You Can Now Watch The Office's Never-Before-Seen Series Finale Cold Open
January 1, 2021 officially means the nightmare that is 2020 is finally behind us. It's a new year filled with wondrous possibilities, but with change also comes immense sorrow. Naturally, the only thing we could be talking about is the fact The Office is no longer available to watch on Netflix.
Plenty of people only subscribed to Netflix so that they could watch every episode of The Office at their leisure, and now, if they want the same kind of marathon, they're going to need a subscription to Peacock. While plenty of people may be sad today that they have to purchase yet another streaming service, the folks over at Peacock certainly have reason to celebrate. They now hold the exclusive streaming rights of one of the most bingeable series out there, and to commemorate the occasion, Peacock has released a never-before-seen cold open that was originally planned to go along with the very final episode.
The deleted cold open is a surprisingly sweet homage to The Matrix
In case you don't have a Peacock subscription, the cold open is available to view on The Office's official Facebook page. It runs for nearly five minutes in length, making it understandable why it was cut from the episode, but it's definitely one of the best pranks ever pulled on the show.
In it, Jim (John Krasinski) convinces Dwight (Rainn Wilson) that's he's living in The Matrix, complete with men in suits standing by reception. Dwight scuttles down to the warehouse where he meets Hank (Hugh Dane), who "reveals" himself to be Morpheus' brother, Dorpheus. He gives Dwight the choice between two pills: a blue one that allows him to stay within the Matrix or a red one that would allow him to break free. Surprising everyone, Dwight selects the blue pill because he's finally manager of Dunder-Mifflin and is about to marry the love of his life, Angela (Angela Kinsey). While Dwight wouldn't normally pass up the opportunity to engage in a high-concept, sci-fi adventure, he's finally come to appreciate his life and doesn't want to give it up for anything.
Jim's come a long way from his pranks merely consisting of placing Dwight's stapler in Jell-O, and Dwight's no longer trying to prove himself to others; he's happy right where he is. This long-lost prank has been the stuff of legend for a while now with fans only knowing about it from a table read, and this may not be the only new Office content fans end up seeing. In a statement, show creator Greg Daniels said, "Having 'The Office' back in the NBC family opens up access to a lot of extra content that we originally shot" (via CNN). Given the show's popularity, the promise of new Office bits may be enough to drive scores of subscribers over to the new platform.