TV

We Love Jim And Pam Together, But Jim Was Kind of a Douche For This

We Love Jim And Pam Together, But Jim Was Kind of a Douche For This
Image credit: NBC

Maybe the show should’ve ended on season 7.

Summary

  • The Office 's main couple, Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly, portrayed by John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer, got together in season 4 of the show.
  • In season 5, the couple got married and their relationship evolved into a family. However, both characters left the city to pursue their dreams.
  • Pam's dream of becoming an artist required a three-month trip to art school, which Jim agreed she should take. Jim, however, secretly invested in his dream of running his own business years later in season 9, causing a rift in their marriage.

As is usually the case with any TV show couple, Jim and Pam of The Office were far from perfect from the beginning. Though their love for each other overcame all problems, there was a clear fandom preference for Jim and clear hatred for Pam that wasn't really justified by anything she said or did.

What many fans seem to believe today is that Pam was the target of more attacks simply because she is a woman and was put under more pressure, while Jim was always easily forgiven by the audience.

One of the most outstanding examples of this notion was the situation with Jim's investment in Athleap. While his desire to grow professionally is completely understandable, the reality is that he put his entire family in great danger.

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But somehow Pam ended up being the one to blame for not being supportive enough.

Jim and Pam’s Season 9 Fight

After eight years of bliss in Jim and Pam's relationship, from the first flirtatious lines to the birth of their children, it was heartbreaking to see them dissatisfied with the way their lives were turning out. While the love for each other and their children was always there, it was clear that they needed more.

More support, more time with and without each other, and more opportunities. The latter was especially true for Jim, who felt trapped in his current career and wanted to move up the ladder, but didn't see the opportunity to do so in his current position. Due to a general lack of communication, he made the worst possible choice: to flee the scene.

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Athleap was the place where he hoped to find a way to express himself in a way that wasn't available at Dunder Mifflin. He wants to grow, but he doesn't seem to understand how much that would change the lives of his two very young children and his wife. In fact, he doesn't even tell her until he's forced to by Nellie's unfair assumptions that he's cheating.

While it is clear how Jim's self-interest overpowered his responsibilities and almost led the couple to divorce, some viewers felt it was only fair for Jim to pursue his dream after Pam had a chance to pursue hers.

Pam In The Art School

Before they had a family or were even married, the couple had already faced the struggles of a long-distance relationship for three months when Pam was involved in an art program at Pratt Institute.

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At that time, Pam had a chance to get her priorities in order and made the decision to return to Scranton to be with Jim. While it was her dream that was on the scale, she now had a new dream and was ready to move toward it.

It would be unfair to ask Jim's arc to end in exactly the same way, but with so many years having passed, he should have thought better about the things he was responsible for. With Jim investing thousands of dollars just to show off, leaving the kids at home with their mother who also works, and being forced to deal with the problems of a newfound business, it's very easy to see the difference between the two cases.

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Pam left town because she wasn't tied to it by anything except Jim, who agreed to give her a chance. Jim left town because he couldn't find a less reckless way to express his own unhappiness with life, and he was making everyone else suffer because of it.

Do you think Jim was wrong for investing in Athleap the way he did?

Whether you were Team Jim or Team Pam during season 9 of The Office, you were probably happy to see them work out all their issues in the finale. If you want to revisit the iconic sitcom and follow Jim and Pam's love story from beginning to end, you can stream the show on Peacock TV.