Finale (The Office)

Plot

One year after the documentary aired, the film crew returns to shoot DVD bonus features. Dwight Schrute has been promoted to regional manager and is marrying Angela Martin; Jim Halpert is the "bestisch mensch" and plans güten pränken for Dwight's bachelor party, which includes firing a bazooka and a lap dance from Elizabeth the Stripper, though Dwight does not recognize her. At Angela's bachelorette party, the stripper turns out to be Meredith Palmer's son Jake.

Dwight's cousin Mose kidnaps Angela as part of Schrute tradition and takes her to Kevin Malone's bar; Dwight finds her and tells Kevin his firing was based on job performance, cheering Kevin up. A panel is held where audience members ask questions; David Wallace expresses distaste for the documentary, and Pam Halpert is questioned about not letting Jim pursue his dream. Erin Hannon meets her birth parents, who had put her up for adoption.

Production

Greg Daniels wrote the episode, his second writing credit of the season and 12th overall. Ken Kwapis, who directed the pilot, directed the finale; Daniels joked that Kwapis was "the country vet who birthed this puppy" and had come "back to put it down". The initial idea, described as a reunion show like those on reality series such as Survivor, occurred to Daniels during production of the third season; he approached Jeff Probst to moderate but Probst declined. The table read was March 4, 2013, filming began March 6, and took nine days with 12-hour days. Multiple locations were used, including an AT&T Office Building standing in for the Scranton Cultural Center. Filming ended March 16, 2013.

Cultural references

Creed Bratton, who portrays a fictionalized version of himself, was a member of the rock band the Grass Roots from 1967 to 1969; he performs his own song "All the Faces" near the end. Andy mentions that the "Double Rainbow Guy" and the "Star Wars Kid" reached out after his viral video mishap. Bill Hader and Seth Meyers appear in a fictional Saturday Night Live Weekend Update sketch about Andy's viral fame. Pam's comparison of her relationship to a great book prompts a question about the Harry Potter series. Dwight claims Google is a front for the U.S. government or other governments. Callbacks include Oscar saying "Whazzup!" (from "Pilot"), Jim quoting his first talking head, Dwight rehiring Devon (referencing "Halloween"), Pam answering the phone as she did as receptionist, and her painting of the office building from "Business School" appearing in the final scene.

Reception

The episode aired in a 75-minute timeslot preceded by a one-hour retrospective, which drew 4.37 million viewers and a 2.1/7% rating among adults 18-49. The finale itself was watched by 5.69 million viewers with a 3.0 rating/8% share, a significant increase from the previous episode and the highest-rated of the season; it ranked second in its timeslot behind Grey's Anatomy. NBC charged $400,000 per commercial, a 200% increase over usual ad prices. DVR viewing added 2.38 million viewers and a 1.4 rating, bringing the total to 8.07 million viewers and a 4.4 rating. The episode received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series.