Over the last few months, we have seen our great nation become divided, sometimes household against household, as things escalated continually til now we find that a rift has opened that may or may not be healed any time soon. No, I'm not talking about the democrats taking a majority in Congress. Rather, I refer to the Jim-Pam-Karen love triangle on The Office.
Quick recap for those of you who haven't kept up. From the beginning, Jim (salesperson) had a crush on Pam (receptionist) who happened to be engaged to Roy (warehouse worker). Pam's engagement had been ongoing for about 3 years and seemed to be headed nowhere til Roy decided to set a date after talking to a war veteran booze cruise captain. Then, in the season finale, in a courageous move, Jim proclaimed his love to Pam, only to be shot down. Here's some of the dialogue:
Jim: I was just..umm..I'm in love with you.
Pam: What?
Jim: I'm really sorry if that's weird for you to hear, but I need you to hear it....Probably not good timing, I know that. I just...
Pam: What are you doing? What do you expect me to say to that?
Jim: I just need you to know. Once.
Pam: Well, I...umm...I...I can't.
Jim: Yup
Pam: You have no idea...
Jim: Don't do that.
Pam: ...what your friendship means to me.
Jim: C'mon. I don't want to do that. I want to be more than that.
Pam: I can't. I'm really sorry...if you misinterpreted things. Its probably my fault.
Jim: Not your fault. I'm sorry I misinterpreted our friendship.
Jim walks away.
Then, even after that, Jim had the nerve to go into the office, find Pam while she was on the phone with her mom and kiss her, and that's how the season ended. At this point, everyone is excited to see how things will turn out. Jim has solidified himself as the guy we can all relate to, and we are cheering for him for laying it on the line in a way that perhaps we wouldn't be able to.
Fast forward to this season's premiere. We have to wait a bit to get what we've been waiting for, a flashback to when Jim kissed Pam. Here's the dialogue:
Jim: You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that.
Pam: Me too. I think we're just drunk.
Jim: No, I'm not drunk. Are you drunk?
Pam: No...Jim...
Jim: You really gonna marry him?
Pam: Nods
Jim: OK.
Following this final rejection, Jim packs his backs and transfers to the Stamford branch. Meanwhile, Pam did not go through with her wedding to Roy and continues on as the receptionist at Dunder-Mifflin Scranton.
This season Jim's found a new pal/love interest, Karen. It was unclear whether we'd be seeing Jim and Pam back together this season or not, but last week the Stamford branch was closed and its employees were given the option of transferring to the Scranton branch (Jim's original location). Jim and several of his fellow Stamford-ites have come to Scranton, including Karen, who we saw this week scratching his back, and Jim told Pam that he's kind of dating someone now. Now that he's back in Scranton, its safe to assume that we'll see him be torn between Pam and Karen throughout the rest of this season, and in Ross and Rachel like fashion, its probably a safe bet that Jim and Pam will wind up together in the end.
All of which brings us to the debate at hand, should Jim take Pam back, assuming she has the nerve to confess her undying love for him. Pretty much all the girls I know are rooting for Jim and Pam to get back together, while most of the guys I know, who were excited for him and Pam last season, are pulling for Jim to give this Karen thing a shot, and things seem to be pretty well divided down the middle of the gender gap. Us guys are saying that Pam had her chance, and Jim took a pretty big leap of faith and was rewarded with a "lets just be friends". He put himself out there, twice mind you, and got nothing in return. Clearly, Jim has no option other than to pursue other options romantically. Why would he assume that now that Roy is out of the picture that its safe to approach Pam again? He's already misinterpreted things once. Clearly the ball is in Pam's court.
Meanwhile, the new girl (Karen) is on his same level professionally and has shown sparks of developing a good friendship with Jim. She's clearly more attractive than Pam, and while Jim clearly has some feeling for Pam, he really doesn't have an chance to act on them, as its now on Pam to say that she was wrong. She can't expect him to just sit around while she makes up her mind, and if he did that he'd just be beating himself up for just sitting around hoping that things will change.
Am I wrong here? What move does Jim have that doesn't either come across as overly egotistical, i.e. you told me you didn't want a relationship, but I'm going to try to force it anyway, or just foolish, i.e. I know I thought you were interested before and I was wrong, but maybe this time things are different?
Tell me what you think, America (or the very small portion of America that reads this blog).
3 comments:
This one's a no-brainer, and if any girls ;) out there think otherwise, that's because they're playing into the hope of fate over the realities of relationships. You stated it perfectly, Jake--Jim has done all he can and is understandably moving on. It would be one thing if he were just rebounding to an inferior option, but Karen is extremely cute, playful, successful (compated to Pam) and knows what she wants (Jim).
Of course Karen will probably do something in the future that causes us to disfavor her, b/c writers will want to keep the Jim and Pam thing #1 in our hearts. But at this point, there's no question Karen's the right choice (and Jim's only real option anyway).
Nice post. I am torn between Jim liking Karen or Pam. Right now I favor Karen, at least until Pam gets her life figured out and finds out who she really is, after all these years with Roy. I think the relationship stuff is really what keeps me coming back each week.
Well it's mainly Dwight and Future Dwight that keep me coming back each week, although Jim is one fine looking paper salesman. I'm not quite sure how I feel about Karen going for Jim, although she does have every right to. Jim....yeah he's had it pretty bad, shoot if they'd only let me be a character on the show....anyway back to reality. I can justify Pam. She was stuck in a relationship that wasn't really going anywhere so she would harmlessly flirt with Jim and what not. So one day Roy or whatever decides to pick things up and that's when Jim decides to make his move- wrong on Jim's part he should've moved faster (but of course like all tv dramas it had to be then and not when it should've been right)Pam thought things were going to get better with this guy and so she couldn't help telling Jim no, and then when things didn't work out....you know the story. So, yes Karen has every right, but Pam shouldn't be thrown off the list just yet.
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