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When it comes to TV, there are few things more frustrating than when a show you once loved goes off the rails. Scrubs, How I Met Your Mother, That ’70s Show— all of them were hilarious sources of delight in their prime that ended with borderline unwatchable final seasons. But there’s one classic sitcom that gets a lot more hate than it deserves. Not only are the post-Michael Scott seasons of The Office worth watching; they contain some of the funniest Pam Beesly/Halpert moments in the show’s history.
Michael Scott’s (Steve Carell) Season 7 departure is the clear breaking point. While the show continued for two more seasons, without the lovable train-wreck that is Michael Scott leading the show, some fans argue that later seasons feel a bit directionless. Pair that with inconsistent underdog arcs for Andy (Ed Helms) and Jim and Pam’s (John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer) increasingly rocky marriage, and you’ve got a fair amount of evidence that those fans may be right. But that doesn’t mean these seasons are worthless.
In fact, when it comes to Pam, the show finally did right by her in the final season. In the first seven seasons, she has some excellent moments scheming with Jim, and seeing her talk down or generally interact with Michael and Dwight (Rainn Wilson) is always fun; but she’s typically only allowed to be funny as a reactionary character. Conversely, Season 8 sees a very pregnant Pam sorting through waves of emotional breakdowns as she deals with her hormones, and it’s hilarious. Pam switching between watching an insurance commercial she knows will make her cry and snapping at Angela’s calls for child services is funny in its own right. Seeing all of this unfold under the typically calm Jim’s wide-eyed gaze is even funnier. Pam has always been a wonderfully relatable character in this show filled with relatable characters, but sorting through the trials of motherhood and feuding with her pregnancy rival, the perfect mommy Angela, lets her own her humor.
Likewise, these later seasons allowed Andy to be something more than the annoying office suck up. By diving into his family’s intense expectations of him, The Office rebuilds Andy from the mostly annoying new guy into an underdog his staff genuinely wants to help. It’s sweet in a way that echoes some of the most heartwarming Michael storylines.
Season 8 and 9 also finally gaveEllie Kemper‘s Erin and Craig Robinson‘s Daryl something to do. The brightly cheerful but dim Erin acted as a great counter to Pam, when Pam left to join the Michael Scott Paper Company in Season 5. But she became the well-rounded comedic force that would later lead to Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt once Michael finally left. Erin’s storylines with Michael humanized her through her orphaned childhood; but navigating between dating Gabe (a creepy Zach Woods) and Andy finally allowed her to take control of her own life.
Similarly, these later seasons promoted Daryl from a snarky but welcome background character into someone worth rooting for. Daryl is in a weird place during these seasons of The Office. He hasn’t checked out of his career like Stanley (Leslie David Baker), but he’s not nearly as excited about it as Dwight or Andy. He’s somewhere in the middle, on the cusp of a professional and personal crisis that threatens to bring him down. Daryl ultimately starting his own company feels like one of the most intimate stories The Office has ever presented. That’s all thanks to Robinson’s performance.
All of this isn’t to say that the post-Michael seasons The Office are perfect. As Ed Helms’ career took off, Andy’s storyline became a messy jumble about avoiding conflict. And as much as I adore Catherine Tate, Nellie is an annoyingly inconsistent character at best and a drag on the show at worst. But these seasons are still worth watching— for Pam, for Erin, for Daryl, for Dunder Mifflin’s reaction to its documentary. Next time you decide to binge The Office (which, come on, will probably be next week), don’t leave out these episodes. Pam will thank you for it.
