On the whole, the ninth and final season of The Office was a massive let-down. All the characters were Flanderized versions of themselves, the relatable workplace situations were replaced with cartoonish slapstick, and the absence of Michael Scott was felt more than ever. But, by some miracle, the writers managed to salvage it with a near-flawless series finale.
The last two seasons of The Office were a massive dropoff in quality, but that final episode ended the series on a high note. But, more than a decade later, there are some glaring flaws and missed opportunities that stand out when you rewatch The Office’s series finale.
It’s Impossible To Watch The Finale Without Crying
Michael Scott (Steve Carell) crying in The Office’s series finale
The harshest reality of rewatching The Office’s series finale is that, no matter how many times you’ve seen it, it’s impossible to get through it without crying. Whether it’s Andy’s speech about “the good old days,” or Pam taking her painting off the wall, or Michael showing everyone pictures of his kids, something in this final episode is bound to make you bawl your eyes out before the end credits roll.
This is the case with a lot of series finales. When a show is bleak and cynical, like Seinfeld or The Sopranos, then the final episode tends to be bleak and cynical. But when the show is fun and feel-good and heartfelt, like The Office or Schitt’s Creek or The Good Place, then they’re going for tears, and The Office brings out plenty. Pam’s monologue about the beauty that the documentary crew captured in such a mundane setting is a beautiful closing statement on the entire series. If you haven’t been moved to tears by then, you have a heart made of stone.
Some Of The Cameos Feel Shoehorned In
Elizabeth the stripper in The Office finale
Like most series finales, The Office’s final episode brings back a bunch of old characters from earlier episodes for cameo appearances. Michael’s ex-girlfriend Carol, for example, is Jim and Pam’s realtor. But some of these cameos feel shoehorned in.
The finale has back-to-back lap dance sequences whose only purpose is to bring back a familiar face as the stripper. Dwight gets a dance from Elizabeth, the “entertainment” he hired for Bob Vance’s bachelor party in season 3 (although he thinks he’s ordering breadsticks), and Angela gets a dance from Meredith’s son, who came in on Take Your Daughter to Work Day in season 2.
It Copies The Format Of The Original Office Finale
Andy talking to the camera in The Office finale
The final episode of the American remake of The Office copies its entire approach from the final episode of the British O.G. show. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s classic original series ended with a feature-length Christmas special that, much like its U.S. counterpart, concluded everyone’s stories in a satisfying way and set up the next chapter of their lives. That two-birds-with-one-stone Christmas special/series finale had the format of a “Where Are They Now?” follow-up special being filmed a year after the documentary has aired.
The American Office’s finale episode has the exact same format, with the doc crew catching up with their subjects a few months after the show has been out and they’ve all become pseudo-celebrities. Dwight, like Gareth, has become the manager, and Jim and Pam, like Tim and Dawn, get their happily-ever-after ending. Much like with the pilot episode, the series finale used its perfect predecessor as a template.
Erin’s Reunion With Her Birth Parents Is A Bit Sappy
Erin reunites with her birth parents in The Office finale
While The Office’s final episode does succeed at jerking a few tears, there is a dubious element of emotional manipulation in some of its sappier scenes. The worst offender is when Erin is reunited with her birth parents. For several seasons straight, The Office had made a joke out of Erin’s tragic backstory as a foster child with no family to call her own, and in the space of a couple of minutes, the finale glossed over her reunion with her parents.
The episode wrings a sweet, saccharin moment out of Erin being reunited with her birth mother, and then a few seconds later, it does it all over again with her biological father. Erin’s parents give her a big hug and they all live happily ever after. It’s much too cloyingly melodramatic; it’s more like a soap opera than a sitcom.
Weddings Are An Overdone Series Finale Trope
Dwight and Angela’s first dance at their wedding in The Office finale
As great as The Office’s final episode is, it does lean on one of the most common tropes of series finales: the big wedding. The first half of the finale revolves around the “Where Are They Now?” material that the doc crew is shooting for the DVD bonus features, but the second half revolves around Dwight and Angela’s wedding at Schrute Farms. A wedding between two beloved characters is one of the most overdone plot devices in series finales (although I can’t recall another one that took place on a beet farm).
Frasier, Happy Days, Schitt’s Creek, Jane the Virgin, Desperate Housewives, and The Righteous Gemstones all set their series finales at a wedding. The final episode of Fuller House revolved around a triple wedding. Even The Crown centered its series finale on a wedding. It’s easy to see why this is such a common trope. A wedding is a good way to get all the characters in one place, and it creates a sense of a new beginning.
Jim & Pam’s Ending Is Ultimately Pretty Sad
Dwight chatting to Jim and Pam in The Office finale
At the Q&A, a bunch of in-universe Office fans gesture-shame Pam for not pulling off as many extravagant romantic gestures as Jim (even though it’s kind of problematic that he made so many major life decisions for Pam under the guise of a big romantic surprise), which guilts her into selling their house and moving the family to Philadelphia so Jim can live his absurd fantasy as a sports marketing executive at the company formerly known as Athlead. This is framed as a fairytale ending, but it’s actually pretty bleak.
Those fans at the Q&A guilt-tripped Pam for dragging Jim back from Philly and crushing his dream, but the fans at home remember that working at Athlead turned Jim into a monster. He abandoned his family, he neglected his kids, and he made Pam cry. So, it’s not exactly thrilling to imagine Jim going back to Athlead, and moving the kids across the state this time around. Jim and Pam’s ending is pretty sad if you think about it.
It’s especially upsetting when you’re rewatching the finale at the tail end of a full series rewatch, so the horrors of Athlead are still fresh in your memory. You can just imagine Jim making all the same mistakes again, but being unable to salvage his marriage this time.
Michael’s Return Is A Reminder That He Carried The Show
Dwight embraces Michael in The Office finale
The Office’s producers managed to keep Steve Carell’s return a secret, so it was a wonderful surprise when Michael Scott popped up in the finale. After sitting through 50-odd Michael-less episodes in the last two seasons, Michael’s reappearance in the finale is always welcome — and it’s always a bittersweet reminder that he carried the show. It’s a reminder of just how much funnier The Office was when he was steering the ship (and how much wasted potential there was in the last two seasons without him).
From the second the camera pans over to him, with just four words, Michael scores the biggest laugh in the whole episode. After the initial shock has set in, Dwight tells his old boss, “I can’t believe you came,” to which Michael replies (with pitch-perfect timing), “That’s what she said.” Michael’s return brings The Office full circle, but it also hammers home that there was really no point in continuing without him.
Release Date
2005 – 2013-00-00
Showrunner
Greg Daniels