As great as co-stars like Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, and Jenna Fischer were in their roles,The Officewas never the same after Steve Carell departed from the cast toward the end of the seventh season. His performance as the “world’s best boss,” Michael Scott, carried the series with the perfect combination of social ineptness and endearing vulnerability. Michael was the heart and soul of the series, and Carell was irreplaceable. But NBC inevitably insisted on replacing him and dragging out the series for another two seasons. Unsurprisingly, there was a noticeable dip in the quality and relatability of the show’s storytelling after Carell left the cast. Still, there are some gems in those final seasons – including a perfect series finale.
Search Committee (Season 7, Episode 25/26)
Before promoting supporting player Ed Helms to the series lead, the writers ofThe Officehad some fun teasing the audience about who would take Carell’s place as Dunder Mifflin Scranton’s regional manager. In the two-part season 7 finale “Search Committee,” Jim, Toby, and Gabe assemble tointerview potential candidates for Michael’s vacant job.
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Before choosing an in-house replacement, this committee sees a carousel of cameos from Jim Carrey toRay Romanoto Will Arnett to an uncharacteristically stingy Warren Buffett to Ricky Gervais briefly reprising his role as David Brent from the British original series for a Skype interview.
Garden Party (Season 8, Episode 4)
In season 8’s “Garden Party,” one of the show’s cringiest episodes, Andy hosts a lavish garden party at Schrute Farms in a futile bid to impress his parents. There’s even a painful scene in which he tries to recreate a viral video of Andy’s dad singing a duet with Andy’s brother, played brilliantly byguest star Josh Groban, at his own garden party. This episode went a long way toward makingThe Office’s new lead a more sympathetic character as Andy’s colleagues-turned-employees (and the audience) see the unfair pressure that his aloof father puts him under.
Plus, the episode has a hilarious subplot in which Dwight follows a book on garden party etiquette to the letter without realizing “James Trickington” is prankster Jim Halpert’s nom de plume.
Promos (Season 9, Episode 18)
Most of the mockumentary series that followedThe Office,likeModern FamilyandParks and Rec, simply used the format as a stylistic flourish without ever acknowledging the cameras that all the characters were talking to. ButThe Officetackled the in-universe documentary head-on. In season 9’s “Promos,” the first trailer for the doc is released online and all the Dunder Mifflinites realize the cameras were rolling at all times – even when they thought they had privacy.
This episode gave the characters an opportunity to reflect on the past decade of their lives, and gave the writers an opportunity to reflect on the story choices they made. “Promos” could’ve been a gimmicky meta episode, but the writers made it a contemplative study of regret.
The Incentive (Season 8, Episode 2)
Andy didn’t prove to be well-suited to the role of regional manager right away. His second episode in the job, “The Incentive,” saw him make his first blunder as he offered to let his employees tattoo his butt if they could meet their productivity goals. More galvanized than ever before, the office meets those goals in a couple of hours (in spite of Andy’s desperate attempts to de-incentivize them) and they take a reluctant Andy down to a tattoo parlor to fulfill his obligation.
This storyline feels like it was plucked straight fromthe Michael Scott era. (Arriving so early in the eighth season, the idea might actually have been a holdover from Michael’s tenure.) “The Incentive” highlights Andy’s most likable quality, and what endeared his staff to him and made him a worthy leader in those final seasons: the ‘Nard-Dog is an underdog.
Finale (Season 9, Episode 24/25)
After a ninth season full of disappointing story arcs scraped from the bottom of the barrel, like a paper airplane contest, marital strife betweenJim and Pam, and sedating Stanley to get him down the stairs, the writers pulled out the perfect series finale to make up for it. The finale begins with the characters reuniting for a “Where Are They Now?” panel a year after the documentary has aired in-universe, which allowed for some meta reflection on their arcs, before attending Dwight and Angela’s wedding.
Every character ends up in a good place. Dwight takes over as regional manager of the Scranton branch and marries Angela to help raise their lovechild, Jim and Pam leave to start a new life in Philly, and Andy gets a lucrative administrative job at his precious Cornell. And on top of that,Michael returns to act as Dwight’s best manand deliver one last “That’s what she said” joke.
