good-bye, the office

Despite the fact that I have not been a regular viewer of the show since Michael Scott (Steve Carell) left two years ago, I am truly going to miss "The Office".

Yes, I was one of those people who, upon Steve's departure, kept saying that the show needed to end. I watched the first few episodes of season 8, and, to be honest, I've only seen half of an episode of season 9. (I watched the first half of the 18th episode, "Promos". I do plan on watching the previous two episodes, and of course the retrospective special and the finale next week.) The show had run it's course by that point. Yes, it was interesting to see how Dunder Mifflin (technically "Sabre", but calling DM "Sabre" is like calling the Sears Tower in Chicago the "Willis Tower"; it's not going to happen) would be ran with a new boss.

I don't want to cloud this post with negative opinions, mostly of the last two seasons, of "The Office". Every great show has their slow moments. I have so, so many fond memories of this show. So many memorable moments have happened in this show, and some of my favorite TV moments are from this show.

So, today I'm presenting you a list of my top 5 favorite episodes of "The Office".

 

Honorable Mentions:

"Did I Stutter?" (season 4, episode 16)

"Frame Toby" (season 5, episode 9)

"Counseling" (season 7, episode 2)

Top 5 Episodes:

5. Niagara (season 6, episodes 4-5)

I loved Jim and Pam in seasons 1-3. Like many people I know, once they started dating, I just stopped liking them. Of course I squealed like the girl that I am when they got engaged, and I certainly cried during these two episodes. It's nice to see the characters get out of the office and, in this case, venture out-of-state for events. I love that Jim and Pam snuck away from everybody and ended up getting married on the "Maid of the Mist" in front of Niagara Falls. It was cute, adorable, and emotional. It was also very much Jim and Pam, because of course they would sneak off and get married without anyone around them.

4. Threat Level Midnight (season 7, episode 17)

I can't even begin to explain the excitement I felt when I first heard about this episode. It immediately brought me back to the season 2 episode "The Client", where we first heard about Michael's script for "Threat Level Midnight". As I was looking at notes for this episode today, I smiled at the fact that Steve Carell wanted an episode with "Threat Level Midnight" being shown. It was nice to seeing glimpses of Karen (Rashida Jones), Jan (Melora Hardin), Roy (David Denman), and Todd (David Koechner) again. At one point or another, they all played little parts in the life of "The Office", and those little moments reminded us of how much has happened since the start of "The Office".

3. Stress Relief (season 5, episodes 14-15)

I remember watching this episode a couple of months ago, and it had been a good year or two since I had last watched it, but I was still in hysterics at the cold open. The opening is the best opening of the show, hands down. I'll say this: this was one of the best openings of any show, ever. I was very excited to hear that NBC had chosen "The Office" as the post-Superbowl show back in 2009, and what an amazing episode this was. I didn't care too much for the subplot, but I understand the need to add popular celebrities to this. This both was and was not an introduction to the characters. As someone who had been watching the show for a few years before this episode, I didn't feel like I wasn being re-introduced to the characters. For those who haven't seen the show before this, I know there wasn't an overload of information that only fans would know. It's definitely a standalone episode that didn't fall into any of the storylines.

2. Goodbye, Michael (season 7, episode 22)

I'm a terribly emotional person at times, and boy was I emotional during this episode. For a while, we all knew Steve would be leaving. Of course, I've accepted that he's moved on (and I'm still praying he shows up in the series finale), but I do miss Michael so much. It's weird not having Michael on the show. It was sweet, yet very much sad, how Michael loved his friends so, so much that he couldn't bear to properly say good-bye to them. It's a quality I'm sure many people share. Who likes to say good-bye to loved ones? These were Michael's friends, his family, and he was suddenly moving across the country. Pam and Michael's final good-bye is a bittersweet moment, reminding me of Jim and Pam's engagement. We don't hear anything, but actions spoke louder than words in both cases.

1. Dinner Party (season 4, episode 13)

I decided that this was my favorite episode after I had first watched it. Sure, a lot of people say that when they see an episode, but there was something about this episode that made me think to myself, "Nothing will ever top this." This episode is another situation where we see the characters outside of Dunder Mifflin. Both Michael and Jan want to have the upper hand as they provide their guests with the "best" dinner party, and they slowly crumble as the night continues on. The acting, the dialogue, the situations each of the characters are put in... Everything about this episode is perfect.