Phyllis Smith. TV Guide
writer Shahzad Abbas called it an "excellent episode all around", referring to intervention scene and the fighting among Phyllis and Angela as "really intense stuff". Abbas said she looked forward to seeing the new developments unfold, and said Ed Helms had "never been better with his 'where's these people's Christmas spirit' reaction".
New York
magazine writer Will Leitch
criticized the episode, claiming the main story between Meredith and Michael seemed forced and did not work. Leitch particularly disliked the Phyllis subplot, claiming her negative behavior toward Angela was out of character and ineffective.
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
The Office, and the show's eighty-third episode overall. The episode aired in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on December 11, 2008 on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
.
It is the third Christmas-themed episode of The Office and the first in two years, as 2007's planned edition was abandoned due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
The 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, more commonly referred to as simply the Writers' Strike, was a strike by the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West ....
.
In this episode, Phyllis throws a Moroccan-themed Christmas party as head of the Party Planning Committee, infuriating former head Angela. The party takes a dark turn when Meredith gets drunk and accidentally catches her hair on fire. Meanwhile, Dwight takes advantage of the latest toy craze - a Princess Unicorn doll.
Plot
Phyllis (Phyllis Smith) throws a MoroccanMorocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
-themed Christmas party, her first Christmas party as head of the Party Planning Committee. Alcohol is served at the party, of which Meredith
Meredith Palmer
Meredith Elizabeth Palmer is a fictional character from the US television series The Office. She is played by Kate Flannery. She is an original character and has no equivalent in the British version of the show, The Office....
(Kate Flannery
Kate Flannery
Katherine Patricia "Kate" Flannery is an American actress best known for playing the role of Meredith Palmer on the NBC hit series The Office.-Personal life:...
) takes full advantage—she gets so intoxicated that she accidentally sets her hair on fire while she is dancing around. Dwight
Dwight Schrute
Dwight Kurt Schrute III is a character on NBC's The Office portrayed by Rainn Wilson. He originally exactly resembled Gareth Keenan from the original UK version of The Office. Dwight is the top salesman and former acting manager for the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company and has won numerous awards for...
(Rainn Wilson
Rainn Wilson
Rainn Dietrich Wilson is an American actor and comedian. He is primarily known for his role as the egomaniacal Dwight Schrute on the American version of the television comedy The Office...
) puts out the fire with an extinguisher and the party comes to a halt. Michael
Michael Scott (The Office)
Michael Gary Scott is a fictional character on NBC's The Office, portrayed by Steve Carell, and based on David Brent from the original British version. Michael, the central character of the series, was the manager of the Scranton branch of paper and printer distribution company Dunder Mifflin Inc...
(Steve Carell
Steve Carell
Steven John "Steve" Carell is an American comedian, actor, voice artist, producer, writer, and director. Although Carell is notable for his role on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, he found greater fame in the late 2000s for playing Michael Scott on The Office...
) then stages an intervention
Intervention (counseling)
An intervention is an orchestrated attempt by one, or often many, people to get someone to seek professional help with an addiction or some kind of traumatic event or crisis, or other serious problem. The term intervention is most often used when the traumatic event involves addiction to drugs...
by gathering everyone in a circle to discuss how Meredith's alcoholism affects them. When Meredith continues to deny her alcoholism, the rest of the office find it best to go back to the party. Michael then talks with Meredith in his office before leaving the building. Meredith is told by Michael that they are going to a bar, but he actually takes her to a rehabilitation center
Drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...
. When Meredith sees this, she tries to escape, but Michael grabs her and drags her into the center. However, Michael learns that the staff will not check anyone in against their will, so he and Meredith leave and head back to the office.
Dwight has been performing research to determine what will be the most popular toy of the current Christmas season: a doll named "Princess Unicorn", which is (as the name implies) a princess with a unicorn horn on its head. Dwight has bought every doll he could find in the local toy stores and explains he is going to sell the dolls to desperate parents for an enormous profit. Jim
Jim Halpert
James Duncan "Jim" Halpert is a fictional character in the United States version of the television sitcom The Office, played by John Krasinski. The character is based on Tim Canterbury from the original version of The Office...
(John Krasinski
John Krasinski
John Burke Krasinski is an American actor, film director, and writer. He is most widely known for playing Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom The Office...
) is skeptical that people would pay a high price for a doll, but he watches numerous customers come in throughout the day to purchase a doll from Dwight, all paying his asking price of $200. Toby
Toby Flenderson
Toby Wyatt Flenderson, M.S.W. born 1971 is a character from the US television series The Office. He is played by Paul Lieberstein. He is an original character and has no equivalent in the British version of the show, The Office.-Overview:...
(Paul Lieberstein
Paul Lieberstein
Paul Bevan Lieberstein is an American screenwriter, actor and television producer. An Emmy Award winner, he is most widely known as a writer, producer, and as supporting cast member Toby Flenderson on the U.S...
) wants to buy a doll for his daughter, Sasha, so he can be the hero this Christmas, which would irritate his ex-wife. When he goes to Dwight to purchase one, he finds that Darryl
Darryl Philbin
Darryl Mathias Philbin is a fictional character from the US television series The Office. He is played by Craig Robinson.-Overview:Darryl Philbin is the foreman of the warehouse of the Scranton branch of fictitious paper distributor Dunder Mifflin....
(Craig Robinson) has already purchased the last one. Toby begs Darryl to the verge of tears, and Darryl offers to sell it to him for twice the price. Toby tells him that he does not have the money with him, but Darryl allows him to pay him back later, and Toby becomes visibly happy. He is, however, slightly shocked when the doll he gets from Darryl is a black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
version of the doll, but he decides not to complain.
Throughout the day, Phyllis continues to order Angela
Angela Martin
Angela Noelle Martin is a fictional character from the US television series The Office played by American actress Angela Kinsey. She is an original character, and has no equivalent in the British version of the show, The Office.-Overview:...
(Angela Kinsey
Angela Kinsey
Angela Kinsey is an American actress. She currently appears as the uptight accountant Angela Martin on the hit NBC television series The Office.-Personal life:...
) to do various tasks for the party, such as preparing a plate of bread and hummus
Hummus
Hummus is high in iron and vitamin C and also has significant amounts of folate and vitamin B6. The chickpeas make it a good source of protein and dietary fiber; the tahini consists mostly of sesame seeds, which are an excellent source of the amino acid methionine, complementing the proteins in the...
during Michael's intervention, or putting away her Nativity
Nativity of Jesus
The Nativity of Jesus, or simply The Nativity, refers to the accounts of the birth of Jesus in two of the Canonical gospels and in various apocryphal texts....
scene and removing the Christmas tree (as neither of those are in the theme of Moroccan Christmas). When Phyllis tells Angela to bring back the Christmas tree after Michael and Meredith leave, Angela refuses, telling Phyllis that she will no longer fulfill Phyllis' demands. Phyllis threatens to inform everyone of Angela's affair with Dwight, but Angela still refuses, as Phyllis would no longer be head of the Party Planning Committee if she did. As Phyllis despondently heads toward the door, she suddenly turns around and announces to the office that Angela is having an affair with Dwight, much to everyone's shock. Angela is visibly upset while Dwight is visibly amused. Pam
Pam Beesly
Pamela Morgan "Pam" Halpert is a fictional character on the U.S. television sitcom The Office, played by Jenna Fischer. Her counterpart in the original UK series of The Office is Dawn Tinsley....
(Jenna Fischer
Jenna Fischer
Regina Marie "Jenna" Fischer is an American actress and director. She is most widely known for her Emmy-nominated portrayal of Pam Halpert on the NBC situation comedy and mockumentary The Office, and has also appeared in several films, including Blades of Glory, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,...
) claims that she knew it all along, which Jim initially doubts, but then decides to believe her in the spirit of Christmas. Andy
Andy Bernard
Andrew "Andy" Baines Bernard is a fictional character from the U.S. television series The Office. The character is highly insecure, yet egotistical, constantly mentioning his education at Cornell University...
(Ed Helms
Ed Helms
Edward Paul "Ed" Helms is an American actor and comedian known for his work as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as Andy Bernard on the US version of the sitcom/mockumentary The Office and for his role as Dr. Stu Price in The Hangover films.- Early life :Helms was born and raised...
), however, was absent for Phyllis' announcement, having been in the annex teaching himself to play a sitar
Sitar
The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
. At the end of the episode, he returns to the party to play "Deck the Halls" for Angela on the sitar, before she asks him to take her home. The rest of the office decide not to reveal Angela's secret to Andy.
Production
"Moroccan Christmas" was written by Justin SpitzerJustin Spitzer
Justin Spitzer is an American television writer, whose credits include Scrubs and Courting Alex. He is currently serving as a staff writer on The Office...
and directed by Paul Feig
Paul Feig
Paul S. Feig is an American director, actor and author. Feig is known for playing Mr. Eugene Pool, Sabrina's science teacher, on the first season of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch as well as Tim a camp counselor on the hit kids movie Heavyweights...
. Kate Flannery said shooting this episode was "maybe the most fun I have ever had working in front of a camera". Although Flannery has done her own stunts in previous episodes, including when she was struck by a car in the fourth season
The Office (U.S. TV series) season 4
The fourth season of the American television comedy The Office premiered in the United States on NBC on September 27, 2007, and concluded on May 15, 2008. The season consisted of 9 half-hour episodes, and 5 hour-long episodes to comprise the 19 total episodes of material created...
premiere "Fun Run
Fun Run
"Fun Run" is the fourth season premiere of the American comedy television series The Office, and the show's fifty-fourth episode overall...
", a stuntwoman was used for the scenes in which her hair catches fire in "Moroccan Christmas".
Cultural references
Shortly after Meredith's hair catches fire, Kevin calls her "fire girl". This is a reference to the second seasonThe Office (U.S. TV series) season 2
The second season of the American situation comedy television series, The Office, premiered in the United States on NBC on September 20, 2005, and ended on May 11, 2006. The season had 22 episodes, including its first 40-minute "super-sized" episode...
episode "The Fire", in which then-temp Ryan Howard
Ryan Howard (The Office)
Ryan Bailey Howard , played by B. J. Novak, is a fictional character on the US television sitcom The Office. He is based upon Ricky Howard from the original version of The Office , but his role is significantly expanded and he is a main character.-Character profile:Little is known about Ryan's...
accidentally sets a fire in the office, earning himself the nickname "fire guy" from Kevin. When Meredith angrily declares she is fine during her intervention, Michael refers to two entertainers when he responds, "Was John Belushi
John Belushi
John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, The Star of the Films National Lampoon's Animal House and the The Blues Brothers and for fronting the American blues and soul...
fine? Was Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
fine?" While Michael is bar tending during the party, he makes Jim a drink containing orange juice
Orange juice
Orange juice is a popular beverage made from oranges. It is made by extraction from the fresh fruit, by desiccation and subsequent reconstitution of dried juice, or by concentration of the juice and the subsequent addition of water to the concentrate...
and vodka
Vodka
Vodka , is a distilled beverage. It is composed primarily of water and ethanol with traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made by the distillation of fermented substances such as grains, potatoes, or sometimes fruits....
. Though commonly known as a screwdriver (cocktail)
Screwdriver (cocktail)
A screwdriver is a popular highball drink made with fresh orange juice and vodka. Outside the US, it is often referred to as "vodka and orange"...
, Michael ignorantly refers to it as an "Orange-Vod-Juice-Ka" implying that he was the first person to concoct it.
Reception
Phyllis's takeover of the Party Planning Committee and the subsequent fight with Angela ranked number 9 in phillyBurbs.comBrian Howard of The Journal News
The Journal News
The Journal News is a newspaper in New York serving the suburban New York City counties of Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam, a region known as the Lower Hudson Valley. It is owned by the Gannett Company, Inc. The Journal News was created through a merger of several daily community newspapers...
was mixed in his review of "Moroccan 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 Moroccan Christmas party theme, and felt scenes of Meredith's alcoholism and Michael dragging her to rehab were more awkward than funny. "Moroccan Christmas" received generally mixed reviews. Alan Sepinwall, television columnist with The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to The Jersey Journal of Jersey City, The Times of Trenton and the Staten Island Advance, all of which are owned by Advance Publications.The Newark Star-Ledgers daily...
, was highly complimentary toward "Moroccan Christmas", which he said featured "consistent hilarity mixed in with some of the sharpest emotion we've ever gotten from a non Jim & Pam story". Sepinwall called it a strong episode for the Dwight, Andy Meredith and Phyllis characters, and particularly complimented the acting of Phyllis Smith. TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
writer Shahzad Abbas called it an "excellent episode all around", referring to intervention scene and the fighting among Phyllis and Angela as "really intense stuff". Abbas said she looked forward to seeing the new developments unfold, and said Ed Helms had "never been better with his 'where's these people's Christmas spirit' reaction".
New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
magazine writer Will Leitch
Will Leitch
William F. Leitch is a writer based in New York City and the founding editor of the Gawker Media sports blog Deadspin...
criticized the episode, claiming the main story between Meredith and Michael seemed forced and did not work. Leitch particularly disliked the Phyllis subplot, claiming her negative behavior toward Angela was out of character and ineffective.
External links
- "Moroccan Christmas" at NBC.com