Over nine seasons, The Office gave us quirky character after quirky character. A number of these characters became couples with co-workers, doubling up on the weirdness. You some of the best couples: Andy and Angela, Dwight and Angela (secretly through some of the series), Andy and Erin, Erin and “Plop”, Michael and Holly.
Of course, the biggest relationship in The Office was between Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly. Jim was the forlorn paper salesman constantly pining for the receptionist, Pam, who was perpetually engaged to Roy until the “Booze Cruise” episode. In the early seasons, Jim dated while Pam was single, with Roy, or back in Scranton (when Jim was in Stamford).
However, Jim and Pam seem to be one of the more inconsistent relationships in The Office. This falls on the writers, and you can see changes in Jim and Pam after they finally got together.
This list examines aspects of Jim and Pam’s relationship that don’t make sense when you place it under a microscope. The examples given are all from events that take place with the show. No footage from behind-the-scenes or webisodes are used. That way, if you want to check out the examples in question, you can go to the normal episodes on DVD or on a streaming service like Netflix.
Ready for an analysis of Jim and Pam’s relationship, covering seasons one through nine?
Here are The Office: 20 Things That Make No Sense About Jim And Pam’s Relationship.
All-Around Liars
Jim and Pam lie a lot-- and they aren't little white lies either. Sometimes they lie as a couple, and sometimes together.
The odd thing is, both are completely okay with it.
Pam manipulates the office and lies to her co-workers to obtain the office position. She tells the office she’s found a replacement building when Dwight starts cutting costs, but Pam never had intentions to move the branch.
Jim straight-up lies and makes up a story about his jury duty time: he was sent home early, but he took the rest of the week off to help at home. He and Pam find ways to lie to Dwight all in the name of pranks. Basically, they get away with a lot.
Jim didn't go to Pam's Art Show
When The Office started showing Pam’s artistic side, she eventually had some of her work featured in an art show. Pam invites everyone from the office, but on the night of the event in the episode “Business School,” very few co-workers show up.
Oscar and his boyfriend Gil make an appearance, except Gil isn’t impressed, calling Pam’s work, “motel art.” Michael Scott does come and loves the drawing of the office building so much he buys it. Roy comes, but only because he thought it would score him points as a boyfriend.
One person absent was Jim. Supposedly a good friend, Jim should have found a way to Pam’s dream.
Pam Didn't Trust Jim with Cathy
Pam didn’t trust Jim, although he’d never really given her a reason not to. When Pam was about ready to go on maternity leave with her second child, she trained a new replacement, Cathy.
Cathy was cute, fun, and had a good sense of humor. It was the moment Pam saw Jim and Cathy laughing together that Pam’s jealousy surfaced.
To her, it appeared the two were flirting.
Pam wanted to prove that Jim found Cathy attractive, even though Jim vehemently denied it. She went to extremes, getting Dwight involved with his strange methods to prove it. Why didn't she take her husband's word for it?
Jim had to give up his dream for Pam
Jim had a dream in season 9 of starting a company based on an idea he and a roommate conceived in college. When his friend was actually going to do it, Jim got on board, excited to be a part of it. Now Jim had a reason to work hard at a job.
One of the main reasons he wanted to do it was to provide a better quality of life for his family. Jim was confident he could be very successful at it. Yes, Jim was aloof about Athlead, but Pam was stubborn about his time away.
She essentially took Jim’s dream away because Jim ultimately gives in and quits Athlead for a while.
Pam does change her tune, but probably because the guild was eating at her. And she probably ed how Jim ed her art dream.
The lame proposal
For the most part, the writers have kept the characters consistent through the series. Attitudes, reactions, and behaviors remained steady. One stretch that didn’t make sense was with Jim and Pam.
When Jim was courting Pam, he performed what Pam called in season 9, “big Jim gestures”, like the teapot or with “dinner and a show” on the rooftop. Most required some planning on Jim’s part.
Jim’s marriage proposal to Pam was slightly out of character.
He conceived it while talking to Michael in the morning. By lunchtime, Jim had e-mailed Pam at Pratt to meet him at a gas station about halfway between them. He asked her to marry him in the rain. Even Angela had said later that the proposal was basically weak.
They don't fight until season 9
On a first viewing, Jim and Pam’s relationship seems sweet-- full of romantic gestures and scenes. They are so cute that you’ll often find newcomers to the show hoping to aspire for a relationship like theirs.
This goes on season after season. There’s really no turmoil between them until the ninth season, when Jim helps start the Athlead company. Up until then, as a couple, Jim and Pam barely had any fights or arguments. The worst occurred when Pam thinks something Jim said to her dad caused her parents to divorce.
For a show with a documentary theme, Jim and Pam didn’t have a realistic relationship either as boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife until the final season.
Jim mistreats other women
Jim’s crush on Pam was the catalyst that made Jim treat other women badly.
Jim was so focused on Pam that he treated the women he was dating poorly.
Katie was the first girl he dated in the show. Jim gave her a ride home, and they became a couple soon after. Katie helped Jim get his mind off Pam. Then, in “Booze Cruise”, when Pam and Roy finally set a date for the wedding, Jim gets upset and takes it out on Kate by breaking up with her.
With Karen, a similar thing happened. It came out that the timeline of Jim’s crush on Pam didn’t add up. Karen confronted him about it, and he eventually told her he still had feelings for Pam. Karen and Jim subsequently broke up.
Jim Reported Pam to H.R. out of jealousy
In the episode “Conflict Resolution”, Pam finds out someone made an anonymous complaint to H.R. against her. Michael took it upon himself to resolve all the complaints turned into Toby because Michael felt Toby wasn’t doing his job.
Pam is really bothered by the complaint and tries to get the person to confess. The complaint was that the person thought Pam shouldn’t be planning her wedding on work time at the office.
Near the end of the episode, during a photo shoot of the workers, Jim its it was him that reported her. But it was more he was frustrated (and probably hurt) he had to watch her go through with marrying Roy. Pam was mad for only a moment, but she should have been angrier longer.
Jim Invades Pam's Personal Space Often
In the beginning, when Jim and Pam were friends, Jim encroaches on Pam’s personal space several times. On occasion, it’s flirty on both sides, but in some scenes, Pam is awkward with how close he is.
The worst moment was during “The Fight”. Michael and Dwight visit a dojo to settle a dispute by fighting. The whole office goes. Pam and Jim hang out in the background play fighting. At one point, Jim blocks a light punch and spins Pam around and grabs her in a bear hug.
Pam’s shirt gets pulled to her mid-riff, and she’s clearly uncomfortable.
Later, Jim tries to apologize through e-mail, but as is often the case with Jim, the apology or situation must be about him.
Pam is a doormat
It’s clear that Pam is an after-thought in many of her friendships and romantic involvements. Roy was in charge of their relationship, and many of his actions made us dislike him, but Pam still went along with what Roy wanted.
Similarly, with Jim, Pam’s emotions and feelings and emotions were often undermined. When Jim made her happy (with the teapot, for example), it was all about Jim’s feelings. When he confessed his feelings in “Casino Night”, it was still about Jim and his frustration when Pam didn’t say what he wanted her to say.
A big, abrupt change happened after she called off her wedding with Roy. She expressed and stood up for herself better when she realized she was interested in Jim.