Wednesday, Dec. 07, 2011

The Office, 'Goodbye, Michael'

The Office spent almost its entire seventh season saying goodbye to Michael Scott (Steve Carell). And yet, as this pitch-perfect final episode showed, there's never enough time to say goodbye. True to his reality-denying character, Michael tried not to say it at all, pretending that his last day on the job was his next-to-last. Yet this episode, written by executive producer Greg Daniels, manages to give him moments with nearly the entire cast, both inappropriate and sweet, while also showing how the show's bumbling, offensive boss has grown over the years into someone we could imagine having an adult relationship on the other end of his final plane ride. Playing along with Michael's ruse, Jim (John Krasinski) tells him, "Tomorrow I can tell you what a great boss you turned out to be" — and what a great character he turned out to be too.