PB & J: Pam Beasley and Jim

With the advent of another Office season, friends of mine have sparked the question: “What’s going to happen between Pam and Jim?” I understand this wondering, considering we’ve been waiting for three seasons for them to have a moment in time where they could actually date. After an engagement, a relationship, a relationship after breaking off an engagement, and a move, our beloved Pam and Jim seem to both finally know what they want: each other.

After so many Ross and Rachel type relationships (10 episodes), I wonder why we keep watching. Why do we always hold out for them to get together? If I told my best friends that I was in love with someone who is engaged, I doubt there response would be “BFD! Engaged ain’t married!” And there certainly wouldn’t be any running down the aisle interruptions on the wedding day, exclaiming that no, in fact I could not hold my peace-he should not get married. It all just seems so dramatic (case in point, right? We wouldn’t actually watch television that was boring.)

But it also is archetypal. Most English teachers I know would argue that we think stories are good because they satisfy what we already know to be true in our minds. In other words, we expect certain things to happen because they are so engrained. These stories may have different twists and certainly different settings, but there are only really two types of the love story:

1. Boy and Girl can’t be together for whatever reason. This story capitalizes on the ‘forbidden love’ aspect, where we find our classic love stories like Romeo and Juliet (family), Aladdin and Jasmine (social statuses), Pam and Jim (engagement/another relationship).

2. Boy and Girl start off hating one another and then eventually fall in love. Elizabeth and Darcy, Joe Fox and Kathleen Kelly, Lightning McQueen and Girl Car (they train us early.)

Yes, our Pam and Jim story is the retelling of a love story that we’re already familiar with. And while we constantly hope for them to be together, I have some bad news-normally that particular archetypal love story focuses more on when they’re not together or them actually wishing they were together than them actually being together. It’s not like number two where we gradually see people move closer and closer together until they are in a relationship. We would rather spend time arguing that they should be together or that they really do like each other. But what happened after Ross and Rachel finally got together? Inevitably, something would happen to drag it out longer. These stories come from the same line as Romeo and Juliet: they’re a bit, if not completely, tragic. They are the epitome of reminders that life isn’t fair.

You have been officially forewarned. My guess is that it will be four episodes max until something happens with Pam and Jim that causes one of them to question the relationship. Either this questioning will continue or there will be a huge miscommunication and things won’t be ending happily by the end of the season. Don’t get me wrong, there could be a hilarious hour-long wedding episode, but it won’t be until season 8.