In the history of sitcom romance, the relationship of The Office’s Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) is generally held up as one of the best—nicely slow-burning over several seasons, resulting in a loving family and mature relationship for what started out as a workplace crush. In particular, Jim Halpert, who waited around for years to get Pam, the receptionist of his dreams, is highlighted as the ultimate nice guy. But what this new BuzzFeed article, titled “Sorry To Break This To You, But Jim From The Office Is Actually A Dick” presupposes is: What if he isn’t?
In a series of 21 bullet points, writer Hilary Mitchell tries to make the case that Brian, the boom mic guy, was actually a better fit for our Pam. Yes, it sounds crazy, but hear her out. She points to Jim’s many flaws, like neglecting to go to Pam’s art show (hey, Michael made it), stringing Karen along when his heart was clearly already called for, and buying a house for Pam without telling her. Then Mitchell takes aim at that whole Athlead arc, in which Jim left his young family to go shack up with Darryl in a filthy apartment hundreds of miles away. She points to times when Dwight steps in to help with baby Cece more than Jim did. Conversely, Brian sits down and listens to Pam’s problems, and also defends her from the irate warehouse guy.
We were as dubious as anyone on seeing that headline, but by the end of the list, our sympathies may have slid a bit. Fortunately, we can continue this debate on Twitter, where the attack on Jim’s character is being hotly contested: