NBC's hit comedy The Office ran for nine seasons, but longtime Dunder Mifflin employee Kelly Kapoor (played by Mindy Kaling) exited the show after season 8. The mockumentary series created by Greg Daniels, Ricky Gervais, and Stephen Merchant followed the lives of the workers at a failing paper company in Scranton, PA. Kelly Kapoor wasn't the first character to leave the show before it concluded its run, Steve Carell's socially awkward, politically incorrect, branch manager Michael Scott left during season 7 to move to Colorado with his fiance Holly Flax. Kelly's on-and-off boyfriend Ryan Howard's (B.J. Novak) departure coincided with Kelly's.
In addition to playing The Office's ditzy customer service representative, Kaling served as a writer and executive producer on the series. Kelly made her first appearance in season 1's "Diversity Day," and later evolved from a buttoned-down, seemingly-conservative bit player to a recurring character known for being overly chatty, celebrity-obsessed, superficial, and self-involved. Kelly's most memorable storyline was her romantic relationship with Ryan Howard. Unlike soulmates Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly, Ryan and Kelly made each other miserable. The two began dating during season 2, but Ryan broke things off after being promoted to a corporate position on the season 3 finale. Kelly made drastic moves to win Ryan back, including faking a pregnancy and attempting to make him jealous by dating the warehouse foreman Darryl Philbin. After a disgraced Ryan returned to Scranton, he and Kelly resumed dating. In the season 7 episode "The Search," Kelly and Ryan announced they had divorced after one week of marriage.
During The Office season 8, Pam set Kelly up with a handsome pediatrician named Ravi. In the season 9 premiere, Kelly was last seen giving away all of her winter clothes in preparation to move to Miami with Ravi, telling her co-workers, "I am going to Miami, Bee-yotches, to hang with LeBron James and Gloria Estefan." Toby Flenderson revealed that Ravi had been offered a teaching position at Miami University ... in Ohio. There couldn't have been a more apropos set up for the clueless Kelly's departure. Kaling left The Office to executive produce and star in FOX's The Mindy Project. Kaling told EW:
“I was nervous, leaving a show after eight years, having to say goodbye to my friends and the people that made it feel like a comfy place and a hit show. So I took the ones that I thought were available and I had great relationships with to come with me. They were people like B.J. Novak, who was an executive producer on the pilot, and Ed Helms, who plays a love interest of mine. There’s a lot of crossover, so it felt seamless.”
Kelly returned for The Office series finale. She and Ravi attended Dwight Shrute and Angela Martin's wedding, where Kelly reunited with Ryan. During their time apart, Ryan had fathered a son, Drake, with another woman. Under the guise of going out for vape cigarettes, the woman never returned, leaving Ryan to care for their baby. Ryan used Drake to lure Ravi away from Kelly by allowing the highly-allergic infant to suck on a strawberry. When Kelly learned of Ryan's deception, she was so moved that they ran off together, leaving Drake (Kelly wanted a completely fresh start) and Ravi behind. It was the last shred of proof that Ryan and Kelly deserved each other.
After the events of The Office's finale, it is unlikely Ryan and Kelly lived happily ever. However, Kaling has continued to act, write, and produce. She appeared in the films A Wrinkle In Time, Ocean's 8, and Late Night (she also wrote the screenplay). Following The Mindy Project), Kaling developed three more series NBC's short-lived Champions, Hulu's small-screen adaptation of Four Weddings and a Funeral, and Netflix's Never Have I Ever. Kaling's next project is writing the script for Legally Blonde 3.
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