Goodbye, Michael Gary Scott

Hello bloggers!

Thursday night Cory and I said goodbye to one of our favourite characters on television, The Office's Michael Scott.  We have been watching this show together for more than half of our relationship.  It was probably the first show that Cory had to persuade me to watch that I ended up loving.  The only reason I agreed to watch it in the first place was that he told me there was a great will-they-or-won't-they relationship that would be right up my alley.  That would be Jim and Pam, or Jam as they are affectionately known as.  Well, by me anyway.  They sucked me in and I soon learned to love the fearless leader of The Office, Michael.  We spent as much time cringing at him and hiding our eyes as we did laughing at him - but that's exactly how you are supposed to react to this insane character.  He is a fantastic salesman, desperate for his employees to love him, and just wants to be everybody's best friend.  He has made a lot of mistakes over the years but just when you are starting to lose faith in him he does something to reel you back in and save the day.

As we watched the final episode we couldn't help but realize how much Michael has grown up and how much the employees of The Office have come to appreciate what a great boss Michael has been and how much they will miss him, craziness and all.  A few things stick out the most about this episode.

Holly & Michael
I am so pleased that Michael has found true love with Holly and that he is leaving the office for a good reason.  I loved how when he was upset and scared about the move and wasn't sure he could do it, as soon as he heard Holly's voice he was instantly calmed and laughing.  He knew he was making the right decision.  As he so eloquently stated "Holly's my family now.  She's my family.  And the babies that I make with her will be my children."  After all of Michael's hopeless relationships and his desire to have the real thing a la Jim and Pam, it is so fitting that he has truly found his soul mate.

Oscar's Scarecrow
One of the best parts of the episode is Michael's goodbye gift to Oscar and the hilarity that followed.  He gave him a brown sack that he drew a face on with a marker and called it a scarecrow because Oscar "gave him a brain."  Oscar accepted this gift with a genuine "thank you Michael" and "it's beautiful".  Then we are in Michael's office where he is giving a hilarious interview to the documentary crew about how Oscar accepted the gift believing that it had taken Michael a great deal of effort to put together and how Oscar truly has "the lowest opinion of me of anyone."  This was Steve Carell at his best.  We couldn't stop laughing.

Jim Figures It Out
My very favourite part of the episode was the fact that Jim was the only one to figure out that it was Michael's last day in the office, not the following day as he told everyone.  The goodbye between Jim and Michael was so moving and just so perfectly Michael and Jim.  There were tears, both in Jim and Michael's eyes and also in mine.

Pam's Goodbye and The Documentary
Jim tried to contact Pam who was out shopping for a new shredder (actually she was seeing The King's Speech) so that she could hightail it back to the office to say a proper goodbye to Michael, but she didn't respond (how could she receive his text as she was in the movie theatre where no cellphones are allowed?!).  We see Pam's car pulling into the parking lot just as the cab taking Michael to the airport leaves the lot.  At the airport Michael is putting on his shoes after making it through security and he says his final goodbye to the documentary crew.  Favourite line of the episode: "will you guys let me know if this ever airs?" - genius.  You must be a long-time Office fan to appreciate the hilarity of this.  Anyway, as he removes his microphone pack he says "this is going to feel so good getting this off my chest" to the cameraman and just like that we can't hear anything he says. However, we are treated to him mouthing one last "that's what she said."  Perfection.  We see him mouth the word "goodbye" and start walking to his gate, his suitcase trailing behind him.  But wait!  Next we see Pam carrying her shoes running toward Michael.  We can't hear their conversation but there are two hugs and I'm sobbing.  Literally sobbing.  Pam later tells the crew as she watches his plane take off that he wasn't sad - he was hopeful.  Hopeful that he would be upgraded on his flight and looking forward to seeing Holly.  It was just perfect.

We will miss you here in the Maye household, Michael!