What Made Michael Scott's Farewell So Heartbreaking

Few characters on Television get the farewell given to Michael Scott on The Office. Most of the time when a character leaves, it's a quick goodbye and the show keeps moving. But The Office took its time with an extended episode to give Michael Scott his final goodbye. This final episode for Michael Scott was everything it needed to be and more. The Office was never the same after Michael Scott left, but his goodbye was perfection.

#theoffice #michaelscott #nerdstalgic

Written by Ash Mitrano
Edited by Dan Smiley

[tito]

Oscar’s “what? Why wouldn’t you say that to her face?” gets me every single time

[KingRioT]

Every time I revisit this series and I get to this episode I struggle to hold back my tears.

[t]

It’s bullocks they didn’t win an EMMY awards for this episode. It’s truly a perfect sitcom. It’s funny and heartfelt in the right way.

[IamNOTferalfr]

Every time creed says “see you tomorrow boss” I burst into tears

[meowmix]

The thing that always makes me cry is Pam at the end because she was essentially his guardian angel/babysitter all those years. It's fitting that she be the one to let him go last, as he's finally growing up and leaving home.

[PoolKid]

Pam hugging Michael goodbye in the airport is one of my top 3 moments from the show, along with Michael's proposal to Holly and Erin admitting she thinks of Michael as a father figure.

[beartackle]

I broke and burst into tears when Dwight read the recommendation letter Michael gave him. I don't remember if it was in this episode, but it was so sweet.

[Bobbytheman]

For the record too, Jenna Fischer explained that when she went up to Steve at the end of the episode they just said their ACTUAL fair-wells to one another. It didn’t really have to do anything with the show itself she just said it was two friends who were saying their goodbyes. I mention this because a lot of ppl asked her over the years what Pam said to Michael when he left

[hapop]

5:43 this scene was sad enough when I first watched it, but finding out this was the last scene filmed intentionally and those emotions were legit made me tear up all over again.

[tyrontheconqueror]

So glad they actually treated the send off with great care and respect. It really was a good send off

[laurocoman]

"That's what she said" indeed can have an emotional punch if you slide it in the right moment.

[dspisegna]

My favorite moment in this episode is the first time Michael tears up. He's sitting by himself in the breakroom eating lunch when Jim, Pam and Kevin come in to have lunch and ask Michael to join them, but because Michael is feeling reflective he declines saying he's almost done. As he's finishing eating he simply listens to the conversation that the 3 of them are having which is about a new printer coming in and how it was probably Kevin who broke the old printer and Michael begins to break and tear up. I love this scene because it's so relatable if you have ever left somewhere that you truly cared about. The conversation that makes Michael tear up is so mundane and common but for Michael it's suddenly put so sharply into focus that those mundane, boring everyday moments that made up his time at this place he will never be a part of again. His security blanket is gone.

[Jared_Wignall]

And with this episode, Steve Carell lost the Emmy to Jim Parsons for The Big Bang Theory… they couldn’t even give him one award just for his final episode, when it possibly is his best performance on the show. Of course award shows often get it wrong anyway so it’s no big surprise he never received an Emmy for The Office.

[itzDreamszy]

I cry every single time I watch this episode. The beauty of this is how calculated and mature Michael is with his exit. Shows how much he grows through the series. Truly the greatest goodbye in TV history and it's not close

[edwardarcherwrestling]

It's impossible to see even a screen grab of the Jim and Michael or Michael and Pam at the end of this episode without getting somewhat emotional. Incredible show

[gruntythegreat]

The way it seems, based on the couple of moments he breaks that "fun michael" character, I really think that the whole Goofy thing was an act the whole time, especially made clear in the murder mystery episode when he finally snaps on Jim and calls the game "stupid", I believe the whole reason he acted the way he did, and the whole reason his branch led in sales and didn't get shut down, is because rather than having the employees criticize one another, he purposely acted the way he did to direct most of the disdain toward himself, causing the employees to form a bond based on how they all view Michael in the same light, and use him as a punching bag. Not to say he wasn't a genuinely strange and joking kind of guy, but I believe most of the strange activities that he made the employees take part in were all bonding activities in the sense that they make the employees feel connected stronger in their bond of how weird their boss is. Hence why when Michael is in an actual serious situation, he immediately switches tone and cuts that character out. This is why he hated Toby so much, it isn't because Toby is the boring lame HR guy, it's moreso that Toby in his eyes gets in the way of his methods and disrupts the "family" he's set up. The other people I'm the office like Toby, but only to a certain degree, if he steps out of the boundary of just "the HR guy", he makes them feel awkward and strange. They like him because he doesn't go to them directly about HR issues most of the time, he goes right to Michael, which is why Michael can't stand him, yet when he meets Holly, he hates her at first, but when he realizes she is actually a fun person like he is, he grows to like her. A bit long winded but I think you get the point

[space_]

I always thought of the last look he gives to the office (and everyone going on with their day) as him seeing that they'll be ok without him, but that explanation that he finally doesn't need their attention and is okay with just watching hit me like a truck. What a perfect way to resolve possibly his most foundational character flaw.

[LtSkEt]

I can’t be the only one holding back tears… right?

[tophatrabbit]

I legitimately teared up just watching this breakdown of that episode. I think that shows how incredibly well done the episode was.

[ThatFanBoyGuy]

Creed holding up Michael's "World's Greatest Boss" mug to say goodbye also adds to that scene