Finale (The Office)
The series—presented as if it were a real documentary—depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.
B. J. Novak and Mindy Kaling, who departed the series after "New Guys", are again credited as stars for reprising their roles as Ryan Howard and Kelly Kapoor.
Subsequent to this event, Dwight Schrute has been promoted to the regional manager of Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch; he and Angela Martin have also agreed to be married.
Andy Bernard, after being humiliated with his talent show audition tape going viral on the internet, has found a job at his alma mater Cornell University.
Stanley Hudson is enjoying retirement in Florida, and Kevin Malone, after having been fired by Dwight, now owns a bar.
One year after the documentary has aired, the film crew has returned to shoot footage for DVD bonus features.
Later, Dwight's cousin Mose kidnaps Angela as part of the Schrute tradition and takes her to a bar owned by Kevin.
The following day, a panel comprising the office workers is held so that audience members can ask them questions.
Dunder Mifflin CEO David Wallace expresses his distaste for the documentary, and Pam Halpert is pressed with questions about why she did not allow Jim to follow his dream after he has paid her so many romantic gestures.
[7] Daniels, at one point, approached Jeff Probst, the host of Survivor, to appear in the finale as a moderator for the fictional reunion, although he declined.
[10] The finale was described as "ambitious", featuring multiple location shoots, including one in an AT&T Office Building, which stood in for the Scranton Cultural Center.
[13] Once filming finished Daniels, in an interview with TVLine, expressed his hope to expand the episode, stating, "I was very excited with the footage we got ...
[17] The series finale guest stars Rachael Harris, Dakota Johnson, Joan Cusack, Ed Begley Jr., and Malcolm Barrett.
Jay Falk, a script editor for the series, and his wife stood in for the couple buying Jim and Pam's house.
[20][22] Daniels himself appeared during the documentary after-party along with executive producer Howard Klein, editors David Rogers and Claire Scanlon, script supervisor Veda Semarne, first assistant director Rusty Mahmood, prop master Phil Shea, and casting director Allison Jones.
Early during production for the season, Kinsey and Wilson noted in an interview that the cast and crew were hoping for the return of former lead actor Carell.
[27] Several months later, however, TVLine reported that the producers for The Office mounted "an 11th hour effort" to get Carell to make a cameo in the show's final episode.
[35] Andy mentions that both the "Double Rainbow Guy" and the "Star Wars Kid" reached out to help him after his viral video mishap.
[36] Both Hader and Meyers appear in a fictional Saturday Night Live Weekend Update sketch involving Andy's viral fame.
[36] Pam's painting of the office building, introduced in "Business School", plays a prominent role in the final scene.
Sepinwall noted that, despite the inconsistency in the last few seasons, "the world was rich enough to fuel a lovely 75-minute trip through the past, present and future of The Office.
Ultimately, he noted that the "biggest emotional moments" belonged to Jim and Pam, and their final talking heads.
"[48] Hillary Busis of Entertainment Weekly praised the entry, writing that "for anyone who's stuck with The Office through thick and thin ... last night's 75-minute-long finale was pretty much perfect."
[34] Brian Lowry of Variety wrote that the finale "ignored" the last few seasons' missteps and was "awash in warmth and inside gags".
He concluded that the show "deserved to finish on top", and that while some of the scenes, such as Dwight's wedding, seemed "a little bit trite", the resulting product was successful.
Club awarded the episode an "A−" and wrote that "the quality of this series finale is found in the way it functions right now, in the afterglow of a TV show to which many devoted more than 100 hours of their lives.
Ultimately, he found that "'Finale' is not a great piece of television" but that it was the finale that "The Office needed" because it was "the right point to jump off ... the circular track", due to the series idea of thematic reoccurrence.
Campbell noted that he was "glad [Carell's] return was still uncertain [before the episode aired] because the reveal was made that much sweeter.
"[50] Sepinwall noted that Carell's return managed to not "overshadow the stories of the people who remained after he left, but which made sense for the characters, and the end of the series.
[51] Basis wrote that the appearance was "pretty great" and that "the notion of Michael finally getting the family he's always wanted was enough to melt the heart of even the nit-pickiest fan.
