Let’s not judge something that hasn’t happened yet. I remember when Pam and Jim finally got together, everyone was complaining about how it was gonna be a stereotypical Ross/Rachel type relationship and they would break up for a while just to cause drama. Which they haven’t. Of course, now people complain that their relationship is too good.
Just because you’re on birth control doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t be instantly happy to find out you’re having a baby. It’s not as if they don’t want kids, they were probably just waiting until after they got married.
When Creed and Meredith are tapped to babysit?
I find it hard to believe any boyfriend other than Michael would see that comic routine and not be like “yikes”.
Maybe the instant joy was for the cameras (except that it seemed honest). I agree that the reaction was weird for a couple who weren’t trying to get pregnant.
Or maybe Pam and Jim were both a bit apprehensive about the marriage, and now that Pam’s pregnant, they can both be sure (and so can the viewers) that it’ll happen.
They did both look momentarily stunned and then happy. And the cameras weren’t really “there” and they didn’t acknowledge them at all. Perhaps they hadn’t been as vigilant with their BC and were open to a baby but not really expecting it. When it really came true, their real feelings were happiness.
I don’t find the reaction that odd. Why wouldn’t they be happy? They’re obviously madly in love, probably have discussed having children, both have jobs, they have a home, etc. I think the most realistic reaction is instant shock and happiness, as shown. It might take a few hours for the “Holy shit…a baby!” reality to sink in.
And for those who are unhappy with how happy Jim and Pam are (in general, not just about the pregnancy), can you think of a realistic problem for them to have? Because I can’t. They’re just too compatible. Jealously? Cheating? Career issues? Nah, none of those fit. Maybe I could see them bickering about how he always leaves wet towels on the floor, and she leaves her art stuff all over the place, or something, but that hardly makes for riveting TV.
Well, if you were a woman going in to get your ankle examined and tests showed that you were pregnant, which was not at all the reason you went to the hospital in the first place, wouldn’t you be surprised? BC or no, they didn’t go there to confirm a suspected pregnancy, they went there to get the ankle looked at.
Nah, he converted the garage to a studio so he won’t even have that to complain about. 
C’mon. Give the show a little credit. It’s already dealt with Jan’s pregnancy, and that was not a shark moment. In fact, Michael and Dwight rehearsing the delivery was a classic moment.
Now Michael is going to be dealing with a pregnant woman (and eventually, new mother) – who he already sees as a daughter figure – five days a week. I see a wealth of awkward, cringe-worthy moments between Michael, Pam and Jim.
At the very worst, the child will simply disappear (see Riichie Petrie, Chuck Cunningham, any of Carla’s children on Cheers, both Ross AND Rachel’s children on Friends…)
I’m not an Office fan, but I am a Dwight fan, and for me this episode rocked for one simple reason: James Urbaniak. For some reason - probably because they sort of look alike - I’ve been wanting for a while to see Urbaniak (voice of Dr. Venture on the Venture Brothers) interact with a Rainn Wilson character. So to have him pop up as Dwight’s old friend made my night.
I’ve been in Jim’s place a few times. In my experience the “holy fuck” comes first and the happiness later. Initially, it’s too shocking for an articulate emotion like joy to seep through.
Neither does a happy crappy wedding and baby and perfect relationship.
As for realistic problems, none of the above is unrealistic, but it doesn’t have to be as radical as cheating. Realistically, there is a definite period of sobering up and adjustment once a relationship gets past the initial few months of the “we’re so in love” endorphine buzz. Quirks start to annoy more, differences of opinion become more contentious, and yes, eyes can stray even with basically stable couples. You think Jim isn’t checking out that new receptionist? Of course he is. He won’t say or do anything about it, but he’s looking.
I think one thing about the period of adjustment that occurs around the second year of a relationship is that you find yourself fighting about really stupid and trivial things – what to have for dinner, what to watch on TV, a political disagreement that you hadn’t seen coming – it’s a period when you’re finding out that the other person actually is a different person, who is not automatically going to necessarily agree with everything you think, love everything that you love and hate everything that you hate. They think your favorite movie that you’ve been dying to show them is just ok. They won’t eat your favorite thing to cook because it’s “too spicy” (even though it’s totally not that spicy at all, and you made iit mild for them). They’re always playing the same stupid CD in the car that you hate. You find out they have the complete opposite opinion on abortion as you do – all that stuff can lead to ridiculously big arguments.
It’s also the period when they start becoming really human. They have body odor. They’re not quite as witty or clever or interesting as you thought. They snore. They have bad breath in the morning. The guy blows snot rockets into the sink every morning. He laughs at his own farts. She has irritating food issues which make it hard to cook for her or choose a restaurant since she’ll only eat like three things. Her voice gets shrill when she’s tired or annoyed. He tunes her out when she’s trying to talk about her feelings. He falls asleep on the couch on the weekends and doesn’t get any housework done.
All of this kind of thing can be fodder for realistic tension and adjustment without being threatening to the relationship, and it can also be made funny.
The circumstances that would lead up to that happening are full of comedy gold, as would the babysitting itself. I’m sure Creed wouldn’t mind babysitting for the tall guy and that girl.
We’ve actually seen the little stuff like that. Like the argument over the copier/chairs, or when Pam got Jim into the fine living club. But this isn’t a relationship show, so they try not to spend too much time on Pam and Jim. (They spend some, I won’t deny that). And I like how they keep the BIG moments (First kiss, proposal, baby) at bay. I’d bet good money that we don’t see Pam in labor at all.
I’m sure he thinks they already have a kid. Or they got divorced.
The main take-away from this episode (no, not the pregnancy which was meh) was that Michael and Holly are indeed soul mates. The way they interacted was natural and felt like they had never split. Their skit was cringingly bad but they carried on regardless. I usually don’t agree with Michael’s view of things, but with Holly he may be right that they’re going to end up together again. Also I think that this episode sowed the seeds for an Angela-Dwight relationship restart and an Andy-Erin fling. All good. But the Pam-Jim nicey-nicey world is boring at best and mostly annoying.
Overall, a nice finale to the season because it brought back some key characters from this season (Holly, Charles), and you get to see all the D-M people in one setting displaying their well-established individual personality quirks.
My favorite line (Dwight): “Hahaahaaha … [switching to straight-faced] No, he’s just a regular doctor who shoots your horse when his leg is broken.”
I wasn’t too big a fan, but I always thought Everybody Loves Raymond handled the kid thing very well. The show rarely based episodes around them, almost to the point where I forgot they had 3 kids.
Hopefully The Office will do the same and keep the kid out of the picture…and please, for the love of all that is good and holy, no very special miscarriage episode.
Oh, well is it OK that I think this rationale is bullshit? That was my purpose in asking the question. ISTM that the HR person hould not be dating anyone in the office. If that’s the rule, then that’s the rule. That Holly should be dating another DM employee is a bit contrived, just to create a scenario that would irk Michael.
I think that Michael is going to go nuts over the PB&J baby. Remember how excited he was about Jan’s baby? He loves kids, and I think he’s going to glom onto this kid and try to horn into their preparations. Not sure if it’ll be funny or not, but I’m along for the ride.
You might think so, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s perfectly realistic and rational. It’s very common for some employees (managers, for example) to face restrictions that other employees in the same company don’t face. (It’s even true in the military, where a private can date another private, but a lieutenant would face discipline for dating a sergeant.)
Exactly as contrived as any of the other office romances in the show.
I’ll say this may be my least favorite season finally of the show, but this was one of my favorite seasons. There were supposed to be people from the past in this episode. Aside from Charles and Holly, anyone catch anyone else from the past? I read we would see someone we hadn’t seen since season two, anyone know who that is? Was Dwight’s friend ever on the show?