The Office Is Downright Depressing

The Office has turned from funny and charming to the most depressing show on television, and it’s all thanks to once-beloved character Jim Halpert. “The show has taken the story of a man with a promising future and given him an interminable present,” writes Meghan Keane for The Awl. But wait: Didn’t Jim get married and promoted? Yes, but the former development showed Jim has no real friends—and the latter, that he's lousy at his job.

“The whole point of Jim was that he held the promise that at some point he would get his act together enough to break out of the confines of Dunder Mifflin,” Keane continues. “Now he's proving exactly where a lack of drive is likely to lead you—to the mediocrity of middle management.” Once the charmer who was better than his job, Jim has come to symbolize “the harsh reality that having dreams is no indication that you'll ever achieve them.”
(More The Office stories.)