As I look around the office, the only one who it seems totally irrational for them to be sympathetic to Michael is Phyllis. He's not just a buffoon to her; he's a total ******* to her.

He and Jim have always had kind of a kinship and understanding, especially in parts of the series where Jim had to be manager and sucked at it. He always looked out for Ryan and treated him far better than he deserved. Pam has always had something of a mother-son relationship with him; she never fully hated him because she always seemed to pity and look out for him. Creed? Well he saved Creed's life. (Not really, but I'm referencing Halloween from season two.)

Aside from Phyllis, I just don't see it as that far-fetched. And where my thought process is flawed, I think I'm going to just suspend disbelief on some level to maximize enjoyment of next week's show.

This is basically what the show is asking of the viewer and what many of the OOTV nit-tards are incapable of. "They should hate him!!11!!" angryface.jpg

People actually hating Michael is the antithesis of the point of this show and it's been demonstrated throughout its history. Stanley is probably the only legit exception and he's the biggest straight man on the show, so it's different.

So you're suggesting that the Scranton Strangler, who has been convicted by the jury Toby was on and given a death sentence, is out on a pass to attend the Dundees?

no, toby said he was having doubts about who they convicted, of actually being the killer and sharpyetblunt was suggesting that maybe the actual scranton strangler is gabe or the state senator.

I liked a lot of this episode, but thought a lot of the stuff, mainly Ferrell (even though I liked his performance), was pretty uneven. The problem is they are turning "Goodbye Michael Scott" into "Goodbye Steve Carrell", which forces them to add moments that are only earned because of the audience's extra-textual knowledge.

I'd put a word in for Oscar as the other biggest straight man (a gay straight man at that), but yeah, point taken.

It get that this is what they want to be true. However, it's far from nitty to point out that they've done a terrible job of accomplishing this.

lolololololol how is this what you got from his post?

pam<3 killed it
creed killed it
stanley killed it
deangelo sucks

and that rent song was soooooo awesome.

I mean this is obvious what it is partly. I don't think it's a "problem" because he more than deserves it, but I don't think that's what you're getting at.

There's also the fact that he's been there forever. He obviously loves and cares about all of them and has shown that throughout the series despite his faults. If I worked with a guy for a long time who was like that, I would be sad to see him go too even if part of me realized he's not the best person and the office would be better without him. The comments ITT (not from you) are not surprising though.

I'm definitely in that camp of people that forgot about how much dumb sh*t Michael has done and how annoying he can be with that last scene. Part of that is because I stopped caring about the overall stories in this show and just go ep by ep. I've been like that with this show for the last season and a half. As long as it's entertaining in some form, whatever.

I don't think it's a problem at all that they aren't happy to see Micheal go. Although I see your point about the writing Did's, but that aside the Micheal has been working here since before all of them. He's been a major part of some of these peoples lives.

That coupled with the fact that most people in the office don't "hate" him but pity him or feel sorry for him more than anything. In fact Id go as far as to say people like Dwight, Kevin, Erin and Andy like him for the most part. Ryan, Kelly and Creed all seem indifferent. The only people that should have a real problem with him are Toby, Oscar, Stanley and Phylis. Maybe Jim and Pam but I'd say they fall more into the pity camp.

tobys always been nice to him though. them as a group being sad seeing him go is completely believable to me.

good episode, laughed a bunch

My life won't be a success until Friday is sung on the office.

A lot of really good parts but it wasn't great, overall, imo. Rent song killed.

meh, I think they've done a good enough job with Micheal for it to be believable that the office is sad to see him go.

I don't think it really matters whether it's believable or not. He's the central character of the show and he's leaving, of course the writers are going to send him off in a huge way. I guess it's worth pointing out than when Michael left the first time by quitting, most of the office didn't really seem to give a **** and it was very unceremonious. But we as the audience weren't expected to believe he was gone for good, so it didn't matter.

I worked in an office with a boss that was some mix of Michael and Dwight. Michael because he had a tendency to be blatantly inappropriate, Dwight because he was a huge nerd. While I didn't hate him, he generally annoyed the **** out of me on a daily basis. I was (white) Stanley to his Michael.

One time a rumor was being whispered that he was taking a job elsewhere. It turned out to be groundless. I remember my reaction though; it was one of "Oh ****...granted this guy is far from perfect and he annoyed me a lot, but things could be so much worse with someone else. I hope this rumor isn't true." I was glad when it wasn't. I don't think I would have been throwing him a ceremony on his way out, but when that came up I was less than two years into that job. As long as these people have worked for him, I can totally see it. Ultimately I left that job and he's still there, but when I left and thanked him and told him I really appreciated the time I worked for him, I was being sincere.

I think this is all fair. One reason I have a distaste for some of the elements of Michael's exit is because they emphasize what is wrong with this show. The show turned from a small comedy about everyday life into a broad sitcom that is only enjoyable because the writing/acting is much better than most sitcoms.

By the way, no real mention of this yet, but Erin dumping Gabe on-stage was quite the writing move. The show gave us a point in the plot that we've been waiting for (their breakup) but chose to do it in this deeply uncomfortable way where the heroine comes off badly.

Unconventional, but I like it.

i liked it too, along with Dwight's sound effects.

Really great episode I thought, very funny.

Thoughts from last 30 posts:

Creed sleeps under his desk.

Phyllis is too motherly to hate Michael. Also, IRL fat chicks forgive easily

Stanley: Remember the "DID I STUTTER episode? Despite showing he doesn't like Michael, at the end, he had a heart to heart conversation where it was clear he respected Michael on some level. Also, there was the episode where Stanley was
going to quit to go work for Karen and yet "Michael called his bluff" which again, Stanley respected. I think Stanley just hates life (hates working), but knows if he has to have a job, it could be much, much worse than working for Michael, so he does like him.

The rest of the staff all like him. If anything, his relationship w/ Dwight has changed and fallen apart since the beginning of this show. I would think Dwight would be a little happy to see him leave, especially after these past 2 episodes. I would expect something emotional to happen between these 2 next week. Oh, and Toby, at this point, Toby should hate him.

Erin dumping Gabe was awesome! Obviously, Erin and Andy will be together by next week. After the Dundies when the whole cast went back to the office, Andy and Erin walked in late together.

I think Ferrell will be out of the way within the first 10 minutes next week as to not make the "goodbye" about him.

I still don't understand how Ryan went from RVP to nerdy temp again (I know why...just not realistic and he seems "dumb" and unmotivated to succeed now). Did love the "crack" debate though. It was awesome sauce.

Lastly, even after all these years, I still love Pam Beasley.

Toby has lower self-esteem than your average fat girl.

True, but Michael is 1000x nastier to Toby than Phyllis. If Toby says he is going to miss Michael, I'd still be okay w/ it...."graduation eyes."

ugh, another pretty bad episode. I only laughed 2 times I think and I had to turn off that song at the end, just awful stuff.