What is it about The Office that keeps people coming back for more? There are so many reasons why it shouldn’t work – as a workplace show, it’s hardly escapism, and on top of that, it centers on a stressful boss in a dying industry. And yet The Office is an iconic comfort watch. In fact, so many people return to it time and time again that rewatching it has become meme fodder. In 2018, writer Lia Beck even investigated serial Office watchers for Bustle. Pamela Rutledge, the director of the Media Psychology Research Center, says, “The Office is an ensemble production, which means there are multiple psychological access points and emotional hooks to enter the world”. The nature of the show is slow and gentle, a lot like real life. It provides an antidote to the explosive drama of other TV shows, instead drawing on human stories which feel genuine and appeal to the audience through how recognizable they are, rather than through epic plot twists or high octane glamour.

The original Office was a UK show written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, which ran for two seasons. But the US version eclipsed it, lasting nine seasons and winning five Emmys.

At its core, The Office is a beautifully crafted comedy, often towing the line of absurdity, particularly as some of the more outlandish characters are fleshed out along the way. But it also has its fair share of drama and romance, too. There are several slow burn love stories over the course of the show – it really capitalises on the appeal of a will-they-won’t-they arc – and the agonising wait for our favourite characters to finally get together makes for amazing TV. So, who are these wacky-yet-relatable characters?

Who Works In The Office?

The Office focuses on the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of paper company Dunder Mifflin.

It’s headed up by regional manager Michael Scott, who starts out as a pretty unlikeable, blundering egotist, but who blossoms as the show goes on and his character diverges from David Brent, his counterpart in the UK Office. Michael likes to be the centre of attention, and is desperate to be loved.

“People say I’m the best boss. They go, “God we’ve never worked in a place like this before, you’re hilarious, and you get the best out of us… I think that pretty much sums it up - I found it at Spencer Gifts.”

But he’s actually very lonely, and he exercises his power over his subordinates by forcing them to spend time with him.

“Your job is being my friend, Pam!”

Michael struggles to find a work-life balance, pursuing friendships and relationships with people he works with. His entire world is bound up in the Dunder Mifflin office, because he doesn’t have much going on outside of work. As the series progresses, he becomes a more rounded person.

If the Office had a narrator, Jim Halpert might be it. He’s the Office’s funny guy, constantly pulling pranks on his colleagues – but he’s also presented as the most normal person on the team. As a character, he’s designed to appeal to the audience, allowing us to picture ourselves in his shoes. There are two abiding facts about Jim throughout the season: he loves to prank his co-worker Dwight. And the only thing he loves more than pranking Dwight is receptionist Pam – but for the first three seasons, they’re locked in a will-they-won’t-they situation, both in relationships with different people. Jim isn’t particularly committed to his job at Dunder Mifflin when we first meet him – in fact, he hates it, and he’s always telling himself he’ll end up doing something else.

“If I advance any higher in this company, then this would be my career. And l if this were my career, I’d have to throw myself in front of a train.”

When we meet her, Pam Beesly is an aspiring artist, engaged to Dunder Mifflin warehouse worker Roy. She doesn’t find her life or her relationship very stimulating – but she’s just stuck. She has mutual feelings for Jim, but is too afraid to act on them. Pam’s fear of stepping into the unknown is a recurrent theme throughout the Office, although in later seasons, she begins to reshape herself and become more confident.

“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.”

Dwight Schrute is Dunder Mifflin’s top salesman, as well as being a beet farmer. He’s obsessed with power, and the paper industry – and longs to become the regional manager of Dunder Mifflin. There’s a running joke - that he thinks he’s assistant regional manager, while Michael refers to him as assistant to the regional manager. He idolises Michael. He comes from a farming family with strange, pseudo-Amish and German traditions

“It’s an Amish technique. It’s like slapping someone with silence. I was shunned from the age of four until my sixth birthday for not saving the excess oil from a can of tuna.”

and he has a lot of hobbies, like volunteering as sheriff’s deputy and practising karate. He is in love with Angela Martin, one of Dunder Mifflin’s accountants, but their relationship falters because neither wants to take it public. He is locked in a battle of wits with Jim Halpert, and initially clashes with fellow salesman Andy Bernard.

The other sales representatives in the office are Phyllis and Stanley. They’re joined by accountants Angela, Kevin and Oscar, quality assurance manager Creed, supplier relations rep Meredith, HR manager Toby, customer service rep Kelly, and Ryan, a temp who ends up staying for the long haul.

Okay, now that we’ve got a handle on this cast of characters, let’s dive into season one!

Season 1

The pilot of the US Office doesn’t deviate very much from the UK original – introducing the characters, and setting up many of the long term plotlines for the series. We get the sense of a pervasive ennui – pretty much everyone but Michael is bored and feels like they’re in a rut.

But it introduces us to something very special about The Office: the way the less-is-more scriptwriting and the mockumentary setup show us things, rather than telling. In that very first episode, we realise that Jim and Pam are in love with each other, not because they admit it – they don’t admit it for years – but through subtle moments, where the camera catches them talking closely, or in their talking heads, when they admit to having extensive knowledge of each other’s likes and dislikes or accidentally say too much. Over the season, we begin to see that Jim – who by all accounts seems to have potential – is staying in his boring sales job because he can’t bear to leave Pam. But Pam’s fiance – who she’s been with since school – is the big obstacle. Jim and Pam’s friendship is filled with silliness and fun. They often prank Dwight together – in episode 3, they’re shown making up diseases when he asks the team to disclose their medical histories to him. But in episode 4, Roy catches them laughing together over a prank and the entire mood of the episode changes from fun to serious as we realise that Pam’s life looks very different when she’s at home. She’s in an unhappy relationship – and work, and seeing her friend Jim, is an escape. And this is a running theme – there’s a hint that the office takes hold of people who then find it very difficult to leave. In the first episode, for example, it’s temp Ryan’s first day - like Jim, Ryan doesn’t see himself staying at the company - yet he remains a fixture for the next nine seasons.

Other aspects that are explored include how difficult Michael is – both as a manager, and to manage. His superior, Jan is introduced in episode 3 as a serious business woman who is frustrated by how he behaves.

“Well it’s your job, you know sometimes the manager, like yourself, has to deliver the bad news to the employees, I do it all the time.” “You’ve never done that.” “I’m doing it, right now, to you.”

He’s so concerned about being liked that it gets in the way of his ability to run the office, particularly in the face of downsizing. He palms off big decisions – like choosing new healthcare benefits for the team – onto others. And rather than facing up to difficult truths – like that the company is experiencing financial difficulties – he tries to redirect his team’s attention and buy their affection. It’s way more important to Michael that people perceive him to be cool and generous than honest.

“They’re out there thinking, wow, Michael S really cares about us. He has a surprise. What a great guy. I love him. I love him.”

In reality, the team really struggles to be around Michael, but because he’s volatile and immature, they often play along with him so they don’t upset him. In the first season, we see a lot of this immaturity at play. He’s unable to let anyone else lead the group, but is also ignorant in many ways, which leads to a lot of issues. In episode 2, for example, the team has to sit through a diversity seminar, which Michael hijacks. The way he behaves around women sets a standard, and many of the other male office workers feel free to objectify women under Michael.

We also come to realise Michael has low self esteem and doesn’t really trust his own power. In episode 5, rather than making a call as manager, he sets up a basketball game between the office and the warehouse workers to determine who will come in to work on a Saturday. He claims his team – the office – wins, but is then intimidated into changing his mind by the warehouse team, and he can’t stand the office being mad at him, so ends up cancelling the Saturday workday altogether.

The season ends with Jim reaching his breaking point – he just can’t watch Pam and Roy together any more, so decides to try and move on and asks out a saleswoman who comes into the office. And when Pam finds out, it visibly shakes her…

Season 2

In Season 2, the show takes a departure from its British predecessor, becoming more ‘American’ – not least because this is a 22-episode season. That means there’s a lot more room to flesh the characters, interweaving their lives further. Various episodes focus on the everyday minutiae of office life, but these get blown up into jokes – fire alarms, changing emergency contact information, signing off expense forms. But a lot of the season hinges on the relationship between Pam and Jim.

The season starts with the Dundies – Michael’s annual award ceremony, which will be revisited several times over the show’s run.

“This is everyone’s favorite day.”

It’s a great example of how Michael is well-meaning, but his execution of good ideas is lacking – often even upsetting or offensive. As he describes the Dundies, it’s a way of rewarding his team – who aren’t necessarily the kind of people who get awards in everyday life. But he gives them awards that are way too close to the bone – or in the case of Kelly, even racist. As Pam puts it
“The dundies are like a car wreck that you wanna look away but you have to stare about it because your boss is making you.”

But we see the side of Pam that her teammates find so appealing later in the episode. The Dundies aren’t going to plan for Michael, so Pam rallies everyone, clapping for Michael to try and get him back into a good mood.

In this episode, we’re reminded of how Jim shows up for Pam. Michael’s forcing Pam to look through Dundies footage from previous years, and Jim catches a glimpse of how sad she looks when she sees herself receive the award for ‘longest engagement’ - which he gives her every year. In the video, Pam’s fiance Roy goes and collects the award, laughing along with Michael. Jim, on the other hand, walks into Michael’s office and asks him not to repeat the award. This episode is also the first time Jim and Pam kiss – she gets really drunk after Roy leaves the Dundies and when Michael awards her the ‘whitest sneakers’ award instead of longest engagement, she’s delighted, and she kisses Jim. This is just the start of their relationship developing. As the season goes on, we learn more about how the pair feel for each other – Pam’s mom comes to visit the office, and it becomes apparent that Pam has told her about him. There are moments of silliness - like when they stage an office Olympics – but also of jealousy, when Jim’s girlfriend Katie comes by [2x4]. In episode 7, they eat dinner together on the roof of the building, in what really looks like a date. while later in the season, there are multiple moments where it seems like they’re ready to admit their feelings for one another. And again, we see Roy sabotaging Pam’s happiness – in episode 15, Jan encourages Pam to pursue graphic design training, but Roy talks her out of it.

One of the most significant points in the season for Jim and Pam happens during the Christmas episode, when he buys her a teapot for Secret Santa. He fills it with memories he’s collected over the time he’s known her – and writes her a card, too, which he decides not to give her, without us knowing what is written inside. This is a super important prop in later seasons.

Elsewhere, Kelly and Ryan start a volatile relationship, while Dwight and Angela begin sleeping with each other in secret. Dwight’s bizarre tendencies and ongoing feud with Jim become more and more established this season.

Michael starts the season single but quickly meets realtor Carol, who sells him his condo. (Played by Steve Carrell’s wife, Nancy). We get the impression this is one of his first relationships, and Carol thinks he’s sweet, if a little intense. It’s also complicated by Michael’s feelings for his boss, Jan, who he first kisses in episode 7, and ends up going away with in the season finale. This relationship also highlights how difficult Michael finds separating his personal life from work.

“I’m a little confused because first it’s all like kissey, kissey. And then it’s like all regret. Because, oh, I regret that. But wait, I’m still going to call you. but we’re just going to talk business. And I may come down there and fire you if you don’t do your job.”

The relationship with Jan exposes Michael’s vulnerability – we initially see him as a problematic character, with how awful he is being played for laughs. But here, we see him as an underdog. And there are glimmers of development for him, too; in episode 11, he gives Jim some pretty great advice.

“She’s really funny, she’s warm, and she’s just… I dont know.” “Well if you like her so much, don’t give up.” “She’s engaged.” “BFD. Engaged ain’t married.”

We’re introduced to other members of the team in this season, too:

Todd Packer is a traveling salesman who makes appearances throughout the series – he’s a boorish misogynist with a horrible sense of humour, and Michael looks up to him, and is completely incapable of challenging him. This is an important marker – because Michael standing up to Packer will become significant in later seasons.

Toby Flenderson is the office’s HR rep, and the person Michael hates most on earth.

“Toby is in HR which means he works for corporate, so he’s really not a part of our family. And he’s divorced, so he’s not really a part of his family.”

Michael’s issues seem to stem from the fact that Toby provides the office with a voice of reason – and regularly has to chastise Michael for how inappropriate he is. In turn, Michael’s treatment of Toby gets progressively worse.

“Why are you the way that you are? Honestly, every time I try to do something fun or exciting, you make it not, that way.”

Interestingly, although they don’t love Michael, the rest of the team don’t seem to like Toby much, either.

In the season finale, Michael stages a casino night in the warehouse. He invites Jan but also brings Carol along, and when Jan shows up, it becomes apparent she’d planned on staying the night with Michael. But the most explosive part of the season 2 finale happens between Jim and Pam.

“I was just, um… I’m in love with you.”

After the desperately slow burn of two whole seasons, they finally kiss.

Season 3

Season 3 opens with a huge bombshell: after kissing Pam at the office party, and her telling him she was still going to marry Roy, Jim moved to the Stamford branch of Dunder Mifflin.

“Jim is gone, he’s gone, I miss him so much. Oh I cry myself to sleep, Jim. False. I do not miss him.”

The cameras have followed him, and quietly observe his developing relationships with his new co-workers – beautiful, funny Karen Filipelli and highly irritating, quick to anger Andy Bernard.

We also find out in the first episode that Pam didn’t marry Roy, after all…

“Yeah, I didn’t go through with the wedding. I got cold feet a few days before, and I can’t really explain it. I just had to get out of that relationship.”

So finally she’s able to be with Jim — just as he starts dating Karen. Karen adds to the way the office feels like real life – in many shows, she’d be the villain, the person who comes in to steal Jim from Pam. But the writers create a cool, likeable character – someone we can totally see Jim ending up with. She and Pam even get along pretty well.

Elsewhere in the season, it’s revealed that accountant Oscar is gay – when Michael outs him and forces him to kiss him. He ends up getting a substantial payout. Phyllis marries Bob Vance, who runs a refrigeration firm out of the same business park as Dunder Mifflin. Dwight and Angela’s relationship continues to flourish, and in episode three they make a power bid – trying to take Michael’s job, which Michael finds out about, and punishes Dwight for. While Pam found out about their relationship back in season 2, Jim finds out in episode 20 of season 3 - and swears to the camera he’ll never tell. It’s also the first time we see Dwight’s beet farm, which becomes quite an important part of his arc, and we meet his bearded, non-verbal cousin, Mose. (Who, fun fact, was a writer and producer on The Office and the creator of our other faves Parks and Rec and The Good Place!)

It’s a tough season for Michael. He regularly feels threatened, and gets emotional about it; he starts comparing himself to the Stamford office boss Josh [3x2], and when his former boss Ed Truck dies, he starts to think about dying – particularly because his team doesn’t seem to be too upset by the news. It’s another example of how non-reciprocally invested he is in the workplace. Then, in his desperation to experience true love, Michael rushes things, proposing to Carol at a party and photoshopping himself into her holiday photos with her kids. Later in the season, despite accepting that Jan has treated him horribly, he gets together with her officially – because she has breast implants.

Then, in episode 7, Michael feels like his world comes crashing down when Jan visits to tell him his branch is closing and he’s losing his job.

“Am I a “small number” person or a “severance package” person?” “Well, we haven’t made final decisions about personnel yet. But… you’re a “severance package” person.” “Oh, my God! Oh, my God!”

As we know at this point, Michael’s life revolves around the office, so this is a huge blow – the company has chosen Josh, his Stamford rival, over him. But before the end of the episode, Josh has taken a job at Staples, and the Scranton branch is going to absorb Stamford. That means Jim is coming back to Scranton – along with his new girlfriend, Karen. And this causes a lot of upset for Pam, because although Jim comes back, he distances himself from her and acts like they’re not even friends. Even though he still loves her, Roy even suggests she go after Jim, because she called off their wedding for him, so they should be together.

Throughout the season, we see her pain about Jim alienating himself from her – and then in the penultimate episode, she has a breakthrough. In this episode, Michael thinks he’s a shoo-in for a promotion, and brings the team to the beach to compete in a series of tasks to establish the next regional manager. Tired of being treated like the office welcome mat, Pam completes one of the challenges and runs through fire – something no one else would do. It fills her with sudden confidence, and she makes a speech:

“I’ve been trying to be more honest lately, and I just need to say a few things. I did the coal walk. Just… I did it. Michael, you couldn’t even do that. Maybe I should be your boss. Why didn’t any of you come to my art show? I invited all of you. That really sucked. Jim, I called off my wedding because of you. And now we’re not even friends. And things are just, like, weird between us, and that sucks. And I miss you.”

At this point, Jim has just announced that he is interviewing for the senior role Michael thinks he has in hand. And that’s the focus of the season finale. Jim, Karen and Michael all interview for the job. Michael is back together with Jan and CFO David Wallace reveals that he’s actually interviewing for her job. Jim’s interview goes great – he gets on super well with David – but as he’s pulling out the numbers he asked Pam to print off for him earlier, one of the medals from their Office Olympics falls out. She’s written him a note. We then see her in a talking head, saying

“I bet Jim got the job. I mean, why wouldn’t he? …we never got the timing right, you know, I shot him down, and he did the same to me, everything is fine…” “Pam. Sorry. Are you free for dinner tonight?” “Yes.” “Okay, then, it’s a date.”

After three seasons, they finally did it. And as the season ends, we see one final twist – when Jim turned down the job, Wallace offered it to Ryan.

Season 4

Season 4 opens with the writers tricking us.

“I’m single now, and looking. So if you know anybody…”

But it quickly becomes apparent that Jim and Pam are together, and in love. In episode 3, Toby, the HR guy who has always had a crush on Pam, jealously outs their relationship to the office – expecting a backlash, when in reality, everyone is delighted. And with that enormous, all-encompassing drama of the first three seasons wrapped up, we need a new focus. Enter Dwight and Angela – season 4 is the one where their arc gets really complicated.

“Dwight and Angela, dating. Have been for like 6 months.” “No.” “Swear to god.” “No, they have been dating for like two years…”

Angela is the office’s resident cat lady and in the very first episode of the season, Dwight kills one of her cats when she’s tasked him with looking after it. Angela is devastated and calls off their secret relationship. Then, to spite Dwight, she allows herself to be wooed by Andy Bernard, who has been desperate to find a girlfriend since moving to Scranton. Dwight is devastated when the pair start dating, to the point that even his old nemesis Jim feels sorry for him. It leads to hilarity in one of the show’s most iconic episodes, episode 9, Dinner Party. Sitting in the middle of the season, this episode takes the characters to a new location for a night of epic (and hilarious) drama.

“You should see our bathroom after Michael takes a bath. But I don’t have to tell you, Pam.” “Hah yeah– what?!”

Michael manages to trick Jim and Pam into coming over for dinner with him and Jan. He invites Andy and Angela, which makes Dwight incredibly jealous – so he brings his former nanny with him. Everyone is uncomfortable as tempers flare over the course of the evening.

“That is a $200 plasma screen TV that you just killed! Good luck paying me back on your zero dollars a year salary, babe!”

At the end of the episode, things come to a head between Michael and Jan - who seems to have been having an affair with her former assistant – and after a season that’s seen him stick by her through increasingly terrible behavior, they break up. The episode is so memorable, and epitomizes the Office so much, that Rolling Stone published an oral history of it.

In this season, Ryan uses his new corporate position to commit fraud, trying to make it look like his new Dunder Mifflin website works. He also becomes insufferable, turning up to the Scranton office and hitting on Pam, acting like his new success makes him superior to his former colleagues. At the end of the season, he’s arrested for fraud.

“Ryan’s big project was the website, which wasn’t doing so well. So he recorded sales twice. Which is what we refer to in the business as misleading the shareholders. Another good term is fraud.”

Also in the season finale, Andy proposes, leading to yet more sadness - and Angela isn’t even particularly happy about it either. Her entire reason for being with Andy was to get back at Dwight so it feels like the charade has gone too far once they get engaged. It’s even more frustrating for the audience, because Andy jumps in just as Jim is about to propose to Pam. The team is at a party that Michael has thrown because Toby – the person he despises most in the world – is moving to Costa Rica after embarrassing himself by letting his guard down and creepily squeezing Pam’s knee. And that means there’s room for a new HR rep. Arguably the most significant part of the finale is the introduction of Holly Flax, Toby’s replacement. Michael is all set to hate Holly, as she’s in HR, and he assumes all HR reps are the same. But in fact, he really likes her – and for the first time, it’s reciprocal.

The season ends with Phyllis discovering Dwight and Angela’s secret – they’re still sleeping together, despite her relationship with Andy.

Season 5

Season 5 opens with two episodes that sum up summer in the office. It’s a quick way of the writers moving the plot along fast and showing us a lot. In these two episodes, we see Michael and Holly begin to really like each other – and we realise Michael is becoming a better person as a result. We see Pam go to New York to do a graphic design program. We see Jim propose to Pam. And we see Angela, Andy and Dwight’s love triangle amp up – as Andy makes grand plans for their wedding, Angela feels increasingly trapped, and runs to Dwight.

This storyline gives us an ‘in’ to liking Andy – who has previously been pretty repulsive – because Angela is so mean to him, when all he wants is to please her.

“Since my little lady has such particular impossible to perceive taste, I have made non-refundable deposits at four totally different wedding locales.” “Dangerous, tacky, sharks, haunted- no.”

At the end of season 4, Kevin found out that Jan was pregnant, and despite their toxic past, Michael desperately wanted to be involved in the baby’s life, figuring it may be his only chance. In episode 4 of season 5, he throws a baby shower for her at the office, but she shows up with the baby. Michael tries to be mean to Holly so Jan doesn’t feel jealous – and she tries to make him promise he won’t date her. He then realises Jan doesn’t care about him at all, and goes to Holly. Jan unintentionally sent Michael straight into Holly’s arms – but their love story isn’t smooth sailing from there. When, in the next episode, David Wallace finds out he’s angry.

“When corporate found out that we were dating, they decided they were gonna transfer Holly back to her old branch in Nashua, New Hampshire.”

In episode 6, when Michael helps Holly move back to Nashua, the pair realise that it’s too far to make long distance work for them. Michael is devastated. This is a super important moment in his character arc – we can pinpoint almost exactly when his outlook on Dunder Mifflin changes. To add salt into the wound, Toby comes back to replace Holly.

We see how deeply Michael’s relationship with Holly has affected him when he’s sent around the other Dunder Mifflin branches to share sales secrets. He goes on the road with Pam, and when they get to Nashua, they discover Holly has a boyfriend in the office. Michael downloads a letter that Holly wrote to him and Pam reads it, revealing things aren’t necessarily over.

“Well?” “She still has feelings for you.”

This season, Charles Miner is introduced – he’s an alpha male, extremely handsome and suave, and also Michael’s boss. He thinks Michael is ridiculous – and doesn’t like Jim much, either. Michael feels increasingly upset about the company’s treatment of him – leading him to quit Dunder Mifflin in a moment of passion. He sets up his own paper company and invites his coworkers to come with him. Pam, who has been unhappy in her role for years, says she’ll come – if she can be in sales. And for the first time in a long time, Michael has a stroke of luck. He sets his prices so low that he’s ready to bankrupt his new business – but it causes enough trouble for Dunder Mifflin that they decide to buy him out, inviting him back to his old job. But we get the feeling it’s a different Michael who’s returning to the fold.

Halfway through the season, Angela and Dwight are outed by Phyllis, who’s been blackmailing Angela ever since she saw them together at the end of season 4. When Andy finds out, he and Dwight decide to have a duel – which ends in them becoming friends. When Erin Hannon replaces Pam on reception, both men like her, but Dwight concedes to Andy. Erin and Andy go on to become one of the office’s slow burn romances.

The season ends with a return to the show’s favourite couple, Jim and Pam, getting some amazing news. She’s pregnant. Elsewhere in the finale, Michael and Holly are reunited at the company picnic. At first he plans to tell her he loves her. But then we get a glimpse of how far Michael has come when he exercises self control and decides to just enjoy his day with her.

“I didn’t find the perfect moment, Because i think that today Was about just having today. And i think that we are one of those couples with a long story when people ask how we found each other. maybe one year, she’ll be with somebody, And the I’ll be with somebody. And it’s gonna take a long time…and then it’s perfect.”

Season 6

In Season 6, Jim is promoted to co-manager, sharing the role with Michael. Dwight is furious and resolves to sabotage Jim. A lot of the workplace drama in this season stems from the team’s difficulty adjusting to Jim’s new role, although it’s a clear marker of how he’s developed professionally – he’s great at managing, adapting his style depending on who he’s dealing with. There’s more change when Darryl, who has always worked in the warehouse, is promoted to a desk job upstairs. And then Dunder Mifflin changes hands – it’s bought out by Sabre, a big tech company headed up by Jo Bennett. Jo tells Jim and Michael one of them has to give up the co-manager role and Jim acquiesces.

In episodes four and five, Jim and Pam get married in Niagara Falls. These are some of the Office’s most romantic episodes, really getting to the heart of their relationship – it shows the depth of Jim and Pam’s connection, and solidifies the idea that they’re soulmates.

“I knew we’d need a backup plan. The boat was actually plan c, the church was plan b, and plan a was marrying her a long, long time ago. Pretty much the day i met her.”

Later on in the season, they have their first child, Cece. But the wedding isn’t just a romantic moment for Jim and Pam – Michael also finds a new love interest… Pam’s mom. Once Pam realizes what’s up, she is unsurprisingly not very happy about it.

“STOP DATING MY MOTHER!” “You know what, I’m gonna start dating her even harder.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” “You know what it means.”

Meanwhile, after a lot of false starts, Andy and Erin start dating – but then split up when Michael reveals to her that Andy was engaged to Angela. Once Michael and Pam’s mom break it off, he starts dating a married woman, initially acting like he isn’t bothered but ultimately deciding he can’t live with the guilt. And despite not being in a relationship any longer, Dwight and Angela draw up a contract to have a baby together.

This season has two of the series’ most famous episodes – two episodes that take the show’s mantra of ‘comedy from cringe’ to the extreme. These are ‘The Lover’ and ‘Scott’s Tots’. The Lover is when Michael finally reveals to Pam that he started sleeping with her mother at her wedding.

“Part of the problem is she is the mother of a close friend of mine. More than a friend. A coworker.” “Oh. Gossip. Who is it? ... Who is it?... No no no no no.”

But it’s Scott’s Tots that really pushes the viewers’ buttons in terms of cringeworthiness. It’s an interesting episode in many ways, because although Michael has developed a lot as a character over six seasons, in this moment, we go back to the Michael we met in season 1 - self aggrandising and absolutely desperate to be liked. We learn that 10 years ago, Michael promised a class of third graders he’d pay their college tuition. Now every single one of them is graduating, and of course, he can’t pay – so his colleagues force him to go and break the news in person, and one of the cringiest episodes of television ever made was born. The episode is so painful to watch, it even has an entire subreddit dedicated to it - r/CannotWatchScottsTots (https://www.reddit.com/r/CannotWatchScottsTots/).

The season ends on a hopeful note. It starts with Michael doing a favour for Jo. When Sabre’s cheap printers start exploding, he takes the fall and talks to the press. In return, she asks if she can do anything for him.

“Give a shout if I could brighten your life.” “Well you can transfer Holly back from Nashua.” “I’ll see what I can do.”

Season 7

Season 7 came with a huge shock for fans – it turned out to be Steve Carrell’s final season on the Office. Thankfully, he at least went out in a way deserving of such a beloved character. In episode 11, when Toby goes on leave, corporate sends Holly back to Scranton. It takes Erin, who sees Michael like a father figure, a little while to warm up to Holly – until episode 15, when Michael gets lost and Holly finds him, because they think so similarly.

Then the couple pick up where they left off. There’s a great moment that shows how much she’s changed him in episode 18. After seasons and seasons of Michael putting up with Todd Packer’s repulsive behaviour, he finally cuts Packer out when he insults Holly. In the following episode, Michael proposes in one of the show’s most romantic moments.

“Holly Flax. Marrying me will you be?” “Your wife becoming be will I.”

But in the very same scene he announces that he and Holly will be moving back to her home state of Colorado – to the devastation of his colleagues.

“Holly has to go back to Colorado. I’m going with her. I’m leaving.”

The shocked faces of his colleagues show exactly how much he’s developed as a person – they’re genuinely sad to see him go. The ensuing episodes show the office in flux – as Michael prepares to leave. They have one last Dundies ceremony, and an episode where he says goodbye to everyone. They are some of the most emotionally charged episodes of the whole show, because many of the scenes actually feature the actors saying goodbye to Steve Carrell as well as the characters saying goodbye to Michael Scott. The last time we see Michael, he’s going to get on the plane, and Pam has raced to the airport to say goodbye.

Michael leaving means there’s an opening for the office manager, and he’s replaced by Deangelo Vickers, a difficult boss who tries to instate a hierarchy in the office. Deangelo quickly has an accident, leaving the regional manager position open again – and the role is hotly contested. Andy, Darryl, Dwight and Kelly all apply, and some new characters are introduced as part of the application process, including Robert California and Nellie Bertram, both of whom go on to be regional manager at different points. Also in this season, Pam creates a new role for herself as office administrator.

The other big stories of this season revolve around Erin and Andy – she’s with director of Sabre sales Gabe, who she secretly finds repulsive. Andy is deeply jealous, but when Erin’s single again and wants to give things another try, he rejects her. Angela gets engaged to a state senator – who many of the team are sure is gay but they decide not to tell her. It turns out no one likes Angela enough to do it.

There was a lot of drama around Steve Carell leaving The Office – many assumed that he made the choice to leave to pursue his movie career instead. But the behind-the-scenes book The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s: An Oral History told a different side to the story when it was released in 2020. According to show hairstylist Kim Ferry, “He didn’t want to leave the show. He had told the network that he was going to sign for another couple of years. He was willing to and his agent was willing to. But for some reason, they didn’t contact him.” But Carell apparently doesn’t have any hard feelings about it – when he appeared on the Office Ladies podcast in 2023 he said,

“The timing was right, I think for everybody but simultaneously there’s just a sense of joy for me that we had experienced all of this and we were getting… I was getting a chance to take a lap with everybody.” - Steve Carell, Office Ladies Podcast

Season 8

The season starts with Jim explaining that they hired Robert California to be Deangelo’s replacement – but somehow he managed to convince Jo he should be the CEO of the entire company. That left Andy to be the regional manager – a role he doesn’t do too badly in, at first. He supports the team well, and protects them from Robert. Erin is still in love with him, and tries to hide her feelings for much of the season, until it all gets to be too much, and towards the end of the season, she stays in Florida, deciding to make a life there. This spurs Andy to go after her – and he loses his job as a result. This is the beginning of the undoing of Andy – the writers spent seasons upon seasons turning the unlikeable, angry trust fund kid into someone we rooted for. But his disregard for his job is intangible for viewers, and it begins a slide into total alienation. In the final episode, Andy reveals he’s convinced David Wallace to buy the company and give him his job back – but he does so in the most ridiculous way, dressed up as a janitor.

This season shows Jim and Pam having their second baby, a son called Philip. Pam’s maternity cover is a hot younger woman called Kathy who hits on Jim when a group of salesmen are sent to Florida – but he’s not interested. It’s also the season when Nellie Bertram is properly introduced – she’s a friend of Jo’s, and initially seduces Robert California and he gives her Andy’s job. It’s not a great introduction to the others in the office, and they don’t really like her as a result – it takes her a long time to regain their trust.

Angela is also pregnant with her first child – supposedly by the senator. She goes into labour earlier than expected – and gives birth to a really big baby.

“I don’t know how many of you have seen a premature baby before, but they can be really tiny, so please don’t say anything offensive.” “Philip is so fat!” “Kevin!” “You warned me not to say anything if he was tiny, Oscar, but you didn’t prepare me for a big giant fat baby.”

This opens up Angela’s relationship with Dwight again, as Dwight is certain the baby – also named Philip - is his.

“He looks just like me.” “Every baby looks just like you.” “Need i remind you that we were together a month before the wedding?”

In the season finale Dwight creates a portrait studio in the office to attempt to steal something of Philip’s for a DNA test. Angela is clearly very panicked when she realises what he’s doing, and tries to stop him. We don’t find out the results in the episode, but Angela and Dwight do kiss in the clinic. But the final moment of the season focuses, not on Angela’s infidelity, but her husband’s – he makes a pass at Oscar, confirming the suspicions that he’s gay.

Overall, season 8 was probably the series’ lowest rated season – the show seemed to falter in the absence of Steve Carrell.

Season 9

At the very beginning of season 9, we see something we’ve never seen before – the office workers talking to the documentary crew.

“Don’t you guys have everything? I mean, it’s just a paper company.” “Well, we’re more following you guys to see how you turn out.”

This becomes a focus of the season, because finally, after ten years, the documentary is ready to air. But there’s another motive, too. In this season, Jim and Pam hit a major roadblock in their relationship for the first time. They want different things – Jim is no longer content to stay a paper salesman in Scranton, while Pam is happy with their life. Jim sees Pam’s ex, Roy, doing really well for himself, and begins to wonder if Pam feeling content is holding him back. So he goes behind her back, jumping into a startup business with a college friend – and he doesn’t tell her about it.

“I don’t know what I was so worried about, I have the best wife in the world.” “I still can’t believe he didn’t tell me.”

This causes – or perhaps highlights – cracks in their relationship, because it’s not the first time he’s done something without telling her; he bought his parents’ house for them as a surprise in season 5. The new job means Jim has to start working in Philly part time, and Pam really misses him. And this is when we meet Brian, a boom operator who’s known the couple for the documentary’s entire run; when Pam gets really upset, for the first time, he breaks protocol and comforts her. It turns out Brian is in love with Pam. But the bigger issue in Jim and Pam’s relationship is being apart – Pam’s not ready to move, and Jim is – and they’ve forged an entire marriage out of sitting a desk away from one another. So Jim makes a huge sacrifice and takes a step back from his new business, but she can’t shake the feeling it’s not the right thing for him to do.

“I’m afraid you’re going to resent me, and I’m afraid that this is not enough for you, and I’m afraid that I am not enough for you.”

It’s here that we see something from season 2. Included in the footage is the moment Jim slipped his letter to her in his pocket and he produces it for her.

“Everything you’ll ever need to know is in that note. Not enough for me? You are everything.”

It’s like this is what Pam needed to know that they really were meant to be, even if it’s not always easy. In the season finale – which takes place a year after the documentary aired – it turns out she’s played Jim at his own game, surprising him by listing their house for sale and making plans to move the family to Austin so he can go back to his startup.

“This past year has been really great and you’ve been great, and, I just, I know you had to make this choice and give something up for me, but i never want you to have to give up anything… I thought if i could just get an offer, I could come with this big Jim gesture, and show all at once just how much I love you!”

Viewers and critics debated whether Jim and Pam should have had marital problems – after all, they were TV’s golden couple for such a long time – but many concluded it saved the office, creating something truly compelling.

The show’s other big couples go through a lot this season, too. After Andy’s character began to decline in likeability in season 8, he goes on a boat trip on his dad’s yacht, leaving both his manager role and his girlfriend, Erin. She feels abandoned, and he does very little to make her feel better – and when he comes back, he expects to pick up where they left off. Erin, instead, has started having feelings for one of the new hires, Pete – they’re like Jim and Pam lite for the ninth season. Andy quits Dunder Mifflin and decides to pursue fame on a singing show, courting ridicule.

Meanwhile, in the first episode of the season, it’s revealed that the diaper Dwight brought for DNA testing showed that Philip wasn’t his son. Angela looks shocked and a little sad at this news. As the season progresses, she and the senator break up, and her life goes from bad to worse. This is a huge moment of character development for Angela – she ends up becoming a nicer, more well-rounded woman as a result of the struggles she faces. Once homophobic, she moves in with Oscar – her ex husband’s former lover – and they become close friends, with Oscar acting like a father figure to Philip. She finally wants to be with Dwight, and doesn’t care who knows it – but he can’t get past the idea that Philip isn’t his son. Meanwhile, things are looking up for Dwight. He inherits a huge farm, and starts wooing a young woman from a local farming family, Esther. But after some advice from Jim, he realises it’s always been Angela – and she reveals to him that actually, Philip is his son.

“I just needed you to want to marry me because you wanted to marry me.” “Get out, I’m a dad!”

In the series finale, they get married - in a ceremony attended by Michael.

“Michael! I can’t believe you came.” “That’s what she said.”

Dwight finally gets his dream job - regional manager at Dunder Mifflin Scranton, and he, Jim and Pam, once adversaries, are now close friends. The series ends with the characters ruminating on the documentary itself.

“I think an ordinary paper company like Dunder Mifflin was a great subject for a documentary. There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn’t that kind of the point?”

Conclusion

Pam was right – that was kind of the point. The Office works – and continues to work – because it’s so ordinary. We recognise it; maybe not the lengths some of the storylines are pushed to, but the way that many of these situations come up in our every day lives. Research from 2023 shows that 43% of people married someone they worked with, and 73% of people knew someone who’d married a colleague. So all of those relationships, despite their romanticised, TV veneer, were realistic. We spend over a third of our lives at work, so making a TV show about it – about those curious relationships that sit somewhere between acquaintance and friendship – makes perfect sense. And because much of the show is so ordinary, it shows us that there are moments of beauty, joy and comedy in our own ordinary lives

“You take something ordinary like a piece of paper, but if you see it in the right way and that’s what you did with this documentary.”

We loved taking this look back at the whole show and remembering everything that made it so special – and if you want to dig even deeper, make sure to check out our playlist of all of our The Office character studies. From Pam Beesely and the perils of being “normal”, to Kelly Kapoor’s master manipulator tactics, to Jim’s whole thing, to Kevin getting Flanderized and more, we’ve got a video on pretty much all of our favorite characters, so make sure to check them out for even deeper analysis on all of the characters individually!