‘The Office’: 1 Episode Made John Krasinski Trust the Writers With Jim and Pam, and It Wasn’t the 1st Kiss
The Office stretched out Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer)’s relationship for many seasons. When they got married in season 6, it only inspired more funny and heart wrenching stories. There was one episode Krasinski said gave him complete faith in the writers with Jim and Pam’s story.
Krasinski, Fischer and the cast of The Office were on a Television Critics Association panel on the set in 2009. Discussing the impending Jim and Pam nuptials, Krasinski shared what he considered the key episode in their relationship. The Office is now streaming on Peacock.
John Krasinski called ‘Booze Cruise’ the key ‘Office’ episode for Jim and Pam
In “Booze Cruise,” the Dunder Mifflin gang takes a January cruise. It’s not glamorous, but by season 2 it contains a pivotal moment in The Office. Krasinski noted that all he and Fischer did was say the lines the Office writers gave them.
“I definitely would attribute it all to the writers,” Krasinski said. “ I think that we’ve had a great time doing it, but I think there’s very little credit that we can take for the ideas and what it is to go ahead and do. And I think that to write such incredibly real moments has always been my favorite part of the relationship. Probably my favorite episode is ‘Booze Cruise’ and that moment on the top of the boat where they allowed silence, to play the moment that I was supposed to tell her that I loved her. I knew from then that I’d just sort of do whatever they told me to do with this relationship. “
‘The Office’ measured up after ‘Booze Cruise’
“Booze Cruise” was a tough act to follow but The Office measured up in Krasisnki’s eyes. He was getting ready to film Jim and Pam’s wedding that season, and didn’t even know about Jim’s sporting goods business, commuting and missing out on his daughter’s recital. Those were still to come.
“And I think that they followed that,” Krasinski continued. “I loved when they said that we were going to have a baby before we were getting married. Or, we would find out that we were pregnant before we got married. And I just thought that that’s real, and it’s gutsy, and you kind of would follow people anywhere if they choose to be that gutsy.”
Jenna Fischer also appreciated the evolution of Jim and Pam
Earlier on the set, Fischer had marveled at how far Pam had come pining for Jim to marrying him. She got a bit deeper reflecting on the total courtship. Fischer acknowledged that some fans were unhappy Jim and Pam got together but they’ve come around.
You know, when the relationship started and it was kind of an unrequited love relationship, I would get a lot of fan mail from people who were also pining away for someone else in their office, and they were enjoying watching that. And then when we finally got together, we’d get mail like that. And now I’m getting a bunch of mail, like, ‘I can’t wait to see you guys have a baby, because we’re expecting,’ and so I feel like we’re sort of growing up with our fans, and we’re going through those same life stages as the people who have been watching us from the beginning. And I think maybe that’s one of the reasons why the relationship has continued to be successful. It’s been growing realistically.
Jenna Fischer, Television Critics Association panel, 2009
