How Fans Of The Office Think Pam And Jim's Relationship Should Have Gone
Nearly a decade since "The Office" ended its hugely successful run in 2013, fans still can't get enough of the series. In fact, some fans are still coming up with theories about the characters.
Perhaps that's not surprising, given the show's continuing popularity thanks to its near-constant airing on streaming and cable. Although the series used to be a mainstay on Netflix, it returned to NBC's streaming platform, Peacock, in 2021 (via The Verge) and is available for purchase on various websites (via Cosmopolitan).
One of a handful of scripted shows that follow regular people in everyday situations, "The Office" is a mockumentary about workers in a small paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Writer and producer Michael Schur incorporated situations from his life, describing the show as "so into those tiny, tiny, tiny, observable moments of real life," per the "Office Ladies" podcast. Audiences loved the shenanigans of middle manager Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and his cadre of employees, particularly the slow-burning love story between Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) and Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer).
Notably, Schur was also somewhat responsible for several other on-screen relationships, including Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) of "Parks and Recreation" and Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) and Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero) of "Brooklyn Nine-Nine." Despite such success, some "Office" fans think they have developed a better way to resolve Jim and Pam's story.
Fans want to fulfill Jim and Pam's career goals as well as #relationshipgoals
While Jim and Pam's story could have been heartbreaking, the writers gave "The Office" fans their desired happy ending. Yet some, like Redditor u/CaptainSpectacular69, still question the details. "Hey Pam, would you like to do Graphic Design at my new sport company in Philadelphia?" Jim asks in a photo posted May 15 — almost 8 years to the day after the series finale. "I would love to!" Pam responds. "The End."
It's an intriguing prospect since the fairytale marriage hit a snag in Season 9 when Jim spent more time in Philadelphia building his sports marketing startup Athlead. And as u/d33pthought81 pointed out, "She could literally work remotely." But most responders were quick to point out the flaws in that plan, especially that Pam didn't like graphic design and that she didn't want to live in Philly, regardless of the job. In fact, this is of such importance that Jenna Fischer even mentioned it during an episode of the "Office Ladies" podcast (via CheatSheat). Some also noted that Athlead likely couldn't afford to hire her.
U/Wooshmeister55 felt it was a nonissue, saying, "It's literally just a 2-hour commute, this should have never been a big deal." A few other commenters complained that this suggestion appeared on the forum quite frequently. Notably, u/TheIndulgery wrote, "I need to keep a file of the most common responses I can paste in for when this gets posted each week." But perhaps the best shoot-down of the idea came from u/Sebenbillion, who said, "I can't think of a better arrangement for a currently rocky marriage than adding a work-hierarchy into the mix. 'Remember, I'm not just your husband; I'm your boss.'"