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It is the day of the annual office Christmas party at Dunder-Mifflin Scranton. Dwight enters the office with a goose that he accidentally struck with his car—which he proclaims to be a Christmas miracle—and plans to prepare it for the party. After initial objections to having a dead animal present, Toby allows Dwight to keep it as long as he cleans it in his car.

Carol receives her Christmas card from Michael and visits him to voice her disapproval of his Photoshopping himself into a two-year-old ski weekend photo with her children and former husband (Michael replaces her husband's face with his own). This, along with his marriage proposal, pushes her over the edge, and she breaks off the relationship, leaving Michael (who has already booked a trip for the two of them to Sandals Resorts) heartbroken.

Pam gives Jim her gift: she has been sending Dwight messages from the CIA and she lets Jim decide the top secret mission that Dwight will go on. At first, Jim is clearly happy, but then turns down the gift, saying that he doesn't want to keep doing the same things he did before now that he is "Number #2" man in the branch and he has a chance to start over.

Angela and the rest of the office's party planning committee meet to discuss specifics about the day's festivities. Following her disagreement with Angela on several points, Karen is asked to leave and does so after receiving no support from the other party members.

Stating to the camera that she does not know why she has been so cold with Karen, Pam apologizes for the events that transpired during the party planning meeting and the two decide to organize their own party. When they present this idea to Angela, she declares them to be invalid and even has Dwight get involved. Jim, being "Number #2", creates a "Validation Committee" (including himself) and declares Pam and Karen's committee to be valid. As this goes on, Andy decides to take Michael out to help him forget about his troubles; Michael summons his "entourage" Jim, Ryan and Dwight to come along, though Ryan opts out with a long list of excuses.

Pam and Karen begin their party in the breakroom and Angela (after calling Dwight for permission) is quick to start her own in the conference room. After a few tense moments, Stanley stands up and goes to Pam and Karen's party; several other people follow him except for Kevin, Phyllis, and Hannah. As Michael eats with Andy, Jim, and a somewhat distant Dwight at a Benihana restaurant (which Michael believes at first to be "Asian Hooters"), Andy tells Michael to ask out his Japanese waitress. Meanwhile, the office is divided into two separate camps as Phyllis, Hannah and Kevin attend Angela's party while the rest of the staff are at Pam and Karen's. Ryan makes the discovery at the party that they do not have a power cord for their karaoke machine, but Darryl offers to get his synthesizer as an alternative. As he passes Phyllis to get the music out of his car, she asks him how they are doing over there and Darryl replies that they are having fun, encouraging Phyllis that she should join their party in the break room "when your meeting is over".

Meanwhile, Angela's party proceeds to get more uncomfortable as Angela makes a dig at Kevin's weight, irritating him enough to drive him to the other party. When Michael, Andy, Jim, and Dwight return, Michael finds Angela's party to be "lame." Kevin uses this moment to escape. Angela is then upset when she sees that Dwight goes to the other party first and then wins the raffle.

Pam notices how upset Angela is, and she and Karen make an offer to Angela to merge the two parties. Angela agrees and reveals that she stole the power cord for the karaoke machine. As everyone has fun singing, Michael—who is very drunk—confuses his date with Andy's since, as he states, "all waitresses look alike." He goes into the kitchen where both the waitresses are and he discreetly tries to ask aloud where his one was and finally she acknowledges herself and he discreetly marks her arm with a marker.

At the end, the two waitresses leave, and Michael offers his girl a trip to Sandals Jamaica, where he was going to take Carol. She says no since she has classes.

A depressed Michael sulks on the couch and Jim comes up and joins him. Jim gets Michael to laugh at the whole situation and lets him realize that what he had with the waitress was nothing more than a rebound. Jim then tells Michael that a rebound is a fun distraction, but when it is over, "you're still thinking about the girl you're really after—the one who broke your heart" (echoing Jim's relationship with Karen after his being rejected by Pam). The two sit in silence as they think.

As the Christmas party ends, Angela sings karaoke, Toby gets the robe from corporate he wanted, and Jim and Karen give each other the same Christmas gift (a DVD copy of Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason), much to Pam's disappointment, but later Pam receives a gift from Roy, which Jim sees. Michael makes a phone call to an unknown person (who later turns out to be Jan Levinson) to ask him or her to accompany him to Sandals; to Michael's surprise, the person says yes. Oscar and Gil return from their three-month vacation in Europe. Looking around, Oscar says "Too soon" and leaves.

While Jim is leaving, he tells Pam that Dwight will actually be going on a bus ride for his top secret CIA mission. Pam tells him that the tickets cost $75. Then Jim tells her that the CIA will be sending a helicopter, and Pam agrees. The next scene shows Dwight on the roof waiting for a helicopter. He then receives a text message that says the mission has been compromised and he must destroy his phone, which he promptly does by throwing it off the building.

• In what may be an inside joke among the writers, the two Asian waitresses at Benihana are not the same two waitresses Michael and Andy bring back to the office. This "gag" plays upon the racial stereotype that Asian people all look the same; the episode's use of this stereotype for jokes is not without criticism from some Asian-Americans. The episode's viewers may laugh at Michael for confusing the two Asian women, but the viewers also may not understand the sardonic nature of this joke, and instead view this as a casting mishap. Whether or not the writers'/producers' execution of this racial gag was recognized by most viewers as satirical is debatable.
• In real life, the closest Benihana location to Scranton, Pennsylvania is over ninety minutes driving away. Therefore, it would have been unlikely for the characters to leave the office, eat at Benihana, and return to the Scranton branch in three hours, as suggested by the episode's dialogue.
• The Benihana restaurant set used in this episode looks strikingly similar to the set used for the Benihana scene in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, also starring Steve Carell. In fact Carell's characters in both The Office and The 40-Year-Old Virgin are sitting in the same seat at the restaurant tables.
• In a deleted subplot, Kelly thinks Ryan did not get her a Christmas present. She then reveals that she threw out her gift to Ryan, leading to Ryan and Kelly going dumpster diving outside.
• Dwight adding drum noise with his mouth during Angela's karaoke version of "Little Drummer Boy" is a reference to a scene of the Pilot episode, in which he annoys Jim with the same song.
• This is the third time in the series that a word has been bleeped (when Michael rides his bicycle into a potted plant in the first scene after the credits).
• This episode marks the return of Oscar Martinez, who has not appeared since the first episode of the third season due to his three months paid vacation offer by Corporate as an apology.
• The chanting of Darryl when he offers to get his synthesizer is a reference to the Booze Cruise, where Roy begins the chant after ignoring Pam's wish to go somewhere a little more quiet.
• In "The Alliance", Angela claimed that green is whorish. In this episode, she now believes that orange is whorish. (In both cases, Angela's choice of color matches the color of Phyllis's outfit.)
• When Angela discusses her estranged sister, she says "so, yeah... I'm pretty good." This is what Kevin says when talking about his success at the World Series of Poker in the Season 2 finale Casino Night.

Dwight: Don’t worry, she’s dead … oh wait… he’s dead.

Dwight: I accidentally ran over it. It’s a Christmas miracle!

Dwight: Do we have any cayenne pepper in the kitchen?

Dwight: So can you watch this? I’m gonna get my carving knife out of the trunk.

Dwight: Once I brought in a duck to prepare for lunch and people got upset. Apparently they got attached to the duck and didn’t want to see it killed.

Dwight: He was already dead, and we Schrutes use every part of the goose. The meat has a delicious smoky rich flavor. Plus, you can use the molten goose grease and save it in the refrigerator, thus saving you a trip to the store for a can of expensive goose grease.
Jim: Wow. Win-win.
Dwight: Exactly, thank you, Jim.
Phyllis: I like goose. If it’s already dead, is it so crazy if we eat it?
Creed: That’s crazy. It’s crazy.

Toby: Clean it in your car.
Pam: I would like it off my desk.
Dwight: Oh, Pam. Take a chill pill.

Michael: Hey! I would like a nice slice of Christmas Pam. Side of candy Pams. And perhaps some Pam chops. With mint …
Pam: Can I help you Michael?
Michael: I’m looking for the toy drive box.
Pam: It’s behind you.
Michael: Okay … well, I need to put this bike in there. I hope it’ll fit, with all these little knickknacks …

Jim: Is that your old bike, Michael?

Michael: This is going to be the best Christmas ever. My girlfriend Carol is coming to our party tonight, and I have a little surprise for her. (Singing) I’ve got two tickets to paradise! Pack your bags, we’re leaving day-after-tomorrow! Um, taking her to Sandals, Jamaica, all-inclusive. All-inclusive. You know what that means. Right? Yeah. (Leers)

Jim: Oh, I think you’re supposed to put a toy in the box, Creed.

Michael: You’re about five hours early to the party. Oh, you’re such a blonde.

Michael: This is my girlfriend, Carol. This is just the front of her.

Jim: It’s a bold move to Photoshop yourself into a picture with your girlfriend and her kids on a ski trip with their real father. But then again, Michael’s a bold guy. Is bold the right word?

Michael: You need to think this through in Jamaica’s largest freshwater pool.

Michael: You walk out that door, and it is over.
Carol: I know.

Jim (reading Dwight’s file): “Last year, my boss, Michael Scott, took a day off, ‘cuz he said he had pneumonia, but really, he was leaving early to go to magic camp.”

Pam: You get to decide what his top secret mission is. Sorry I didn’t wrap it.

Jim: I feel like there’s a chance for me to start over. And if I fall back into the same kind of things I used to do, then … what am I doing?

Michael: I’d like everybody’s attention. Christmas is canceled.

Michael: Jim, take New Year’s away from Stanley.

Jim: Will they still air ‘Rudolph.’

Michael: It hurts my heart. It hurts my stomach. It hurts my arms.

Dwight: It appears we’re one bathrobe short.
Michael: Take it from Toby.

Angela: Phyllis, I need you to pick up green streamers at lunch.
Phyllis: I thought you said green was whorish.
Angela: No, orange is whorish.
Karen: Uh, so I had a couple of ideas to make the Stamford people feel more at home. Each year we have a Christmas raffle …
Angela: It would never work here.
Karen: Ok … um, another idea was karaoke …
Angela: No.
Karen: A Christmas drinking game …
Meredith: Yes.
Angela: God help you.
Karen: What?
Angela: These are all terrible ideas … and none of them are on the theme of “A Nutcracker Christmas.” I think you should leave.
Karen (laughing tentatively): You’re kidding.
Angela: You tried this out, and it’s clearly not for you. It’s time to go.

Dwight: Why don’t you just buy the whole song?

Michael: I don’t need to buy it, I just want to taste it.

Karen: Does anyone ever stand up to Angela?
Pam: I think one of her cats did once. She came in with scratches all over her face.

Pam: If you’re interested in the way more fun party, all the info can be found here on our more brightly colored flyer.

Kevin: I didn’t see where it was.

Jim: Could you please keep it down? I’m in session. I’ve determined this committee’s valid.

Dwight: Permission to join the Validity Committee.
Jim: Permission denied.

Andy: I can’t concentrate when I know you’re in pain, man.

Michael: C’mon, we’re going to Asian Hooters.

Ryan: I’m not feeling so well. I’ve got a ton of work to do here. MSG allergy, peanut allergy, I just ate there last night.

Jim: Wow, thanks for taking all the excuses, dude.
Ryan: Doctor appointment, car trouble, plantar warts, granddad fought in World War II. Use your head, man. I keep mine in here. Look alive, Halpert. Welcome back.

Michael: Bros before hos.

Michael: And then … and then suddenly she’s not yo’ ho no mo’.

Dwight: How can I be there for Michael if I’m here for Michael.

Kevin: I think I’ll go to Angela’s party, because that’s the party I know.

Ryan: I miss the days when there was only one party I didn’t want to go to.

Angela: Your paychecks will be arriving as scheduled on Friday. And they will be in the correct amount that they are normally in.

Kevin: I hear Angela’s party will have double-fudge brownies. It will also have Angela.

Karen: Are we taking this too far? You know what, I don’t think we’re taking this far enough. (Looking at Pam) What?
Pam: I got goosebumps.

Angela: I don’t back down. My sister and I used to be best friends, and we haven’t talked in 16 years. Over some disagreement I don’t even remember. So … yeah. I’m pretty good.

Cindy: Is he the hot one or the giant baby?

Angela: I don’t walk into your house and steal your Hello Kitty backpack.

Michael: You know how all waitresses look alike.

Michael: Are you going to tell me that Stevie Wonder doesn’t love his wife just because he’s not sure what she looks like?

Michael: Is she in the fridge? Where is she hiding?

Dwight: Monkey, this is Possum. Do you copy?
Angela: Copy, Possum. What’s your twenty?

Michael: I can’t believe I gave her my bike!
Jim: Yeah.

Jim: You just had a rebound.
Michael: A rebound.
Jim: Yeah. Which, don’t get me wrong, can be a really fun distraction, but, when it’s over, you’re left thinking about the girl you really like, the one that broke your heart.

Michael: Domo arigato, Mr. Scott-o.

Oscar: Too soon.

Dwight (reading text message): “You have been compromised. Abort mission. Destroy phone.”