by Michael Borkowski, staff writer
The Office has been one of the biggest events on Thursday nights for the last decade. Airing on NBC at 9 pm, The Office has been one of the best comedies on television during the last decade. (This 50-minute season finale took place a year past the penultimate episode)
It quickly gives the feel of a finale, as two huge characters leave the company, as Kevin is fired and Stanley retires. Toby is fired as well, and Andy quits a few episodes ago and has since gone viral for crying at an Acapella audition. More big news is given at the beginning of the episode, as Dwight says he is getting married to Angela tomorrow. A key component to the series is how the characters of the show would talk by themselves to the camera and as stated last episode, the characters have now stated that they know they are part of an office documentary.
The morning of the wedding, the crew goes to speak in front of a crowd to talk about the documentary The wedding provides a reason for the old and new characters to come back. This finale marks a return of Darryl, Andy, Kelly, and most importantly, the return of Michael Scott with his signature line, “That’s what she said.” Michaels return was marked by him being called upon to be Dwight’s best man.
All and all, this series finale is the perfect ending to an amazing series. The way the characters come back is excellent. The main reason for return was for the documentary was for the wedding between Dwight and Angela. Of course, the most prominent character, Michael Scott, gets the most prominent return. The returns are also capped off with humor from past parts of the show, like how Kelly and Ryan got back together, and how Michael Scott comes back with his signature line. However, the absolute greatest part of this finale, is the emotional appeal. The ending includes a beautiful mural painted by Pam of the entire Dunder Mifflin crew, and two love stories.
The successful marriage of Dwight and Angela does not have a huge significance, but the final showing for the shows sweethearts, Jim and Pam, was a perfect ending, as Pam surprised Jim by agreeing to move to Austin for his business, which she finally gained trust in. The final scene with the whole crew back in The Office singing along to a song sang by Creed moves most of viewers to tears. The way all the characters bond for one last time was something special. The way this show gives such an emotional tie between the viewers and the characters is pure genius, and a happy ending for the whole crew is exactly what the viewer wanted.
This finale solidified the greatness of The Office, and reassured that thursday nights on NBC would never be the same.