Well this was as awful as expected. Surprisingly, I kinda liked the barn scene with the kid and Dwight... mainly because Dwight toned it down a little bit from his non-stop ridiculousness. Somehow I'd never heard that the spinoff wasn't happening so I just assumed this was the spinoff setup. Thankfully someone at NBC made a smart decision.

Terrible episode and not a spin-off I would watch. Never though Dwight was that funny in the first place. I was laughing a little when Dwight's brother pulled up and drove over the grave and then they were wrestling trying to drop each other in. The shotgun and Oscar leaving was funny too.

Yeah, that was a weird one. I did laugh a bit at all the parts with the "reformed" Todd Packer. But of course, that whole subplot ended up being resolved in the most predictable way - very typical of the lazy approach of the show these days.

The farm stuff was downright bizarre. I can't believe anyone thought that would work as a show. Very symbolic of how far awry all of the elements of The Office have gone over the years.

I enjoyed the Packer stuff, though I would have liked to see Jim and Darrell turn the tables on him in Philly at the end -- the farm stuff was pretty bad though, probably would have passed on that if it'd been picked up.

Yeah I really expected at least one more scene with Jim and Daryl with the cupcakes. Either Pam warned them, or Jim anticipated it like you said.

I .... I kind of liked this episode. Dwight wears on me, but I liked his brother and sister, and if they took Dwight down a notch, I could actually see myself watching that show. Not that that's an option any more, of course.

So how many more episodes left? I have a feeling we'll actually miss being able to complain about each episode when it's gone.

I wish Steve Carrell wasn't being such a dick about not returning. Even if its terrible, I feel like Michael should be in the last episode.

that may have been one of the worst half hours of network television I have ever watched

Wow, this show is just sputtering to the finish line.

Man, they didn't even try to mask the fact that Dwight's brother was going to be a Jim clone. I mean, seriously, they named him Jim!

How is he being a dick about not returning? Or do you mean he's being a dick for not wanting to return?

He hasn't sounded like an asshole in any interview or anything this past week promoting that magician movie when the interviewers have inevitably asked him about it.

The guy's character left in pretty good way a couple of years ago. Series finale or not, most people feel The Office ended when he left anyway. I don't see the point of bringing him back.

I respect Carrell for sticking to Michael's wonderful exit, and not wanting to ruin it by making a cameo appearance. I appreciate his respect for the character and the show he was a part of, unlike a certain douchebag who comes back for this season, and then disappears for half the episodes so he can make a horrible movie. Why did you come back if you're not even going to make the full effort? Do the show or do your shitty movie. Thanks for the halfassed effort on both.

I didn't loathe it as much as I assumed I would... but, with that being said, it's like saying that having burning syphilis isn't quite as bad as I thought it would be.

They have medicine for that now.

Maybe Carrell will reconsider coming back now that has new movie has bombed. It's probably too late though as they've probably got the script done and should be filming soon. Maybe stick in an short scene at the end of him watching the documentary or something.

That could be a nice capper. We cut to him and Holly watching the last scene, then Michael says something like "I was kind of an ass."

I'm sure Helms was under contract do this season and had the go-ahead to miss a certain amount of episodes.

I was kind of surprised by the total minimal amount of screen time he had in this past weeks episode, though. I honestly didn't know he was even there at first.

Did you already see The Hangover Part III somehow to label it as this "horrible movie?" You seem to be judging his performance in it since you claim he half-assed it in that, too.
I'm sure he didn't bank on it being a huge smash or anything. He indicated he's still in contact with Greg Daniels since he had mentioned earlier this week the last episode was being filmed on Friday.

It's amazing to me the shows that don't pull in enough viewers to keep going yet this shadow of its former self is kept going this long. By now it must be the train wreck that people tune in just to see how bad it is.

Yeah, that was pretty bad. the only redeeming parts were the stuff in the office, which was still not that good. but in comparison to the farm stuff, it made it look brilliant.

I think it would be better if we found out that it was Michael that arranged the whole filming thing in the first place and was paying for it. Think about it -it explains why they are filming EVERYTHING, and not just the office.

Ugh. What a chore. I did laugh when they fought next to the grave.

The finale is already done filming...

Yeah, if they had to they could still shoot something with Carrell like I suggested and just stick it at the end. Not that Carrell would actually change his mind or that they'd want to change the ending in such a way.

The guy was a class act all the way. He stayed on through the duration of his contract and didn't bitch and moan about it or blackmail the studio to let him out of his contract early. As an actor, he was so pleased with the way his character's arc ended that he doesn't want to revisit it. I don't know why anyone would consider the guy is being a "dick" for not agreeing to return.