Quick Take: The Office, “Goodbye Michael”
“The people that you work with are, when you get down to it, your very best friends.” – Michael
Review: The Office, “Goodbye Michael”
(S0721) It is Michael’s last couple of days at Dunder Mifflin and he wants them to be drama-free. He starts off by letting the party planning committee plan his party any way they want and goes about saying his goodbyes to each employee. He compliments Phyllis, talks to Angela about her boyfriend, and bestows the gift of a folder with information on the ten most important clients the office has to Andy.
When Oscar asks Michael where to send his last check, Michael isn’t even sure which town he is moving to. While eating lunch, Pam, Jim, Kevin and Creed are talking about getting a new shredder for the office and Michael overhears them. The discussion makes Michael sad so he calls Holly, thinking he wants to change his mind. When she tells him they will live in Boulder, he says he is fine and just wanted to hear her voice. She tells him she will see him soon and he admits to the camera crew that he is leaving that night and not the next day like he had told everybody.
Michael continues with his goodbyes around the office. Toby tells Michael about his brother in Boulder, with Michael holding back probably a lot of insults, Kelly tells him not to bother her, Pam leaves to get a shredder before Michael can say anything and he gives Ryan his St Pauli girl light. He gives Erin advice about Andy and Gabe, then gives Dwight his recommendation and plays one last game of paintball with him.
By three o’clock Michael is still waiting for Pam, but they show her going to a movie instead of looking for a shredder. He calls everyone into the conference room to find out when Pam is getting back. He can’t bring himself to tell the truth, so he brings out his character of Ping one last time. Jim realizes what Michael he is up to and says that goodbyes are hard and he understands why Michael is doing what he is doing.
Michael begins to tell him something, but Jim tells him to wait for tomorrow and he would also wait until tomorrow to tell Michael that he turned out to be a great boss and the best one he had ever had. This was probably the saddest moment of the episode with both Jim and Michael on the verge of tears. You could tell that this was pretty emotional for both John Krasinski and Steve Carell. Michael now has everyone crossed off his goodbye list except for Pam.
Michael goes to leave the office and he takes his last glimpse of Dunder Mifflin Scranton and the employees. As his cab pulls out, Pam pulls into the parking lot. Michael goes to the airport and when he is about to go to this gate, Pam meets him there to say goodbye (okay, this was the saddest moment of the episode). Michael’s plane took off with Pam watching and was gone forever. The episode ends with everyone waiting for Michael at his goodbye party with only Pam and Jim knowing where he was really at.
In other storylines, Gabe threatens Andy to stay away from Erin and he tries to talk to her about what happened between them. Andy decides to go visit some of the important clients and takes Deangelo with him. Deangelo doesn’t really help Andy out by telling a client that going with Andy will either be a bad decision or a good decision. The client says no, but Andy talks to him without Deangelo and promises the best customer service.
I think this was a good send off for Michael Gary Scott and Steve Carell, although I think it could have been better without any Deangelo or Gabe story to interfere. Goodbyes are a bitch, but the ones he made to everyone were perfect though and it was bittersweet to see Pam there with him at the end. So long to Michael Scott, you will be missed. Now we will have to see how Dunder Mifflin Scranton is going to survive without you.
Overall I found it to be an enjoyable episode and thought the Michael send off was handled well. It has been nice to see Carell pull out his dramatic acting chops the last few episodes, which is both a relief after seven seasons of crazy antics from him (which were getting very tired) and enjoyable as Carell is very good when he's more serious.
I enjoyed the Andy/Gabe stuff too. But the funniest moment came when Angela showed off the pictures of her boyfriend and his "aide."