Thoughts

If you didn't watch The Office last night and don't what to know details, don't read this.

I had a lot of time to mull this all over since I couldn't sleep last night due to some lovely nasal congestion. First the non-Jim/Pam stuff:

Nitpick: Kevin has said his band is a Steve Miller cover band, but they're called Scrantonicity and they were doing a Police song.

I love Creed. I laughed when he said about the soup kitchen having good split pea soup on Thursdays and that he's never owned a refrigerator before.

I thought Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration was going to announce that he and Phyllis were getting engaged.

Jan wants to hit that again? Interesting...

Jim is totally the new Lloyd Dobler. Hopefully that doesn't mean John Krasinski will become doughy and make bad movies (sorry John Cusack!).

I was completely surprised about Jim and Pam. The writers of The Office would always give out fake spoilers so I never bothered reading into them. The only thing I knew going into this last night was that Jenna Fischer said that Jim and Pam weren't going to be in this summer's webisodes because it wouldn't make sense with what happened last night. I thought it was going to end with Pam standing alone in the parking lot, THEN I thought it was going to end with Pam on the phone with her mom.

I loved that Jim professed his feelings. It was about time for him to grow a pair and do that. The crying was excellent. My heart dropped to my stomach during that scene. And of course, I swooned at the kiss. I didn't see that coming. Someone on the boards pointed out that Jim called Pam's bluff and bet it all at the casino, and he was sort of doing the same thing here. He called her "I value our friendship too much" bluff and just went for it.

Where do things go from here? We obviously only heard one side of Pam's phone conversation (nice touch with having her on Jim's phone), but I'd like to think that her, "I think I am," was in response to a question about whether or not she is in love with Jim or about whether or not she is going to call the wedding off. We know that her mom already knows all about Jim because she asked Pam about him in season 2's "Sexual Harassment." I take the fact that she called her mom as a positive thing. It was like she wanted her mom to validate her feelings for Jim. I've done the same; not about relationships, but about other life decisions. Her response to the kiss, hesitant at first but then giving in, shows promise. All of these things make me squee.

Don't get me wrong; it was great to see that, but I'm worried that maybe this happened to soon. I think it's safe to say that the wedding won't happen, but will Jim transfer to Stamford? His conversation with Jan made it seem like he hasn't given her a definite answer yet (did anyone else think Jim and Jan were going to hook up?). My main concern is that there are at least 22 episodes left. I'm fine if Jim and Pam become a couple as long as they take it slow. I don't want the standard sitcom-my relationship for them (I'm looking at you, Ross/Rachael and Niles/Daphne). Part of the allure of the show is the unrequited love theme. I know when I tune in my main interest after the jokes is whether or not this will be a good Jim/Pam episode or a bad one. It's like being excited for a day at work or school when you're going to see your crush. If things go well you're on cloud 9 all day, but if they don't it ruins your week.

But what if, on the other hand, the writers decide to back off the Jim/Pam angle. I think that's impossible at this point. Pam may have doubted that Jim had feelings beyond friendship before, but there's no way that could happen now. If they do have Pam reject Jim (at least in the beginning) we'll lose some of the excellent Jim/Pan dynamic.

Pondering what ifs for 4 months isn't going to change anything. I trust the writers not to screw things up, and I'm anxiously waiting for September to see what happens with my favorite TV couple ever. The second season can't come out on DVD soon enough.