I love talking about Pam and Jim!
OK so the more I watch The Office, the more I love the angst between Pam and Jim in season 2, like that’s my bad for not appreciating it more before, but there is so much great yearning between the two of them in that season but there’s also the connection, as in moments that make the more sentimental/gushy scenes in the later seasons earned content.
So in no particular order:
1. Booze Cruise
It’s so funny how now reddit and tumblr go off on this scene as Jim being “creepy” and making Pam uncomfortable because it’s a willful misinterpretation of the scene when the whole point is that both of them are incapable of saying what they really want to say to each other and so all they can do is stare with this hope and this blockage until Pam can’t take the tension anymore and just leaves. And I love Johns tidbit about how he was waiting to hear ‘cut’ but didn’t and he didn’t think they’d show this on television, where it’s just this silence and awkwardness that happens in real life because you’re too afraid to say how you really feel.
2. Answering Machine
There are no gifs of 2x14 which leads me to believe this scene is underrated but I love it so much because of what I had said. The entire episode with regards to Jim and Pam is from Jim’s PoV and I think it does an effective job in showing that maybe Jim romanticized all of their interactions, maybe Pam and Roy really do gel, maybe, maybe, maybe,
and then we get this gem??
I think it’s one of the sweetest Pam and Jim moments of the entire series.
3. Mother Visit. I think what really sells this too is just how excited her mother is to see him? Because not only does the question indicate just how much Pam talks to her mother about Jim but how giddy she is at finally seeing him indicates how giddy Pam is when she talks about Jim.
and I mean, she’s the one she calls when Jim kisses her
4. Jim’s Bedroom
I love the way they played the intimacy of this scene, the kind of jittery cute awkwardness of being in the room of someone you like and who likes you especially when it’s unspoken, also showcasing another layer of Jim to Pam and kind of taking their relationship to the next level and it’s very adult but it’s also very schoolyard crush-like? It’s a fine balance and it’s done really well.
5. Beach Games.
Duh. No explanation necessary, honestly. But I will say, with the amount of conversation we have about Pam’s passive character on this blog, Pam making this announcement was a huge deal for Pam and Jim but it was also a huge, huge deal for Pam as a character too. This is as much about Pam finally acting on a desire and doing something for herself as it is about her relationship to Jim.
6. Italian Food
Determined, passionate, in-love-with-Pam Jim? I screamed.
7. “My kids are going to be right about that.”
I know someone who hates Pam and Jim with intense passion and particularly this scene because she was like really, Pam and Jim’s love is THAT strong that it reflects how terrible Pam’s parents’ relationship is, HONESTLY? And on its face that is a really corny and over-the-top premise but like I said above, you have the scenes before this that earn this revelation imo, like there are so many receipts in this relationship
that makes this scene a gorgeous moment for Pam and Jim and not just smoke.
8. Proposal.
Duh.
9. Wedding
Double duh. And you know something I like about this scene is that Jim turns to the camera with a smile because he’s waited so long to be with Pam and he’s finally with her but there isn’t a sense of “yes! got the girl” for me? It’s peace? And they’re both at peace next to each other, Pam leaning on Jim’s shoulder like she’s done for years before but now as his wife provides yet another level for her and for him, it’s just done so well.
10. Baby Reveal
Triple duh. We talk a lot about expressive eyes on this blog. John’s eyes kill me every time here.
