The Office (US) S3 E10/11 - 'A Benihana Christmas' Mini-Review


Rebound.

A heartbroken Michael heads to a Benihana with the boys after Carol breaks up with him. In the process of moving on, Michael obtains an Asian 'girlfriend' who breaks his heart again. Michael goes through a particularly emotional character arc in this episodes as he learns to deal with the pains of love. Love was also in the air at the office Christmas party, as Dwight sang to Angela and Kelly held Ryan a little too close. Jim and Pam broke down more of the awkwardness between them and grew closer. Jim didn't seem to feel comfortable seeing Karen and Pam getting along, which doesn't bode well for his relationship with Karen. If he breaks up with the hottest in the office then I am going to be very disappointed in a character I already struggle to relate to. Pam and Roy also got along swimmingly at the party, as Jim glanced on longingly (another bad sign). Overall, this extended episode was excellent and had enough room to really explore the characters more deeply. 

 BEST MOMENTS

  • That dead goose on the desk!
  • "This is my girlfriend Carol. This is just the front of her"
  • "Is bold the right word?"
  • "You had better find the skimpiest bikini there is"
  • Jim was a bit of a weird dick to Pam
  • "Christmas is cancelled"
  • "Hey what's the haps" [door closes on Andy's face]
  • "I just want a little taste of it"
  • Jim is clearly finding it really weird seeing Karen and Pam getting along
  • "Permission Denied"
  • "Look alive Halpert. Welcome back."
  • "Suddenly she's not yo ho no mo"
  • "I don't think we're taking this far enough"
  • Dwight describing gross things to Cindy
  • "When you get done with your meeting you should come to the break room, we're having a party"
  • Cute seeing Michael have a good night for once
  • Michael can't tell the difference between them!!
  • "We belong togetherrr, Ryan"
  • Michael marking his girl!
  • Michael had a rebound haha
  • Oscar - "Too soon"
DID YOU KNOW?!*
  • In order to get permission to use the song "Your Body is a Wonderland" in this episode, John Mayer asked that he be given a Dundie
  • In this episode, Creed is singing "Spinnin N' Reelin", a song that he wrote himself. Creed Bratton is a musician as well as an actor, and has released some albums
  • Angela sings "Little Drummer Boy" on the karaoke machine, which is her favorite song. In the pilot episode, Dwight is seen singing that song
  • This episode is the first double-length episode of the series. In The Netherlands, it was aired as two separate episodes
  • The Benihana restaurant that Michael, Dwight, Jim and Andy go to is the same one featured in the movie The 40 Year-Old Virgin, also starring Steve Carell
  • The photograph of Carol's ski trip of her family that Michael photo shops his face over Carol's husband, is really a ski vacation photo of Steve and Nancy Carell's family
  • Aside from being completely different actresses than the 2 waitresses at Benihana that were supposed to be "checking out" Michael Scott and Andy Bernard, the actresses who arrive at the Christmas party have makeup on when they first arrive...and then have no makeup in every subsequent scene
  • Before Jim creates The Committee To Determine The Validity Of The Two Committees, Dwight demands that Pam and Karen turn over all party supplies that they gathered to throw a rival office Christmas party opposite Angela's. Dwight tells them that the supplies would be returned on January 4, which also happens to be the same day that the next episode would be aired
  • The closest Benihana to Scranton, PA is actually nearly 2 hours away in Plymouth Meeting, PA
  • Angela bases what color is "whorish" on whatever Phyllis is wearing
  • In the opening, Dwight says "and circle gets the square." This is a throwback to the game show Hollywood Squares. A phrase commonly used by the host of the show as an affirmative response, but often sarcastically
  • The Santa Claus, located behind Michael's desk, is amusingly holding his toy bag/package in front of his crotch aka his package
  • At 21:32 you begin to see an actress in the background, between Michael & Andy, that looks EXACTLY like Karen, but dressed & accessorized EXACTLY like Pam
RATING: 9/10









*Trivia from IMDB

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