‘The Office’: John Krasinski Pitched This Heartbreaking Scene From the Final Season
John Krasinski played Jim Halpert, the salesman who was in love with receptionist Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) on The Office. But behind the scenes, Krasinski was often pitching ideas for bits, and on occasion, specific shots. There’s one pivotal scene in The Office that was Krasinski’s idea. Ironically, it’s a scene that depicts Jim and Pam’s relationship falling apart.
Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly hit a rough patch near the end of ‘The Office’
After seasons of buildup, fans finally got to see the romance between Jim and Pam blossom. From their engagement to their wedding and the birth of their two children, Jim and Pam were a seemingly perfect couple. But, like all relationships, theirs wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows.
As The Office was nearing the end, Jim and Pam started to struggle with the communication in their relationship. They sought help from counseling, but all of the pressure came crashing down on both of them in season 9.
Jim was working part-time in Philadelphia, hoping to get his start-up, Athlead, off the ground. Pam supported his endeavors, but not having her husband around to help with the day-to-day stresses raising two kids can present eventually wore on her.
Jim Halpert eventually snapped at Pam Beesly Halpert
When Pam accidentally messed up recording their daughter’s dance recital, Jim got verbally upset with her. He had just found out he lost an investor, and hearing that Pam wasn’t able to record any of the dance recital tipped him over the edge.
For fans, it was a raw, real moment that was tough to watch. But that moment was so much more — it was the first time viewers got to see the boom mic operator, Brian (Chris Diamantopoulos).
“What am I doing wrong?” Pam questioned Brian. He put his equipment down to comfort her. “Nothing, you’re doing the best you can,” Brian said. “It’s just a tough situation.”
Later in the season, Pam visited Brian at his condo to question him about the documentary release and about his opinion of her marriage to Jim — something a lot of fans took issue with.
John Krasinski pitched the idea of wedging Brian the boom mic guy in between Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly Halpert
Showrunners knew fans wanted to see the perfect ending for Jim and Pam. But Greg Daniels knew their relationship needed a bit of drama before it could get that happy ending.
“You needed to inject a bit of upset in the tranquility at that point and try and get the intensity [of their relationship] back,” Daniels said on Office star Brian Baumgartner’s podcast, An Oral History of The Office.
For Daniels, part of the appeal The Office was the intensity of it. “To make people really feel something, you have to put a little jeopardy in.”
“I had this idea that I pitched Greg, and it came from Chris Workman,” Krasinski explained to Baumgartner. Workman was a camera operator who had put a camera down one day and left it running. Krasinksi loved the shot and thought it would make for a perfect scene in The Office.
Krasinski suggested having the camera crew put their equipment down so that the camera caught that moment between Brian and Pam when it wasn’t supposed to. “It ended up in the episode with the boom guy,” Krasinski said.
By working that choice camera angle into the show, fans finally got a glimpse at the crew behind the documentary in The Office and the relationships they formed with Dunder Mifflin’s employees.
