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The Office finale preview: Goodbye, Toby

May
15

I don’t want it to be over, not so soon after it finally came back.

The Office began the season not only with high hopes for a return to its former greatness after a wayward third season but also flush with an embarrassing wealth of 30 new half-hour installments.

goodbyetoby-michael-holly.JPG

Jim and Pam were happy finally. Ryan leap-frogged Michael and shook up the corporate hierarchy. Dwight and Angela hit the skids. Sure, Michael drove into a lake, but for the most part things were copasetic.

Then the strike hit. For 100 days we waited, and when a deal was reached between the writers and the studios, we waited another 58 days while production ramped up again.

goodbyetoby-toby-holly.JPG

Our patience was rewarded with as blissfully cringeworthy and hilarious a string of episodes as we’ve seen since the unparalleled Season 2. (Sure, “Job Fair” could have been funnier and more momentous, but it was no “Phyllis’s Wedding” by a long shot.)

But now it’s all about to be over. Another hiatus is upon us, this one sure to last four long months. But we’ve at least got this one last hour—thankfully, a full hour—to savor the joy that is The Office before it is taken away from us again.

(Am I being melodramatic? Sorry. I kind of like this show.)

goodbyetoby-holly-pam.jpgWe know there’ll be laughs that will leave us gasping, payoffs that will have us cheering and awkward moments that will make us want to crawl inside ourselves and hide. We just don’t know what any of those things will be in particular, despite mad speculation online to figure them out.

Here’s the final episode summary of the season. sniff

It’s Toby’s goodbye party at Dunder Mifflin, and Michael demands a huge celebration that matches the joy in his heart. Angela, sick of Michael’s unreasonable last minute demands, refuses, and Michael turns to Phyllis to take over the party planning committee. Meanwhile, Dwight and Meredith haze the new HR woman, Holly (guest star Amy Ryan).

Here’s what I predict:

  1. Toby isn’t leaving (Too obvious.)

  2. Jan is pregnant (Well, this show is a tragedy.)

  3. Ryan gets demoted (Or deported.)

  4. Jim and Pam get engaged (Yeah, I said it.)

  5. Kevin steals the show (I know, a no-brainer.)


Tune in tonight and then check back here to tell me how right—or wrong—I was. And we can commiserate together too.

In the meantime, TVGuide has Kate Flannery’s latest blog up and OfficeTally has a clip up from Rainn Wilson’s appearance on The Tonight Show last night.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 15th, 2008 at 12:00 pm by Brian Howard.
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Grab a snack, pull up a comfy seat and join our staff as they share their thoughts on your favorite shows. Tune in daily for their comments and post your own on such hit shows as "Lost," "Grey's Anatomy," "The Office," "American Idol," "24," "Heroes" and more.

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