Michael Scott is gone. Long live Michael Scott. And requiem, and terra pax, and so forth.
Now that all the teary-eyed goodbyes with Steve Carell are out of the way, it's time to look forward to the future as celebrities come out of the woodwork to ascend the throne of Regional Manager of Dunder-Mifflin Scranton!
Following Carell's 50-minute exit in "Goodbye, Michael" NBC aired its promo for next week's "The Inner Circle," as well as our first look at (most of) the mega-stars gracing the halls of Dunder-Mifflin to take the job. Curiously absent was British comidienne Catherine Tate, though as we've mentioned before, she seems the most likely candidate to take the job for real.
In the promo below you'll see the first (brief) looks at Jim Carrey, Ray Romano, Ricky Gervais returning as David Brent, Will Arnett, and James Spader, the latter two in fact NOT playing The Scranton Strangler and his public defender as Mindy Kaling had tweeted previously.
Check it out, and keep reading below for news on another new mystery brewing for The Office!
But of course, who Dunder Mifflin's new boss will be isn't the only question on viewers' minds after last night! I hadn't realized in my initial viewing, but TVLine points out a compelling new mystery that was hinted at, or at least loosely outlined in Thursday night's "Goodbye, Michael."
During his round of goodbyes, Michael announced to the room he knew a 20-year old secret about co-worker Phyllis which turned out to be nothing, but her character noted in her talking head interview that she assumed he meant the baby she gave up in high school!
Ordinarily that would have been nothing more than a bizarrely morose non-sequitur, but it's of interest to note that in Michael's later heart-to-heart with Erin, her character mentions a desire to find her own birth mother who had given her up for adoption. TVLine also pointed out the seemingly deliberate choice of the two being seated next to one another in Michael's final goodbye.
In fact, Executive Producer Greg Daniels even told Entertainment Weekly that "a tiny mystery story, which I’m not sure anyone’s going to catch and will come out a few episodes from now is being set up.”
What do you think? Compelling mystery for future Office, or a red herring? Head on over to TVLine to check out the clips used as evidence, give us your thoughts on the mega-stars vying for the job, and submit your vote below!
