When it was made clear that all ten episodes of The Paper Season 1 would be available streaming at once for anyone with a Peacock subscription as part of the 2025 TV schedule, it didn't even occur to me that I wouldn't finish the entire season within a matter of days. As a fan of The Office, I've been excited for this spinoff-follow-up series since it was announced, so yes, I burned through all ten episodes, and am now fully with other The Paper fans in being left to wait for Season 2.
So let's get into what we know about Season 2, as well as some questions I have about what's to come.
The Paper Was Officially Renewed For Season 2
The Paper had been ordered. So we're definitely getting more episodes of Greg Daniels and Michael Koman's series.
Given that Season 1 only released on September 4th, it's certainly too early to know the release date for Season 2. It's also apparently too early to know how many episodes Season 2 will have. The first season had 10 episodes, and from what Greg Daniels told THR in September 2025, after the renewal announcement was made, while he wasn't given any specifics on the episode number, it sounds like he's assuming it'll be another ten episodes. Hopefully, we'll get confirmation about that in the coming months.
Now let's get into the questions. And it's at this point that I'm going to drop a spoiler warning. If you aren't caught up on Season 1 of The Paper, read no further! Big spoilers ahead...
What's Ahead For Ned and Mare?
I'm sure I'm not alone in being excited to see the character development for Ned (Domhnall Gleeson) and Mare (Chelsea Frei). Even after ten episodes, it still feels like there's more we have to learn about them, in terms of their backgrounds and the life events that led to them working together at this Toledo newspaper. And of course, there's also their romantic relationship.
Season 1 ended with Ned and Mare on the precipice of something more than friendship. They kissed! Sparks were beginning to fly between the two since they began working more closely together. And based on how they reacted to the kiss, it seems like they both know there's something there (which might not be great for their working relationship).
What I like about this duo already is that I don't feel like we're looking at an attempt to copy Jim and Pam's relationship. As Greg Daniels told THR (in the same article where he spoke about the episode total for Season 2), the writers have put a good amount of thought into Ned and Mare's relationship, and they're aware that the dynamic between these two is not the same as Jim and Pam's. While Jim and Pam were soulmates who were being kept apart by different circumstances throughout the first few seasons of The Office, Ned and Mare's situation is different.
I really like hearing that, not only because there's no way to truly replicate Jim and Pam's exact arc in this new series, so I'd rather they not try. I also like hearing it because it means we can really only guess what's next for Ned and Mare when Season 2 kicks off.
What About Detrick and Nicole?
Mare and Ned aren't the only romantic couple in The Paper. In fact, if any duo is the will-they-wont-they couple on The Paper, it might just be Detrick (Melvin Gregg) and Nicole (Ramona Young). Their seemingly simple, casual romantic arrangement got very complicated by the end of Season 1, when Nicole found out that Detrick wasn't actually seeing other people, and that he'd -- in her words -- tricked her into a monogamous relationship. The two called it quits in their final scene together, and while it seemed like Detrick was the one who got hurt from the experience, when we last saw Nicole, she was bawling her eyes out in Mare's room.
So is it over for Nicole and Detrick? I mean, of course, we'll have to wait and see, but as Melvin Gregg pointed out to us when we talked to him about his character's relationship with Nicole, he sounded confident that they'd have to address the topic, considering they have to work together:
I mean, logically speaking, they both feel strongly about each other. Even if those feelings aren't like, ‘I love you, I like you,’ it's like, ‘I hate you.’ It's still strong feelings. And they’ve got to work together. So they have to address it. So I think there's going to be another iteration of Detrick and Nicole. It's going to be different. But it'd be better because of what happened already.
What's Next For The Toledo Truth Teller (And Softees)?
Season 1 of The Paper had Ned attempting to lead the Toledo Truth Teller away from syndicated content and celebrity gossip to a genuine local news-focused paper for their community. There were bumps in the road, of course, but the season capped off with the paper receiving actual award recognition for some of its content. So I'm really curious to see how things pick up when Season 2 gets going.
One of the things I like about The Paper is that, while the titular paper is presumably mainly in reference to The Toledo Truth Teller, there's other paper involved in this story -- specifically, toilet paper. In addition to the Truth Teller, the company also owns Softees, a toilet paper brand. And while the TP workers fill out the background of the office space where the newspaper team works, Softees did manage to work its way into the main story at one point, due to the gross Man Mitts fiasco. I'm weirdly hopeful that Softees will roll its way into the plot of future episodes in different ways in the coming season.
Will any other The Office characters make an appearance?
Finally, will we see other Office characters in The Paper? Season 1 kicked off with an appearance by Bob Vance (Robert R. Shafer) in the pilot episode. And, of course, Oscar Nunez's character, Oscar, is one of the main characters of the series (and the perfect Office character to bring into this new show, in my opinion). But will we see other characters from the original series show up in Toledo? Or will we see Oscar pay a visit to Scranton, perhaps?
When speaking with AV Club, Greg Daniels talked about not wanting to "jump from guest appearance to guest appearance," preferring to give the show a chance to find its footing in Season 1. Whether or not we'll see more guest appearances in the future remains to be seen. From what Daniels went on to say, it sounds like he'd be open to it at some point, but he also sounds uncertain about if the cast members would be up for it:
I’m certainly excited to possibly do a reunion one day with the former cast, but at the moment, I don’t think a lot of them want to revisit it either. It was such a wonderful experience, and I think people are nervous in a “you can’t go home again” kind of way.
I've already talked about how I'm grateful that The Paper doesn't seem to be trying hard to be The Office. As much as I'd love to see appearances by other Office characters (whether it be as guest stars or for long-term arcs), I also appreciate the approach it sounds like Greg Daniels took in terms of not trying to fill the first season with lots of guest spots from our favorite folks from Dunder Mifflin Scranton. Still, I wouldn’t complain if we saw some familiar faces pop in from time to time.
Hopefully, we'll find out more about Season 2 of The Paper as we head into 2026. We'll be sure to update once we do!
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