The Office almost used a very different ending scene to close out the series. The NBC sitcom came to an end in May 2013 in a two-part series finale. Created by Greg Daniels, the series was based on a UK program of the same name. The American version lasted nine seasons and a total of 201 episodes, the majority of which were headlined by Steve Carell in the role of Michael Scott, the longtime manager of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company's Scranton branch.
"Finale" took place a year after the documentary aired, briefly turning the employees into local celebrities of sorts. The film crew returned to the office building to gather more footage for DVD features. By that point, Dwight (Rainn Wilson) was the manager and subsequently gearing up to marry Angela (Angela Kinsey). Many of the employees had since left for new opportunities but they all reunited for the wedding ceremony. Among those who returned to Scranton was Michael, a surprise set up by Jim (John Krasinski).
Following the reception, there was an after-party in Dunder Mifflin's warehouse. Pam (Jenna Fischer) unveiled a new mural dedicated to the history of the branch before the former coworkers headed upstairs. Jim and Pam shared the news that they would soon be relocating to Texas. The group reminisced about their time working in the office and the relationships that had formed in the building. Pam then questioned why Dunder Mifflin was chosen to be the subject of the documentary before realizing that "there's a lot of beauty in ordinary things." Before leaving the office one last time, Pam took her watercolor painting of the building off of the wall before a real shot of the building served as the end of the closing shot. According to Andy Greene's novel, The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s, that focus on the paining wasn't always meant to be the closing scene.
The Office's Alternate Ending Scene Involved A Plant
Director Ken Kwapis shared that there was a particular scene that was cut which focused on a plant in the middle of the office. While converging upstairs, the group noticed a plant that had been there as long as many of them had worked for Dunder Mifflin. They then decided to take it and plant it outside in front of the building. Kwapis even remembered that the group chanted "Planty, Planty" while putting it deep in the ground. He added that Daniels had the idea to include a shot of the building the following morning, showing the plant as the sun came up. The plant would have been a symbol of Dunder Mifflin's legacy long after many of the employees left the company.
The crew later went with Pam's painting sequence as the last scene which was a better fit with her character's final line in the series. Daniels' assistant, Mary Wall, spoke about how the actors were emotionally exhausted while filming the finale scene and how difficult it was to call a series wrap on the beloved show. No matter what they chose as the final scene, it would have made the same impact. Fans had gotten to know these figures like they were old friends so it was difficult to say goodbye to the familiar faces in the same way it was difficult for the cast to say goodbye to each other. Dunder Mifflin may have seemed like a normal workplace on the surface but The Office proved that the group who worked there was anything but ordinary.