You heard it here first: last night's season finale of "The Office" will win a Emmy for the episode's writer, Steve Carell, and will seal the deal for Carell's best actor trophy and the show's best comedy series victory. Or at least it better, because the show won't be any good next year. Or will it?
During the office's casino night, the paper salesman Jim finally confessed to his love for the receptionist Pam. She was understandably taken aback and essentially expressed her loyalty for her blowhard fiance Roy. Later, however, just as she appears to confess to her mom over the phone that she's in love with Jim Jim walks in and kisses her, and she doesn't pull away.
The first rule of sitcoms is to never break the sexual tension between the two central love interests. This rule always makes me think of the show "Anything But Love," with Richard Lewis and Jamie Lee Curtis, which my parents watched when I was a kid. The two characters worked at a magazine and their desks were right next to each other. One night they did it, and my parents got very upset, because there went the show. On the "Anything But Love" entry on the web site Jump The Shark, "They did it" was the most oft-cited reason for the show's going downhill.
I always figured "The Office" would never break the rule until the end of the series. The Jim and Pam tension was the driving force of the show, and the show can't exist without it. It isn't a mere "I have a big crush on you" kind of tension. Jim's love for Pam represents far more than just romance. He's a charismatic, funny guy with great leadership ability whose talents are wasted on this meaningless job. His yearning for Pam is just part of his yearning for a better life in general, and is representative of the same yearning that exists in every character on the show, and everyone in the real world who works in a similar monotonous office job. I'd imagine that if Pam were to leave Roy for Jim, Jim would take her the hell away from Scranton and they'd find better jobs somewhere else, or start a business together.
During the show's first season, which ran only six episodes, I thought it was too over-the-top, especially compared to the original British version of the show. The office boss Michael Scott, played by Carell, was more of an overt misfit than his British counterpart David Brent. His social and professional incompetence was so ludicrous that the show appeared to be using him for easy jokes. But during the second season I've realized that the show has simply established its own world with slightly different rules than those of the British version, and it has stuck to them. Michael's ineptitude is exaggerated but he still rings true as a character. The underlings have more of a backbone than they do in the British version, and they respond to their boss with a commensurate amount of eye-rolling and rebellion. I've even warmed up to Michael's assistant Dwight. I'm still unsure as to whether he measures up to his British equivalent, the relentlessly earnest, humorless Gareth, but I like how Dwight's wide-eyed streak allows him to loosen up.
Last night's finale is a prime example of the show's brilliance, from the way poker shark wannabe Kevin says "all in" to Ryan ordering a drink so ridiculous that it could only be for Kelly to Angela slapping Dwight, which causes them both to smile. Plus, the scenes with Pam and Jim were riveting, even as they made me want to cringe and hide behind my hands.
The writers know the sexual tension rule, so why did they break it? Perhaps the Pam-Jim tension had built up so much that it would have been unrealistic to keep it going any longer without a confrontation. Everyone in the office could tell that Pam was way more compatible with Jim than she was with Roy. Jim already had a near-miss when Pam found out about his feelings but Jim passed them off as a phase that was now long-gone.
Pam will surely deem the kiss a mistake and things will be very awkward for a while. But the kiss will have given Jim enough hope that the relationship could work out that he'll call off transferring offices to another city, which he had been considering. The next big issue will be Pam's impending wedding, during which Jim is scheduled to be on vacation. She'll probably push it back, or Roy will, since Roy until recently refused to set a date.
Whatever happens, let's hope the producers can find a way to make the show last a few more seasons. The British version only lasted for two and was still considered a smash, but that won't exactly fly on American television. And we'd like to see more.
i hope that the writers are prepared to follow this episode as well... jim/pam is something you can't even smooth over well in real life much less a tv show
Posted by: reba | Tuesday, May 16, 2006 at 07:10 PM