THE OFFICE Spoilers and Speculation
April 5, 2008 by Kath Skerry
We are less than one week away from the return of THE OFFICE. I don’t know about you but the thought of seeing my favorite Dunder Mifflinites back after such a long hiatus is oddly comforting.
This week’s episode titled ‘Dinner Party’ was the last one written before the WGA strike and was said to be the funniest table read the cast had ever had for any single episode. The glimpses revealed through various promos and scenes (see below) look so funny and so very cringeworthy – exactly what THE OFFICE does best. But what’s in store for Jim, Pam, Michael, Dwight and the rest of the crew when the show airs its first post-strike episode?
(A scene from “Dinner Party”)
Showrunner Greg Daniels has confirmed that the timeline will indeed reflect the months off resulting from the strike, but just how the lapse in time will be explained we just don’t know. Will the ‘documentary’ crew have taken a few months off? Will Corporate think the cameras needed to go away for a little while after the chaos surrounding Jan’s lawsuit? I guess we’ll know in just a few weeks.
I’ll be honest with you. What I’m most interested in is how the time jump has affected my favorite TV couple Jim and Pam. Before the emails come pouring in, please understand that I realize THE OFFICE is more than just the Jim and Pam hour. This is MY favorite show on TV, so I know better. But in terms of the characters most affected by the strike, Jim and Pam top the list. And now comes word that our favorite duo may have some big happenings right around the corner.
According to OfficeTally.com, Jim, Pam and Dwight will be featured on the April 14-20th cover of TVGuide.com, and while the picture itself isn’t all that revealing, OfficeTally.com’s own showrunner, Jennie Tan, who got a sneak peek at the cover had this to say, “WOWZERS. Not so much for the photo that’s shown, but for the accompanying text. ‘Cause it’s big-time spoilery.” Hmmm.
That alone would be enough to get my attention, but that coupled with what Jenna Fischer had to say in this week’s EW really has me on edge. On what’s in store for Jim and Pam, Fischer promised major plot developments. “You don’t want to miss the second episode back…big stuff happens for Jim and Pam.” Uh to the Oh. Big stuff, good? or Big stuff, bad? Come on Fischer…we need a little more. She went on to say that in the May 1st episode “you find out something new and big about Pam that you have never known.”
Now this is where the fun (i.e. masochism) begins. What does the future hold for Mr. Halpert and Ms. Beesly. Will the big news be that of an engagement? As much as I’m pulling for these kids, I hope that’s not the case. After waiting three years for them to finally get together, the audience was cheated out of their early courtship because of the summer hiatus. And just as we were starting to get to know them as a couple, the WGA robbed us of watching their relationship develop. If you think about it, all we know is that they are indeed together and Jim ‘loves Italian food’. We don’t know what Italian food, um, I mean Pam, feels for her long time suitor. An engagement would feel just so sudden. Especially considering that Pam just got out of a ten year relationship.
But on the flip side of an engagement is the fear of a breakup. I trust that Greg Daniels and co know what they are doing since they hold the long term future for this couple, but for all the reasons stated above, a breakup wouldn’t work. Again, we the audience haven’t had enough time with Jim and Pam to deal with a breakup. It would be cruel.
What other options are we left with? A pregnancy? A little co-habitation? (Perhaps Pam’s big secret has to do with her secret single lifestyle). Or perhaps Pam will reveal her secret attraction to the ladies, and hence the promised return of Karen (Rashida Jones) and a storyline that sees all of John Krasinski’s Jim Halpert’s wildest dreams come true. Hmmm.
As fruitless as it is to speculate (because let’s face it, whatever we come up with won’t be half as interesting as what the writers will give us), let’s go ahead and speculate away.
Oh and if you’re someone that is more interested in the love life of Michael and Jan, well you’re in for some story seas ahead. Jenna Fischer spilled that Pam will set up Michael on a date. If Michael is dating, then where is Jan?
And……begin!
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Maybe the warehouse guys went on strike? I’m so excited Office is coming back, but I don’t want any big surprises for PB and J! I want them to be in the same place we left them! I think you’re right GMMR, an engagement wouldn’t be a whole lot better than a breakup at this point (well, yes it would be, but still not what I want to happen). This is making me nervous…
But the clip from Dinner Party is hilarious!!
I’m hoping for a JAM baby. I think that it would be a whole new element to the relationship and to the show in general. JAM having a baby before marriage, and a baby in general could give depth and add a different direction to the show as well. I don’t know, it could be a number of things. I’m just hoping ‘big’ = good because I love JAM too much for a breakup.
I’ve been wondering and wondering what it all could mean. If Jim and Pam were people I knew in real life, I’d expect them to be engaged by now (“now” meaning the now after “Dinner Party”), but on a TV show? I just don’t know.
I’ll be pretty upset if it’s a break-up. They’ve been through too much and are too well suited for each other for me to believe they’d break up. (Unless Jim kills Pam’s cat. But didn’t she say she was a dog person?)
I leave the speculating to people much smarter than myself. But basically everythin you said – ditto!
Aww soo many what ifs, not enough time. I’ve been trying not to think about what will happen after I read Jenna’s comment about the second episode back. But now it’s too hard NOT to think about it. Everything I have thought of you’ve mentioned. I’m hoping for a Jim/Pam living together move. That’d be nice. 😉
Maybe I’m too much of an optimist but I can’t believe we’re headed for a breakup. Maybe a set back here in there but not a break up. One of the things I’m the most interested in seeing this thursday is how they’re gonna handle Angela’s pregnancy. How are they gonna reconcile it with her character? And poor Dwight? How is going to be handling a Schrute baby born out of wedlock?
I hope there’s no JAM engagement and I would stop watching this show if there was a pregnancy. This is The Office, not As the World Turns
I think they just move in together. I think that would be the most natural/realistic progression at this point in their relationship, but at the same time I don’t think that’s much of a curve-ball, so who knows!
As for the new information about Pam, I’m thinking we find out that Roy wasn’t the only man in her past. Maybe she even dated another Dunder Mifflinite ( Darryl maybe? Dwight? lol jk) after she called off the wedding. I’m pretty excited for find out something new about FNB Beesley.
They cannot break up. If i sense a break up ill will figure out some grand scheme to shut down NBC’s production until they rethink their actions. A time out of sorts.
Don’t take me seriously or call the cops or anything. They just CAN NOT break up.
Oh, this speculation scares me so much! I don’t want to see Jim or Pam unhappy again, I’ve had three seasons of that. I don’t want to watch a soap, I want to watch the funniest show on tv.
On an unrelated note, that BSG recap is tempting me but I only just finished season one last night. That is a great re imagining of the Last Supper! Six as Jesus is mind boggling.
Just as long as JAM doesn’t ‘take a break’ from each other, it’s all good.
I’ll confess that I took a break from my obsession for this show which was probably a good thing but the frenzy is heating up again and I’m loving it.
I’ll be honest that I’ve been trying to stay away from spoilers this season after the hilarity of the sumo suits during last season’s “Beach Games” was ruined for me. But these hardly count. I thought during “The Deposition” that Jan and Michael would have to be done. I’ve been rewatching all the previous seasons, realizing how much I love Jan pre-Michael. She was so out of line at the deposition that I was surprised when they were in the car getting Chinese food at the end. Based on Michael’s “you never expect to get screwed by your girlfriend” comment, I’ve gotta think he’s had enough. After their dinner party, maybe Pam and Jim decide to buy Michael’s condo. Michael doesn’t want to live with the memory of Jan. I can handle Jam living together but no babies or marriage yet.
Ahhhhh, I am dying–all these speculations and spoilers are driving me crazy! They should just have an Office marathon with all the new episodes just so we can have some answers.
As for the curveball, as long as they don’t break up Jam, I’ll survive.
I say Pam is a nude model for an art class. That is the best I can think of that would be big for Pam, but not be too soap operaish. I am so super excited The Office is back in a few days.
Man, I can’t wait for the return of this show. Nothing else on TV makes me laugh as hard, and I’ve missed the sure-thing entertainment on Thursdays. I don’t watch this merely for the Jim/Pam romance either, but it does factor in pretty heavily, so it’s tough not to be somewhat invested. So, as long as there is no Pam and Jim breakup I’m okay. I hate the word curveball in Jenna’s hint though, because to me that means something unexpected and unsettling. But I personally think it is way too soon for an engagement or wedding. They’ve been friends for a long time, but dating less than a year. If the writers are keeping it real, I think they’ll be considering moving in together–that seems logical.
I don’t see them getting engaged this early. I think if it’s something “major” it will be that they moved in together or some other big relationship step. I’m also reallly interested to see what’s going on with Andy/Angela since they appear to be an item now from the previews. Poor Dwight.
I don’t care what happens, as long as it happens,, I have waited too long for a new episode…My bottom line is : I love Jim – I like the relationship with Pam, but the writers know what the people what…More John – (I mean, Jim) if they need someone to make Pam jealous, I’m there….