Season opener “The New Guys” introduces two new characters – Clark (Clark Duke), and Pete a.k.a. Plop (Jake Lacy) – as two characters (Kelly [Mindy Kaling] and Ryan) leave. Pam’s ex Roy gets married (“Roy’s Wedding”), which starts off some of the marriage problems that the twosome experience in this season. It begins in this episode, when Jim gets involved with old college friends in a new business opportunity called Athlead, a sports management company. Darryl (Craig Robinson) gets involved later on (“Andy’s Ancestry”), and the two eventually move in together in Philedelphia (“Vandalism”).
While the Jim/Pam story dominates, other gems emerge –Â after Angela discovers Oscar and Robert’s affair (“The Whale”), and that he is actually cheating on the both of them, they plot to kill him (“The Target”). Then there’s traditional Schrute Christmas that is forced upon the office by Angela’s lack of planning (“Dwight Christmas”). And who can forget Meredith being shaved bald after being blamed for a spate of lice in the office (“Lice”).
The finale, as perfectly summed up here, could not have been any better. It was a perfect end to a show that, while not always consistent, provided at least a few laughs per episode. Even at its worst, it was always a little bit funny, which is impressive after 201 episodes. I’m not even going to pretend that this retrospective has been exhaustive, given that I didn’t mention Kelly Kapoor or Darryl Philbin until very late in the proceedings, and made no mention at all of Val (Ameenah Kaplin), the controversial Brian (Chris Diamantopolous), Bob Vance (Robert R. Shafer) of Vance Refrigeration, Hank (Hugh Dane) the office security guard, or Stanley (Leslie David Baker) and his many affairs, or Creed (Creed Bratton) at all. This is just a brief look back at each season, and its many great moments.
Are there any particularly great scenes that I neglected to mention from The Office? Why not comment below and let me know? That way we can laugh together.
