September 22 marked the first episode of the final season of NBC’s “The Office.” If you’re a die-hard fan, you may already know that this is not only the final season, but also the only season without boss Michael Scott, “The Office”s front man. Though there’s definitely something missing without Michael, it’s made up for by the show’s other characters.

The first episode of this season, “The List,” opens with a short tribute to planking, followed by the big reveal of Andy Bernard as the new manager. The intimidatingly confident Robert California (James Spader) was apparently offered the job, but he put one foot in the office, looked around (pan to a wheezing Phyllis), and convinced Dunder Mifflin-Sabre’s CEO to make him CEO and to appoint Andy as the new office manager. Although Andy is probably incredibly under qualified, he does prove himself to be somewhat mature and managerial throughout the episode, banning planking in the workplace and fighting for an extra day off from corporate.

The main rift in the episode begins when Robert California accidentally leaves his journal at reception, containing a list of people divided into two columns. This leads to office-wide curiosity of what the list could mean. It becomes more and more evident that one side of the list is filled with smarter, younger employees and the other with “losers” (as they’re later referred to), despite Dwight’s suggestion of the list being “Who would eat who in an ‘Alive’ situation?” and Kevin’s “Maybe it’s alphabetical!” (It’s not.) Robert California eventually invites one side out to lunch and informs them they are, in fact, the “winners,” though he later tells the entire office that the list was based off his first impression of them and encourages the “losers” to surprise him. It’s clear that this will be a major part of the humor of the season – Robert California’s mysterious confidence and arrogance, contrasted against the mundaneness and inadequacy. Has this been done already? Yeah. Is it still funny? Completely.

As the episode progressed, the formula that the season will follow became more and more clear. The show kept its usual shenanigans (i.e. Dwight spraying Meredith with a fire extinguisher and organizing an impromptu office brawl) while also implying a sense of office unity and camaraderie, contrary to some of the earlier seasons. In other words, the characters play off each other like they always have, but there’s a lighthearted affection they have for each other that will probably make its way into the conclusion of the series.

All in all, I’d give the episode a rating of very good (as a point of reference, “very good” is in between “great!” and “eh…pretty good.”) Despite some distractingly forced character and plot developments, there were still some incredibly funny moments.