5 Moments On The Office That Make Me Cry Everytime

Saturday, April 29, 2017



[NOTES:]

[I've for some reason numbered these moments like one is better than two, etc. They're actually in no particular order]

[Spoiler alerts]

 1 - When Michael comes to Pam's art show

It's a beautiful scene in what I consider one of the best episodes during the Michael Scott era and a turning point for Pam.

Both Michael and Pam begin the episode riding big highs. Michael has been invited to speak at Ryan's business class ("I am being honoured as a visiting professor emeritus") and Pam enters her art into a local exhibit. Other than when he finds the still-wet cement outside Dunder Mifflin, this might be the most genuinely excited and flat-out happy I've ever seen Michael. The smiles fade for both of them, though, when their weaknesses and gilded talents (too harsh?) are exposed. The only ones to show up from work are Roy (him and Pam have re-lit the fire at this point) and Oscar. Roy, along with his notorious jet ski loving brother, have little-to-no interest in being there for longer than they have to. Oscar's boyfriend (whose name escapes me at the moment ... is it Gene? I think it's Gene) casts off Pam's work as "motel art," saying it lacks honesty and courage, which Oscar agrees with. Of course Pam overhears this exchange unbeknownst to the two gents.

ANYWAY, Michael returns to the office completely broken after his presentation to the class is a complete flop. Ryan sort of invited him to speak on false pretenses (Michael was really there to answer questions about managing a failing business ... but it's hard to know if Ryan truly hid this from him because, well, it's Michael). The students poked crater sized holes into his speech (actually kind of an awkward scene) and Michael ends up leaving the lecture hall pretty pissed off. He might have been angrier with Ryan more than anything though. (Fuck, this post is getting out of hand. I'm not going to recap every scene like this going forward.)

To make a long story short, just when Pam starts to take her art down from the exhibit, in comes Michael. Even after the shitty day he's had, he shows up and almost seems sorry for being late. He's marveled by her paintings ("these could be tracings") and falls in love with a piece she made of Dunder Mifflin. Pam, finally feeling validated, hugs him ... until she feels something odd in his pocket. 
 

 2 - Pam and Jim are having a baby

I'm not going to set the scene completely like I did above, but this moment is from another one of my favorite episodes overall. Highlights include Michael and Holly's interactions at the company picnic, and how Pam is actually really good at volleyball ("... went to volleybawl camp most summas"). Oh shit, the opening scene is also a dime. Michael falls asleep at his desk relatively early into the work day (did he eat a large meal or something? I can't remember ... and maybe it was around lunch time?) and they turn all the clocks to 5 p.m. so they can go home early. Classic.

ANYWAY, during the volleyball game between Scranton and corporate at the picnic, Pam hurts her ankle and is forced to go to the nearby hospital to get checked out. Turns out the ankle is fine, but Pam is pregnant. The scene is shot in silence (Jim, Pam, and the doctor are behind the glass in the doctor's office). All we get are their facial reactions. Jim then leaves the room and takes out his cell phone to call Dwight to let them know him and Pam won't be coming back to the game (Dwight was stalling the match so Pam could get back in). GEESUS I'm tearing up just thinking about this moment. Jim owns this scene like no other (which is saying a lot).

Side note: I'm actually not a huge John Krasinski fan. I mean, Jim is as close to the greatest male TV character ever, but the real life John comes off as kind of a douche in most of the interviews I've seen with him -- which is crazy because he absolutely kills these types of scenes.

3 - When Michael proposes to Holly

Full disclosure: I'm a bigger Michael and Holly fan than a Pam and Jim fan. And that's not to take anything away from Team Halpert. I just love Michael and Holly's repertoire and connection.

This scene always makes me cry and I can only describe it as beautiful. The sprinklers going off (because of the candles) may have meant to be funny (debatable, actually) but it adds more emotion to the already fully charged scene. If I was truly ranking these scenes, this would be a tie for number one with ...

4 - Pam and Jim get married

"I bought those boat tickets the day I saw that YouTube video. I knew we'd need a back-up 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."

5 - When Michael leaves

The entire episode is tear inducing. The goodbye song (9, 986, 000 minutes), Michael and Holly's phone convo (when Michael's feeling unsure about leaving Scranton behind), Jim and Michael's goodbye (fuck, what a scene) and of course Michael and Pam's moment together in the airport. Gawd, the whole thing is the epitome of bittersweet. The show was never quite the same without Michael, but I couldn't have imagined a better send off.  

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