The Office: Jim’s 5 Best Storylines (& His 5 Worst)

Jim Halpert is one of the most important characters on The Office, and without him and other characters like Pam, the series wouldn’t have had good balance. He was more relatable and realistic and provided a good foil to characters like Dwight and Michael.

However, while Jim was one of the most loved characters, not all of his storylines were as good as others. Just like with all the other main characters on the series, he had some well-written storylines that fans loved as well as some bad storylines that fans could have done without.

10 Worst: His relationship with Karen

This point is complicated because there parts of this storyline that weren’t so bad. However, most fans just got frustrated with Jim staying with Karen so long when he clearly loved Pam still.

Jim did a disservice to both Karen and Pam. He clearly wanted to be with Pam, but he was scared of getting hurt again. So, having an entire season of him with Karen was just too much.

9 Best: The early days of his crush on Pam

When the series was first starting, the will-they-or-won’t-they element of Jim and Pam’s relationship was really compelling. Fans tuned in to see what would happen between them, and they really wanted them to get together and for Pam to ditch Roy.

There were a lot of cute moments of their friendship and crushing on each other in the first two seasons, and it definitely created just the right amount of realistic drama.

8 Worst: Becoming a co-manager with Michael

Generally, this was one of the most confusing storylines that the show had. The idea of an office like that having two managers with equal power didn’t make a lot of sense.

It would have been better to give Michael a slightly different position and have Jim be the manager or vice versa. There’s a reason why this configuration didn’t last very long as it was mostly just nonsensical.

7 Best: Going to Stamford

While not all fans loved this, and it was definitely frustrating to watch for fans rooting for Jim and Pam, it made sense for the character. Jim felt stuck at his job, and he had his heartbroken. There wasn’t a lot of progress he could make if he stayed in Scranton.

So, this made sense for him to leave and take a new and slightly better position. But, the show was also smart to ensure he didn’t stay in Stamford too long.

6 Worst: His relationship with Katy

It’s clear that Jim only dates Katy because he wants to be with Pam but can’t. While his dating someone else made sense, this relationship made him look like a bit of a jerk. The show tried to make Katy seem like a bad person because she was more girly, and this wasn’t really fair.

Also, the way Jim broke up with her on the Booze Cruise was just incredibly cold of him.

5 Best: Putting his career goals on hold for Pam

While fans started to get frustrated with both Jim and Pam in the final season, Jim deciding to step away from Athlead was the right move.

Their relationship was going to fall apart if he didn’t do this. While they both made some mistakes, he was the one who really set a new life for them in motion without Pam’s agreement. So, he was right to put things on hold in order to save his marriage and be there for his kids.

4 Worst: Being at odds with Charles Miner

When Charles Miner came into the picture, it was hard to watch how he reacted to Jim. It’s a shame that the character was so unlikeable because he was played by the talented Idris Elba. However, seeing Jim and Charles Miner not get along became really wearing after a while.

This storyline was obviously included to create some drama for Jim and make him feel like his job was in jeopardy, but it just wasn’t effective or fun to watch.

3 Best: His ongoing pranks on Dwight

There might have been times when Jim took pranking Dwight too far, but, overall, these pranks were a big part of the show. They provided a lot of humor and hilarity that fans loved.

While they did eventually become friends by the end of the series, their antagonistic relationship was fun to see, and fans couldn’t wait to find out what weird and inventive pranks Jim would come up with next.

2 Worst: The way he handled starting Athlead

Jim wasn’t wrong to want to find a new career that made him happy. Starting a new, successful start-up was a good thing, but he didn’t handle things very well when it came to Pam.

It was just another big life decision that he made without consulting her, and this started everything off on the wrong track. This drama wasn’t something fans really loved to see, and it was a big shift in Jim and Pam’s relationship up to that point.

1 Best: Getting married to Pam

While overall, the Jim and Pam relationship was a core emotional element in the show, there were specific parts of their story that were particularly great.

The season leading up to their wedding showed them as they prepared to welcome their first child, and while things didn’t go completely according to their own plan, they were happy and endearing.

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