The Office

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The Ping is Dead

At 3:40, Michael calls everyone into the conference room. Dwight is the first to rush in. Michael has a little trouble getting the meeting started, but has two items :where's Pam already, and how are those mittens coming? "Power through the arthritis, Phyllis, you can do it!" There's a long, long, awkward pause, which Michael makes even more awkward by leaving the room and returning to say goodbye as Ping. Well, at least that'll make everyone miss him less. Jim brings an end to this by taking Michael aside in his office and saying he wants to take Michael out to lunch for his last day tomorrow, just the two of them. Michael bites his lip and accepts, but Jim's totally onto him. "You're not leaving tomorrow. You're leaving today, right?" Trying and almost failing to keep it light, Jim checks his watch and says, "Four o'clock and you are gone for good." Michael wonders if he's doing the wrong thing, and Jim says absolutely not. 'It's just that sometimes, goodbyes are a bitch." Michael says that into his t-shirt idea Dictaphone, and Jim directs his moist eyes at the camera for one last "can you believe this guy?" take. Michael starts to say his goodbye speech, but Jim says they can say their goodbyes at lunch. "And tomorrow, I can tell you what a great boss you turned out to be. Best boss I ever had." Aw. Dammit, suddenly I'm a wreck over here. Just then Michael's cab honks outside. Jim says he texted Pam, but Michael says, 'Just give her a hug, all right?" They agree to see each other at lunch tomorrow. "I am really looking forward to lunch," Michael says. "And hearing about what a great boss I am." Jim gets a box and an X on the list, right above Pam's untouched name. For what it's worth, looks like Hank's getting dissed as well.

Out in the bullpen, Michael collects Phyllis's nearly-complete mittens and says "Nice try. I love 'em." At the door, he pauses, to watch everyone work obliviously for a minute. "See you tomorrow, boss," Creed says, toasting him with the WORLD'S BEST BOSS mug. Michael and Jim share a long look, until Jim cuts his eyes to the door and Michael heads out. As the elevator doors close on him one last time, and we see him going out to his cab, he VOs, "Got almost everybody. Holly's my family now. She's my family. And the babies that I make with her will be my children. The people that you work with are just, when you get down to it, your very best friends." He gets in the cab and it drives away. "They say on your deathbed, you never wish you spent more time at the office." Pam's car drives into the parking lot. "But I will. Gotta be a lot better than a deathbed." At the airport, he goes through security, and asks the documentary crew, "Hey, will you guys let me know if this ever airs?" Oh, that's crazy talk. Finally, he takes off his microphone pack for the last time and hands it over, so we can see, but not hear, Michael saying, "That's what she said." And off he goes, disappearing down the concourse. But he is caught at the last minute by Pam, carrying her shoes. They exchange a few words (apparently her mic is off too) and a couple of hugs, and then he's off for real.

The Office

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