# The Office 5.14 - Season Finale **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 15, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-14-season-finale/496481 "2009-05-15T01:37:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Soapbox\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Soapbox\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soapbox_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-14-season-finale/496481/101 "2009-05-18T02:35:10Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Umm…okay. > > Maybe she didn’t skip out on the ones where they were doing something she enjoyed…like volleyball? Nah. Impossible! > > -Joe “So many old memories in this gym. Pretending to have PMS so I didn’t have to play volleyball…” Season 4, Job Fair, 3 minutes into the episode. But to be fair, it isn’t the first time Pam has contradicted herself. Earlier in Season 4 she mentions something being “perfect” during a talking head, and then remarks that it was the first time she ever used the word “perfect” at work, which is incorrect. In Season 2, The Fight: “Timecards, he has to sign these every Friday. Purchase orders have to be approved at the end of every month. And expense reports - all he has to do is initial these at the end of every quarter. But once a year it all falls on the same Friday. I call it the perfect storm.” ---
**Author:** ![VoluntaryPlan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/9fc29f/32.png) [@VoluntaryPlan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VoluntaryPlan)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-14-season-finale/496481/102 "2009-05-18T08:46:06Z")
> [@aktep](#): > > I found it odd that the same Pam whose memories of her high school gym were faking her period to get out of gym class would be such a skilled and experienced player. She doesn’t seem to like to show off her volleyball skills unless she needs to. Until she met Jim, she was the definition of meek. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-14-season-finale/496481/103 "2009-05-18T11:38:44Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > What if they were actually slightly realistic in that even today pregnancies early in term often don’t work out, and have it not be some big emo sob-fest. So, that mess of a sentence is saying that you want it to happen that she loses the baby and then just says, “meh”? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-14-season-finale/496481/104 "2009-05-18T11:52:48Z")
> [@PeskiPiksi](#): > > I don’t find the reaction that odd. Why wouldn’t they be happy? They’re obviously madly in love, probably have discussed having children, both have jobs, they have a home, etc. I think the most realistic reaction is instant shock and happiness, as shown. It might take a few hours for the “Holy shit…a _baby_!” reality to sink in. > > And for those who are unhappy with how happy Jim and Pam are (in general, not just about the pregnancy), can you think of a realistic problem for them to have? Because I can’t. They’re just too compatible. Jealously? Cheating? Career issues? Nah, none of those fit. Maybe I could see them bickering about how he always leaves wet towels on the floor, and she leaves her art stuff all over the place, or something, but that hardly makes for riveting TV. I like the Pam and Jim thing because they’re the sanity in an otherwise bizarre workplace environment (aren’t we all???). It works for me if they never have a trauma. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-14-season-finale/496481/105 "2009-05-18T17:15:24Z")
I am surprised that folks are upset about the pregnancy thing. I guess it could turn into a bad thing, but in of itself it seems to be a pretty natural progression. I think that a couple would show excitemnt right away and only after it sinks in and then they can start to have doubts and/or worries. And they might not have been trying to having a baby and they also might not have been trying NOT to have baby. Who knows? There are no hard and fast rules for this kind of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-14-season-finale/496481/106 "2009-05-18T17:26:07Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > So, that mess of a sentence is saying that you want it to happen that she loses the baby and then just says, “meh”? Ok, Mr. Always-Perfect-Sentence-Writer, why not work on some reading comprehension by looking up thread to see what I was responding to. But actually, giving the dickishness of your post and your other notable failures, I’ll just explain, since I absolutely do not wish for further interaction with you: Someone up thread made a comment that he hopes there isn’t a big sob story about a miscarriage. My point is that pregnancies fail early in term all the time, and that it _actually doesn’t need to be such a big deal_. 10-25% of all pregnancies fail within the first 20 weeks. [Cite](http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancycomplications/miscarriage.html). Some women get pregnant and never know it. Some women do indeed get terribly excited and then fall to pieces when it (the pregnancy) doesn’t move forward, but any good counselor should 1) explain to a newly pregnant woman that miscarriages happen rather frequently and 2) it doesn’t mean there is anything wrong her (the mother). That doesn’t mean I think a mother should be “meh” about it. That would be a radical reading of my earlier statement. And by radical I mean idiotic. But it doesn’t need to have the big stereotypical soap opera “oh my GOOOOD my BABY died I’m a FAILURE as MOTHER WAAAAHHH”-style response, either. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-14-season-finale/496481/107 "2009-05-18T18:27:00Z")
Dr. Venture as Dwight’s friend was pretty great. I can’t remember but was the travelling salesman character Ted (?) Packer just abandoned or did he get written out… I would have liked to have seen him at the picnic. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-14-season-finale/496481/108 "2009-05-18T18:42:17Z")
> [@Soapbox\_Monkey](#): > > “So many old memories in this gym. Pretending to have PMS so I didn’t have to play volleyball…” > > Season 4, Job Fair, 3 minutes into the episode. Well, that contradiction is disappointing. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-14-season-finale/496481/109 "2009-05-18T18:56:18Z")
They’ve also told contradictory stories about whether Jim or Pam started working at Dunder-Mifflin first. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-14-season-finale/496481/110 "2009-05-18T19:03:56Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > They’ve also told contradictory stories about whether Jim or Pam started working at Dunder-Mifflin first. Really, I thought Pam was always there first? I seem to remember Jim being in love with her since his first day there. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-14-season-finale/496481/111 "2009-05-18T19:04:23Z")
[Mod Note] > [@Merijeek](#): > > So, that mess of a sentence is saying that you want it to happen that she loses the baby and then just says, “meh”? This is unnecessary[/Mod Note] [Mod Warning] > [@Knorf](#): > > Ok, Mr. Always-Perfect-Sentence-Writer, why not work on some reading comprehension by looking up thread to see what I was responding to. > > But actually, giving the dickishness of your post and your other notable failures, I’ll just explain, since I absolutely do not wish for further interaction with you: And this is a personal insult, and against the rules of this forum. Please don’t do this again.[/Mod Warning] ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-14-season-finale/496481/112 "2009-05-18T20:05:18Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Well, that contradiction is disappointing. I have a rather convoluted solution to this contradiction. I’m a former competitive volleyball player, and the last place I ever wanted to find myself was in a low-level volleyball game. Weak players can still get by in basic games of basketball or softball. But REAL volleyball simply cannot be played without genuine skills in the game. A school or church picnic volleyball game is my idea of hell. So perhaps Pam was a good volleyball player, but it pained her, as it would me, to play with the unskilled in school. So she faked being sick and sat out, only to bring her skills to bear in the company picnic game. Only problem with this is that company picnic volleyball is almost always worse than school volleyball. I was laughing at that scene because no matter how hard they tried to make it look good, you could tell nobody on screen knew what they were doing. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-14-season-finale/496481/113 "2009-05-19T00:32:26Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > I am surprised that folks are upset about the pregnancy thing. I guess it could turn into a bad thing, but in of itself it seems to be a pretty natural progression. I think that a couple would show excitemnt right away and only after it sinks in and then they can start to have doubts and/or worries. And they might not have been trying to having a baby and they also might not have been trying NOT to have baby. Who knows? There are no hard and fast rules for this kind of thing. I totally agree with this. I like the show enough and trust the writers enough that I think they will make it funny. I think there’s much fun to be made of the ridiculousness of the baby industry, and of Pam and Jim’s bumbling as new parents. Michael is going to lose his mind, Angela will be horrified at their out of wedlock conception, god knows what Creed will say. I think it could be really good. There is no way Pam could lose the baby, after her and Jim’s effusive joy in the finale, and have it not be way too much of a downer for a comedy. I don’t WANT to see Pam have a miscarriage. I might be in the minority here, but I want Pam and Jim to be happy. Also, the plot-convenient miscarriage is one of the biggest TV cliches of all time, and I despise it as weak writing. Bring on the baby. ---
**Author:** ![Rainbowthief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4bbf92/32.png) [@Rainbowthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rainbowthief)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-14-season-finale/496481/114 "2009-05-19T04:15:01Z")
Good episode but not season finale-worthy. I think “Broke” would’ve been a real high not to end the season, but I love the show, so I’ll gladly take the episodes that followed. Dwight was good and I guess he and and “Monkey” will be getting back together after all. I have mixed feelings about that because I really applauded him for ditching her instead of settling for being her consolation prize. I loved the way Pam said she went to volleyball camp “every summah!” Pam with attitude is delightful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-14-season-finale/496481.md?page=5)