The Finale BEST
FinaleSeason9Episode24/25Production Code9024/9025AirdateMay 16, 2013Written byGreg DanielsDirected byKen KwapisEpisodes timelineA.A.R.M.Finale-"Finale" is the 24th and 25th episodes of the ninth season of the American television comedy series The Office, the show's 200th and 201st episodes overall, and series finale. It aired on May 16, 2013.
The Finale
The series finale will guest star Rachael Harris, Dakota Johnson, Joan Cusack, Ed Begley Jr. and Malcolm Barrett. The episode will feature the return of several of the series' actors and actresses, including former series writers and stars B. J. Novak and Mindy Kaling, as well as Andy Buckley, Bobby Rae Shafer, Michael Schur, and Matt Jones. Early during production for the season, Kinsey and Wilson also noted that the cast and crew were hoping for a return of former lead actor Steve Carell as Michael Scott. In mid-December, Krasinski later revealed that he was optimistic about a return; in an interview with E! Online Krasinski said that the producers were supposedly "still trying to figure out [Carell's] schedule" and that the finale "just wouldn't be the same without him". However, NBC chairman Robert Greenblatt later admitted during an interview that while he is "hopeful", he does not think Carell will return; he noted that Carell was satisfied with his character's exit and did not want to tarnish it. On January 16, Daniels revealed that Carell would not appear in the finale in any capacity, a decision that Carell later reiterated. Three months later, however, the producers for The Office mounted "an 11th hour effort last month" to get Carell to make a cameo in the show's final episode, according to TVLine. According to the article, "while no one is confirming that the final diplomatic push proved successful, no one is denying it either." Carell's personal representative confirmed that Carell was on the set for the final episode, but that he did not film any scenes. However, an anonymous source close to the show cryptically said "don't rule anything out". TVLine later reported on May 6, that Carell would appear in a cameo, although NBC declined to comment and Carell's representatives continued to deny the reports.
"Half to two-thirds of the finale was filmed three or four years ago," says Fogelman, adding he wanted to capture the actors playing younger versions of the Pearson clan before they matured, unaware of the importance of the scenes they were filming. "I was convinced that those three children with Jack and Rebecca were such a part of the origin story of the show that seeing them at a younger age again...would feel so nostalgic for the audience and it would feel subconsciously like stepping into an old home movie of a family."
Tuesday's finale unfolded as a meditation on all the ways families connect and move on through loss over generations. Randall, a Black man adopted into the white Pearson family as a baby and played with earnest charm by Sterling K. Brown, mourns the loss of his mother while celebrating the impending arrival of a grandchild.
I know you're weary of questions about how much the show makes fans cry. But it does seem to be a central part of the show's impact. And this finale is heartrending as anything I've seen on the series.I've chosen to take the fact that people are crying so much as a sign that we're doing a good job of finding the relatable stuff that's underneath this human experience we're all living. The only time I ever really cried at the show was in [screening] the final five minutes of the finale. And it wasn't because it was the end of the show. It was so big and so sweeping and it made me start thinking about my kid and my mom and dad. It made me feel something big and hopeful, even as I was sad. And it made me start crying. I'd like to think people cry more for the melancholy beauty of it all, than they do just out of sadness.
Game of Thrones reigned for nearly a decade as one of the most popular shows of all time. Its elaborate cast of characters and intertwining storylines made for thrilling viewing each week. With amazing source material, a strong fan base, and limitless resources, expectations were high for how the showrunners would choose to end the series after the show got ahead of the novels. Sadly, without a predetermined plot, the series quickly went south as it barreled toward its end. The finale left most fans devastated as they watched their beloved characters have their eight-season arcs abandoned, invalidated, and ignored as the series rushed to an unearned ending. For nearly four years, the controversy has continued around the events of the finale, with fans not afraid to share their harsh opinions on the fate of their favorite characters, but what do the actors think of how it all went down?
The people who played these characters for years are more invested than anyone, and surely they each had a vision of how the series would end for them. However, you feel about the finale, there is no denying that these incredible actors went above and beyond in delivering amazing performances and breathing life into some of our favorite characters for years. All we can do now is hope that House of the Dragon doesn't face the same fate!
Like many characters on the show, Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) was both loved and hated by fans. While he always tried to do the right thing, he didn't quite have what it takes to rule (despite his hoards of misogynist followers trying to hand him the throne). While his actions in the finale season are ridiculous, his ending is fitting for his character, who wants nothing more than a simple life beyond the wall. Although he agrees that his actions in the finale were out of character, he wants fans to acknowledge how much work they put into the series, stating that critics can "go f--- themselves." Fair enough.
Thing is, relationships between castaways can change in the months between playing the game and shooting the live finale. Technically, we're not supposed to talk to and hang out with each other before the finale, but just about everyone does.
It's not just that there was no beer or wine available while we waited. Upon boarding the bus for the finale, castaways were patted down and we had our bags searched for booze before heading to the studio.
Many of us assumed the reason for this was that Brandon Hantz (understandably) did not attend the event, and the show was trying to minimize his absence. After the finale, Probst told Entertainment Weekly that this change was due to "a new stage" with a design that "couldn't accommodate" the typical number of people.
Anyway, it's about an hour before the finale begins, and we're waiting our turn to go to hair and makeup. It was Kent, myself, and a couple of others sitting in a dressing room together, chatting about nothing in particular.
Audio Plays We're Alive ends with "The Ink Runs Dry" in which Ink is finally stopped by means of a heroic sacrifice by Saul. At the same time Scratch and the two other remaining Mallers attack Dunbar in hopes of killing Pegs. Pegs manages to shoot Scratch during a showdown on the fire escape, but Scratch lives, only to be Buried Alive by Burt as revenge for her torturing him and cutting off his finger. The story ends 14 years later as Saul and Lizzy's son, Nicolas, joins the defense force for the slowly rebuilding nation centered at The Colony.
For a long time in Doctor Who, there was one Doctor in particular who seemed to miss the boat on a big finale because he was unfairly booted from the role. Jump ahead 28 years and he finally got one. The "The Last Adventure" anthology provides a final Story Arc for Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor, including the wide gamut of friends, companions, and enemies he encountered throughout his tenure.
Comic Books 100 Bullets ends the conflict between the Minutemen and the Trust, and ties up all other remaining plotlines, by slaughtering the lot of them, and leaving the survivors at the mercy of a Bolivian Army Ending (Loop, Victor, and Will not included).
Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, by Alan Moore and Curt Swan, closes the book on the Silver Age Superman, paving the way for the reboot. It's an alternate universe story about how Superman faces his greatest and final challenge; Anyone Can Die, and old villains and other characters return in a veritable parade.
The Black Ring and Reign of Doomsday (running simultaneously across separate books) served as this for the Post-Crisis Superman, wrapping up most of the plot threads that the series had left hanging before the 2011 reboot. Major events included: Supergirl coming to terms with her Superpowered Evil Side, the capture of the Cyborg-Superman, the last team-up between Superman, Supergirl, Superboy, Steel and the Eradicator (who performs a Heroic Sacrifice), the return, and final defeat of Doomsday, and of course, the last battle between Post-Crisis Superman and Lex Luthor, ending with Luthor being imprisoned in the Phantom Zone. With the majority of Superman's other foes already dead, imprisoned, or in the Zone, the two arcs allowed the series to end on a high note before the reset button was hit.
In Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade, the two-part story "Graduation Day" tied up all ongoing plotlines, featuring a battle for the fate of the universe.
Neil Gaiman's Whatever Happened to The Caped Crusader? acts as a send-off to Batman, who had recently "died" at the time, but it's not just a finale for one particular iteration of the character. It's a send off for the franchise as a whole, showing how multiple versions of the Dark Knight met their end, and how multiple versions of his friends and enemies from significant eras and adaptations come together to mourn in a dream-like, metatextual context. It even involves Batman learning that his story has and will continue to go on, and that all the different takes on the Batman mythos result from that, leaving the overall franchise with quite a Gainax Ending.
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns provides a definitive end to Batman's career, and ends his conflict with The Joker on the side... until The Dark Knight Strikes Again came out. After that, Whatever Happened to The Caped Crusader? (a direct reference to the above) became more fitting an end.
Preacher's Alamo ended with a final showdown between Jesse and Cassidy, Tulip executing Herr Starr, and The Saint Of Killers taking his vengeance against God.
In The Sandman (1989), the climax is reached in The Kindly Ones where characters from all other points in the timeline come together in one hell of a story, propelling a long and complex string of events which eventually leads to Dream's death and resurrection inside Daniel. The lengthy aftermath is depicted in The Wake, where it's demonstrated that the previous events had such gravity that they affected everyone in existence, including you.
Crisis on Infinite Earths. Grand Finale to the Silver Age (though it was actually released at the end of the Bronze Age)? Check. Grand Finale to the DC Multiverse? Check. Grand Finale for Barry Allen, Supergirl, Earth-2 Superman, and everyone else in the DC Universe? Check. Became the comic event by which all previous and succeeding comic events would be judged? Double Check. Became one of the only company-wide comic event to permanently rip the Timey-Wimey Ball a new one, and do it so as to be universally praised? Gigantic freakin' Check.
Final Crisis serves as a Grand Finale for the "multiverse" crisis series (which includes Crisis on Infinite Earths, Infinite Crisis, and 52) and the "hero exploration" crisis series (which includes Identity Crisis and Infinite Crisis). It also gives a Grand Finale to Jack Kirby's DC creations Darkseid, the New Gods, and others like Dan Turpin.
Kingdom Come: The story centers on a growing conflict and eventual war between the Justice League, a more lawful generation of heroes led by an older Superman, and their violent and chaotic successors, culminating in an outcome so devastating they eventually settle their differences, and all the heroes rejoin normal human society after distancing themselves from it for so long. The future of several DC heroes and a few villains are shown throughout the story, with particular emphasis on The Big Three, making it a fitting finale for Superman, the Justice League, and the DC Universe as a whole (or at least one of them anyway). In a meta sense, it also helped bring an end to The Dark Age of Comic Books. Issue 22 of Justice Soiety of America gives us a further glimpse of the future, showing the Legion Of Superheroes flying off on an adventure, and a bespectacled elderly man with a familiar hair curl watching them with a smile on his face...
Spider-Girl: The End brings the long-running clone saga of the Spider-Girl books to a close whilst also sending off the character with both a happy and an open ending, with Mayday finally hooking up with her loyal friend Wes as her family look on. Wes asks the question "where do we go from here?". Time will tell if we'll ever know, as it is presently The End...for now.
Wrath of the First Lantern, specifically its own finale (Green Lantern issue 20), serves as this to Geoff Johns' run on the Green Lantern mythos, seeing the conclusion of story threads laid out ever since he became the main GL writer back in Green Lantern: Rebirth.
Convergence is essentially the ending to the pre-Flashpoint DC Universe. However, thanks to the ending bringing the multiverse back from the brink of collapse, it has been confirmed the pre-Flashpoint universe still exists, and it's possible we'll see it again. DC Rebirth later confirmed that the New 52 universe is indeed the same as the pre-Flashpoint universe, just tampered with by Dr. Manhattan.
"The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne" is this for Golden Age Batman, as well as his Unresolved Sexual Tension with Catwoman. It ends with the two of them getting married and retiring. They also have a daughter who goes on to become the Huntress in this continuity. Though a more fitting example might be "Only Legends Live Forever" where an older Bruce Wayne, now widowed and dying of cancer, dons the cape and cowl one last time to help the JSA stop the magically empowered thief Bill Jenson, at the cost of his own life. It ends with all the heroes, including former sidekick Dick Grayson and daughter Helena Wayne, attending his funeral.
"Some Of These Days" by Tom King is this for the Rebirth era of Batman. The story chronicles the first and last romantic exchanges between Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle. In between we see the two, having married and grown old together, dealing with Bruce's cancer, which culminates in Bruce dying in bed surrounded by Selina and his Bat-Family, including their daughter Helena
Nemesis the Warlock: In the final issues Torquemada's regime is ended, Purity's new earth Government puts him on trial but he manages to escape to activate his 'Final Solution', then Nemesis sacrifices himself to finally stop his archenemy once and for all.
At one point, Marvel released a series of stories known as The End, meant to serve as possible grand finales for some of their major franchises (X-Men, Fantastic Four, Hulk, etc.) while existing outside the main continuity.
Rick and Morty (Oni): "The Rickoning" five-part storyline serves as this to the main-line series, making up the final five issues (56-60).
Blaze of Glory has the subtitle 'The Last Ride of The Western Heroes' for a reason. All the big-name Marvel western heroes are here, and for most of them this serves as their last canonical adventure. Rawhide Kid is the only one who survives, and he gets his own Grand Finale (along with Apache Kid) in the Sequel Series, Apache Skies.
The Brave and the Bold's original run ended with a milder version than most: It was a Cross Through between the Golden Age and Silver Age Batmen, having them face the same villain in 1955, when the comic started publication, and in 1983, when it ceased publication, respectively. In other words, it was a Grand Finale for the comic and its concept, itself.
Ultimate Marvel In the initial plans, Ultimatum was going to be the grand finale of the Ultimate Marvel universe, followed by a reboot. The three ongoing series at the time, Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Fantastic Four got their Title: Requiem issues. But then it was decided to continue the story from that point. However, it still counts has a grand finale for the phase 1 of the X-Men.
The Secret Wars (2015) storyline is this for the Ultimate Marvel universe.
Ultimate Spider-Man: Ultimate Peter Parker's story originally ended with Ultimate Spider-Man #160, where he dies fighting the Green Goblin and the Sinister Six, paving the way for his successor Miles Morales. It later turns out that he's Not Quite Dead, and he has a final showdown with the Green Goblin, for real this time, then officially passes the torch to Miles and elopes with Mary Jane.
Cataclysm: The Ultimates' Last Stand was the grand finale for The Ultimates. The fight against Galactus was won, but Captain America died and Thor was lost in the Negative zone. Iron Man still lives, but can't go on without his Bash Brothers, so he disbanded the team. It also serves as a sort of finale for Ultimate X-Men, since Kitty Pryde is recognized as a hero for her contributions in the fight against Galactus by the President himself, who hopes to use this as a way to promote co-existence between humans and mutants with her help. Tellingly, the last issues of Ultimate X-Men are tie-in issues to Cataclysm.
The All-New Ultimates were formed after the break up of the Ultimates; it was a standalone group with no members from the previous team, and focused on gang wars instead of global threats. It had its grand finale against a mutated giant and a fight against all their enemies up to that point at the same time.
B.P.R.D. The Devil You Know serves as this to Mignola's Hellboy universe, though he will continue to write more stories revolving around Hellboy's past adventures. The Hellboy series Hellboy in Hell is used to wrap up Hellboy's character arc before he is revived one year later in the final part of the Messiah arc in BPRD: The Devil You Know.
Darkseid War served as this to Geoff Johns's work with the Justice League, including Justice League (2011), and to the New 52 era as a whole. Appropriately, since it was the first issue that formally kicked off the New 52 era, the arc Book Ends the era with the Justice League yet again dealing with Darkseid as in the first arc.
The Kang Dynasty acts was this to The Avengers (Kurt Busiek), with Kang deciding to conquer the present after defeatng Immortus in Avengers Forever (also written by Kurt Busiek).
Hilda: "Hilda and the Mountain King" served as part 2 of the Stone Forest arc and helped answer questions about why trolls are getting closer to the wall and helped Hilda find a way back home and to her normal self and served as the finale of the graphic novel series. However, Luke Pearson plans to continue the animated adaptation of the series.
Star Wars: Legacy served as this for the Star Wars Legends timeline, prior to the Disney Continuity Reboot. Taking place over a century after A New Hope, the story revolved around Cade Skywalker's struggle against destiny as well as Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire.
Transformers: The Transformers: