 The ninth season of The Office received moderately positive reviews from television critics . Based on seven critiques , review aggregation website Metacritic gave the ninth season of the show a 64 out of 100 rating , which denotes " generally favorable reviews " . Entertainment website Holy Moly named the series one of the best shows during the 2012 – 13 season , writing that " this final season of The Office has been great " largely due to the fact that " every single relationship in the show rings true with the audience . " Michael Tedder of Vulture commented that he was " willing to call it the fourth best season of the show overall , which is by no means faint praise . " He explained that this was largely due to the fact that the " final season was a chance to see how everyone else would end up " . Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club wrote that " the tension between Jim and Pam in the final season ended up being highly controversial for a number of reasons ... but it also provided the most hopeful moments of the series ' final stretch " , although he did note that it was clear that the writers had " blatantly " set it up . He felt that the finale was able to successfully return the series " to what had always been its heart — to have true fulfillment " . Roth Cornet of IGN awarded the season an 8 @.@ 5 out of 10 , denoting a " great " year . She felt that the character growth in the final few episodes was particularly well executed , and the last stretch of the season helped raise it after a rocky start ; ultimately , she felt that the writers were able to craft the proper ending for the show . She was , however , critical of Andy 's characterization , noting that he was merely used as a plot device when convenient . Many critics argued that the season was an improvement , in both writing and humor , over the previous season . 
