The final season of The Office is a tough watch. With Michael Scott gone for good, Andy Bernard continues his reign of terror as regional manager of the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch, disappearing at a moment’s notice and leaving his subordinates to pick up the pieces. Andy isn’t the only character who hits a rough patch, though. Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly’s relationship takes a turn in Season 9 after the former starts a sports marketing company in Philadelphia that demands a lot of his attention. Watching the once-happy couple argue constantly isn’t fun, but things are looking up by The Office‘s finale.
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The show’s last episode focuses on the airing of the documentary that the Dunder Mifflin employees have been participating in for nine years. In addition, Dwight Schrute and Angela Martin finally tie the knot after years of keeping their love a secret. Michael even makes an appearance at the ceremony as Dwight’s best man. The vibes couldn’t be better, and the cherry on top is the final moments the main crew spends in the office, reminiscing and looking forward to the future. Unfortunately, that future doesn’t feature Dunder Mifflin because The Office spinoff, The Paper, reveals its grim fate.
The Office‘s Spinoff Opens With a Bang
No location in The Office universe is more iconic than the Scranton Business Park. Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch sets up shop there, as does the Michael Scott Paper Company. Dwight eventually buys the entire building and runs its day-to-day operations until the end of the series. To make sure the connection to The Office is clear, The Paper spends its first few minutes at the Scranton Business Park. The documentary crew visits Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration, who explains that Dunder Mifflin has been gone since 2019, with a laser removal company taking over the company’s former office. It turns out that another company, Enervate, bought Dunder Mifflin and offered to move some of its employees, including Phyllis Vance, to Toledo.
The Paper‘s focus shifts to the Enervate offices, where a Michael-like executive begins to explain how the company sells paper products, such as toilet paper, and also supports the local newspaper, the Toledo Truth Teller. As the cameras make their way through the office, they spot a familiar face, Oscar Martinez, who works at the newspaper. He doesn’t want anything to do with the cameras, but the documentary crew reveals the documents he signed 20 years ago don’t have an expiration date. That reveal opens the door for other characters to return, which is a good idea because Greg Daniels and Co. have some explaining to do.
The Paper Leaves the Fate of The Office‘s Characters Up in the Air
While Oscar is having a rough go of it, some of his former colleagues could be in even worse situations. Dwight’s ultimate goal throughout the entirety of The Office is to become the regional manager of the Scranton branch, and he reaches that goal in Season 9. However, that branch no longer exists, meaning both he and Angela are working somewhere else. Schrute Farms might keep them busy, but it’s hard to imagine Angela spending all her days out in the beet field.
Bob mentions that Stanley and Phyllis stay in touch, so there’s still hope that the sleepy former salesman is still thriving in Florida. As for Jim and Pam, Austin, Texas, likely remains their home base, as they plan to move there in the finale. Where everyone else ends up is a mystery, one that The Paper could answer. Unfortunately, it feels like the show’s opening moments are its way of saying that it’s moving on to the next chapter without clinging to the past. After all, The Paper isn’t a continuation but a spinoff that has its own stories to tell and characters to flesh out. Despite the jarring opening, it’s time to give Ned Sampson and Co. the same chance that Michael and his colleagues got all those years ago.
The Paper is streaming now on Peacock.
Are you sad that the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch is closed in The Paper? Where do you think everyone from The Office ended up? Let us know in the comments below!
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