I thought this episode was a little flat in the humor department, but I find these characters so interesting, even a slow episode is worth a watch. Especially, the end with Andy. No show can do awkward silences like the Office.

I thought the episode was ok, but am the only one that felt like this episode was supposed to be a supersize ep. but they had to cut it down. IT seemed out of place that they just sort of started the party, and it felt rushed at points. I do think this season is better then last but not perfection.

There is nothing demeaning or insulting in what I wrote. It's simply the truth. I post in this thread nearly every week (and quote dialogue on occasion). I at least possess the honesty to recognize the "fanboy-ism" of doing so, and was simply pointing out the subjective nature of these threads to the poster whom I quoted.

YES!!!

If you look at the front of Michael's car you can see there was something sprayed on the hood - like that fake snow, or it hit something and it splattered. I'm sure there was something that was cut out.

But why would they not want to air a super size episode?

I agree, I was expecting a bigger payoff. I'm glad that Phyllis spilled the beans though.

From the testimonials:

A Blazers game would've been a lot more entertaining to me than this episode. I think this is the kind of story that sounded pretty good on paper. You're doing a christmas special, of course you don't want it to be sappy, what's the complete opposite of a fun party? An intervention! How about a party where an intervention breaks out!

Sounds clever, but that wasn't an enjoyable 22 minutes. I want the office to be fun, with occasional drama. That was way too much.

Meredith is (ironically) the Captain Buzzkill of this show. Any show centered around her or something she did is way too dramatic to be funny.

I don't know where you're getting that from. There is a pretty wide mix of criticism and praise here compared to most other sites.

the last couple weeks on Dish, for some reason its not in widescreen. At the beginning you can see it zoom in. 30 Rock has been like this too. So it cuts off the sides, very annoying. Is this the local affiliate doing it? im just watching in SD. Guess i'll have to watch it online or something from now on. No fun watching it with sides cut off.

Some good one liners and an excellent plot line involving Dwight but everything else sucked IMO. Phyllis came off looking like a huge bitch and it seems they've completely changed the Angela character from the first few seasons (loved her then, not so high on her now). Meredith's plot line about her being an alcoholic wasn't funny at all and was borderline depressing. She has a real problem and everyone knew that. Meredith is a one dimensional character (not a bad thing considering that she's only used in small doses) and I think they kind of ruined that one dimension this episode.

I know personal attacks are prohibited here but man you sound like a **** ***. You are certainly arrogant.

I liked the episode. I've liked the whole season so far. Better than 4 not quite as good as 2.

Huh? Nice... "I know personal attacks are prohibited, but here's one anyway..."

But reading through some of your other posts on this forum, I can see that's par for the course. Grow up, dude.

Stop trying to provoke other members. Whether it was intentional or not (I doubt it wasn't), you applied a blanket generalization over everyone on this board, and that wasn't very 'nice'. Grow up, dude.

What blanket generalization? That these weekly show threads tend to be fan-fests, with objective critical analyses not really being the point of them? That was the point I was making in response to what CPA-ESQ had posted.

Well, I hope that didn't hurt anyone's feelings, and I certainly apologize if it did so. It wasn't a personal attack on anyone, and hardly merits calling names in any case.

If that point is so apparent, there is no need to make it. It was pretty obvious pot stirring from my perspective as well.

Really guys? Really?

I'm one of the biggest Office fans you'll meet, and I've gotten flack from this from people I know, but I didn't really care for this episode. It had some moments, but overall, it was ok at best. I dunno. I think it was kind of hard to top last week.

The bottom line with this episode, for me, was the Dwight storyline was good and the Meredith storyline was sub-par.

Mod note:

Stop the bickering in this thread now or I will just lock it altogether. Please stay on topic discussing the show. If you disagree about the show, you can do so in a respectful manner.

Blanket generalizations insulting other posters as well as personal attacks are against forum rules.

I think I love the Meredith plot line simply for the "Fire girl" that Kevin got to say. It was a pretty heavy plot for this show, but I was okay with that.

I knew that Phyllis was going to spill. And I love that she did.

I like how Jim smiled, then they both agreed it was probably too soon.

I respectfully have to disagree with you there. It's nice that we've seen some development of these tertiary characters.

I remember Angela as being a shrew. She had a holier-than-thou attitude and looked down at everyone in the office, especially Phyllis during party planning meetings. She's one of those characters that just had to be knocked down a peg!

Angela is simply getting her come-uppance for her lies and deceptions. Her talking heads regularly comment about the "whorish" behavior of the other female members of the cast so it's nice to see her hyprocrisy exposed. Poor Andy.

While I think Phyllis may regret her actions, but it was great to she her call Angela's bluff. I think it had more to do with Phyllis' orders being ignored by Angela after she had been pushed around by her all these years.

As for the overall episode quality, it was average. It's not one that I am going to watch multiple times, but it's not as bad as the episode where Michael was completely over-the-top (and out of character as a complete @$$) at Phyllis' wedding which I will probably never see again.

I am glad Phyllis got back at Angela too.
Not as good as the booze cruise from a few years ago but some funny moments.