'The Office': It's a Holly, jolly Christmas episode

Tomorrow night’s two-part Office episode, “Classy Christmas,” has me very stoked on three counts. (One of which is a spoiler.) First, Mindy Kaling wrote the episode, and she’s written a bunch of my favorites — “The Injury” in season 2, “Diwali,” “Ben Franklin,” “Lecture Circuit: Part 2” (which includes the amazing “it is your birthday” cake), etc. Second, Rainn Wilson directed the episode, and I always love when Office actors step behind the camera. Finally, and maybe most importantly, Amy Ryan’s Holly is back!

We’ve known for a while that Holly would be back for the name-appropriate Christmas episode, but I had completely forgotten about it, mostly because I’ve been way more focused on Amy Ryan on In Treatment this season. She’s been killing it as the serious, righteous Adele — who’s pretty much the opposite of the goofy, ebullient Holly Flax.

This season of The Office has been iffy for me — sure, Halloween and “The Sting” were high points, but there have also been some serious lags. Here’s hoping “Classy Christmas” — Michael’s last holiday episode — is as good as the show is capable of.

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