I already knew that I deeply missed all of The Office characters before I started watching The Paper when it premiered on the 2025 TV schedule. Heck, I stop what I’m doing and watch those AT&T commercials that feature some of the cast members whenever they pop up. But I didn’t realize quite how much I missed Oscar until I watched The Paper with my Peacock subscription.
Oscar Nunez’s Office character wasn’t always the life of the party, but he was sometimes a necessary voice of reason. After watching all of Season 1 of The Paper, I really think he was the perfect character to bring over into this new series.
When I recently wrote about the relief I experienced over The Paper not seeming to try to mimic The Office, I wanted to get into how Oscar factors into that, but I quickly realized I had way more to say on the subject.
Spoiler Alert: I will be mentioning specific plot points and some spoilers related to Oscar in Season 1 of The Paper, so if you haven’t watched the show yet, get caught up before proceeding.
Oscar’s Story Didn’t Seem Finished
The Office finale provided some great closure with a lot of the character arcs in the series, from Jim and Pam’s family to Dwight and Angela’s romance, to Andy finding a job at Cornell, and some varying degrees of wins for other characters. Oscar, however, really doesn’t rank highly there, in terms of how his story ended.
If you recall, his relationship with the (state) senator collapsed once the documentary was about to air. While that was probably for the best (Oscar can do better), the closest he came to a happy ending was his mended relationship with Angela. Sure, that was sweet, but Oscar’s story felt wide open by the end of the series, which really makes him a perfect character to join this spinoff.
As much as I would love to see other Office characters appear on The Paper (or even join the cast), I wouldn’t want it to come at the expense of whatever happy ending they got from the original series. Since Oscar’s ending was pretty open, he’s among the few characters I think is not only perfect to be in the spinoff, but his story actually needs more chapters.
His Relationship With The Documentary Crew Is Amazing Right From The Start
Ok, the first full-on laugh-out-loud moment of The Paper, for me, came after the documentary responded to Oscar’s adamant declaration that they couldn’t film him, with a card that stated simply:
Yes we can. There’s no end date on the release Oscar signed in 2005.
I’m still laughing at it. What better way to skip over the “why would Oscar ever consent to do another documentary” conversation than by clarifying that he’s in this for life, whether he likes it or not.
As mentioned, let’s not forget that the documentary led to Oscar and the (state) senator’s affair falling apart. He really didn’t come out on top from that whole situation, so why would he ever want to do another film? But, here we are. I loved that his distrust and irritation is present throughout Season 1, only for the season finale to have Oscar addressing how seen he feels by the camera people. I need this relationship explored more, please.
I think the writers could’ve come up with a funny way to lure Oscar into willingly participating in the documentary, but that may have taken up more time than they had, when they were also trying to introduce a whole new story, setting and set of characters. Which brings me to my next point…
Oscar’s Presence Is The Right Amount Of A Reminder Of The Office (Without Trying To Smother Us With Nostalgia)
As much as I wanted to see Oscar more involved and on screen throughout Season 1 of The Paper, I also kind of appreciate that he wasn’t front and center at all times.
While there were some references and easter eggs (see if you can spot one in the photo above), and obviously reminders that Oscar Nunez’s character is the main (on-screen) connection between The Paper and The Office, watching Season 1, I never felt like the series was trying so hard to use my love of The Office as a way to get me to like this new series.
Oscar popped up in plenty of scenes, and even got a big moment during the season finale, but he’s not the only person whose story matters, and there are other characters we need to get to know. I wanted to see him more, but as a fan of The Office, I already know him, and I’m ready to get to know this new cast of characters.
Now, Can We Please Get Oscar A Love Interest?
In August, I wrote about how I loved the way certain love interests were introduced in The Office and Parks and Recreation — specifically Holly, in The Office, and Ben in Parks and Rec — and how I hoped we’d see something like that in The Paper. While the series has already introduced a budding romance between Ned and Mare, and I can’t wait to see that play out, I really want to see Oscar find love. Unless it just wasn’t revealed to us that he isn’t, it seems like he’s still single. There has to be a perfect man out there for Oscar, and I’d love to see the writers bring that character into the story.
Even if he isn’t single, maybe he already found Mr. Right, and we just haven’t met him yet. It’s entirely believable that he would shield his private life from the documentary crew as much as possible. But they’ve be able to get around that plenty of times, so if he does have someone, it’s just a matter of time before we meet them. If he doesn’t, well, writers, please fix that!
Oscar winning an award for his new puzzle was a taste of the kind of victory I want to see for this character. He’s a character I haven’t always wanted to se see win (Remember when he won the coupon book for his “rational consumer, as it were” costume?…). Now I’m rooting for him to win more awards, and I want to see who the writers come up with as his perfect match, because the potential for that character and story is so high. I have no doubt the writers would be able to come up with the perfect character (and casting) to hit the mark.
See, I knew I had way too much to say about Oscar to fit into one section of an article. No regrets. I’m excited about The Paper, but I’m especially excited to see where the story takes this character.
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