That One Office Scene Where Jim Was a Borderline Predator

No, we aren’t talking about Dinner Party or Scott’s Tots, although those are on another level of can’t-close-our-eyes. At least, Michael as a character is supposed to make us feel all those uncomfortable things with his behavior.

Jim and Pam, on the other hand, are intended to be the cute soon-to-be couple who can never do anything wrong. Well, they have messed up on that front once or twice.

In the season 2 episode, The Fight, Michael and Dwight are going more alpha-male than usual and want to have a fight to see who is stronger. The entire office gets involved in their weird combat, but Jim and Pam are in a world of their own. They then start to jokingly fight as well, and things quickly go sideways.

Pam pretend-rams into Jim, to which he responds by lifting her off the ground. As a result, Pam’s shirt goes up, exposing her stomach, and boy, is it awkward. They laugh as Pam repeatedly tells Jim to stop (he doesn’t) until she notices that Meredith is judgingly watching them. At this point, Pam changes her tune and tells Jim to put her down (seriously this time).

Albeit confused by Pam’s sudden change of mood, Jim listens to her, Pam walks away quite upset, and he looks like he genuinely doesn’t understand what has just happened.

This scene is supposed to be cringeworthy, and Jim spends the entire episode dealing with the consequences of his actions. Luckily, all is right again when he leaves a bag of chips on Pam’s desk.

Still, this scene is wrong on so many levels. Pam is an engaged woman, but that doesn’t seem to stop her or Jim from flirting their way through the workday. That’s not to say that picking up your single coworker off the floor is okay (it’s still not and can be considered harassment).

Jim and Pam are very sweet when they become a couple, but let’s not forget that their beginnings were pretty problematic. Even they are not perfect.