The Office Season Finale Review (Goodbye, Toby)
Raise your hand if you saw all those plot twists coming! Tonight’s episode was awesome, though I’m not sure where I’d rank it compared to the mid-season premiere. Did anyone notice how almost R-rated the finale was? Pregnancies, a marriage proposal, a foiled one, a hazing involving the idea that one worker is “special,” fraud, and a mentally scarring make-out scene at the very end? Was this The Office or Scranton, PA, [zip code of Scranton]?
Jan’s pregnant? And it’s NOT Michael’s? Not that that was much of a surprise; Michael did have THREE vasectomies, no? And how could he have gotten her pregnant while he was sleeping by the foot of her bed?
(Talking about the three vasectomies still hurts, BTW.)
The donor came from a sperm bank? I thought it was Hunter’s baby for sure! And now Michael thinks he’s back with Jan, throwing away a possible relationship with the new HR girl? Sure, his “relationship” with Holly was completely rushed, but it looked like he was going to wise up, before Kevin’s fateful call. And what happened to Jan not wanting kids???
Also, raise your hand if you noticed that Holly kinda resembled Jan. Nice job by casting to get a bunch of actresses to look like Jan after their breakup!
Damn Dwight for telling Holly that Kevin is “special,” causing her to treat Kevin the way she did. I think Kevin enjoyed Holly’s affection a bit too much. And I loved the way the other office workers acted around Kevin in the presence of Holly, especially Phyllis’ “Kevin, take your shoes off first!” as he runs towards the moon bouncer. Holly’s treatment of Kevin got exponentially more weird as the episode progressed.
I guess “the temp” will be spending the next few years in prison for fraud. Yeah, like people weren’t going to figure out that he demanded the sales staff to enter their sales twice. Wunderkind, or what-a-dumbass? And who didn’t enjoy the way Jim taunted Ryan? “…you obviously have your hands tied!” Talk about dropping a bomb! Ryan had it coming, though. “Congratulations! Don’t interrupt! Congratulations on doing your job.” What an ass! As the episode progressed, I was thinking that Ryan was going to try to implicate Jim in the fraud, citing the two “threatening” phone calls as some sort of proof of the allegations.
(Actually, that could be a great future storyline. Ryan could eventually come back on the show and accuse Jim of ratting him out. Of course, that depends on how much time Ryan spends in jail.)
Poor Toby! All he got out of his last day was a party, a watch, a few pics with an unhappy Pam, a horrible tribute song (that’s stuck in my head as we speak), and an escort off the office premises by security?
(Tangent: Did anyone notice that the certificate on the wall behind Michael’s desk is a Certificate of Authenticity for a Seyko [sic] watch? So Toby got a FAKE??? LOL!)
Farewell, Toby Flenderson. Be sure to tell Dwight to update his office hierarchy!
(EDIT: I just noticed that Toby’s “new” watch went off right as he left the office for the last time, just as how Michael set it. Nice attention to detail!)
As for you “Jam” lovers (that’s Jim-Pam, for you non-”shippers” out there, not that I am one), you must have hated the finale. I’m pretty sure you guys were screaming “F**K YOU ANDY!” when Andy stole Jim’s thunder with his own marriage proposal. My sister nearly threw something at my TV when that happened. What is next to happen in Jim’s relationship with Pam?
(What really stinks about the whole ordeal is that Pam has no idea that it was Jim that put up the money for the entire party! Yeah, I know…typical guy response…worried about the money :P)
Throughout the episode, I was almost sure that Jim was going to quit his job. From the first phone call to Ryan, to the huge amount of money he spent for the party (I didn’t know you could get a same-day Ferris wheel rental :P), I thought he was gone for sure, whether or not Pam accepted the marriage proposal. Then again, what would the show be without him? And did you see the look on Pam’s face during her last talking head? Then again, could you blame Jim for not proposing after what Andy did? What’s going to happen when (if?) Pam enrolls at the art academy?
During that talking head, did Pam mention starting a family with Jim? How far their relationship advanced in a year’s time!
And Dwight and Angela making out in the darkness of the office? ZE GOGGLES DO NOTHING! And Phyllis was the one to discover this?
Overall, I loved tonight’s episode, especially because of all the potential story lines that this episode set up for next season. By next season, Jan should either be close to giving birth, or would already have had the baby. Pam might already have started her art career, unless she decides against it for some reason. Andy could be in the midst of wedding planning. Maybe Toby will have second thoughts of leaving his position. Maybe Ryan will plea bargain his way out of prison. And what’s going to happen with Jim and Pam?
Most importantly, what the hell am I going to do between now and next season?
Favorite moments:
- Who didn’t enjoy watching Jim screw around with Dwight’s phone? As if the writers weren’t going to give us one interaction between these two in the finale. “Hang that up right now”? Dwight had the phone in his hand. Why didn’t HE hang up? If you’re keeping score at home, that’s now two phones that Dwight has destroyed. (EDIT: I didn’t notice it the first time, but apparently the phone rang again while he was trying to destroy it! HAHA!)
(Tangent: I’ve dealt with five or six different Bluetooth headsets in the past, and I don’t recall EVER getting good sound quality from any more than three feet away from the phone itself. Yet Jim was able to speak to two different people just fine? Amazing!)
- Michael’s shoe money. I don’t even want to imagine how long that money’s been sitting there.
- Pam: “…So the timing’s perfect. And THAT is the first time I’ve ever used the word ‘perfect’ in here!”
- Holly: “What do you do here?” followed by Creed’s talking head. “Qua-something…[qua-sounding junk]…”
- Toby: (screaming at the top of his lungs) “DOES ANYONE HAVE A CAMERA HERE?” Something tells me he ran off to the nearest Staples to buy a digital camera.
- Jim explaining that all his firsts with Pam occurred at the office. How pathetic! Then again, that makes his attempted proposal to Pam at the party even more fitting.
- Kevin: “I am totally going to bang Holly!” Did that come out of right field or what?
- Jim finally growing a pair and chewing out Ryan. Too bad that Ryan probably never got the message.
- That entire exit interview was awesome, in a truly awkward sense. I would have loved to see Toby throw the rock through the window.
- Yes, Hank, I thought Kelly’s talking head about visiting Ryan in jail was damn funny. I’m coming around!
- How did Michael resist the temptation to say “That’s what she said!”???
- Michael getting flustered after Holly touched him, followed by the talking head. Jan didn’t show affection? Well, I suppose sex != affection.
- Pam: “Don’t tell him [Toby] I said this, but I always thought he was kinda cute.” Wait until that gets back to Toby.
- Michael: “Are you nauseous? Do you have cravings? You never touched by Propecia…?”
- Michael: “You cheated on me? When I specifically asked you not to?”
- Holly: “Andy proposed to one of your accountants…” Michael: “Well, I can see Andy proposing to Angela. I can also see him proposing to Oscar.” How did I know that was coming?
One final thought: now that Toby has (seemingly) been written off the show, and it seems that Ryan won’t be around (for at least a good while), does this mean that B.J. Novak and Paul Liberstein are no longer going to write/produce on the show? And if they do, wouldn’t it be kinda weird to see their names in the credits, even though their characters are gone?