The Office Series Finale Reaction

     This morning I finally watched The Office series finale. I got my dad to record it onto his TV because I don't have cable and last week I saw in the promo that there would be interviews with the cast and things that I didn't want to miss by watching it online. So I watched the one-hour retrospective they did, with interviews and clips, then I watched the finale.
     I loved it. I laughed, I cried. It was wonderful.
     I think every single character got the best ending possible, and it felt like the writers really made it for the fans. I was so happy and sad, and I just enjoyed it a lot.



     This has been my favorite show for years. Seasons 3 and 4 are my very favorite, I re-watch them constantly. Sadly, for the past few seasons (especially since Steve Carrell left, and even more since BJ Novak and Mindy Kaling left) I feel it's really gone downhill. Season 8 was horrible, and this last season was pretty hit and miss for me. Well, with the finale, I was able to put all the disappointment behind me and I will have nothing but fond memories of this show.

     In the retrospective episode, I found out that when John Krasinski got cast, he was a bartender and when Jenna Fischer got cast, she was actually a receptionist. This was what started their careers. In the finale, Jim has a monologue that said, "Even if I didn't love every minute of it, everything I have, I owe to this job... this stupid, wonderful, boring, amazing job." and that felt true not just for the characters, but for the actors themselves.
     Another monologue of Jim's that I really liked was, "Imagine going back and watching a tape of your life. You could see yourself change, and make mistakes, and grow up. You could watch yourself fall in love, watch yourself become a husband, become a father. You guys gave that to me. And that's an ...amazing gift."  Again, it felt like the speech was referring to their real lives. This was their job, their life for nine years.

Speaking of the retrospective, I also watched this video. They had a 3 part cast farewells series on their youtube channel, but this one was my favourite because it was Rainn, John, and Jenna. ("J, P, and D - the three amigos")




     My favourite moment of the finale was Pam's talking head with the flashback clips of the coal walk, and her and Jim's love developing, etc.

     

"I didn't watch the whole documentary. After a few episodes it was too painful. I kept wanting to scream at Pam! It took me so long to do so many important things. It's just hard to accept that I spent so many years being less happy than I could've been. Jim was five feet from my desk and it took me four years to get to him. It'd be great if people saw this documentary and learned from my mistakes. Not that I'm a tragic person, I'm really happy now. But....it would just...just make my heart soar if someone out there saw this and she said to herself, 'Be strong. Trust yourself. Love yourself. Conquer your fears. Just go after what you want. And act fast because life just isn't that long.'"
 

Pam is my favourite character, and this speech was just beautifully written and Jenna Fischer did a great job delivering it and the clips edited over it were perfect. I loved it so much.

A few more quotations that I loved:

"I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them." - Andy



"No matter how you get there or where you end up, human beings have this miraculous gift to make that place home." - Creed



"There's a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn't that kind of the point?" - Pam




I really loved this show.

Spring

Birds flyin' high, you know how I feel.

Sun in the sky, you know how I feel.

Breeze driftin' on by, you know how I feel.

It's a new dawn.

It's a new day.

It's a new life for me

and I'm feeling good.

The Climb

I am in the exact same place I was a year ago, which is frustrating. (I don't mean physical place, though that, too.)
A year ago, I had just moved out here and I didn't know where or if I'd be teaching in the fall. And lots of my friends who wanted jobs had them lined up, and lots of my friends who didn't want jobs yet didn't understand my frustration and impatience. Eventually, it all worked out.The Monday after my graduation weekend, I got a call for a possible job, and on the Tuesday I went for an interview and got a job teaching in my two major areas, in my town. So I went into the summer knowing I'd have a job in the fall. And I've been teaching there all school year and I freaking love it.

The job was originally supposed to end next week, on the 16th, because I'm covering a maternity leave, but the lady wanted to stay at home with her baby for longer so I get to stay until the end of the school year (which is the end of June). But so far, I have nothing lined up after that. And most people are in the same boat because public schools are government-funded and nobody finds out until later this month how much money they get for next year, which determines how many people they can hire etc etc etc. So it will be a while before I know anything for sure. But still.... I am super impatient and I want to know NOW.

I spoke to my sister last night and she is in a similar situation. She is not exactly where she wants to be and although in her case she knows she'll end up there, she is impatient and wants to be there now instead of waiting.
My sister believes everything happens for a reason and there are forces in the universe guiding us towards our destinies and if we think positively, the things we want will happen.
I don't believe any of that, but our conversation did help put things in perspective for me and remind me that when things are out of my control I just have to do what I can and focus on the things I can control instead of driving myself crazy worrying about the bigger things.

So I made this for Lisa. and for me.