Office Ladies - The Paper Ep 10: The Ohio Journalism Awards with Chelsea Frei

Episode Date: March 11, 2026

This week on Office Ladies 6.0 Jenna and Angela break down the season finale of The Paper, “The Ohio Journalism Awards”. The ladies are joined live in the studio by Chelsea Frei (Mare) to talk all about the big awards night where relationships are made, broken, and maybe even verified. Mare celebrates a huge win for her Softies sewer clog investigation, Oscar grapples with life as a documentary subject, and Ken and Esmeralda fight for relevance at the head table while chaos unfolds around the Toledo Truth Teller team. Along the way, Jenna and Angela chat with Chelsea about Mare’s journey this season, filming the finale together on location, costume choices for the big night, and the emotional (and steamy) moments that changed everything for Mare and Ned. So raise a glass, enjoy this finale breakdown, and stay tuned for more Office Ladies fun ahead — including Office deep dives, interviews, chit chats and more!  Office Ladies Website - Submit a fan question for Around the Town, Chit Chat, The Paper & Second Drink favorite moment: https://officeladies.com/submitaquestion  Follow Us on Instagram: OfficeLadiesPod Follow Us on YouTube Follow Us on TikTok To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I'm Jenna Fisher and I'm Angela Kinsey. We were on The Office together and we're best friends. And now we're doing the ultimate Office Lovers podcast just for you. Each week we will dive deeper into the world of the office with exclusive interviews behind the scenes details and lots of BFF stories. We're the Office Lady 6.0. That's Chelsea Fry of... I'm just like still so happy from hearing that theme song

and being here and watching you too because you're the cutest things ever. We're all just grinning at each other. Yeah, we're really happy right now. It's very happy. It's a real joyful room. I mean, we were saying this right when you got here, but we have just fallen in love with you so much. Your performance in the paper is fantastic, and we're just delighted, and you're just a nice human, too. So we're so happy you're here. I'm just so excited because I feel like watching you on the show and watching the show blow up as it has, it's really taking me back to those memories from the office. And I'm just like so excited for you that I have to imagine your acting dreams are coming true. Yes, beyond. Beyond.

Yeah. What has it been like? Well, it's so funny because I remember when you guys came to set, I don't even, it must have been like early on in shooting and I was so nervous to meet you both because I think everybody on the show knows like I am the biggest OG office fan. Really? Yes. Like Beyond, I've seen every episode of 400 times. Like I'm one of those. And so not only getting on the show, then you guys coming and I just remember how sweet you were. And we were just like so in the thick of it and so nervous. And especially those early days, you're kind of just like, you're finding it. Yeah. And like waiting for the tap on the shoulder of like, you're not working. I feel like I felt like the first two months being like, is this real? Am I actually still here? And then you guys came

and it was just, it was so sweet. It was so sweet and meant so much to me. But yeah, it's been surreal. Like since minute one of meeting Greg and Michael and just doing the first audition, it's just been like, wait, what? I get to talk to these people and be a part of this world. It's crazy. I loved our first time meeting you. And on the set, we sat in like an abandoned cafeteria or something. Yeah, you did. It's what it felt like. And you were just so, gosh, like Jenna said, you were just so full of that I'm at the beginning. I'm at the beginning. And we talked about it for a long time, how special that was. And now we've watched the whole first season. And we sort of, my God, we didn't know who Mare was when we met you.

And now we're obsessed with Mare. Thank you. And now you're doing season two, right? You're currently filming. We sure are. Wow. It's so fun. And I feel like I just want to gab about everything.

But yeah, I feel it's so funny coming back now that we all know each other and getting to, you know, it's just you're so lucky. So many shows don't even get to go past one season. And just to get to come back and hear about each other's lives and we're all so much more comfortable. It's honestly, Donald and I were. saying the other day, we're just having so much fun. And just everyone is just making each other laugh and happy to be back together. That's the best. Yeah. It's so fun. And it's, I mean, I'm sure, because did you guys shoot? How many months a year would you guys shoot? Because you did like,

what, 22? 22. 28 sometimes. Oh, my gosh. We would shoot usually from about late July all the way to April. So we would just have a very short amount of time off. Yeah. That's crazy. Yeah. And by the end of the season, we all got sick. Oh, but everyone gave in. Their bodies were like, I'm done. I feel like your body, like, knows as it's coming to an end. It's always those last couple weeks, you're like, I just got to stuff it down for a couple more weeks, and then I can just be in my bed for like two weeks after. And our writers, you know, it seemed like they never stopped working. They would get like two weeks off and then they would have to go back in for whatever

two months of just like brainstorming the next season. So they were especially wiped by the end. Yeah. We're doing like January to end of April. So it's like half-ish a year almost, but it's amazing. But even I'm like we're talking, this week was our hiatus and it was so nice and we're all kind of just like, oh my gosh. But I can't imagine doing all year. But also I would do a million episodes. Well, something I'm very jealous of is that when you guys were getting to enjoy, like, the spoils of your season and your success and you're doing the press and you're getting to go to the fancy parties and all of that kind of stuff, you were not shooting.

Yes. Yeah. I can't imagine. I don't know how you do that. Because it's like a job in and of itself to just promote the thing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

It was really fun. I got to go to New York with Oscar, and we had, like, two of the most fun nights. I've had in New York. It was like we were just let loose, so happy. And yeah, it was so fun. Oscar's really fun to travel with. I've had some accounting escapades. It's really fun.

It's true. Well, listen, we've been starting our episodes with a chit-chat suggestion from fans, and we thought maybe you'd like to participate in this one. I would love to participate. It's coming in from Chelsea Kay, and she is from Denver. Let's see what Chelsea, another Chelsea. I had to say. Hi office ladies, Chelsea from Denver here. Thank you so much for choosing my chit-chat question today.

My question for you is about the 26 Winter Olympics. If you could compete in any Olympic sport, pretending that you have all the skills in athleticism required, what would it be and why? Choose one sport for the Winter Olympics and one for the summer. Side note, how fun was it to see Sabrina from the paper with a huge starring role in the opening ceremonies. Thanks so much office ladies. Love you. So sweet. Oh, I love that question. Me too. I like this. The Olympics just ended. Yeah. I'm still sort of thinking about them. So this is kind of perfect. And Sabrina was in the opening ceremony. Oh my gosh. Amazing. Was it not out of this world? Yes. Yeah. I can't believe. And she was also doing that. We'd already

started filming. And she was like in the middle of rehearsals. Learning the choreography. Yeah, but she didn't, she was like, oh, like I'm doing this, you know, piece at the beginning. Like, you'll see, you'll see. And I was like, I was like, I wonder what it could be. I had no idea. It was going to be like seven minutes straight. It was amazing.

I truly don't know how she did it with everything she has going on. It was like a long form, like modern dance. Yeah. Yeah. And storytelling. Yeah. Amazing. She told me, she wore, you know, like our hair had all those like tinsel and everything.

She's like, I wore it back on the plane back to LA. She was like, I was. so tired. I just ended up, like, keeping it in my hair until I got back to LA. But yeah, it was so cool. We all watched it on set. Very exciting. All right. So should we answer Chelsea K's question? Yes. We got to. Who's going first? Chelsea? Yes, Chelsea. Okay. I mean, I feel like this is so basic, but figure skating? Yeah? Come on. I mean, it was really amazing this year. It was so cool. But yeah, I mean, if I could be in one of those cute little outfits. Oh my gosh. Would you be doubles or single? Singles.

Singles. Single, yeah. You don't want anyone throwing you in the air. No, no, I know. But, yeah, I think I would be single. And I liked how she, like, played with, like, her hair and makeup. I feel like people were, like, starting to have a lot of fun. Right.

And the music, so fun. Yeah. Yeah. She really embraced the whole disco moment. So cool. Such joy. That's the one thing. I feel like I would be so overcome with nerves.

I don't know that I'd be able to enjoy it. Would you guys? That's a good question. Wait, what's your winter sport? All right. I became a little obsessed with the biathlon. So this is the one where the person sort of like cross-country skis as fast as they can. Sure. And then they have to shoot a rifle at a target and you have to hit all the targets before you can keep skiing again. And it brought back those like sort of survivalist old-timey, snowy prairie vibes to me, which is just sort of one of my like obsessions. This is very you. This is the most on-brand answer. and all the years I've known you. Like if I could, as Chelsea K said, have all the skills and athleticism required. I would love to just like cross-country my way, do some target practice and move on.

But I would love to add a third element. I would just want to propose this to the Olympic Committee. Maybe it's a triathlon because to make my dream come true, I need them to do a second stop where they just like chop a pile of wood. So it's like cross-country skiing and an axe shooting. Yes, and then they pull the axe out and they just like hack up a whole pile of wood. Do they have to like make a fire or just the wood? And somebody else makes the fire.

That's a good idea. They have to quickly build a small like shelter. Sleep overnight and then back and we watch the entire thing. Yeah, I'm in. Yeah. So that would be mine. And I think I would love to be in the biathlon. All right.

Okay. Well, I love watching the half pipe. I mean, I love all the Olympics. But if I had all the skills, there's something about just going down, I say it like I've done it. I haven't done it. There's just something about going down that half pipe and catching that air, watching them just fly and flip and twist and then come down and whoosh, they do it again. that would be the coolest thing.

I would love that. But yeah, and then I don't know if you guys saw this. This is the other thing I'd probably love because it's giant shuffleboard, but curling, I got still out. You see curling? Curling wouldn't stop. I'm like, we're still curling?

How many perjitations of curling are there? Curling went on longer than I thought it could. It's so true. It was true. It was like on every day, but like they've got one slidy shoe and one grippy shoe. And then there's one person who just yells,

curl, curl, curl! I don't know, I'd be really into it. Did you see the brother-sister team? Were they brother-sister? Are they a couple? They truly looked like Dwight and Angela to me. Stop it. Or they looked like Dwight and Angela's children.

I mean, I'm going to need a visual at some point. That really took off. I think you posted that in your stories. I did. And then I think it inspired someone to then actually make like a meme of Angela and Dwight. Did you see that? No.

Oh my God. And full Olympic like clothing. Stop it. And it, yeah, I have it. I'll show it to you guys. It's crazy. Yes, look. Lady, it's.

Isn't that hilarious? I'm dying. But I do think that I do think the Shrewts would play that game. Yeah. I do too. Yeah. They'd be pretty good. Guys, what's our summer sport?

I mean, I know mine immediately. What? What is that? mine immediately. Tennis? Yes. Are you a tennis girl? I am. I love tennis. It's my favorite thing. Let's get you out there. I know, right? Like ladies, 50s, 3.5 U.S.T.A. Ranking. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure a lot of people would want to watch the slow, slow, slow, slow sport I would do in tennis. I mean, sometimes our coach, like, films us, and I just think I'm running so hard. Yeah, yeah. And then he plays it back, and I'm like, oh, my God.

This is the slowest, lamest moving group of women. What's your summer sport? I mean, I love the divers. Oh, yeah. They're so scary. So scary. But I'm always like when they make the little splash, I want to be able to make that little splash.

When I dive in a pool, it's like, but I would love to be able to do that. I think that would be mine. Again, if I had all the skills in the world. Yeah. I would want to swim the butterfly. The butterfly. Yeah. With your broken shoulder.

Well, I have all the skills in the world, lady. And all the athletes are required. My best friend in high school growing up, she was a competitive butterfly swimmer. And she just looks so cool. Yeah. And it's a really hard stroke. And I just feel like it would be like mad respect. And I've never in my life even done a single butterfly stroke.

Like I can't just, I never figured it out. So like if I could just wish to suddenly be able to do something and do it. well and fast and like maybe you win gold. I don't know. Maybe silver, but we just have to see who who else is up in butterfly that year. That's the thing. It's not just you. It's like who else, you know? But in this hypothetical world, we all meddle, guys. We all melmelt. Well, that is the thing. We're going to meddle. Maybe it's not the gold, but we're on the podium. For sure. Definitely. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For America. Of course. For America. Yeah. Well, that was really fun. Yeah. Thank you, Chelsea Kay.

Why don't we take a break and then we're going to come back and we are going to break down the Ohio Journalism Awards, the season finale of season one of the paper with Chelsea Frye. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. You know, we are going to take a moment to celebrate women and all that they carry at work, in relationships and families and in the many roles they hold every single day. And we need to remind ourselves about how much we matter. and that therapy offers a space for us to take care of ourselves in the way we deserve. Therapy can also be a place to set boundaries and build confidence. Just take care of your own well-being for a change. BetterHelp makes therapy accessible and flexible.

Their therapists are fully licensed in the U.S. and follow a strict code of conduct. With over 30,000 therapists, BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform, and it works, with an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 for a lot of, session based on over 1.7 million client reviews. Your emotional well-being matters. Find support and feel lighter in therapy. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com slash office ladies. That's better H-E-L-P dot com slash office ladies. I'm Craig Melvin. Cheers. Cheers. I've always been a glass half-hole kind of guy. And now I'm talking to some people who look at the world that way too. Some really fascinating folks who share their defining moments, their triumphs, their challenges. Their stories are funny

and quite candid. So I hope you'll join me each week. And who knows, you might just come away with your own glass apple. Search Glass Half Full with Craig Nelson from today on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. All right, we are back with Chelsea to break down the Ohio Journalism Awards. And before we get to it, ladies, I have a little something for you from Toledo. What? From Toledo. from Toledo, Ohio. What? I ordered it a bit ago.

I'm so excited to give it to you. As you know, there's a runner in the whole series about the Toledo Mudhens. Oh, yes. And I felt like we all needed some Toledo Mudhands merch. No. This is crazy. No. Wait, it's so cute.

It's so cute. It's like a Navy t-shirt. It says Toledo Mudhens baseball. And it looks, it's like a little white. razor back. Stop it. Okay. You were so cute.

I don't have any Toledo merch yet. This is amazing. Seriously? I can't wait. You can't wait. You can't have. They also gave me an obvious lady's mug and an obvious lady's tote. I'm going to be merged out.

This is so sweet. Thank you. All right. Well, that definitely put me in a Toledo movie. Me too. I know. All right. Well, let's get to it.

All right. Well, this episode was written by Paul Lieberstein and directed by Jeffrey Blitz. Jenna, how about a summary? Here it is. Relationships are made and broken when the Toledo Truth Teller team attends the Ohio Journalism Awards. Asmeralda and Ken fight to appear relevant, Nicole catches Detrick in a lie, and Oscar comes to terms with life as a documentary subject. Meanwhile, Marinette do some investigative journalism that turns, shall we say, personal. Yeah. Yeah. There's a lot to discuss there. We'll get there. This episode opens on like a big awards night.

We're at a hotel. All the tables are there. The banquet tables, the flowers. It's going to be a fancy evening. Oscar has a talking head where he explains that the Truth Teller has been nominated for three awards. Mare is nominated for Her Softie's Clog Story. Ned is nominated for the paper itself.

and Oscar is nominated for his little puzzle that he does, Mr. Digit. It's so perfect. That storyline is perfection for him. He also says it's been a very long time since the Truth Teller won one of these awards, and we're going to flash back to the last time this happened. It's 1971. So long ago, you guys, so long ago, it's the year I was born. Yes, we only have black and white footage of that.

moment because it's old, ye old, so old in time. Oh, Beijing 71. Yes. I'm surprised they had sound. I know. I know. Son of a bitch. I do have a background catch, Chelsea.

I love a background catch. I noticed on the wall where the word show's happening. Yeah. That there's these like keypads and they say Glendale on them. Do you think. Yep. Wait. What do you mean?

Keypad? There's like a little, like, you know, like a keypad that would probably like, I don't know, turn on the lights or something. Sure, and it says Glendale. So we know, because did you film in Glendale? We sure did. Where did you film these? We shot at a hotel up there in Glendale.

And it sure was. And I'm sure like Finaleys felt like this for you guys too or episodes like the boat cruise or something where you're all just together in one place for like a few days and it's not at the lot. just feels kind of extra special. Sure, it's like a road trip. It's like a road trip. And they would like keep the bar open for us.

So if we would like get out late, they'd like have a couple of drinks for us at the end of a night. It was so fun. I had so much fun that week. Did they move your trailers there? Or did you get a hotel room as a trailer? They brought everything there. But we ended up having a lot of meetings in those rooms.

They would like rent out like a couple floors of it. And so we would be up there gab and. Right. So you stayed at a hotel. Also used them for production. But then you had your whole. trailer set up and base camp for hair and makeup. Got it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I was very tickled by that background catch because when we filmed the office and we'd have driving scenes, fans would write in and be like, doesn't look like Scranton. So a palm tree. And now I feel like I'm that person like, I'm going Dale keypad. No, thanks so much. You've ruined the magic of the show. Not true.

No, it's true. I feel like we're always trying to get a palm tree out of the back of a shot. Right. Yeah. wish we could shoot in Real Toledo. Maybe one day we'll get to go there. Well, don't count on it. We never went to Scranton.

You guys never went, right? But they went and shot some B-roll, I think. I think they did. I think John shot like B-roll for the titles, and maybe they went once. Now I feel like we're like the two old jaded aunties. We're like, don't count. You're never going to. Don't hold your breath.

Nine years, we didn't go to Scrim. You're stuck in Glendale. That's as far as you'll go. So now Ned is going to greet Marv and Anne's husband, his brother, Lou. And then Esmeralda makes her entrance. Oh, yeah. And I think we need to discuss her gorgeous red gown. We did get a fan question from Regina C. and Barcelona, who said,

Hi, ladies, when I saw this episode and Esmeralda appeared on screen with that stunning red dress, I knew I had to find out more about it. It's perfection, the color, the drama with the flowers and the puffy sleeves, the head. Headpiece. Did they make it? Did they buy it? What are the details? So, Chelsea, I've been very obsessed with your wardrobe. Oh, thank you so much. This is true. And I have been going on these sites. One is called shopyotivy.com. Oh, yeah. I'll sometimes go on that because I love mare sweaters. And I'll forget where they're from from the first season. So I'll go to like buy them and try and find them on sale like a year later. Oh, yeah. So one of yours was on Farfetch. Oh, stop it.

That big block sweater, the black collar sweater with the collar. Yeah. Yeah. I have the details for you. Honestly, send it to me later. Well, this dress is by Salas London, Talia. It's off the shoulder. And it is also by Farfetch.

So I think Kathleen likes Farfetch, your costume designer. She sure does. So according, though, to the website, when you purchase this dress, it does not have the big flowers. So I traded emails with Kathleen Felix Hager, amazing costume designer, as we have said. Yeah. She sent over pictures, you guys, of the fitting. she did with Sabrina, and the costume department did, in fact, add all of the big flowers. Yeah, she's incredible.

She's amazing. I adore her, and she's a genius. She does so many other shows, and we're so lucky to have her. But I remember in the script what made me laugh so hard during the table read, it described the dress as Marilda walks in as Met Gala. Like, basically, she thinks she's at the Met Gala, but it's the Ohio Journalism Awards. And I was like, that is Esmeralda. And like, of course, of course. If she's a night and, like, of course she's going to wear a tiara.

Like, there's no way she's not wearing a tiara. She has to. Right. But yeah, I remember when she walked in that first day, we were dying laughing. It was like more ridiculous than you could ever even imagine. And she just, like, looked amazing in it, which was like, it was just so fun. But yeah, that dress was amazing. Well, next up, it looks like Ned is holding a rabbit's foot.

People comment on it. He says it's not a rabbit's foot because he doesn't want to win. You know, I don't need to win. He's just happy to be there. He actually says it's part of a dead mouse that he found in the street. I feel like this is classic Ned because sometimes the thing that's the truth, he's like, I'll make up something way worse than what is the actual truth. Yes, that is such a great way to put Ned.

And honestly, it's like reminding me of what we've been shooting. So I'm like, yes, that is an absolute fundamental character trait of his. And it's like so sweet and charming and also just like, oh my God. How could he possibly think that sounds better than what he's actually doing? But yeah, that rabbit's foot made me laugh so hard. Do you have any good luck charms? Are you a good luck charm person? Or good luck rituals or anything like that?

That's such a good question. I'm trying to think I used to have a turtleneck I wore to like every audition that I've actually lost. I'm trying to remember, I guess I didn't wear it to my paper audition. But I used to, like, I had like one thing that I was always like, okay, if I wear this, I'm, you know, I think I'll do a good job. And I, like, booked a couple worlds. And it was, like, a really shi, like, old turtleneck.

I wouldn't wear to everything. I'm picturing you, like, okay, this movie takes place on a cruise in the Caribbean. I'm like, well, I have to wear my turtle hat, or else I won't get it. I have to wear my tentative turtleneck sweater. I think that I'm not kidding. I think once or twice my age is really, could you resubmit that in like or something else? Because it's so wrong for the part. But it was my good luck charm.

besides that, not really. I mean, I have my, like, silly little, like, routines in the morning that sometimes I'm, like, if I don't do this, but nothing, nothing like a good luck charm. Do you guys? I had a red blouse. Like, now that you mentioned this thing about auditioning and the same thing, I have this red blouse that if I wore it, I seem to get the part. And so I wore it to every audition. Did you wear it to audition for Pam? No, because it wasn't appropriate for Pam.

Okay. This was like when I had to play like a pediatric nurse, but sexy. Or like a school teacher, but hot. That's what this blouse was. Yes, of course. That's so funny. I don't really have a good, like, charm, but I do have one thing I do every time I fly. What?

And now my kids do it. Is that bad? No, it's good. Okay, as I walk up to the plane, like, and I'm about to step through the threshold to get on it, I pat the plane. Like, come on, girl, you got this. And I watched a steward clock me doing it. Like, it's my turn to step, and I'm like, wait a second. Pat, pat, pat, pat.

So it's so sweet. Yeah, that's what I do. The planes are tired. They just came from somewhere else. Sometimes they need a little... I just got this. You got this? I'm like, she tie-tie.

Those old ones? I'm like, what are we... What's happening here? Yeah. You get an extra pat. Okay, now we're in the opening credits. There's this runner, Jenna and I loved. It's Adam and his wife, and they're living it up at the awards.

They're drinking. It cuts to her, and she's at this long sort of dessert table, and she's just, like, got her plate piled. She's, like, stuffing a brownie into her mouth, and she's adorable. And it just made me think, Jenna, so much of, like, when we would go to award shows and we would hoard food. Well, because there isn't a lot of food.

This is what I hear. You know when it's like the little thin, like, cracker, but it's super skinny? What do you call that one? It looks like a straw, but it's a cracker. I don't even know. Like a breadstick. But it looks like two chopsticks. Sure, sure, sure, sure.

Two bread chopsticks. That's your bread. And then a giant jet of wine. A giant thing of wine. But then also, I feel like there would always be this sort of like congealed like a shrimp patte or something. Like something that feels like it had been on the taste. a while, so you're definitely not touching that. With like one lightly sliced carrot.

Sure. Sure. Of course. Your salad. But then all the wine you could ever want. Fun. Fun. But we have hoarded, like, bread before.

Would you guys, like, go out after and eat, or was it before while you had to? Yeah, yeah. You had to. Or, you know, the after parties would have food, but, like, do you make it over there? Because it's like, you know, I feel like you're a bride at a, a wedding. You're talking to everybody and you never get a water or any food at all. Yeah. Totally. This is kind of a tangent. Huge tangent. I'm sure you guys have talked about this on the pod. So sorry. When did you guys become like best friends? Your face is so cute. She's doing that face like,

I'm going to cry before you win. No story. I mean, we always, we always say it was basketball. Yeah. I think the basketball episode, because we were mostly background in that. And so they just sat us on a bench for three days, 12 hours a day, and we just told each other our life stories. Okay, that was it. That's all I wanted to know. Sorry. So it was kind of there. Yeah.

And then it was like nice that we just shared a little partition, you know, like we were close to each other in the bullpen. So I would just hop up and I'd pop my head over and she'd do the same and we'd chat there. I think it's why the writers actually eventually wrote a scene with our two characters at the partition talking. Yeah. They would see us doing it. Yeah.

When Dwight froze sprinkles. I remember. But then we started going through similar things in life, you know? Like when the show started, we didn't have kids and then we had kids on the show. And then, you know, so it was like there were a lot of parts of our lives where like you needed a friend who understood. And similarly, like just all the fame and stuff, you know, like I didn't have any famous friends. So I didn't know who to ask about any of this stuff. Yeah.

And we just figured it out together and it was really helpful. It was helpful to admit that we didn't know things. Yeah. Yeah. You know, and then also like, what did you find out? What did you? Yeah. What did it?

And then our families, too, both of our families, like, no one in our families is in show business. Yeah, same, same. Right? So I was just like, where do you get the clothes? Yes. Where do the, literally where do you get the clothes? Yes.

We spent a lot of time on that. Yeah. We couldn't figure out. Yeah. We never got great at it, by the way. Well, you hear stories, right? You're like, well, this person got something sent to them. How?

Literally how. How did it get sent? Like, who put that word out to send it? How did they know where to send it? Well, and it's like, I think you, it all looks so glamorous, you know, on Instagram, but it's like nobody sees like you lugging your like five garment bags by yourself through an airport being like, did I grab everything? What did I forget?

I feel like I messed all this up. It's so, it's, I wouldn't say like, there are. many more things that are stressful in life, but it is such a, yeah, there's no like rulebook to do it. And so you're kind of just asking people, you know, and being exactly what you said, like, how do you do this? How did you do this? And trying not to look like an idiot. Well, I remember I had to relocate to London for a job for six months. And I had two little kids. My daughter was only seven months old. My son was three. So I flew ahead because I had to do extra fittings and things like that. And I had to find us an apartment and I had to get it furnished.

And so I remember I was standing in line at IKEA in London, like ordering a crib, trying to figure out like when it could be delivered with my schedule. And I was like, is this what Angelina Jolie? Like she must have someone doing this. Like, is this how everyone's doing it? Yeah. They're just doing it themselves. Yeah, that's how we do it. Exactly. This is maybe why we're best friends because we never consider not doing it ourselves. So then we are the person walking through the airport with seven garment bags and a steamer hoping that we brought the right shoes for when we get there.

Yeah. Because we just, I don't know. Yeah, I forgot my shoes on a recent trip to New York to be on a TV show. I didn't even tell you this, Jenna. This happened again? This happened before. I guess I've done it a few times. This happened once when I was with you.

I had dress pants and a blouse, and I had hiking boots. Is that what you wore? Oh, and a pair of really old, but like not your cute sneakers, like your old run-around-town sneakers. Sure. To have a stain on like the white part that you couldn't get out. Sure. What'd you do? I wore my sneakers, and I said, can you not get my feet?

Well, next. Ted and Esmeralda are really mad that they're not sitting with the rest of their team at the head table, but instead they are seated at, I guess, what they're considering the kids' table. Right. Because that's where Adam and his wife are. And then Adelola and Travis come over, and they are clearly babysitting. Adam and his wife's kids. They bring the kids.

I would be so pissed. Well, she is pissed. She's just like, what the fuck? What are you doing here with Archie? children and our baby. Yeah. One of the things that really cracked me up, though, so, you know, Travis is obsessed with Mare's Date.

We find out Mare's Date is Theo. They go way back. Theo rolls Cole. He's like a YouTuber, but he does like stupid stuff with his truck. But I loved this moment. He's like so impressed with Mare's Date that he wakes up a sleeping baby to be like, hey, look at this YouTube video, to the baby. Did you see that?

Yes. And then I did call. that was a real baby that he woke up, but then it immediately cuts to him holding faky baby, four minutes, 56 seconds. Fanky baby. Faky baby. Are you guys big? Like, you catch those because I catch a fake baby.

Immediately. Immediately. That's like one of my things. It's the hair. It's the hair. Yeah. It's, yeah, it's, I always catch those too. Faky baby.

Faky baby. Also, if the actor is moving a lot and the baby isn't, you know, the actor's like trying to look like. Yeah. But if they're standing still, then that's real baby. But that whole scene was so funny, though. And I love the addition of Theo mixing things up. Yeah, it was so fun to bring in Theo and in that whole dynamic, we had a lot of fun.

Oh my gosh. And Maher's like, is Ned jealous? Yeah. Yeah. She's playing the game. She knows what she's doing. But getting to have Chris there, who's on the bear and also amazing, he was just so funny and like added so much to those scenes of just like this tension between us, which whatever, I'll get into.

But I just. of everybody involved. I want to say everybody's name. This is what I would say, number one, of Mayer's dreamy eye look. There's a lot of dreamy eyes. You have a lot of, like, yeah, like real pretty eye looks to camera, like, I don't know, let's say it up for them.

I don't know. I get really embarrassed watching the finale, because I do, I think she's a really, I think it's been like a season of her kind of like trying to keep whatever she's feeling at bay. And I remember, like, we just talked about it of like, kind of, like, you just got to, go for it. And something about that, this whole episode feels kind of like dreamy and just not like real life, I think for her. And so, yeah, the dreamy eyes were, I think I was, yeah, it was just a,

it always felt a little like removed from the paper and like what's happening back at the office. But that's what those nights are like. Yes, they're intoxicating. Yeah. You're dressed up. Yeah. Nobody's seen you dressed up before. Yeah. Maris having a lot of wine. A lot. Yeah. And a martini will get. get to it. What about your outfit? I want to talk about it. Because you have on this sort of like lace kind of boostier and a beautiful kind of satin

blouse. But the blouse, it shifts. And we see more boostier, less boostier. Yes, yes. It was such the perfect to me, mayor choice. Because the other time we've seen you dressed up is when you're going undercover. Yeah. But that really didn't feel like mayor, right?

No, no. She was playing a character. I believe that came out of Esmerald's closet. personally. 100%. And threw it on mayor. But this is Mayor's closet, and this is how Mayor dresses up, and I loved it. I loved this look.

I loved the peek-a-boo. It was so great. Thank you. Yeah, I remember Kathleen and I tried on a few different things, and we tried on some dresses, and we were just like, this just doesn't feel like her. It just never felt right. Because we were like, yeah, we want to see her try in a way that she doesn't at the office. And, yeah, exactly that.

like getting to see Ned and everybody else outside of the office. Clearly, she's going to put thought into it. But a dress never felt right. Something that felt like a little worky, but also like a little boostier, exactly. There was something that felt really right about it. But we talked about it a long time. Kathleen's just, yeah, she's amazing. Well, I remember that with Pam, like picking, what is the thing she's going to wear on casino night? This is. Yeah. And her hair. Yes. And like Mary, a big moment's going to happen. It was that dress. It's like like a, Like lilac. Yeah.

It's like that little shimmery-ish. Yeah. So pretty. Our whole thing was that it was a bridesmaid's dress she wore for someone's wedding. Stop it. Perfect. And that just gave me chills. I love that fact.

Yeah. And because we were like, why does she have this dress? And we're like, what if she repurposes a bridesmaid's dress? They always say you can wear it again and you never do. Totally. Totally. You can wear it again. Where?

Where am I wearing this again? Where am I wearing this tavern? That's so true. Wow, that's great. Well, another storyline we haven't talked about yet is about to get set up. It's the Nicole Detrick storyline. Guess who else is at this event? It's the weather girl. Yeah. The meteorologist who he has supposedly also been dating. He talked about her way back when. And Nicole's like, oh my gosh, look who's here. And she's hot. And Detrick's like, sure. Sure, sure. Well, as it turns out, Dendrick has not been dating her. Nicole goes over and talks to her. And this woman, we never hear this conversation, but clearly it went something like, what are you talking about? I'm not dating him. Yeah. And Nicole gets super upset. She's like, you tricked me into dating you? Into a monogamous relationship. How dare you? You're such a dog, so loyal. Yeah. And then he's like, I kind of, you know, was hoping for that. And then he breaks up with her.

I mean, what's up with that? What is going to happen with them? Without giving too much away, it's exciting to see how their relationship progresses. I mean, I love them both so much. Ramona and Melvin, they're just so funny in their own very specific ways. Oh, yeah. And specifically Ramona. I will say this.

I like the character of Nicole. I don't like Nicole with Detrick. Oh, interesting. But I do relate to Nicole as someone who played a character who wasn't great to the men in her life. Andy Bernard, you know, and then, my gosh, the whole Dwight and Angela thing was so up and down and all over the place. So like, I think you were justified in a lot of your feelings during that. Thank you. You're welcome.

Thank you. But, yeah, but poor Andy. She wasn't great to Andy. Andy, that was tough. Yeah. Without giving anything away in season two, because this relationship ends on quite the emotional cliffhanger, the Dettrick and Nicole. Well, that's what I was going to say, that heartbreaking woman at the end. when she is crying in my hotel room at the end of the night.

It was so heartbreaking. And to me, it just felt so real of somebody who doesn't know what they want and aren't ready to commit either way, but also they just know they're sad. And I think that's like sometimes the only thing you know is the emotion you're feeling, but not exactly what to do with that emotion. Yeah, it was heartbreaking.

It's a moment that isn't really seen on screen, but, you know, we were in there with her crying. and then I have to go out and when Ned gets there and everything. But yeah, my heart broke for her in that moment. So I was like, I know what you're going through. You don't know what you want, but this also sucks. Her performance is so good when she's crying. And it's such a hard thing because you're right.

We don't see any of the lead up to it. It's just you open the door a little further. And she's kind of in the background, but sobbing. But like it's so good that you see how deeply she's feeling it. Yeah. So kudos to her. That's a way to go, Ramona. Yeah, she's amazing.

She's amazing. I also think that's the genius of Greg and Michael. I feel like they're able to say so much with just these like little moments. Like the fact that you kind of totally know her arc with just that moment, it goes to, you know, the script and also just Ramona being able to play it with such gravity. Yeah. Yeah. She's good. I'm curious for season two.

Yeah. All right. So now the ceremony is starting. We're kind of going to go back to the original timeline here. And the host is talking. And there's this runner that starts that cracked me up. Esmeralda, she just wants to be in the room where it happens. Do you know what I mean? She wants to be at that head table so desperately. She approaches Marv with like such a lame conversation segue. I feel like I do this. I'm trying to work my way into like a conversation. I'm horrible at it. But she goes like this. I heard the. chef is from Chicago. How exciting is this evening. And then there's a little bit of Marf shade. He says, you know what? I'm happy to be back at the awards. It's been a few years. And he looks at Esmeralda and she fills the shade. And then Ken freaks out. He freaks out. It's so funny. He's like, I need to distance myself from Esmeralda. This is one of my favorite new expressions. He then says, I'm getting swept away in her mediocrity. It's kind of the same as like when you say, like, that person brings nothing to the table. It's like just so devastating.

It's like if you hear that about yourself, it's a day-ruiner. You're a ruiner. He goes on to say, a prestige shift is happening. Oscar now has the ear of Marv. It's a dangerous thing. Well, speaking of Oscar, the first award goes to Oscar on his new game. And Oscar dedicates his award to the documentary film crew. It's crazy.

Well, we actually had a lot of fans right in about this moment. Jamie B. in Oklahoma loved that he acknowledged the camera crew. And then also Thomas S. from Sydney, Australia, said, something I would love to hear discussed is, do you think Oscar's colleagues in Toledo have seen the Office and American Workplace documentary? Did you guys ever talk about that? Wow, that is so interesting because no, we didn't.

And I don't think they have. I think that would be, gosh, I don't know. Because the camera crew is there and Oscar knows them. So I feel like at some point, the Toledo Truth Teller employees would be like, why do they know you? That is such a good point. I don't know if we would have seen it. I don't think mayor would. I think it would freak her out.

I don't think Merwood. I could see Esmeralda maybe Googling him or looking him up online. But I don't think that documentary would have been on Merr's radar for sure. No, I don't think so. That's funny. My feeling is that nobody there had seen it, which is why Oscar was so upset to see the documentary crew again. Because he had managed to, you know,

there was some notoriety for everybody right when this documentary came out. But I could also see how, like, I know for Andy it was a little bit more national. but like I think like in general for the other people, it was probably more like Scranton took an interest in this documentary about their local business. And I think Oscar moving away was him wanting to get away from all of that. So he had been living a kind of more anonymous life that he was very happy with. Yeah.

Which is I think why, you know, when they show up again, he's so mad. And, you know, I can't imagine that when he went to work there, anybody was like, hey, I saw you in that documentary. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think if anyone, one or two people found out after the fact. But I did love in his acceptance speech. It was very finer things club to me where he was like, well, I guess I'm just meant to be the subject of the documentary. He was all, I remember that speech when he, because, you know, we all got to sit and watch it so many times.

He's so great. He's always so funny. But there was also just such a level of like vulnerability when he gave that speech. that was so sweet, you don't always get to see with that character. And it was just so great every single time. Yeah. Yeah. He crushed it.

Speaking of speeches, we're about to hear from Mare. Yeah. Chelsea, chef's kiss. Oh, thank you. To all of it. But Mare wins. Everybody goes wild. I love your choice of kind of looking down,

and then they announced the name, and then the look on your face. It was all so. real. And then the way you, everybody just is piling together and hugging. And it's like, it is, you guys all lose your shit. And Jenna and I were saying it did remind us of like when Steve won the Golden Globe. We lost our shit. We did. We were at a very fancy party. We weren't allowed inside of the Golden Globes. We were the party adjacent. Sure. Okay. A tinted parking lot. Hilarious. But he won and no one was expecting it. And we lost. our minds. Yeah. I have a picture of Jenna and David Denman like doubled over, like yelling that I'll never forget. But yet, your performance was so honest. And I remember like when I

watched it, I was like, yes, I was so excited. I was so excited you won. Thank you. How was that? You know, it's so funny because it really was nerve-wracking. It was a room of like 200 people, including all the crew, but, you know, all the background actors, everybody from our cast. And you got to get up there and also remember your lines and it was a crazy week where we had a lot to memorize and so there is a part of you like okay I need to make sure I know this speech yeah and so I do remember like I got out there and I would just get so nervous and like hot and my heart would start fluttering and I was like oh my god I really do feel like I'm giving a speech in front of everybody and it's terrifying and also just the fact that mayor has come this far in this season of you know she always wanted to be a reporter

kind of gave up that dream and the way Ned reignites this love she has for journalism to culminate in her winning this award for a story where she really could have gotten fired and lost her job and is kind of going against the man. It was so fun.

It was so fun. I feel like I did win the award. It's in my house. Oh, we wanted to ask you if you got to keep it. Of course. Taylor Improps is amazing. And yeah, He knew how much it meant to me, and he gave that to me.

But, yeah, the other thing they gave me were Ned's speech that he wrote me. Aw, the cards. Yeah, at the end, he really wrote me something, which was very sweet. And... Chelsea, this is giving me chills. You know, there's this moment where Ned gives you his speech that he was going to say and has all these heartfelt things to you, but you read them. To yourself.

To yourself. And it brought back teapot-fi. for me. When Jim finally gives Pam the teapot note, we never reveal what was really in it. You just, like you, just see Pam react

to what was written. And John really wrote me something. Really? And I treasure it. I'm going to cry. You do. Yes. I have my cards. And to Donald's credit, and I would tell him 99% positive, this is how it went, but the original script, he did say something to me.

He said the speech to me. He said the speech to me. in that scene. And Donnell said, would you mind if we tried one where Chelsea just read something I write to her? And they were like, yeah, and we ended up doing that

for rehearsal, and it just felt so much better. And yeah, he wrote me something, and it was like, I had no idea what it was going to be. And he gave me a different one, so every single time I got to react to something different.

Oh, my goodness. That is so thoughtful. He's good. He's amazing. And I just told Taylor, I was like, can I have those? I was like, yes. So I kept them.

You know, though, that's just a great scene partner because that's a gift for your performance. It is. Truly, truly is. And he is so busy. He has so much to do on our show. He's such a great leader. I could talk about Donnell Forever. But he's such an incredible scene partner.

Like so giving, so present makes me so much better. I feel like I'm like learning from him every day. It's truly like of all the gifts of the show getting to work with him is really. it's up there. You guys are a great pair. You really are. Thanks. I had a question, though, about your speech, which is your walk up to the stage,

Esmeralda stops mirror. And she's like, wait a day! She grabbed your hands. Was that choreographed or just like, did you just find it on the day? We talked to, there was a bit of choreography with like which way. It was always like she's going to try and stop you, but it changed a few times of like how that's going to happen. And that is truly the fun of Sabrina is like the physical comedy is so fun that you just have to respond in the moment.

I mean, I knew it wasn't a surprise to you, but you look as Mary, you look surprised. Like, oh my God, how do I get out of this? But it's, that's so funny that she changed it up each time. Yeah, it was amazing. It was so fun. But yes, yeah, she was really trying to stop me from getting up there. And nothing was going to stop me. Well, I think we should take a quick break.

And then we come back. We're going to really dig into this. Kiss and a number of other things. There's more to this story. There is. And maybe, just maybe you'll hear, Asmorelda, sing a song about dead journalists. We'll be right back. You guys, we are back.

And I think you all need to hear something. What's going to happen at the ceremony now is this in-memorium, right? The journalists that have passed on, there's going to be that classic slideshow with music playing in the background. And as everyone's watching this, And, you know, giving their respects to these journalists who have passed, Esmeralda sees her moment. She's going to approach the stage. She takes the microphone.

She begins this impromptu song. It's, oh, Lord, we need to hear it. Yeah, we do. My colleagues, keep playing, Maestro. My name is Esmeralda Grand, and I'm so very sad for all these. these dead people. It's so sad to be that.

Oh, sad that journalist you made your final deadline. Oh, yes, please, respect to the dead. Sad dead journalist you are gone and no one will read you anymore. anymore. Thank you. Touch you guys. Your reaction to it

is so damn funny. Everybody is cringing so hard. You have this look to camera that's hilarious. I need to back up to the table read for this episode when this moment came up. Does she sing during the table read?

Oh my gosh. Do you remember? I don't think she did, but I remember hearing the idea of it and knowing that she was going to do it and that's kind of the more exciting thing about Sabrina. A lot of the times, like, you'll get a version of it during a table read, but you're also like, this is going to be.

It could be anything. It could be anything once we get there. Yeah, that was a very fun day. Did it change? Did she throw in different things, or was it pretty much the same song? It was a lot of the same song. I remember she was incredibly nervous going into it. Sure.

And it's so funny because she's such like a larger-than-life person, but she's also so sweet. and has this heart of gold and also just like gets and can is vulnerable like all of us. And she's like, I have to do this song in front of all of you and all this choreography and everything. And she she crushed it every single time. Yeah. It was so fun to watch. I had to sing Little Drummer Boy in front of everybody.

Oh my God. So good. Jenna knows. I hate singing. I was terrified. I was terrified. But I mean, you would never know Sabrina had that that shyness because the way Asmorelida comes to life.

It's perfect. She transformed. It's perfect. It's amazing. Well, after this wonderful dedication to the journalists that have passed on, Mare and Ned are going to sneak away because Mare says, I think you should be prepared to win. I know you're acting like you're not going to win or you don't care if you win, but I think you are going to win. Now, they've already won two awards. She says, let's go practice your speech.

I want to hear it. So they sneak off. But then this turns into sneaking into a wedding. You guys crash a wedding. Crash a wedding. And then he's like dancing together. And then like he's kind of practicing the speech, but you're also dancing, dancey, dancey, flirty.

A guy walks by with champagne, you grab a glass. Mary has been drinking at this point. Oh, yeah. You did some really good, subtle, drunky acting in this episode. Well done. Thank you. It's not easy to do. It's not. I feel like the less you try and think about it, the better it kind of is.

She's many you start playing drunk. It's tough. Oh, yeah. And you're getting like the liquid courage. Like that's the drunky acting that I really liked. Like the slow song comes on and you can tell like, she's a little buzz. She's going to go for the slow dance. Yeah. I think at a certain point she has to. I think she knows he's never going to act on this. And I think at this point she just wants acknowledgement. Or the mystery, like, what is this? What is this? Whatever it is, I just need to know what it is.

Yeah. I think it's such a fine line because they are so in love with the paper and so focused on it and so happy to have each other in this journey. And I think at this point, she too is questioning, like, am I making up any other sort of feelings around him? Is it just that we're really good friends and colleagues and want to make this thing work? is it one-sided. So yeah, and I think she's so still, like, bubbling with this high of winning the award that she kind of feels like anything could happen. She has that body buzz.

Yeah. All of that. Yeah. Yeah. Well, guess what? What? They do win. And you guys aren't there.

You're not in the room. So Esmerald and Ken start to accept the award in the cringiest moment of the episode. deliciously cringy. I mean, there's a few, but this is in the top five. Yes. And then you pry open a kitchen door, which is amazing. I loved all of this. This is great physical comedy, and he sort of slips in on his stomach,

and then Ned finally gets to go up to give his speech. But before he can finish his speech, before he gets to the good stuff. Right. Asmeralda faints. In quotes. In quotes. And then that's it. Like everyone rushes the stage.

Pivot to after the ceremony. You guys are having a little after party. Yes. And it's very sweet. Nicole is going to tell Mayor that Detrick broke up with her, but she's totally fine. Yeah. And she's just going to leave to go change her clothes, no big whoop. Until she looks across the bar and sees him talking to another lady.

Yeah. And now this is what's going to make her cry in the hotel room. That's right. Yes. And then Ned comes and joins Mary. and Mary's having her martini, two olives. Uh-huh. And he says that everyone just looks magnificent, you know, in the light of the Preston Hotel, I guess.

And Mary's like, are you trying to tell me I look magnificent? And then Theo interrupts them. And so Ned leaves. And now we see Esmeralda and Ned at the bar. I do love this. This is a callback to earlier in the season. Esmeralda is holding a glass of champagne, and it is covered with. red lipstick.

She had a glass of water in a conference room scene that was like layered with red lipstick. I'm obsessed to that. I love that. If you need a quick adult beverage rundown, here it is, everybody. Oscar's going to join them. He's drinking what looks to be like an old-fashioned. Ned has a beer. And of course, we know Miss Martini and Esmeralda drinks champagne.

What do you drink in real life? I love a martini. You do love a martini. Did they ask you what mayor wanted or what? Was that scripted? Yeah, yeah. I'm trying to remember of that moment. But, yeah, no, Taylor and I would always talk about that.

I think she, a lot of wine, but, yeah, I figured, especially at the end of the night, feeling like maybe something is going to happen. Maybe she needs a little more liquid courage. The martini will get you. The martini will get you where you're going faster than most, you know? Are you two olives and your martini? I sure am. Extra dirty.

Okay. This is drawing from real life. Yeah. Very good. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's, yeah, it's very ambitious to end a night with a martini, I think. But I think she knew. She had some plans. She had some plans. Yeah. That kind of get derailed. Yeah. So Ned leaves. Mare's totally put out that he bails in this moment. And then we see him get this speech from Oscar, which is basically Oscar is looking over at Marv, who's sitting alone by the fire drinking. And he's like, you know what? He's clearly in love with Anne. And why hasn't he done anything about it? And Ned's like, you know what? He's principled, right?

He's her boss. And Oscar's like denying two people a lifetime of happiness is principled. And then Oscar quotes Michael Scott. Well, he quotes a great man who once said you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. And then he says, also an idiot I used to know. He said that. That's great. Oh, I love that line.

But, you know, it's sinking in. Ned leaves, and we see that he's walking down a hotel hallway. He's going to go up to a door and knock. We don't know whose door it is. You guys, it's Mayer's room. She's going to answer the door. Yeah, so he's at your door, and Mayor comes out, but she's being secretive about, like, someone is in the room,

and we assume it's Theo, but she kind of slips out anyway. She's like, what? What is it? Not a good time. Yeah, yeah. And this is when he gives you the speech. And he says, like, I want you to read what I would have said. And it's very moving.

And he's like, okay, I know, forget it. I'll let you get back. I know you have someone in there, assuming it's Theo. But then you crack the door open and it reveals it's not Theo. It's Nicole. And this changes everything. It does. For Ned, for sure.

Okay, let's listen. All right. This is probably awful to say, but that makes me really happy. If any of your reasons or any good, he would have laughed by now. You don't think I want to kiss you? I have no one. I want to kiss you. But this is our team.

You and me, we're just- Buddy and the dude. We're making it work. We're making the paperwork. This would be the classic fastest way to mess everything up. We can't do that. I don't know. Maybe we just need to like...

get it out of our system. Just get it out of the way so we can go back to being pals again. Well, I would love to be pals again. I know. I just feel like it's also going to suck now. It's been built up. But that would be great if it was terrible, because then we could go back to normal.

Exactly. Because we would be a terrible idea. Yeah, I know. You've driving me crazy as it is. I just... Yeah. You know, we're journalists, and I feel like... We should verify. Should do the research.

Okay, so approach. the palmaker. So first they do the little peck. Sure. Then there's the super steamy kiss. A lot of folks wrote in about it. Whoa. Wrote in about actually just this overall relationship in this moment.

Joanne B. from Philadelphia says, I wanted to give a shout out to the incredible performances of Donal and Chelsea for this episode. They have such great chemistry. There were several moments when Ned is looking at mayor at the table that were so sweet and heartbreaking all at once. And then we got this one from Samantha W. in Richmond, Virginia, who said throughout the season, Ned seemed to want to be the professional guy who wouldn't cross the line. I'm just wondering, when did the writers decide this was definitely going to be a storyline? Can you take us on this journey, this arc of the romance? When did you find out you guys were even going to kiss in this episode?

Was it at the table read or did you know before? Oh, that's a good question. Well, first of all, I'll say that from like minute one, it was something we talked about, like from shooting the pilot. It was kind of a push and pull of their both in love with the paper. Mare is so excited to finally have a job she cares about. Ned finally has his dream job. And there's this little bit of tension between the two of them. Right.

So it was kind of something that constantly was talked about of like how far do we want to go with it? even like little looks between them in earlier episodes. It was like we don't want to give away too much. And also we don't totally know where it's going. And another thing we talked about a lot was the fact that it's only 10 episodes in the first season. And we didn't know if we're going to get another season or how many seasons we'll get. And what do we want to show? How far should they go in the first season?

So when it came to the finale, I think episode nine really informed how far their relationship came again with like that road trip and then being together and spending all this time together and getting the news at the end of the nominations of the awards. I think it was all feeling like it was like, okay, something's got to happen by this point. Like somebody needs to at least try and acknowledge this. And the night before we shot the scene in the hallway, it was me, Donal, Paul Lieberstein, Jeffrey Blitz, Greg and Michael in a room in one of the hotel. hell rooms for like hours just talking about it and talking about our experiences with, you know, workplace relationships and how each of us felt. And we kind of came up with like a

million different ways it could end. And it was, well, let's just see, why don't we give some options. So when, you know, they finally put the whole season together, they can see if it feels right that they kiss or if it doesn't. But I think the idea was, just to clarify, I do think the table read scripted and have a kiss in it. But yeah, so we shot it a lot of different ways. But it's funny because, yeah, the version they ended up using, I think,

is always felt the most right. I'm glad we went for it. I think it was like something that was so scary and you're just so scared to like take the air and tension out of something like that. But I'm happy we went for it. It felt kind of like a swing. And it was like, you know what?

Yeah. Why not? I thought it was great. And it felt honest. you know, I loved that even in that moment, you see who they are to each other. Like, Mary's like, oh, come on. Really? You're just going to walk away now?

Yeah. You know? And then Ned, true to Ned, is like, come on in and kiss the pal maker. Like, I love that line. How much of that was scripted versus improvise? Oh, gosh. I think a lot of it was scripted, but we definitely, there were moments. I mean, one thing I loved that was scripted was that she.

She kind of uses the journalism elements to, like, just seduce him of, like, well, we should just, you know, I know how much you love verifying and researching. So, like, maybe if I word it this way, it'll seem like I can, I think she's, it's, I don't want to say manipulative, but I think there's. It's playful. It's sexy, too. Yeah. Right? It's like the role play. I think so.

Yeah. Yeah. So, gosh, it's so, I'm trying to remember, like, what, there were definitely improvised moments. Like, I remember a few times when he'd, like, walk away. I'd be like, fuck off, dude. And we'd actually get, like, into a fight. And we tried so many different things. But it was one of those nights, the night before,

Donald and I were just talking about it. We say, like, that was one of the most special nights ever getting to sit in a hotel room and just talk with the creators about, like, love and where we think this is going and what feels right. And it was just such a collaborative experience. And I just remember, like, finishing one of the takes. and Jeff Blitz coming out emotional. And he was, I love Jeff Flitz.

Oh, we love Jeff Blitz. Is he not heaven on earth? He is. The best. Yeah, he's everything. Talk about a director that makes you feel really safe to take big chances. Yes.

Yeah. And also giving us the space to be like, the cameras are going to be far away. We don't want you to even think that they're there because you can't think that they're there. Yeah, right. And that was also another really fun element of that scene because so much of the season, they are very aware that they're being filmed.

In that moment, they're not. But, yeah, I just remember Jeff coming out emotional. It made me so I was like, oh, gosh, I feel like, okay, maybe we did something remotely. Okay. You definitely did. And the final moment, I mean, there is a tag we'll get to, but the final moment of the actual episode is Ned being like, after the kiss, he goes, oh, shit. And then he may have this look to camera like, oh.

Yeah, yeah, I think she's pretty pleased. But yeah, we talked about that, the different ways in which to end that scene. Some were him walking out, but I liked it ending with kind of like where could this possibly go. Well, it was great. I'm excited to see where it goes. Yeah, same. I can't wait for season two. Thank you.

Me too. And there's a delicious tag at the end of Esmeralda making a toast at the wedding that Ned and Maher got kicked out of. Yeah, it's hilarious. Definitely check that out. So good. This was so fun, Chelsea. I want to end with this one letter that we got. It's just some love from Laura and Veracruz, Mexico.

She says, hello, ladies, this is not a question, but a theory I'd like to share. You know how little kids watch the same movie over and over again because it makes them feel safe? My theory is, the office is that movie, but for grownups, it's safe. We rewatch it a lot, and it makes us feel at home. So the paper felt just like that. A hug to all office fan's hearts from Greg. It has the same safe vibe as the office. And I think that scene where Ned and Mare finally kiss is Greg putting everything right into place again for us.

I never feared for something to go terribly wrong with the characters because I know Greg's got our backs. Love you. Bye. Mara. Oh, my gosh. That's so sweet. Thank you. Okay, that just made me emotional.

That was very sweet. Yeah, it's like an honor to be just even in the same world and presence. I can't believe I even get to sit across from you guys right now. It's truly insane when I think about it as somebody who used to watch the show when I was growing up. So it makes me really happy that it made you feel that way, Laura. Thank you. Well, you have big fans, two of them sitting right here with you in this room. And we are super excited for season two.

Thank you. Me too. And we'll hopefully get to chat more. Thank you for answering all of our texts. as we've broken down the paper. And thank you for coming in today on a Sunday on your day off to talk about the finale. No place I'd rather be. Thank you guys so much for having me.

Yay, Chelsea. So breaking down the paper. We did it. We did it. Season one. Done. Lady, how great was it that we got to do the finale with Chelsea Fry? She is such a gem.

She really is. I mean, not only for her amazing performance on the show and coming on our episode and answering all of our texts throughout the season, but she's just a lovely person through and through, and I can't wait to see what they do for season two. Well, everyone, thanks for watching along with us. We have some really cool episodes coming up that we think you're going to love. Yes, we are diving back into the world of the office. We have some very fun, all about episodes with your favorite characters and some very exciting interviews coming out, and also just chit-chatting. So please keep sending us in your chit-chats, you around the towns and office questions of the week.

We love hearing from you. So we'll see you back next week. We're going to be sharing some office news and also talking about the office webisode blackmail. You guys, it is really creeds time to shine. It's all about his character. And you're going to love it. So we'll see you next week.

See you then. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey. Our senior producer is Matt Beagle. Our audio engineer is Sam Kiefer, and our associate producer is Ainsley Bubbicoe. Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Reese Dennis. Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz. Our theme song is Ruppertry by Creed Bratton.