Office finale: The good, bad and JAM

Blogs were a-flutter with feedback on the Office finale last night. Personally, I was too excited to blog about it right away because I had to watch it a few times to really get the full effect.

So below are my thoughts. Many of the blogs I read today agreed on these points so hopefully it's not too repetitious.

Note: Spoilers are below. If you haven't seen the finale, check out Hulu or NBC and then come back and finish reading. You've been warned.

Goodbye, Toby

OMFG what a great show. Solid writing and performances by everyone, even smaller characters like Phyllis and Kevin. I was beyond nervous going into it because I'm such a JAM fan and Jim-lover and there were a bunch of high-points and some low-points so let's get it going.

High points:

-- Two words: Cold open. Hilarious. Jim/Dwight were insanely funny and Pam joining in? Just as good as the past pranks they pulled in season 2.

-- Amy Ryan. I liked her in "Gone Baby Gone" and I loved her here. Sweet, funny and having a crush on Michael? Solid stuff. I really hope she is back next season because she was perfect. And the scenes with Kevin were classic.

-- Kevin. Dwight telling Holly that Kevin is mentally challenged and then Kevin pretty much living up to that statement made me cry laughing (literally). That wasn't the most PC storyline but hilarious nonetheless. Definitely a highlight.

-- The final scene. Oh. My. God. After seeing last week's show, it wasn't totally unexpected, but still, what a way to end. But to quote Rebecca, the sight of Dwight's pale back is burned in my head for now.

-- Kelly's interview after Ryan's YouTube appearance. "I'm gonna wear my hottest track suit and get my hair done." You go girl. I'll join you.

-- Jim "manning up" finally. Way to grow a pair and stand up to Ryan. His line of "congratulations on doing your job," was way below the belt. It was great to see signs of the "old" Jim, standing up for himself.

Low points:

-- Jim's hair. I know guys don't like to be changed, but good lord Pam needs to get him a haircut. Trim that down to the length in the premiere and he's super hot again. Meow.

-- Jan pregnant. This isn't exactly a "low point" but I'm curious more about the Holly/Michael dynamic (hello she spoke Yoda with him) so Jan is off my radar a bit. But I can come around on this.

-- Anti-climactic JAM ending (see more below).

My personal favorite...JAM

I can't lie - I was disappointed there was no proposal :( But they're still together and happy so that's better than nothing. And now the build up to the proposal next season (which there better be one) is going to be more worthwhile.

My "swoon-worthy" moment of the night was Jim's talk with Michael about courting at the office, recounting his history with Pam there. I was surprised that he forgot about the drunken Dundie kiss but I can get past that. The look on his face when he realized he was proposing was awesome and the excited/nervous look on hers when she figured it out was great too. Love them! Of course we all know that didn't exactly go as planned, but the moments leading up it made me sit forward on the couch. And the bittersweet look on her face after the proposal didn't happen made me sad. Not Casino Night sad but sad. Poor thing.

So Pam is off to New York for three months and I love that Jim assured her that it won't affect what they have. That is true love.

So? Any other thoughts on the episode? Check out OfficeTally for deleted scenes. They're really good so far.