Pam Beesly was seen as The Office's sweetheart. She was kind to everyone, was the first person workers saw when they entered the office, and she genuinely cared for the people she worked with (which is why she stayed there for so long). However, Pam had a sassy streak to her.
Putting her relationship pickle between Roy and Jim aside, Pam had characteristics that made her change for the worse as time went on. By the ninth season, she was more outspoken, lost, and appeared to make the same mistakes time and time again. For proof, keep scrolling to see 10 reasons why Pam got worse and worse as time goes on.
She's The Ultimate Quitter
As sweet of a person as Pam is, the woman is the ultimate quitter. She calls off her engagement to Roy and ends their relationship, she quits Dunder Mifflin to the Michael Scott Paper Company only to go back to Dunder Mifflin as a salesman, she then quits her salesman job and creates a new title that excites her, and let’s not forget when she quit art school! Pam may have been friendly to everyone in the office but she’s a quitter.
And Never Tries To Better Her Craft
Following the notion that Pam was a quitter, she also didn’t try very hard to get better at whatever she was struggling with. She failed art school and didn’t take any other art classes to better her craft for her own self-esteem.
And when it came to being a salesman, she literally made up a new position within the company so she didn’t have to work hard at something she ended up not liking instead of going on sales calls to improve. Pam constantly hops to the next thing when things get too hard, which brings us to our next point...
Is She Repeating An Old Habit?
One could say that Pam and Roy were with each other for far too long. They were comfortable with one another but outgrew each other without wanting to say anything. This led to Pam having an emotional affair with Jim before the two kissed after Casino Night.
Jim and Pam seemed to be in it for the long haul but when she has troubles in her marriage to Jim, she slips back into her old tendencies. Not only does she get close to Brian (the sound guy) but she also seemed to have some pent up feelings for Danny Cordray. The two went on a few dates before she got together with Jim but she seemed awfully affected by Danny when she saw him again. It makes you wonder what really happened between them.
She Didn't Want Jim To Chase His Dreams (Even Though Jim Pushed Her To Chase Hers)
What angers a lot of fans about Pam is how upset she gets at Jim for wanting to better himself. Sure, he shouldn’t have hid Athlead from her or spent their savings as an investment, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t doing it for the right reasons.
Pam became irate when rumors of moving to Philly started swirling. She didn’t want Jim to start this new company that he was ionate about. She wanted their comfortable and normal life in Scranton, working for a paper company they were both unfulfilled at. Besides family, there was no other reason to stay in Scranton when Jim had such an amazing opportunity. While she stood her ground against Athlead, she forgot that it was Jim who pushed her to reach her dreams years ago.
And Never Accepted How Much He Loved her
With a marriage, a mortgage, and babies at the forefront, Jim and Pam began having issues. Like many couples, they had difficulties expressing and understanding each other so they ed couples therapy. However, no matter how crazy things got, Jim never lost feelings for Pam. If anything, everything he did was to make her happy. But it wasn’t enough.
When Pam was pregnant with baby number two, she accused Jim of thinking her replacement was attractive. She even ed forces with Dwight to find out Jim’s real feelings on the matter. Even more upsetting, Pam told Jim she worried she wasn’t enough for Jim. Did she forget that he dumped his girlfriend, ed a start-up company, stayed at Dunder Mifflin, and gave her her own art studio at home just for her? Did she forget he spent years fawning over her!?
She Always Has To Have Her Way
The braver Pam becomes, the more outspoken and “woe is me” she is. We see this when Michael gets a surplus and she convinces him to get new chairs instead of a copier (and gets mad at Jim for disagreeing), she involves the entire office when Michael starts dating her mother, she bothers Jim when he doesn’t dress up in a matching Halloween costume with her... The list goes on and on. Pam acts like a child when things don’t go her way.
She Started Judging Jim's Pranks (Even Though That's What Brought Them Together)
The one thing that brought Jim and Pam together from season one was their similar sense of humor. Pam and Jim loved pranking Dwight and bonded over it. It’s not until they get married that Pam transformed into a mother-like figure who judged Jim for continuing to prank Dwight. Instead of ing him in his pranks, she would give him one of those looks that made him feel like he did something wrong. What happened to fun Pam?
She Never Fixes Problems, Just Complains About Them
Along with quitting things and never trying to get better, she complains when they don’t go her way. Everyone is entitled to be upset and complain once and a while, but that seemed to be Pam’s M.O. She complained when someone drew over her mural (and retaliated by painting the person’s truck), she complained when Jim and Karen get close at work, she complained when someone drew on her doodle — she is the queen of complaining with no action when things don’t go her way.
She Hates That Jim Hid Things From Her And Yet Did The Same Thing In Season Nine
One of Pam’s biggest issues with Jim was how much he hid from her. Her insecurities were valid because it seemed like communication wasn’t the strong suit they thought it was.
They went to therapy to work on themselves as a couple but all that hard work seemed to go in the trash when Pam sold their home without telling him. Just as she was upset for Jim taking the job with Athlead without telling her, she did the same thing in selling their home and forcing Jim back into the Athlead job without telling him. Is this their new normal, doing outlandish things for each other without talking them through?
She Became Braver By Season Nine But Not Always In The Right Way
Pam becomes more self-assured in the later seasons, which was great to see. After she broke up with Roy, she came into her own and started doing and saying things she was always too afraid to do or say. However, her bravery got a tad overzealous at times. She freaked out on Michael for dating a woman who was still married, she became sassier with Ryan when he said dramatic things, and she was selfish when she took her co-workers clients when she was at the Michael Scott Paper Company. There’s nothing wrong with being outspoken and opinionated but Pam took the confrontational route in most of her outspoken moments.