What Made Michael Scott's Farewell So Heartbreaking

I've got a treat for you. Oh, thank you. Like a butler. Colorado specialty, Rocky Mountain oysters. Oh, those do not taste like oysters. That's because they're not oysters. They're bull testicles. This is how you say goodbye to sitcom royalty. Not with a bang, not with a whimper, but with the same hilarious, heartfelt nuance his character arc was treated with. Thankfully, season 7, episode 22 of The Office, delivered on every possible level and still remains a shining example of how to deliver the perfect goodbye on television. Steve Carell and his character, Michael Scott, became pop culture icons back in 2005 when The Office first aired on NBC. But Steve Carell had only been contracted to work on the show for seven seasons. No, God, please, no, no! So when we had to say goodbye to the actor and character that had rocketed the show into stardom, a proper send-off was not only expected, but necessary. Well, this is gonna hurt like a mother. Remember that this was a man who trampled on the boundaries of his employees. He made wildly inappropriate and downright offensive jokes. If I had a gun with two bullets and I was in a room with Hitler, Bin Laden, and Tobey, I would shoot Tobey twice. And yet, as the series went on, we saw a more human side to his character, one that was desperately looking for connection and community and cared deeply for the people around him, even if he didn't quite know how to show it. He deserved a final episode as complex and incredible as he was. And that's exactly what he got. Goodbye, Michael was written by series developer, Greg Daniels, and directed by Paul Feig. NBC actually gave the showrunners permission to make the episode as long as it needed to be, which was good, because everything from the writing to the genuine emotion from the actors to the long, quiet pauses in the most important scenes add up to some incredible TV. Goodbye, Michael follows Michael Scott through what he tells his co-workers is his second to last day in the titular office. Dead man walking. But we, as an audience, later learned that this is actually Michael's very last day. Having met the love of his life in Amy Ryan's Holly Flax, Michael plans to move with her to Colorado, and he wants an uncharacteristically low-key exit. The episode opens with Michael and Dwight bantering back and forth the way they tend to do. And while egging Dwight on to see Michael smile in a pretty knowing way, this acting choice shows us a man enjoying his last moments with a beloved, if not incredibly annoying friend. It's a subtly heartbreaking moment shrouded by a string of jokes, which is the perfect tone setter for the rest of the runtime. Throughout the episode, we see moments of humility, compassion, and thoughtfulness from Michael. Moments that, in the rest of the series, were always used as emotional punctuation to remind us that Michael isn't just an obstacle for the other characters, but a person. For seven seasons, these moments have been pretty few and far between to keep them as emotionally impactful as possible. But during this episode, they're abundant, which helps us, as an audience, understand the weight of what we're watching. Many of these emotional moments come from Michael's list of people he needs to say goodbye to. In a Wizard of Oz sort of way, Michael gives his employees gifts that represent his time with them since season one. Man, he has the lowest opinion of me, of anybody. It reminds us what Michael has put these people through without giving us a literal clip show of moments, and demonstrates how much he really cares about each of them. He tells the party planning committee to get an ice cream flavor everyone will enjoy, rather than his favorite. Sounds good. Fudge it up. A far cry from the overbearing party planner of seasons past. Mint chocolate chip. He gives Andy all of the company's most important clients as a sign of his newfound and very misguided belief in him after rebuffing him for so long. Michael, I just lost Porter Hardware. I lost them. OK, you know what? Just do your best, buddy. He rips up a caricature of Kevin in what is supposed to be a motivational speech, and part apology for all those years of commenting on his weight. He has done these sweet moments with virtually everyone aside from Jenna Fisher's Pam, who is enjoying a day out of the office, taking advantage of a work-related errand to watch a movie. But that doesn't stop Michael from continuously asking after her and wondering when she'll be back. Maybe the best example of Michael's growth is his interaction with Erin in this episode. It really cements that surrogate father-daughter relationship they've been building up. Michael has some surprisingly solid and mature advice for her. And when he tells Erin that, And when the right guy comes along, you'll know it. You will. We believe him. Because even though we've seen him struggle through relationships in the past, he's come to a point where he's finally got it right. So far, Michael is content. He's still asking where Pam is, but he's excited to go off on a new adventure with Holly in Colorado. However, as his co-workers start asking questions about his new life, he starts to doubt himself, which turns into a classic Michael Scott meltdown. He calls Holly to tell her he can't move to Colorado. He's done this kind of thing before, and he always ends up going back on his life-changing decision, and the status quo of the show resumes unchanged. But that's not what happens this time. Instead, after hearing Holly's voice, Oh, you mean this? Michael is even more certain of his decision to leave. It's an important part of the episode, not just because it serves as an emotional double down from Michael, but because it's the first time we're told that Michael is, in fact, leaving tonight rather than tomorrow. This puts all his previous actions into a new perspective. Michael didn't want the only ice cream available at the party to be his favorite because he wasn't even going to be there. He's been so focused on saying goodbye to everyone in meaningful ways today because he won't get another chance, and Pam is still nowhere to be seen. John Krasinski's Jim eventually figures all of this out, and we get the emotional crux of the episode when he confronts Michael in his office. Jim tells Michael he knows he won't be coming back tomorrow. They both struggle to hold back tears in a very real way because this is actually the last scene Steve Carell filmed on set. The shooting schedule was a deliberate choice made by the writer and director that proved to be incredibly smart. Both John Krasinski and Carell were having trouble keeping it together because this really was goodbye. When Michael finally goes to leave the office, he turns around to take one last look, and he sees that no one is paying attention to him. Instead of demanding the attention of the room with a joke or some other Michael Scott-esque move, he just stands and stares until Creed says, See you tomorrow, boss. Later, guys. With one final look from Jim, Michael leaves. He, as well as we in the audience, can feel this chapter in his life and the show ending. When Michael heads to the airport, he takes off his mic pack, utters one final and inaudible that's what she said to remind us of all the time we spent with him, and heads toward his new life without saying goodbye to Pam. In another show, this would be a fade to black kind of moment, but we get one final beat. One more thing that really tops off this episode as the perfect goodbye to Michael Scott. From out of frame, Pam comes running in, pauses, then embraces Michael, not unlike the way she did at her art show all the way back in the third season. We don't get to hear what they say verbatim, but we do get to see Pam watch Michael confidently straight away. These mostly silent few moments feel really important because of how they chose to work them into The Office's trademark show-within-a-show style. The characters of Michael and Pam aren't mic'd like they normally would be. They're away from the prying eyes and ears of both the fictional and actual audience. It's a private moment. It's such an effective few seconds that was beautifully led up to throughout the entire episode. And seeing Pam carry her shoes in her hand while running after her boss subtly reminds us that she would have had to get through security and likely buy a ticket for a flight to say goodbye. It's a great visual way to illustrate how far her relationship to her boss has come, and by proxy, how far our relationship to the character has come. I would never say this to her face, but she is a wonderful person and a gifted artist. Why wouldn't you say that to her face? So. What was once an obnoxious corporate drone lording his meager power over his employees has become one of the greatest characters in sitcom history. A thoughtful, caring man with a deep respect for his found family of office workers. Someone with a bright future ahead of him. Someone that both Pam and the audience have grown to love. We are constantly reminded of the good and bad times we've had along the way without the references being too forced. And because of how well Michael's character arc was pulled off, those references also serve as a way to demonstrate his growth. We as an audience are sad to see him leave, but are proud of who he has become. And we're laughing along with him when he makes his last few jokes. It's tonal perfection. And the genuine love the actors openly display for one another is the cherry on top. Because by the end, they had all become real friends. And that's why season 7, episode 22 of The Office, is the perfect goodbye for a character. And that's it for this episode. If you're still here, let us know in the comments. Do you think Michael Scott's goodbye was perfect? Leave your answer below and make sure to subscribe to Nerdstalgic if you enjoyed watching.