User Reviews

There are times when people say, "THat was the best episode" of a show and later on they say, "WEll, I guess I just really liked it at the time..." Not the case with this episode. I recently rewatched the entire series and let me say, no episode holds a candle to "Goddbye, Toby." Let's start with the somewhat hyped new character who comes aboard. The new HR rep, Holly, is brilliant. Without spoiling, she adds a dynamic for many characters, notably Kevin and Michael (and Creed!) that can't be beaten. Every character (aside from Dwight) gets a good moment this episode, and every storyline that has been building gets a major push forward. As with the last two season finales the last scene is shocking and amazing and throughly mouth-gaping yet side-splitting.

Phyllis, a character who often is dismissed by her cohorts, earns her stripes and becomes a very lovable character. Toby is throughly hazed by Michael in moments that make the awkwardness a drug for the viewers. Pam and Jim get some sweet moments, too. Andy of course, screws things up, but you can't help but love him. Angela is of course ridiculous, and even Meredith gets a good moment. And it doesn't stop there. The Temp, while not actually in the Office, gets an awesome moment... Jan returns, and the Hobbit(!!!) comes back in a deleted scene.

Overall, this episode has it all... even in a Ferris Wheel! What more could you ask for? This episode left me feeling satisfied (that's what she said).

Though the third season of "The Office" was, for the most part, still hilarious television at its finest, it sort of diverged from what made the show so endearing...the relationships. While I commended the writers for doing such a thing to bring new life into the show, I also have to say that Season Four was a welcome return to what The Office does best.

Despite being cut to just 14 episodes do to the TV Writer's strike of 2007-2008, this season manages to still provide a laugh a minute while also getting back to the core of the series, that being the relationships such as Jim/Pam and Dwight/Angela. Michael Scott keeps doing his hilarious thing, but what sets The Office apart from all other comedy sitcoms is its ability to keep developing the characters and maintaining its quality level (e.g. not turning into a soap opera). This season did not provide a drop off in that category as Jim & Pam "shippers" will be delighted at the return of that complicated romance, as well as the tension that always exists between Dwight and Angela.

Thus, despite its shortened stature, I considered Season Four to be better (quality-wise) than the one preceding it. Watch with confidence knowing that the writers/creators/producers are still able to keep things fresh and hilarious.

As I'm late to the party I am only hitting season 4 of The Office now and of course this means, as it did with 30 Rock, that I am now at the period that was affected by the writers' strike – which means that this season is a lot shorter than it should have been, even if it does have quite a few extended episodes in there to make it a bit longer than the 14 episode list would suggest. I'm not sure if this effected the show negatively but certainly something doesn't appear to be clicking in the early stages. Where season 3 had moved on from season 2 with a jump in time that worked, the action between 3 and 4 doesn't seem to transition that well and it hurts the show that does rely on a narrative structure and characters in a way that the quicker hitting 30 Rock does not. Happily it does settle in quite quickly and the majority of the episodes are pretty good with solid laughs and engaging enough events.

Some of the episodes and threads of the show are excellent as they capture the awkward (but not painful like the UK version) comedy of this workplace but it is some of the narrative that don't work as well as they did in seasons 2 and 3. Jim and Pam's relationship is the most obvious one. The writers appear to have gone from being able to perfectly nail the detail of their back and forwards to suddenly deciding to move things rapidly forward while assuming the viewers will just go with it because that is what we want to see. However in doing this they move things way too fast so that not only does it not quite convince but we also don't get to enjoy them being a dating couple the way that we enjoyed them being flirty for so long. Not so much of a big deal is Ryan's new role. Again perhaps the short season is to blame but this seems to move too fast without enough done with it beyond the obvious. Michael and Jan provides good laughs but Andy and Angela didn't convince me as it just seemed written for the sake of having events and it was only Dwight's part in it that made me enjoy it (I find him funny).

The cast continue to be good though and most do well with a bit of added pathos to their roles. Carell wears his character really well and while his terrible judgement is endearing, he avoids making it so painful that we cannot find it funny – which we do. Fischer continues to be one of my favourite parts of the show and it is not her fault that the material rushes her along – she is best when shocked by Michael. Krasinski is still a necessary evil in my opinion. His comedy is mostly responding to other people and this puts him more on the spot in regards the relationship plot – which, not his fault, is not as good this season. Wilson has great lines while Kaling's valley-girl personae makes for wonderful little moments – as do Flannery, Bratton, Baumgartner, Baker and so on. I'm not sure about Novak though – he doesn't seem to fit in that well and is not used that well as a character – perhaps too close to the material as a person? Although I have specified a lot of negative things, I must say that I enjoyed season 4. OK it is not as engaging nor as funny as seasons 2 and 3 but it is still good enough to make The Office stand up as a great sitcom with comedy and situations working well enough. Hopefully this does not represent a "slide" towards diminishing returns and I do look forward to season 5 (as soon as I can work out who is going to get it for me since ITV is about 4 years away from showing it if at all!).

This episode is fantastic in every way. There's so much to praise. Toby, Michael, the arrival of Holly, the proposal of a certain 2 people, it's all good stuff. A great ending to the best season of TV I've ever seen. Season 4 is something truly special, nearly every episode could be one of my favorites of the series. Unfortunately it starts to go a little downhill after this, but really, it would be a huge challenge to top this.

This episode is a bomb. A lot of gag, funny jokes, I'm not even sure if it's even possible to end season with better episode than this one. It had everything. So far, I would say this season was my favorite one.

What's great finale for a great season! Top episode with a fantastic supertramp cover "goodbye Toby"....

Come on!! All the nice things about Michael are taken over by his dark side in this episode. He is a hater, a bully, a sadist who feels pleasure to humiliate Toby.

No, not a protagonist whom I enjoy watching which is why I give a low rate for this finale that I was expecting the opposite.

And why ? Why there is so much hate from Michael towards Toby ? Just because Michael does not want to follow the HR policies of the company?

In addition the whole Andy Angela thing is no fun. Same to Jim and Pam.

The high rate in IMDb for this episode in my view is just due to the finale effect. People like to praise finales regardless of the quality.

This episode was just "bleh"!