Life In The Office

Well, that was a whirlwind! As an Office episode, “Goodbye Michael” felt like a salami stuffed inside the pants of a man escaping a black bear in the high country of Colorado. And when it was over, I felt like someone had taken my heart and dropped it into a bucket of boiling tears, and then hit my soul in the crotch with a frozen sledgehammer. And don’t even get me started on my grief bone… Uh, where was I? Oh yeah, I was leading up to this: I liked this episode. Greg Daniels wrote it, and it was touching without being maudlin. And, it was funny in the best “Office-y” sort of way. There were a few things I wasn’t crazy about, but I guess everybody could say that about everything. So, uh… on to the recap.

The cold opening got things off to a great start; Michael was sitting on Dunder-Mifflin’s roof, and his cowboy boots were a good visual joke. Then, his remark about “getting used to the altitude” was “golden,” and the subsequent conversation with Dwight crackled with typical Office humor; it was sarcastic and bitter and manipulative and ridiculous, and it really set the tone for the rest of the episode.

It is Michael’s last day at Dunder-Mifflin, even though everyone at the office thinks it is his next-to-last day. This is an example of really good writing, because it lets us the viewers in on Michael’s feelings of angst and urgency. He carries with him a list of all the people he has to make peace with, and tie up all the loose ends with. Of course, this being “The Office,” loose ends will not be tied up nicely; peace will not be made. Instead, Michael will approach everyone with astoundingly inappropriate remarks, observations and advice. Michael hilariously insults Kevin on matters of self-improvement; he makes pandering small-talk with Angela; he bestows ridonkulously cheesy going-away gifts on Phyliss, Oscar and Stanley. And then he inexplicably hands Andy his precious list of top clients; the dumbfounded looks on all the other salespeople are priceless. It is all made worse by Andy’s admission that he is “not worthy” of this list, and his doomsday prediction that he will promptly lose all the clients, which is exactly how every other sales person feels. This scene perfectly illustrates what I love about the show. It totally captures what happens in real life all the time. There are no punch lines to these “jokes.” There doesn’t have to be. Even when Stanley complains that Michael’s “gift,” the tiny pool table has got no balls, the line just hangs there in mid-air. That’s all it has to do. Brilliant.

Andy enlists Deangelo to help him on a sales call. Deangelo proves himself to be so inept, so lacking in sales instincts or even common sense, that Andy(!) amazingly has to rescue the situation. This does not bode well for Dunder-Mifflin’s new leadership, and it continues the disconcerting pattern of Deangelo’s head-scratching behavior. The character that Will Farrell is portraying is not his typical funnyman. This manager-of-mystery is either not-very-well thought out, or very, very-well thought out. We’ll find out soon enough, I guess.

Meanwhile, Michael continues to cross names off his list, as he consoles Erin in her confused love-life with wildly vague platitudes. He gives Darryl the only copy of his unfinished book manuscript, “Somehow I Manage.” The gesture seems genuine until Michael suggests that this gift has bought him some free time to play with the baler, a suggestion that Darryl wisely shoots down.

As the clock ticks down, a desperate Michael decides to entertain the troops one more time, by trotting out “Ping.” Jim intercepts Ping before the egregiously politically-incorrect act can do too much damage. Jim spirits Michael into his office, where they engage in a goodbye scene that is very well written, very well acted, and hits all the right notes. The poignant scene is interrupted by the blowing horn of the cab that will whisk Michael away. He exits the office in true “Office” style; awkwardly, as he realizes that “Life In The Office” (LITO, for short) is going on without him.

The final goodbye scene with Pam at the airport is so well done, so classic… that I think we can forgive the show for allowing Pam to inexplicably bypass the TSA agents at the gate without a ticket. They exchange a few words that we cannot hear, and it makes for a great ending. The Office sure does rise to the occasion with these big scenes, doesn’t it?

Well, that’s my best recap written under a self-imposed deadline, so the discussion can begin as soon as possible. I know I’ve missed a lot of good points, but I figure I can edit them in as the omissions occur to me, or… fellow LITO-ites can gently point out “Hey, stupid… how could you forget about (blank)? Well, tell us about (blank) then! Tell us something. Because, as Michael Scott noticed, “Life In The Office” goes on.

~ Robert