Comments on: The Office: Now That We've Found Love, What Are We Going to Do With It?

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 04:03:47 +0000

I'm not really sure why it's so surprising that there was a lack of a Karen scene whenever the entire set of circumstances--that in reality would have taken the course of a couple of hours (the trip back from New York)-- from the point where Jim left the interview until the time he asked out Pam was presented in the show's mockumentary-style format to the audience in about 2-3 minutes to end the season. This leaves plenty of time at any point early on in season 4 to address the issue as a reflection instead of having it interfere with what I felt was great pacing to end "The Job."

By: Melody

Melody — Mon, 21 May 2007 14:19:50 +0000

I'm a straight woman, and I adore both Pam and Karen. I've understood the reality that Karen was probably not going to return for season four, and I haven't stopped whining about it!

By: jen

jen — Sat, 19 May 2007 15:06:53 +0000

Next time do a bit more research before you write an article. Jim asked Pam to dinner, not to get together. That is a quite presumptious statement. If you had done your homework, you would know Karen will be doing both shows next season. The triangle still exists. The writers are by no means dumb, they will deal with Jim and how he left NY sans Karen, but until they make us sweat a bit. (a la Jims reaction to Pam's speech-didn't see that until the following week).

By: Intrepyd

Intrepyd — Sat, 19 May 2007 02:20:51 +0000

I was delighted at the way the season wrapped up. I was certain they'd erect another arbitrary obstacle between Jim and Pam and keep on mixing the same ingredients for next season. It was a moment of maturity for this show. They resisted the temptation to string the audience along this tired plot device, while the payoff for these two characters was long overdue.

By: Nemme

Nemme — Fri, 18 May 2007 21:07:51 +0000

Interesting question about gender choices in the Pam/Karen debate. As a woman, I have always rooted for Pam but also liked Karen tremendously. I didn't necessarily care for her as Jim's girlfriend, but I did like her role in Jim's life. (Everything goes back to the two, Jim and Pam, and how situations impact them.) So, I cannot say that liking Karen is strictly a male thing, but I would guess that it's more of a geek-boy fantasy to see Jim in the middle of both of them. What's interesting about your question, though, is that I think Pam's arc this season has really connected with the female audience, and I wonder if it's true - even at all - with the male one. Almost every woman I talk to about The Office wants to talk about Pam's journey, and even when we want her to get together with Jim, it's been so much more rewarding to see her grow and find her voice. Getting that ending last night was icing on the cake.

By: Mark Z

Mark Z — Fri, 18 May 2007 20:59:05 +0000

Getting Jim and Pam together was the best possible thing for the show. As far as I am concerned, the episodes that lacked almost any JAM drama were by far the best episodes this season: "Business School," "Benihana Christmas," "The Negotiation," "Women's Appreciation (Yes Subtext is included in a couple but no overt interactions). Once the ensemble became more well-defined characters that proved they could handle extended screen time (Kevin, Oscar, Darryl, Angela, Meredith, and, my personal favorite, Creed), it completely eliminated the need for the JAM "Will they or Wont they?" story line that carried much of season two. By the end of Season 3, The Office had become a pitch perfect, 10-15 actor deep ensemble comedy. This is in sharp contrast to season 2 where it depended heavily on 4 characters for almost all of comedy and plot. Don't get me wrong, I loved Season 2 the same way I loved Season 1 of "The OC," but second half of season 3 was by far a technically superior show. By "The Job," The Office didn't need the JAM storyline to thrive. To me this is the equivalent of a strong growth company like Google offering a dividend for the first time. Sure, a lot of the pleasure of the show is seeing it do the right things by building the plot line (market value) slowly and not resorting to any cheap sitcom cliches (needless acquisitions if you will). However, after a certain point, a company only needs so much cash and it is in the best interest of the company to return some of the investment back to the shareholders directly as a dividend. Sure, the money could be used on internal company projects but it wouldn't be as beneficial (How much more "will they or won't they" can actually be sustained? UK Office lasted 13 episodes, American office is around 60 now) To me this is making the shareholders happy and leaving the company as strong, if not stronger, than it was before. There certainly are some potential pitfalls, but to me, the second half of season 3 showed that "The Office" is more than capable of handling this uncharted territory.

By: Amanda G.

Amanda G. — Fri, 18 May 2007 19:27:10 +0000

No thanks for the too-late spoiler warning! The teaser sentence on the homepage while I was glancing down was enough to ruin my night of tv catchup. At least I don't know what happened on LOST!

By: Dick Nelson

Dick Nelson — Fri, 18 May 2007 19:23:52 +0000

I must disagree with your assessment that the hiring of Ryan was unbelievable. I've personally seen many instances where an MBA is able to leapfrog several layers of management regardless of how proficient that employee was at his/her current position. How do you suppose many of the VP's and senior VP's in corporate America (who happen to be in their late 30's) were able to attain that position? It's a sad reality of our corporate culture and The Office nailed it brilliantly.

By: TKC

TKC — Fri, 18 May 2007 18:30:19 +0000

Yeah, the lack of a Karen scene was sort of puzzling -- I'm guessing they kept it out to keep from spoiling the end-of-episode surprise, but she at least deserved to be mentioned by Jim in a post-asking-Pam-out talking-head interview.

That said, I can't imagine Karen won't get her side of things told next season -- maybe not an on-camera breakup (as with Pam ditching Roy between seasons two and three, I'd imagine the writers might take a pass on such a painful and unfunny scene), but I hope they at least give her a chance to vent about having been treated as a Substitute Pam.