Friday, May 18, 2007 at 8:04 am
The Office: Now That We've Found Love, What Are We Going to Do With It?
WARNING: Office spoilers.
So: it's a date. Pam and Jim are together, Jam has been achieved, order has been restored to the universe. A good if not great season-ender, and if the conclusion didn't have the holy-crap factor of The Kiss last year, Pam's closeup reaction to Jim's return during her interview was--like everything Jenna Fischer does on this show--winning and sweet.
But to be the spoilsport for a minute: little cold the way the show dealt with Karen, wasn't it? Or rather, didn't deal with her. She didn't get Jim. She didn't get the corporate job. (Ryan? Hilarious twist--"Who was that?" "Nobody. We're over"--but totally unbelievable). And she didn't get any kind of closure. We know that Rashida Jones is off to a Fox sitcom next year, and presumably Karen still works at the Scranton branch, at least for the moment. But there was no breakup scene, no exit interview--does she just cease to exist?
Maybe the writers will deal with her early next season, but it seemed an uncharacteristic way to end this love triangle, which was distinguished by the writers' refusal to make anyone the bad guy. Yeah, Team Pam / Team Karen was a fun game to play (and it was funny to see Kevin voicing the fanboy debate over who was hotter), but it was easily possible for a Pam fan to like Karen as well, for the ways in which she was the same (funny, playful) and the ways she was different (more assertive, more citified). Pam and Karen could as easily have been friends and allies, and in fact they often were, which was what made it funny to see their conflict come out in the open. ("Pam? Kind of a bitch." And come on--at that moment, Karen had a point.) And that's why it was disappointing not to see Karen get the closure that I'd think a "regular" character would have, because she'd proved herself as more than an interloper.
[Although I dunno--maybe female Tuned Inlanders want to weigh in here--is liking Karen strictly a guy thing? I don't mean in the who's-hotter sense, but I wonder if the whole triangle appealed more to guys as a geek-boy fantasy. A slightly nerdy, funny, nonthreateningly good-looking guy gets battled over by two hot, smart chicks, both of whom like practical jokes, one of whom plays Call of Duty? Throw in a plate of wings and you're pretty much in Guy Heaven there.]
OK, sour grapes over. The best thing about the season-long Jam saga was that the writers, with Fischer's able help, made it about more than the receptionist's lonely pining for some guy. Ultimately--and this was beautifully set up, going back to Pam's art show and before--it was about Pam missing herself, needing to become confident, brave and self-sufficient. She was delighted when Jim came back to her, but the nice thing is (and this is something the British Office never managed with melancholy Dawn) she had already found happiness unto herself.
That was the real triumph of this season, and it was enough to make me think that the wrong person got the first consonant of their hybrid name. From now on, I'm calling them Pim.
9 Comments to “The Office: Now That We've Found Love, What Are We Going to Do With It?”
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About Tuned In
James Poniewozik writes TIME magazine's Tuned In column, about pop culture and society. Tuned In, the blog version, is about the stuff we used to call "TV," whether it's in your living room, on your computer or -- once the networks figure out the technology and line up the advertisers -- in your dreams themselves. Read more
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Friday, May 18, 2007 at 1:30 pm
Yeah, the lack of a Karen scene was sort of puzzling -- I'm guessing they kept it out to keep from spoiling the end-of-episode surprise, but she at least deserved to be mentioned by Jim in a post-asking-Pam-out talking-head interview.
That said, I can't imagine Karen won't get her side of things told next season -- maybe not an on-camera breakup (as with Pam ditching Roy between seasons two and three, I'd imagine the writers might take a pass on such a painful and unfunny scene), but I hope they at least give her a chance to vent about having been treated as a Substitute Pam.
Friday, May 18, 2007 at 2:23 pm
I must disagree with your assessment that the hiring of Ryan was unbelievable. I've personally seen many instances where an MBA is able to leapfrog several layers of management regardless of how proficient that employee was at his/her current position. How do you suppose many of the VP's and senior VP's in corporate America (who happen to be in their late 30's) were able to attain that position? It's a sad reality of our corporate culture and The Office nailed it brilliantly.
Friday, May 18, 2007 at 2:27 pm
No thanks for the too-late spoiler warning! The teaser sentence on the homepage while I was glancing down was enough to ruin my night of tv catchup. At least I don't know what happened on LOST!
Friday, May 18, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Getting Jim and Pam together was the best possible thing for the show. As far as I am concerned, the episodes that lacked almost any JAM drama were by far the best episodes this season: "Business School," "Benihana Christmas," "The Negotiation," "Women's Appreciation (Yes Subtext is included in a couple but no overt interactions).
Once the ensemble became more well-defined characters that proved they could handle extended screen time (Kevin, Oscar, Darryl, Angela, Meredith, and, my personal favorite, Creed), it completely eliminated the need for the JAM "Will they or Wont they?" story line that carried much of season two. By the end of Season 3, The Office had become a pitch perfect, 10-15 actor deep ensemble comedy. This is in sharp contrast to season 2 where it depended heavily on 4 characters for almost all of comedy and plot. Don't get me wrong, I loved Season 2 the same way I loved Season 1 of "The OC," but second half of season 3 was by far a technically superior show. By "The Job," The Office didn't need the JAM storyline to thrive.
To me this is the equivalent of a strong growth company like Google offering a dividend for the first time. Sure, a lot of the pleasure of the show is seeing it do the right things by building the plot line (market value) slowly and not resorting to any cheap sitcom cliches (needless acquisitions if you will). However, after a certain point, a company only needs so much cash and it is in the best interest of the company to return some of the investment back to the shareholders directly as a dividend. Sure, the money could be used on internal company projects but it wouldn't be as beneficial (How much more "will they or won't they" can actually be sustained? UK Office lasted 13 episodes, American office is around 60 now) To me this is making the shareholders happy and leaving the company as strong, if not stronger, than it was before.
There certainly are some potential pitfalls, but to me, the second half of season 3 showed that "The Office" is more than capable of handling this uncharted territory.
Friday, May 18, 2007 at 4:07 pm
Interesting question about gender choices in the Pam/Karen debate. As a woman, I have always rooted for Pam but also liked Karen tremendously. I didn't necessarily care for her as Jim's girlfriend, but I did like her role in Jim's life. (Everything goes back to the two, Jim and Pam, and how situations impact them.) So, I cannot say that liking Karen is strictly a male thing, but I would guess that it's more of a geek-boy fantasy to see Jim in the middle of both of them.
What's interesting about your question, though, is that I think Pam's arc this season has really connected with the female audience, and I wonder if it's true - even at all - with the male one. Almost every woman I talk to about The Office wants to talk about Pam's journey, and even when we want her to get together with Jim, it's been so much more rewarding to see her grow and find her voice.
Getting that ending last night was icing on the cake.
Friday, May 18, 2007 at 9:20 pm
I was delighted at the way the season wrapped up. I was certain they'd erect another arbitrary obstacle between Jim and Pam and keep on mixing the same ingredients for next season. It was a moment of maturity for this show. They resisted the temptation to string the audience along this tired plot device, while the payoff for these two characters was long overdue.
Saturday, May 19, 2007 at 10:06 am
Next time do a bit more research before you write an article. Jim asked Pam to dinner, not to get together. That is a quite presumptious statement. If you had done your homework, you would know Karen will be doing both shows next season. The triangle still exists. The writers are by no means dumb, they will deal with Jim and how he left NY sans Karen, but until they make us sweat a bit. (a la Jims reaction to Pam's speech-didn't see that until the following week).
Monday, May 21, 2007 at 9:19 am
I'm a straight woman, and I adore both Pam and Karen. I've understood the reality that Karen was probably not going to return for season four, and I haven't stopped whining about it!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007 at 11:03 pm
I'm not really sure why it's so surprising that there was a lack of a Karen scene whenever the entire set of circumstances--that in reality would have taken the course of a couple of hours (the trip back from New York)-- from the point where Jim left the interview until the time he asked out Pam was presented in the show's mockumentary-style format to the audience in about 2-3 minutes to end the season. This leaves plenty of time at any point early on in season 4 to address the issue as a reflection instead of having it interfere with what I felt was great pacing to end "The Job."