The New Office Superfan Episodes Made Me Like One Character (And Relationship) Even More

The Office Superfan episodes were the gift that kept on giving, at least up until the final season of the beloved workplace comedy received the extended-episode treatment recently. Those with a Peacock subscription can now view all of the Season 9 Superfan episodes of The Office, which is exactly what I did. Like Michael with a plate of brownies, I intended to parcel the episodes out to make them last, but in the end, I powered through all of them as quickly as I could. And what I took away from the experience, beyond some brand new laugh-out-loud moments, was a deeper appreciation for one character.

The start of Season 9 of The Office introduces us to two new employees, Pete and Clark, with the former being played by Jake Lacy, who would go one to join the cast of The White Lotus for its first season, and more recently, the Peacock miniseries All Her Fault. Pete and Clark (Clark Duke) are almost instantly labeled the new Jim and Dwight respectively, due largely to their appearances. But Pete being "New Jim" proved particularly apt when we saw him crushing on the receptionist, who was dating someone else. Season 9 being the last season of the series meant we really didn't get as much time to know and appreciate the character as we would have if there were more seasons, but the extended episodes give us more scenes with Pete, and I found myself wishing he'd been added to the cast sooner.

If you recall in Season 9, Pete strikes up a friendship/flirtmance with Erin while she's dating Andy. And then Andy leaves to sail his family's boat to the Bahamas, and Erin and Pete begin to develop feelings for each other. That doesn't change in the Superfan episodes, but we do see more of Pete, which only made me like the character even more. Unlike some of the other characters on The Office, Pete's personality isn't so extreme that he stands out in a majorly comedic way. I think some of his best moments are when he's reacting to other people (much like a certain other salesman we know). The Superfan episodes bring a bit more to the table, showing us even more of his Die Hard reenactment, for example, and letting us see him bond with Erin by taking her to the neighborhood where she thinks she might've been born.

I understand why some of these scenes and arcs were cut, especially factoring in how this was the final season of the series, and there was a lot of ground to cover leading up to the grand finale. All the same, it really made me wish we had more time to get to know Pete and see him try to deal with some of the ridiculousness around him. There's one scene in Season 9's "Work Bus" where he has a reaction to something Meredith does and it's just so uncomfortable and funny to me.

Of course, I would've loved to see his relationship with Erin continue to develop and evolve. The more I grew to like Lacy's character from the added or extended scenes he had with Ellie Kemper's character, the more obvious it was that Pete's the kind of guy who deserves a woman like Erin. She may still be figuring a lot of things out, but Erin has a giant heart, and Pete seems like the kind of person who doesn't just appreciate that about her, he'd go out of his way to protect it.

I think back to the earlier seasons of the series, when there was time to get to know the core characters and really appreciate the range of talent among the cast of The Office. It makes me wonder how Pete's character might've evolved if he'd been added a bit sooner, and had more time to grow on us, especially seeing Jake Lacy continue to impress in the roles he's played since.