Christening (The Office)

"Christening"
The Office episode
Michael and Andy, who are starting to regret their decision to get on the bus that is headed to Mexico.
Episode no.	Season 7 Episode 7
Directed by	Alex Hardcastle
Written by	Peter Ocko
Production code	707
Original air date	November 4, 2010
Guest stars
Linda Purl as Helene Beesly Rick Overton as William Beesly Robert Pine as Mr. Halpert Bobby Ray Shafer as Bob Vance Perry Smith as Betsy Halpert Peggy Stewart as Sylvia Garrison Keillor: special voice-over Zoe Jarman as Carla
Episode chronology
← Previous "Costume Contest" Next → "Viewing Party"
List of The Office (U.S.) episodes

"Christening" is the seventh episode of the seventh season of the American version of the comedy television series The Office and the show's 133rd episode overall. Written by Peter Ocko and directed by Alex Hardcastle, the episode aired on November 4, 2010 on NBC in the United States.

Synopsis

Office manager Pam tries to discuss Sabre's tips on staying healthy to the office, but is constantly interrupted by Dwight, who believes no attempts should made to improve sanitation, and instead let his immune systems work. He then invites everyone to sneeze on him, and Jim, Erin, and Andy happily fulfill his request.

Jim and Pam's daughter Cece is being christened, and Michael has invited the entire office to the service, much to their disappointment. Michael believes he is Cece's godfather but is disappointed when he learns this is not the case. Toby, who remarks on his history between himself and "the big Man", hesitates to enter the church. Over the course of the episode, Ryan frequently hints at his distaste for religion. He paraphrases Karl Marx's "Opium of the people" statement and mentions "Drinking the Kool-Aid" while the church's youth group is speaking. During the service, Cece's dress is ruined when Jim changes her diaper. Jim scrambles to replace the gown, and Cece is eventually baptized in an Arcade Fire t-shirt he found in the back of his car. At the end of the mass, the minister announces there will be a reception hosted by Jim and Pam, who panic because they were expecting only family and are not prepared for so many guests.

At the reception, food quickly runs out, and Cece goes missing after Jim asks Pam's grandmother to keep an eye on her. After finding out from guests that Cece was last seen with a "short blond woman" (Pam's mother Helene, who was changing Cece), Jim thinks Angela (who has insulted Jim and Pam but adored Cece all day) has kidnapped Cece, and calls her out as she is leaving. Believing her to be the kidnapper, Kevin attacks Angela's purse, where she has stolen some of the food meant for the guests.

While Dwight uses the event to try to sell paper and printers, Toby finally enters the church after the ceremony. He looks at the crucifix and simply, achingly asks "Why do you have to be so mean to me?"

Michael is inspired by the fellow churchgoers, especially the youth ministry, which is going to Mexico to help build a school for underprivileged children. As the kids leave, Michael shakes hands with every one of them and wishes them luck, before hopping on the bus himself. The other employees try to talk him out of it (with the notable exception of Darryl), but Michael refuses. Just before they leave, Andy (in another attempt to impress Erin) boards the bus with him. Both realize their mistake 45 minutes into the trip, and force the bus to stop. They (along with a kid from the youth ministry who left with them) then have Erin drive them home while having a good laugh about it, and Michael is happy to hear that the rest of his staff went out together to see a movie.

Production

The episode was written by Peter Ocko, his first Office writing credit since joining the staff in the seventh season as a co-executive producer. It was directed by Alex Hardcastle, the first episode of The Office he has directed.

Within a week of its airdate the official website of The Office released two deleted scenes. In the first 46-second clip, Angela, Kelly, Oscar and Ryan speak about what they feel about having babies.^[1] In the second 75 second clip, Jim asks Michael to take a picture of his family, Jim and Pam complain to the camera about the uninvited guests, and Gabe and Ryan talk about their volunteer past.^[2]

Reception

Ratings

In its original American broadcast on November 4, 2010, "Christening" was viewed by an estimated 7.65 million viewers and received a 3.8 rating/10% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49.^[3][4] This means that it was seen by 3.8% of all 18–49 years olds, and 10% of all 18–49 year olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. This marked a seven percent drop in the ratings from the previous episode, "Costume Contest".^[3] "Christening" was the thirteenth most-watched scripted show for the week of broadcast among adults aged 18–49.^[5]

Reviews

The episode received mixed to negative reviews with some calling it the worst episode of The Office. Myles McNutt of The A.V. Club wrote that his favorite element concerned Toby's relationship to God as it played out in the episode, but he was slightly critical of the "A-story" as "inert."^[6] He ultimately gave the episode a B+ while readers gave the episode a C+.^[6] Joel Keller of AOL's TV Squad praised Michael's maturity in the episode saying "even when we get an episode that didn't quite hit the mark, like last night's, the maturing of Michael still makes the episode interesting to watch."^[7] Margaret Lyons of Entertainment Weekly was more critical, referring to it as "strenuously unfunny".^[8] Despite this, she praised the cold opening.^[8] HitFix reviewer Alan Sepinwall called the episode "spectacularly unfunny" and criticized the writers for using Michael's loneliness as a joke instead of taking it serious like "Money".^[9] Despite this he complimented Paul Lieberstein's performance as Toby while he was questioning God.^[9] While reviewing the seventh season, Cindy White of IGN said that the episode proved to fans that Jim and Pam were making the series worse.^[10] "Christening" was voted the lowest-rated episode out of 24 from the seventh season, according to an episode poll at the fansite OfficeTally.^[11]

References

1. ^ "The Office-Christening-Clip One-Video". NBC.com. http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/christening-clip-one/1258181/. Retrieved 2010-11-09. 
2. ^ "The Office-Christening-Clip One-Video". NBC.com. http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/christening---clip-two/1258163. Retrieved 2010-11-09. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Seidman, Robert (November 5, 2010). "TV Ratings Thursday: ‘Private Practice’ Soars; ‘Fringe’ Doesn’t; ‘Community’ Drops". TVbythenumbers. http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/11/05/tv-ratings-thursday-private-practice-soars-fringe-doesnt-community-drops/70939. Retrieved 2010-11-05. 
4. ^ Gorman, Bill (November 5, 2010). "Thursday Final Ratings: Big Bang Theory, The Mentalist, Office, Vampire Diaries Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/11/05/thursday-final-ratings-big-bang-theory-the-mentalist-office-vampire-diaries-adjusted-up/71005. Retrieved November 5, 2010. 
5. ^ Seidman, Robert (2010-11-09). "TV Ratings Broadcast Top 25: NFL, Modern Family, Dancing With the Stars, Criminal Minds Top Week 7 Viewing - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/11/09/tv-ratings-broadcast-top-25-nfl-modern-family-dancing-with-the-stars-criminal-minds-top-week-7-viewing/71407/. Retrieved 2011-06-14. 
6. ^ ^{a b} McNutt, Myles (November 4, 2010). "THE OFFICE "Christening"". The A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/articles/christening,47078/. Retrieved 2010-11-05. 
7. ^ Keller, Joel (November 5, 2010). "'The Office' - Season 7, Episode 7 Recap (VIDEO)". TV Squad. http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/11/05/the-office-season-7-episode-7-recap-video/. Retrieved 2010-11-05. 
8. ^ ^{a b} Lyons, Margaret (November 4, 2010). "'The Office' recap: Church Lady". Entertainment Weekly. http://tvrecaps.ew.com/recap/office-s7-ep7/. Retrieved 2010-11-05. 
9. ^ ^{a b} Sepinwall, Alan (2010-11-05). "The Office - Christening: Save me, Jeebus!". HitFix.com. http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/the-office-christening-save-me-jeebus. Retrieved 2011-06-14. 
10. ^ White, Cindy (2011-05-27). "The Office: Season 7 Review - TV Review at IGN". IGN. http://tv.ign.com/articles/117/1171080p1.html. Retrieved 2011-06-14. 
11. ^ "Survivor Poll: Season 7". OfficeTally. http://www.officetally.com/officetally-survivor-poll-season-7. Retrieved 2011-06-10. 

External links

• "Christening" at NBC.com
• "Christening" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Christening" at TV.com