The Paper Season 1's Finale Gives The Perfect Nod To The Office's Michael Scott

This post contains spoilers for "The Paper" season 1 finale.

In the season 1 finale of "The Paper," Ned (Domhnall Gleeson) is battling with giving into his feelings for Mare (Chelsea Frei), much like Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) once considered telling Pam (Jenna Fischer) the truth. Back then, the office prankster confessed to his then manager, Michael Scott (Steve Carell) in season 2 (arguably the best season), episode 11 of the series, that he had feelings for the receptionist. Jim believed all hope was lost given that she was recently re-engaged.

"BFD. Engaged ain't married," states self-proclaimed World's Best Boss, "Never, ever give up." Thankfully, Jim didn't. He went on to marry and have a family with Pam, and they lived happily ever after. Flash forward to over a decade since "The Office" ended, and somehow, another batch of wise words from Michael Scott have been passed on to help a new lovestruck hopeful with his dilemma, even if those words were originally Wayne Gretzky's.

As Ned is stewing over whether to take a risk that could potentially impact The Truth Teller's future, original Dunder Mifflin staff member Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nuñez) declares, "A great man once said, 'You miss 100% of the shots you don't take'... also an idiot I used to know," referencing a Michael musing from season 5, episode 1. It's just another moment in this charming spin-off that perfectly binds the two shows together at precisely the right time, and if anything, it's a great indicator of how the series will reflect on the past in a meaningful and satisfying way as the show continues into its own future.

The smartest move for any story that's spinning off from an immensely popular one is that it makes sure to only occasionally look back, rather than litter it with Easter eggs and blatant references of the past. After only sparingly applying cameos so far, it's times like this that the charming and upbeat spin-off gets just right. Showrunner Greg Daniels knows that audiences are going to be spotting parallels between this group of co-workers and the ones back in Scranton, and that includes those that are obviously falling for each other. What better way to acknowledge that than to drop a pearl of wisdom from the star of the original show, just like he did when Pam and Jim got together?

Though "The Paper" has some wrinkles to iron out earlier in the first season, the series is already putting itself apart from "The Office" by having the show's lead couple potentially get together in the first season, teeing up their "will-they, won't-they" earlier than Pam's and Jim's did. The bad news is we're going to have to wait until season 2 to see how that pans out. The good news is that Ned won't have a clingy, overly-friendly boss let any secret slip sooner than it needs to.