Pam should have ended up with Brian the lovely boom mic guy instead. Not Jim.
Pretty much everyone considers Jim and Pam Halpert to be the most perfectly suited TV couple of all time. But guess what: You're all wrong.
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Because Jim is a dick.
Don't believe me? Well buckle up, people, because I have proof, and lots of it.
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First of all, it's worth pointing out that Jim doesn't start off as a dick. His dickishness increases over time.
It pretty much starts the night he's turned down by Pam, but he still follows her to the empty office and kisses her anyway, even though she said no. Then when that *magically* doesn't win her over, he sulk-flounces all the way to Stamford.
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Then there was his treatment of Karen. WTF, Jim.
He persuades Karen to move to Scranton, then he's weird with her. He gets pissy when the new apartment she finds happens to be close to his house, so he doesn't want her to take it. When Karen asks, “Did you ever have a thing for Pam?” he says, “No. Why?” That’s a direct lie. Then, when she finds out he did have a thing for Pam and wants to talk it through (as you would), he’s a jerk about that as well: “Karen and I have had a long talk last night, and the night before that, and every night for the last five nights.” Dickkkkkkkk.
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Remember when Pam had her art show? Where was Jim? Oh, yes, he didn't show up to support her.
She invited all her coworkers along, but most of them didn't show. Even crappy Roy showed up (briefly), and Michael came (of course). But not Jim. He was too busy pranking Dwight by pretending he'd turned into a vampire. What a plum.
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And his treatment of Pam actually sucked quite a lot of the time after they got together as well.
At Michael and Jan's bum-clenchingly cringey dinner party not long after Pam and Jim get together, Jim pretends to get a call, then lies and says his apartment is flooded. He does make a weak attempt to rescue Pam as well, but when that fails he immediately puts on his coat, intending to leave her there on her own. Nope.
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When Pam tries to fake a call to get out of lunch with her mom and Michael, Jim sabotages her.
So it's OK for Jim to fake an emergency to get out of an awkward dinner party, but Pam isn't allowed to do the same to avoid going to lunch with her mom and her boss? Hearing them talk about their sex life has been completely horrifying her. So why doesn't Jim let her use a Get Out of Jail Free card? He sucks.
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In Season 5, he doesn't pay any attention to anything Pam tells him about her art course.
He seems a bit frustrated that she's called him at all, fails to follow anything she tells him about her classmates, then – after she hangs up – he semi-sarcastically says "good story". TELL ME, ARE THESE THE ACTIONS OF A GOOD MAN?
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And can we please talk about the fact he BOUGHT PAM A DAMN HOUSE WITHOUT TELLING HER?
And not just any house, his parents' weird old house, which he bought "impulsively". He was so lucky that Pam liked it. And this is far from the only time that he does something major without telling her either. *cough* dumb sports marketing company *cough*
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And why will he never PARTICIPATE in anything? Who refuses to dress up at Halloween?
Pam buys a cute Olive Oyl and Popeye couple's costume to win the Scranton coupon book, but Jim refuses to join in and dress up, and repeats this sort of behaviour time and again. He's a party-pooping fun-sponge. All he actually enjoys is A) pranking, and B) making important life decisions without consulting his wife.
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He's a mediocre co-parent at best, and leaves Pam to pick up the slack with Cece way too often.
Firstly, Cece has to be baptised in an Arcade Fire T-shirt because Jim said he’d checked that they had a spare christening gown in the car but he HAD NOT CHECKED. Then he leaves Pam to deal with Cece on her own during the Glee viewing party, so Dwight steps in to help her quiet the baby. AND THEN Jim refuses to go fetch Dwight beer and pizza as a thank you for getting HIS kid to sleep, even though if Dwight moves Cece will wake up. Tool.
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When he gets the "best dad" Dundie, does he mention Pam? NO, OF COURSE HE DOES NOT.
HEY JIM, maybe you should stop following your own compass, and start following Pam's damn compass for a change. Tsk, he does not deserve that Dundie at all.
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He's also, like, the least supportive colleague ever.
Take, for example, the time Jim and Pam get in a car with Erin and she says she's eating lunch in her car because she doesn’t like spending time with Gabe. Pam is concerned and starts asking Erin questions, but Jim just gets out of the car, then it cuts to him saying “sorry, that just wasn’t interesting to me.” What a jerkbag he is.
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He's always bitching about his job, and imagining running away or doing something else.
OK, so sometimes this is fairly relatable, but he does nothing to improve things. And after he hands the acting manager job to Dwight, he sits in his car dreaming about driving off rather than going to his desk. And says he wouldn't take Pam.
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So it's hardly a surprise when he does his ultimate dick move: Taking the "Athlead" job without telling Pam.
He tells her to go ahead to the car – he has to make a "quick call". Yep, a call about a job in Philly that will TURN HER WHOLE LIFE UPSIDE DOWN. Jim, you suck.
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And if that wasn't enough, he then decides to invest $10,000 in Athlead "to look like a team player".
Again, WITHOUT TELLING PAM. It's OK, Jim, your kids don't need to go to college.
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Unsurprisingly, this "best dad" isn't too sad to be several hundred miles away from his own kids.
When he sublets the apartment in Philly with Daryll, we also find out that he's messy as hell. Does poor Pam have to deal with filthy dishes everywhere too? SOMEONE SAVE PAM FROM THE LIVING HELL OF BEING MARRIED TO THIS SELFISH DEADBEAT.
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Jim tells all his new colleagues he's planning to move to Philly. Do you know who he doesn't tell?
Oh yes, that's right. Pam. She has to find out from the receptionist. Nice.
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This all culminates, of course, in him missing Cece's dance recital. And then MAKING PAM CRY.
Not only that, but he also doesn't let her speak, constantly shouts over her, and won't even let her point out – fairly – that he's being a great big dicky dickish dickhole.
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But wait, what's this? Why, it's Brian the extremely handsome boom mic operator, of course!
Brian, who's watched over her for years, who makes them turn off the camera, who strokes her shoulder. Brian, the saviour we've been waiting for. Hail Brian.
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GUYS, SHE SHOULD HAVE ENDED UP WITH BRIAN.
Just look at the way he looks at her. His eyes are basically heart emojis. 😍
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And don't forget that he protected Pam from that vindictive warehouse guy too. He saved her LIFE (sort of).
Sorry, but hitting a guy in the face with a boom mic, then wrestling him to the ground, then getting fired in a noble, self-sacrificing, and dignified way is much more romantic than cutting your tie in half on your wedding day.
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