‘The Office’ will close its door for the final time on May 16. As my own way of saying goodbye, I will be reviewing every episode left.
So, here it goes.
The most recent episode, ‘Moving On’ brought along more developments in the marriage of Jim and Pam Halpert (John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer), a guest appearance from Bob Odenkirk (of ‘Breaking Bad’ fame), and Andy causing drama when he finds out that his girlfriend Erin dumped him for the show’s newbie Pete (Jake Lacy).
This episode, in my opinion, was one of the best of this current farewell season. Odenkirk, whose character was a Michael Scott-esque boss of a job that Pam was applying for in Philadelphia, was flawless in his imitation of the classic character Michael Scott. He adopted Scott’s mannerisms and really made long-time fans really notice that Steve Carell sized hole we all have in our hearts.
After spending all of Season 8 trying to get Andy (Ed Helms) and Erin (Ellie Kemper) together, the writers have decided to break them up before they could really even have a relationship. While Helms and Kemper deserve to be commended for their performances here, I can’t help but feel a little betrayed by the writers. Andy and Erin are one of my favorite couples on the show. I don’t see the value in tearing them apart just as soon as we got them together. The new relationship between Erin and Pete seems to be the writers trying to create Jim and Pam: The Sequel.
That brings me to the most important part of the show in my opinion: the marriage of Jim and Pam.
I have loved the idea of Jim and Pam being together since the show started. My heart broke in ‘Casino Night’ when Pam denied Jim, I was beyond happy when we found out Jim and Pam were dating in ‘Fun Run’, I cried when Jim proposed to Pam in ‘Weight Loss’ and I seriously lost it at their wedding in ‘Niagara’.
All of that being said I am very frustrated with the direction their marriage is going in this season; while it is true that in the past couple seasons their relationship has been a little boring, I liked their sweet marriage that always seemed flawless to the audience.
If you’ve been following along so far this season, you saw the fight between them in ‘Customer Loyalty’. When I first watched that scene, I was sobbing (you’ll all realize soon that I tend to cry a lot when I watch this show). I couldn’t believe that Jim was acting that way; I couldn’t believe that he made Pam cry. I thought to myself, what happened to my sweet Season 2 Jim Halpert who would never make Pam cry? Then, they broke the fourth wall and showed camera man Brian. Developments since then have hinted that Brian has feelings for Pam, and have also revealed that Brian’s marriage is ending in divorce because “they just stopped fighting.” Was that line meant to foreshadow a divorce for Jim and Pam? Sources say that a divorce is highly unlikely, but I was still put at unease when we were left with a cliff hanger in the most current episode ‘Moving On’. Shortly before the episode ended Jim and Pam were having dinner at his office in Philadelphia, when Pam revealed what we knew all along. She does not want to move to Philly with Jim, she wants to stay in Scranton and continue to work at Dunder Mifflin. Jim is quite surprised by this sudden revelation and that’s the last we’ve seen of them. I am more than worried for how their marital problems will unfold; but I highly doubt that they will get divorced. If they do, expect a very angry review full of me sobbing about how my life is over.
The last shot of the episode was very simple, yet very important to the story line. As you all know for the past nine seasons, a documentary crew has been filming the characters on the show. However we’ve yet to get insight as to why the crew is there or what they are filming about until now, the last scene showed a computer screen with a news alert adverstising a show called ‘The Office: An American Workplace’ (seen above). This excited me because I’m really curious to know how the footage that was filmed will be used; but it also saddened me because it is a sharp reminder that the show will soon come to an end.
The next episode is named ‘The Farm’ and will focus on Dwight’s life at Schrute Farms. The episode was originally set to be a pilot for a spin off series focusing on Dwight, but instead will air as an episode of the original series.
Stay tuned for more reviews, there are only seven episodes left!
