"Christmas Wishes" is the tenth episode of the eighth season and is a Christmas special. It aired on December 8, 2011. It was written by Mindy Kaling, her 24th writing credit for the series. The episode was directed by Ed Helms. The episode was viewed by 5.79 million people..
Plot
Andy attempts to make everyone's Christmas wishes come true. At a conference meeting, he vows to keep his promise to make wishes and asks the office members to also be nice to his new girlfriend Jessica. An emotionally confused Erin tries to be nice to Jessica, but ends up drinking too much at the party. In a drunken stupor, she tells Andy that her Christmas wish is for Jessica to die. Kelly does her part as a friend of Erin's by being mean to Jessica. Andy becomes concerned about Erin's behaviour, not least because Robert has revealed that his marriage is ending and spends a good deal of the party hanging out with Erin. When Andy has to drive a drunken Meredith home, he sees Erin getting into Robert's car and he follows them with a look of panic on his face. However, he covertly witnesses Robert being a gentleman and sending Erin off to her apartment with a hug and words of encouragement, and drives away with a smile on his face.
Meanwhile, Dwight and Jim's pranking has caused Kathy to ask Andy to move her to a different desk. In turn, Andy sternly tells Dwight and Jim to quit their childish behaviour. He tells them that the next one to pull a prank will lose their Christmas bonus, and the target of the prank will get the prankster's share. Unfortunately, Andy's plan backfires, as both Dwight and Jim attempt to frame the other. Jim loudly releases his credit card information hoping Dwight will steal it and buy something ridiculous. However, Dwight orders a $ 200 dollar bouquet of flowers for Pam. Dwight then proceeds to put a porcupine in his desk and blame Jim. However, a verbal slip-up causes him to inadvertently reveal his intentions. Jim, in retaliation, defaces a picture of his daughter, CeCe, and blames Dwight. After Andy mentions that defacing a picture is a fireable offence, Jim admits he staged the crime. Andy admits to Jim that he's nixing the bonus-loss plan, he just wants their behaviour to not interfere with their job performances. Jim promises Andy to tone the jokes down and tells him he will tell Dwight. Meanwhile, Dwight continues to deface his own property, writing "Jim is awesome" on his car and "Idiot" on his forehead. Jim, smirking, tells the camera that he needed to tell Dwight something, but can't quite remember.
Deleted scenes
- Kathy moves to Andy's old desk, and Dwight speaks to her. Then, a drunk Erin throws a package for Jim at Kathy. Finally, Dwight mixes several disgusting materials in a bucket and puts it on top of a door so it falls on Jim. However the bucket falls on Kathy who walks in the room.
Cultural references
- Jim says he got Stanley tickets to see stand-up comedian Lewis Black for his birthday.
- Robert says he's tired of The Black Eyed Peas.
- Darryl tells Val she usually dresses like a Ghostbuster and Val says that now she's dressed like a contestant on the reality show Dancing With The Stars.
- Midway through the party, Dwight enters the conference room and sets up his own speaker system to play "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24", a heavy metal medley of traditional Christmas songs performed by Savatage and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
- Ryan tells Kelly that her computer has viruses because she clicks on a lot of Kardashian links.
- When Darryl shows up in a tuxedo, Creed says he looks like a "real Clarence Thomas".
Connections to previous episodes
- Stanley mentions different themes for past office Christmas parties, including Moroccan Christmas.
- Dwight says that on two separate times Jim has set him up to believe that he was being recruited by the CIA (A Benihana Christmas). Jim says it's been three times.
Amusing details
- Erin says she had scoliosis. Phyllis also had scoliosis as a young girl and thought she might have been Erin's mother at the end of the seventh season.
Trivia
- Jenna Fischer (Pam Halpert) is credited but does not appear in this episode
Cast
Main cast
- Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute
- John Krasinski as Jim Halpert
- B.J. Novak as Ryan Howard
- Ed Helms as Andy Bernard
- James Spader as Robert California
Supporting cast
- Leslie David Baker as Stanley Hudson
- Brian Baumgartner as Kevin Malone
- Creed Bratton (actor) as Creed Bratton
- Kate Flannery as Meredith Palmer
- Mindy Kaling as Kelly Kapoor
- Ellie Kemper as Erin Hannon
- Angela Kinsey as Angela Martin-Lipton
- Paul Lieberstein as Toby Flenderson
- Oscar Nunez as Oscar Martinez
- Craig Robinson as Darryl Philbin
- Phyllis Smith as Phyllis Vance
- Zach Woods as Gabe Lewis
Recurring cast
- Lindsey Broad as Cathy Simms
- Ameenah Kaplan as Val
- Mark Proksch as Nate
Guest cast
- Eleanor Seigler as Jessica
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