The Office: Season 9, Episode 23 “Finale”
After about 200 episodes, there was a lot riding on this finale. I personally feel, as I believe most do, that the show peaked in its second and third seasons, and had some great installments in season four too. Sticking with the show even through Steve Carell’s departure was both an act of loyalty to the show and to my enthusiasm for TV, and though this season was frustrating, I think it all paid off with this very fitting finale. Fast-forwarding a year was a useful device that didn’t feel manipulative, and it’s just the right amount of time to be able to recap important life events without having to outfit characters differently to show that they have aged. Jim’s status as best man and his excitement about “guten pranken” was touching, and it’s nice to see that, after everything, he and Dwight became genuine friends. Making up a story about how the best man can’t be younger than the groom was an amazing way to introduce a cameo that I was expecting but still surprised me in the moment, which was Carell back as Michael, set up by Dwight for the most triumphant “That’s what she said” ever. Featuring Michael only enough for Pam to exclaim that he pays for two phones so that he can have more pictures of his kids was probably a result of Carell’s availability more than anything, but it was still just the right note. Bringing both Kelly and Ryan back and having them run off together was great, and it’s good that this episode wasn’t drowning in other return appearances. Erin’s parents both showing up was wonderful, and her character makes more sense now that we know that she was spawned from Joan Cusack and Ed Begley Jr. Stanley retiring and Kevin and Toby being fired were eventualities that were well-handled, and it’s great that Pam decided that she and Jim should move to Texas so that he could work with Athleap. Even Andy got redeemed by his owning of the mockery he was subjected to after his breakdown went public. I don’t think that the past few years justified the wait for this finale, and the focus on the documentary this season wasn’t necessary, but this was a tremendous and satisfying way to end this show. I’ve been thinking about this episode a lot, only good things, since it aired on Thursday. Last week, I re-watched a few of the episodes I remembered liking most, including “The Job” and “Dinner Party,” and in lieu of selecting a best episode right now, I’ll plan to do a retrospective with the best-ever episodes sometime in the next few weeks.
Series finale: A-
Season grade: C+
Season MVP: John Krasinski as Jim
Series grade: B
Series MVP: Steve Carell as Michael
Best Season: Season 3
Best Episode: TBA
No comments:
Post a Comment