Christmas Break is the 12th episode of the seventh season, and 151st overall. Grace accidentally breaks a precious figurine at Marilyn Truman's place. Karen's stepdaughter Olivia stays with her for Christmas break.
Grace attends a holiday party at Will's mother Marilyn's home and accidentally breaks a treasured Lladro figurine of a bashful geisha. To spare Grace from his mother's wrath, Will convinces Grace to blame the incident on one of the other guests instead.
During Marilyn's next visit, she takes with her the family's old housekeeper Fiona, whom she deduces is the one who broke her Lladro, and asks Will to fire her. Will refuses, and reveals Grace as the real culprit. Marilyn in turn reveals that she knew all along and was just playing a game on them. Before she leaves, Marilyn gives Grace a box of chocolates, which Will takes away from her, knowing his mother's penchant for revenge and bleach.
Curled up in the fecal position[]
Karen's teenaged stepdaughter Olivia comes to stay with her for Christmas, spoiling her plans of "sittin' in a dark room and drinking" so she hires Jack to accompany Olivia during her stay. Surprisingly, Jack fits right in with Olivia's friends as according to him, what teenage girls are remarkably similar to what gay men do: talk about boys, obsess about bodies, and make fun of people. When Karen tries to join in, she and Olivia end up fighting.
As Karen throws her stepdaughter out, Jack intervenes and tells Olivia how Karen has been doing things for her, including paying to keep Olivia's favorite TV show to stay on air. As the two get to talk, they begin to warm towards each other and bond over playing tricks on Mason and how much they miss Stanley.
This is the first episode to be broadcast in high definition in widescreen (16:9) aspect ratio.
Originally titled "E-mail Trouble" and included the plot point "an e-mail gaffe dogs Grace, fearful that she mis-sent a nasty note to Will's mom."
This is the first appearance of Stan's daughter, Olivia. This is also her only appearance in the original series. She is staying with Karen because her brother Mason and mother Cathy are in the hospital to remove fat from his stomach to put it into her butt.
Paolo Presta with the cast
While trying to bond with Olivia and her friends, Karen exclaims "smack the bitch up!" to seem cool. This is a reference to her traditional fifth wedding song "Smack My Bitch Up" by Prodigy, as mentioned in I Do. Oh, No, You Di-in't.
Marc, the "second gayest lawyer" at Will's film, is played by actor Paolo Presta who won the role from Oprah on her "Oprah's Wildest Dreams Show".
Olivia mentions she was dropped off at school by a 700-pound man, referring to Stan.
Although it was established that Fiona has been a housekeeper of Will's family for a long time, she does not appear in any other episodes, even in ones that take place at the Truman residence.
Cultural references[]
Grace and Marilyn went to see Billy Crystal's autobiographical one-man show 700 Sundays at the Broadhurst Theatre. From the show, Marilyn claims she learned the Yiddish words: kvelling (happy), tuchas (butt), plotzing (excited or frustrated), and faygeleh (homosexual).
Jack claims that Olivia's comments left him "curled up in the fecal position", a joke on the fetal position.
At the mall, Karen claims to like singer Usher who had just released his 2004 album Confessions.
The shops that Karen claims to shop at are Zales, the Limited, Imaginarium, and Z Gallerie.
Jack compares Karen's drama with Olivia to show The O.C. "only without 25-year-old teenagers and 35-year-old parents", poking fun at Dawson's casting.
Media[]
Quotes[]
Rosario:
It's your stepdaughter, Olivia. You Ghost of Christmas Passed-out.
Karen:
Aww, Rosie. I love it when your slams turn seasonal.
She's a teenage girl. They're very cruel.The last time I saw Olivia, I was wearing Uggs. Which apparently had gone out of style exactly five minutes before I walked in. She gave me such a dressing down, I ended up sobbing and curled up in the fecal position.—
Jack
You know what might help this awkward moment, Connie? If you left.—
Will
You know how many Jewish serial killers there are? Not many, because they kill once, then they feel too guilty to kill again.—
Will
I pay my babysitters just like I pay my whores, you gets your money whether you like it or not.—
Karen
