Dunder Mifflin's Curtain Call

 As Netflix bids farewell to The Office this year and migrates to Peacock, I finished up my first full watch of the series. I can’t say it’s my favorite series unlike many of my friends (Michael is just so hard to watch) but I grew to love the series. The series finale particularly warmed my heart; it was among the few perfect finales on television. As such I want to highlight a few of my favorite moments from the finale and the worst moment too. 

Jim and Dwight had the strangest relationship over the years. They were antagonistic from day one. But as they teamed up and unteamed up over the years, they grew to understand each other. And eventually, they even became friends. When watching the pilot episode, who’d have thought Jim would be an almost-best man at Dwight’s wedding (which brings me to my next point). 

I knew from memes over the years that Michael returned for Dwight’s wedding. But to see the context in which he returned to be Dwight’s best man. Wow! And with his return we learned that he and Holly had a family together. I couldn’t contain my joy. I wish they had brought Holly back, along with their family. But even just knowing that Michael got a happy ending to his awkward, cringey story… it makes me happy.

Erin’s story was always on the backburner, especially her background. Other than a reference to Phyllis possibly being her mother in one episode, I don’t recall her birth parents being a plot point that stuck around. That being said, when her parents showed up at the press conference, I was freaking out. Her naivety made the reveal even cuter than it would have been. But once she met her mom and dad, it was amazing. I loved that they were brought into the story’s end.

Now for the worst part… Ryan. Ryan and Kelly. She had a good life with a good man, but threw it away for Ryan. I’m not going to pretend that it’s that easy for a woman to escape an abusive relationship (which it was) so I don’t fault Kelly nearly as much as Ryan. And Ryan left his child behind! As a father, I wanted to slap him. … At least Nellie finally got to be a mom I guess. Grr.

Despite my reservations about The Office over the years, I enjoyed watching it before it left Netflix. Only thing I really can’t stand is Ryan. And the Senator. But those are topics for another time.