The Office Wedding: Have Your Cake and Eat It Too

Last week's episode of NBC's The Office was six seasons in the making. Resident office couple Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly (played by John Kransinski and Jenna Fischer) finally got married. The episode may have lacked in its usual humor, but this is because — for once — the gimmicks of manager Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and his partner-in-crime salesman Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) were forced to take a back seat. Despite their usual stunts, it was undeniable that this week's special one-hour episode was all about Jim and Pam.

The taboo of two coworkers dating should have the biggest obstacle in Pam and Jim's relationship, but as employees of the Scranton branch of the Dunder-Mifflin Paper Company, it was the least of their concerns. At first, it was just a friendly flirtatious relationship between Jim the salesman and Pam the receptionist, who was engaged to Roy Anderson (David Denman) — one of the company's warehouse workers. When Roy decided to end his dormant engagement to Pam by announcing a wedding date, Jim summons the courage to tell Pam that he loves her, but the confused Pam does not tell Jim what he wants to hear.

By the time Pam calls off her wedding to Roy, Jim has transferred to Dunder-Mifflin's Stamford branch and dates another coworker in an attempt to move on. A merger between the Stamford and Scranton branches reunite Pam and Jim, but now Jim is no longer willing to make the first move. Pam literally walks over hot coals to tell Jim in front of all their coworkers that he was the reason she called off her wedding to Roy, and since then, the two have been pretty much inseparable.

Usually a show starts to lose steam once the major couple finally gets together, but so far The Office has been able to keep things fresh without introducing unnecessary drama to Jim and Pam's lives. But their wedding most amusingly does not go off without a hitch. Michael is constantly interfering as usual, wanting to give toasts, sit at the head table and probably officiate the wedding if he could.

At the same time, he and the other two stooges, Dwight and Andy (Ed Helms), are trying their best to hook up with the hottest girls at the wedding. But Andy's attempt to throw a pre-wedding party ends with Pam having to drive him to the hospital.

Even worse, Jim — despite Pam's warnings — offends her Victorian-era grandmother, and hours before the ceremony it seems like Pam is about to crack from all the pressure of keeping her friends and family happy. But Jim, with the resourcefulness of a man who used to prank Dwight on a daily basis, has a backup plan to give Pam and their guests a wedding that they will always remember.

The Office's wedding episode was just about as perfect as it gets. After six years, Pam finally got the wedding of her dreams. And although the episode may have focused on Jim and Pam, each character had a subplot to highlight their quirks and remind us why we've been tuning in week after week to watch the lives of these crazy paper company employees.