Summary
- Steve Carell's surprise appearance in The Office finale brought emotional closure to fans and the cast, and his final line about his "children" marrying each other was both heartwarming and awkward.
- Creed Bratton's delivery of Michael's final line during the table read added a creepy twist to the scene, effectively hiding the surprise of Michael's return.
- Carell's final lines as Michael Scott, including his classic "that's what she said" joke, were perfectly fitting for the character and provided a satisfying conclusion to his story in The Office.
When trying to hide Steve Carell The Office finale appearance, Michael Scott’s last line was given to another character, which made it much creepier. After leading the series as one of TV’s most iconic characters, Steve Carell left The Office at the end of season 7 as his character Michael Scott moved to Colorado to be with his fiancée, Holly Flax. Although Dunder Mifflin’s employees were a family to Michael, he was only mentioned occasionally after his exit, finally reappearing for a quick cameo in The Office’s season 9 finale, as a surprise attendee at Angela and Dwight’s wedding.
The answer to why did Steve Carell leave The Office is somewhat controversial, but he made a memorable return for the finale. In true Michael fashion, his return began with the line “that’s what she said,” and ended with a well-meaning but wrongly worded statement about his co-workers. The final line that Michael utters in The Office is, “I feel like all my kids grew up, and then they married each other. It’s every parent’s dream,” with tears in his eyes and a smile on his face. In the scene, he’s reflecting on how happy he is for the people he called his best friends, though it is pretty creepy.
Creed Bratton Read Steve Carrell's Lines Before Filming
While the Steve Carrell The Office finale line is perfect for the character, it was made much creepier when said at the cast’s table read for The Office finale. Because only a select few The Office cast and crew members knew about Steve Carell’s surprise cameo, much of his dialogue was cut at the table read. The entire scene where Jim surprises Dwight with Michael as his best man was left out, while Steve Carell’s line about his children growing up to marry each other was read by Creed Bratton.
Creed is widely regarded as The Office’s most outrageous, eccentric, and disturbing character due to his (multiple) backstories, general aloofness, and suggestions that he may actually be a murderer. Considering none of The Office’s characters are particularly close with the possible Manson Family member Creed, a line about him considering Pam, Jim, Angela, and Dwight his children and being happy that they married each other isn’t comically endearing like when Michael says it. Instead, it’s much weirder, as Creed would be saying it with no particular sentimentality or ignorance of the implication of his words.
Why Using Creed Bratton Was The Perfect Way To Hide Michael’s Final Line
While the Steve Carell The Office finale line hit home when Michael said it, giving the line to Creed at the table reading was the perfect way to hide the surprise. While it may seem like a bizarre choice, it works well. Creed had little to no connection with his office mates, and his presence boiled down to strange yet hilarious comments and sinister inferences about his character. Giving the line to Creed made the remark seem like another one of his strange offhanded statements rather than a meaningful affirmation from their former boss. By doing this, showrunners were able to keep Michael's return under wraps – simply by brushing the line off and making cast members none the wiser.
When Michael says his final The Office line, it has far more bittersweet emotion behind it, where the line instead elicits a happy sadness at his joy for his friends but a humorous response to this demonstration of he still doesn’t quite think through what he says. Michael making an uncomfortable, poorly-worded statement at the weddings of Angela and Dwight and Pam and Jim was a perfect summation of his entire character. Carell's character still has a slightly idiotic air, but he delivers the line in an emotionally heartfelt way that shows these are some of the people that he loves most in the entire world, and he’s happy that they’re happy together.
Giving Michael’s line to the character that would least be able to deliver the sentimentality behind the quote was also the best way for The Office to hide Carell’s cameo. Instead of giving it to another parental figure like Phyllis, who would also mean it in a heartfelt way, the bittersweet emotion behind Michael Scott’s last line was saved for Steve Carell, thus not taking away from his character's powerful influence. Just as Michael Scott received his own perfect last line, Creed Bratton had a fitting way to conclude his character in The Office’s season 9 finale, calling Dunder Mifflin home — after becoming homeless — as he’s arrested by the police.
Steve Carell Leaving The Office Wasn't Just Emotional For Fans
The surprise of Michael's return in The Office finale made it an emotional moment for the cast as well as the audience. This is not surprising given how hard it was for much of the show's cast to see Carell leave in the first place. Several of the cast and crew spoke about the impact of Carell's exit from the show (via Yahoo) and how it changed the series going forward. Oscar Nunez, who plays Oscar remarked how it felt like the show ended with Carell leaving, "The Office was over: Steve left, and now it's another show." Indeed, many of the fans believe The Office stalled after Michael left.
Understandably, the filming of Carell's final episode was a very emotional experience. Plenty of characters shed tears in the episode itself with Jim and Michael sharing a particularly emotional farewell. However, showrunner Greg Daniels suggested there was far more crying going on off-camera to the point that it was disrupting the shooting. "The hardest part was just saying to the actors, 'This is a comedy show, you can't cry in every scene with Steve! Try to care a little bit less.'" Of course, given the impact Steve Carell and Michael Scott had on The Office, the sad reaction to him leaving is entirely understandable and makes his return in the final episode of The Office even better.
Steve Carrell's Final Lines Are Actually Perfect
Even though the Steve Carell The Office finale appearance was hidden, having him appear for such a small cameo in the last episode was certainly risky. Fans would have immediately had a lot of high hopes as soon as he appeared on-screen and would want him to stick around for the rest of the episode. However, the show managed to make the most of his brief role by ensuring that his only two lines in the finale were perfect.
If there was one line that fans wanted to hear from Michael's appearance it was another one of The Office's "that's what she said" jokes. It was a gag that he used throughout the series, even serving as his final line as he left the show (albeit unheard by the audience). Fitting the line in as Michael makes his grand return was a no-brainer yet still earns a big laugh.
Michael's last line about seeing his "children" marry each other is also a perfect way to remember The Office character. Michael always had so much love for his employees, often looking out for them more than ensuring he ran a good business. Him referring to them as his kids is a sweet sentiment that rings true for the character. Of course, he is still Michael Scott so he also had to make it awkward with his oblivious poorly chosen words.