The final season of The Office might have thrown a bit of a wrench in the cogs of the most fairy tale relationship on mockumentary television. (As I type that, I’m unsure of whether this would be a large or small segment of shows.) From the first episode, the slick-haired Michael Scott (Steve Carrell) was offset by the underachieving and aloof Jim Halpert (John Krasinski), who fell hard for the engaged, perky, equally underachieving receptionist Pam Beasley (Jenna Fischer).
Their flirtatious tango sucked us in each week — as did Scott’s antics as he softened and became more and more insecure and needy. But, whereas Scott made us mourn the bureaucracy and indifference that befalls middle management and small-market companies, the will they / won’t they of Jim and Pam gave us some glimmer of saccharine hope.
Let’s forget for a moment that Pam has never really seemed happy in her situation and that she was always looking for someone’s new infatuation. She was engaged when Jim — and we — met her. Her flirtation knew no bounds, and she was just as aware of Jim’s crush as we were. But, like Scott, she needed the stroking. She needed to feel needed.
She longed to get out of the office and go to art school, and when she did, she found she was little more than a small fish in an ocean. But she warmed up to a classmate while there to satisfy her need to be validated. Meanwhile, Jim pined, worked hard, and stayed emotionally faithful. His brief relationship with Karen Filipelli (Rashida Jones) was earnest and genuine — but also made Pam unbearably jealous. And up through last season, Jim rejected the advances of a sloshy, lascivious co-worker, while Pam (alone for much of this season) has welcomed the companionship of a member of the camera crew.
Perhaps The Office is officially jumping its dozenth shark here by breaking the fourth wall and exposing a previously invisible conspirator in this mockumentary, but, really, it’s returning to its roots, illustrating the essence of a documentary — its unpredictability. This was once exhibited by Michael Scott — often incredibly so.
But since he’s gone, the show has become more sitcom than mock-serial. It lost some of its charm. Dwight (Rainn Wilson) has been a constant, but he can’t carry a show. Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) is also funny, but he’s a supporting character, not one whose antics are more insane than superfluous.
In its last season, The Office has reminded us of who its main characters are. Pam is still Pam, crying for change, but refusing to leave the comfortable pen she’s built for herself. In the most recent episode, she applies for a position in Philadelphia, but finds that her potential boss (Bob Odenkirk) is a mirror of Michael Scott. In her logic, she turns this down because she doesn’t want to move laterally, starting a new job with the same destination; instead, she stays in her old job with the same destination. In effect, she puts all of the onus of responsibility (parenthood withstanding) on Jim.
Will The Office end by breaking up Jim and Pam? Another NBC long-running sitcom, Friends, couldn’t do it; they ultimately had to put Ross and Rachel back together to establish closure and bring everything full circle.
Should we root for a divorce or a separation? Probably not. But, the ending to this mockumentary serial might be more appropriate if we do. Certainly, it would be sad and unforeseen, but it would be more realistic.
