r/DunderMifflin • u/drguillen13 • 5d ago

Lee Kirk, Jenna Fischer's real-life husband, directed one episode of The Office (S9,E14: Vandalism). In it, Jim is depicted as a slob and a non-ideal roommate.

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21.4k Upvotes
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6.5k

u/dumblyClose91 5d ago

It's worth noting that Jim once called Pam a slob, so imagine how messy their house is.

2.2k

u/jacuzzi_full_of_jizz Karen 5d ago

When he has everyone over to his apartment, the apartment is pretty nice and clean looking. Maybe he's the type of dude that only cleans up for an audience or he and Pam grew into some super bad habits together between the BBQ at the apartment and Jim and Daryl rooming together.

648

u/maniac86 5d ago

All his dirty dishes were bundled in a tarp.under his bed

122

u/Alreadybeenthoughtof 5d ago edited 16h ago

no his shirts were too ironed for that kind of laziness. can't remember were his shirts really ironed?🤔

Edit: This should be enough upvotes to post here now lol

52

u/KHonsou 4d ago

My flatmate does this. If he does a big "clean", most stuff is either moved into the corner in the kitchen, or a massive pile of clothes with a large blanket covering it.

324

u/washington_breadstix Foul man who keeps talking about intercourse 5d ago

Inconsistent writing. I think the "Jim is a slob" joke was introduced just for this one episode (where he's roommates with Darryl) and then never referred to again.

86

u/El_Chairman_Dennis 5d ago

I think the point of the episode is to show that Darryl and Jim are deeper friends than what had been seen between them on the show to that point. You don't really see them interact that much, then they go into business together. Jim is clearly comfortable in that new corporate environment but Darryl is clearly new to it. This is just my opinion, but I think the episode was meant to show the audience that they are good friends and Jim doesn't have some ulterior motive in bringing Darryl into an environment that is clearly not his norm

36

u/KingKingsons 4d ago

That's why I initially actually liked that they acknowledged the camera crew in that season. It showed that they had a life beyond the cameras. The filming crew is always there so it makes sense that they've become friends as well etc. But then they took it way too far lol.

136

u/whitey-ofwgkta Darryl 5d ago

Pam fired back that Jim was kinda a slob too in that episode before they move in together

17

u/tarekd19 5d ago

I think that's part of the suggestion of the post, where the director purposefully wanted to make Jim look bad.

10

u/MagisterFlorus 5d ago

the director can change parts of the script but they don't create the whole episode from scratch

1

u/Chimpbot 4d ago

TV directors don't have much power. If we were to compare TV production to movies, the showrunner(s) would be the directors, and the folks directing individual episodes would be more like unit directors working under the main ones. Generally speaking, they're not going to be doing things like completely reframing characters for their own purposes - especially if they weren't even the person who wrote the episode in the first place.

It's really just more of an amusing coincidence than anything else.

39

u/HoidToTheMoon 5d ago

It reads exactly like someone with ADHD who has a hard time being motivated/recalling to do household maintenance.

-38

u/LiterallyaCockroach 5d ago

I used to struggle with ADHD, but after years of hard work, I have gotten it under control. Now I am able to focus like I’ve never been able to befor…oh shit! I left my oven on! Damn it, I burnt my soufflé!

What were we talking about again?

9

u/KingKingsons 4d ago

That's not ADHD. You're just doing the "holds up spork" bit.

16

u/sneakysneak616 4d ago

ADHD isn’t a bunch of idiot people screaming SQUIRREL every day

-6

u/LiterallyaCockroach 4d ago

Damn, this was funny! I don’t deserve 32 DOWNVOTES

Yall are a bunch of circle jerking divas!

5

u/Wunderbarstool 5d ago

He's had kids at this point.

6

u/Horn_Python 5d ago

maybe darryls the slob

22

u/LiterallyaCockroach 5d ago

Or maybe it’s his sister, who looks just like him

10

u/stenger121 5d ago

Probably. He's always writing his name on stuff.

1

u/amd2800barton 4d ago

Could also be he treated that apartment a bit like vacation brain. He's got a wife, kids, and a home. The Philly apartment was really more of just a place to stay when he's working there. It's not his home, and he doesn't care about it much. He's also living out of a suitcase while he's there. It's similar to how many people who keep neat and clean homes are absolute slobs when on vacation.

But also yeah, "Jim is a slob" is a joke for this episode because they needed a joke for why Darryl is upset with Jim.

2

u/Salt-Rate-1963 3d ago

I 100% figured this was the case when I watched it. He was loving being free to be messier than usual, keep odd hours, play video games right after work etc. Enjoying a slice of his earlier bachelor years. That's kinda the whole joke.

137

u/Gh0stMan0nThird 5d ago

I mean the real answer is that for the Office, a quick laugh > character continuity.

51

u/itishowitisanditbad 5d ago

No no, it must be a continuous meticulously maintained net of Office Lore

This isn't a show for a quick laugh.

3

u/[deleted] 4d ago

[deleted]

3

u/itishowitisanditbad 4d ago

They should have thought about starting that from season 1.

If they did then..... not sure why they bothered.

1

u/Salt-Rate-1963 3d ago

I thought you were joking here... But after reading your follow on comment, I guess you're not?

2

u/itishowitisanditbad 3d ago

Eh, I was joking but then gave up on the joke.

Attention span of a cat.

-2

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

6

u/Zatchillac Really into masturbatin' 5d ago

But you weren't smart enough to understand the sarcasm

24

u/Weird-Library-3747 5d ago

There’s that smudgeness again

14

u/homeycuz 5d ago

Well, that be a lesson to all. Never estimate my intelligence.

31

u/ptolemyofnod 5d ago edited 5d ago

They did Mose the worst this way. It was funny when Dwight said Mose didn't know how to use a phone, but then when Dwight makes assistant manager his first call is to Mose who we hear on the phone.

Two jokes that are funny but contradict each other.

40

u/Firehenge 5d ago

He clearly taught him the phone. It was either that or teach Mose sex.

6

u/limegreenpaint SHUT UP ABOUT THE SUN 4d ago

It's a Working Girl reference. It's hilarious in that context, and I'd assume Dwight taught Mose that when the thing makes noise, he should pick it up.

7

u/Sacrefix 5d ago

100%. People bending over backwards trying to defend inconsistent writing.

24

u/Pristine_Yak7413 5d ago

when the girl you're crushing on is coming over you know the house is getting cleaned like its going on the market

15

u/pacificgrape 5d ago

Jim had a roommate in the BBQ episode- maybe he cleaned up after Jim!

37

u/l3randon_x 5d ago

“When he has everyone over to his apartment, the apartment is pretty nice and clean looking. Maybe he's the type of dude that only cleans up for an audience”

So… a single guy?

16

u/onamonapizza Dwight get out of my nook! 5d ago

I was about to say, even the messiest people I know will at least TRY to clean up if they are having people.

Or they just don't have people over

8

u/RolloTonyBrownTown 5d ago

I have one slob friend who will invite me over, the moment I arrive I can tell he started cleaning 5 mins ago. So for the first hour, I have to watch this guy vacuum, unload and reload his dishwasher, pickup trash, all of it.

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u/onamonapizza Dwight get out of my nook! 5d ago

At least you are inspiring him to clean up!

3

u/mah131 4d ago

I have a friend like that, and the whole time he is apologizing for what it looks like, and I'm like" no problem, its OK man" I don't care, I wouldn't come if it really bothered me too much.

3

u/No_Emphasis_8914 4d ago

This is me! I have pretty severe ADHD and time blindness… I don’t realise that 5 minutes isn’t long enough to do everything, but also body doubling massively helps… feels like super intense pressure to get it all done and dusted so I can actually sit and spend an hour with my friend.

Me and my best friend often make plans just to be able to have a weekly clean up now at each others homes now, because she is the same!

3

u/l3randon_x 4d ago

I had a roommate in college that I could always tell when a girl was coming over because he would frantically start cleaning and throwing stuff away an hour or two prior

1

u/No_Emphasis_8914 4d ago

This is me! I have pretty severe ADHD and time blindness… I don’t realise that 5 minutes isn’t long enough to do everything, but also body doubling massively helps… feels like super intense pressure to get it all done and dusted so I can actually sit and spend an hour with my friend.

Me and my best friend often make plans just to be able to have a weekly clean up now at each others homes now, because she is the same!

7

u/LegoClaes 4d ago

No one cleans as well as a guy hoping to get laid

1

u/Salt-Rate-1963 3d ago

And/or most humans?

11

u/zomiaen 5d ago

Wasn't the entire wrap up of that episode basically Jim going ah it was nice living like a college bro again for awhile and getting shit together?

14

u/Plowbeast 5d ago

Nothing cleans a single guy's place faster than sex and a partner convincing them to do it for company with the implication of sex is a close second. Also, I feel this episode had Jim also let himself go a little after being so stressed with Pam and the kids for a while.

7

u/wefinisheachothers 5d ago

Did he have a roommate at the time? I can't remember but maybe his roomie is cleaner than Jim. Also, people just generally clean up before a party.

2

u/Martin_Van-Nostrand 4d ago

I always say, "nothing cleans like company" ... I'd say after being followed for nine years, the documentary crew wasn't really company anymore and Jim didn't feel the need to clean up when they were coming over.

1

u/Rogash_98 4d ago

He also does have a roommate that could have either done the cleaning, or was more on Jim about cleaning.

1

u/The_Leaky_Stain 4d ago

He had a bunch of roommates I'm pretty sure. He just had a room. And he totally had to spend like 4 hours minimum cleaning it for the party.

1

u/jgainit 4d ago

No it’s that the people running the show season 7 and onwards are not the same people and there’s no reason to attempt having logical continuity

1

u/EliseKobliska 4d ago

What episode does he have everyone over his apartment? I only remember the one where Gabe has everyone over

1

u/Salt-Rate-1963 3d ago

It's like season two? It's pretty early. He invites everyone except Michael, who finds out and still shows up.

1

u/googleismygod 2d ago

I rarely clean up hard for guests because my house is generally "good enough." It's usually in a state where it'd fine if someone dropped by.

In my post-college youth this was not the case, and I'd go hard on cleaning whenever people were coming over so it would truly look spotless, without being remotely reflective of my day to day style of living.

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u/vibraniummade 5d ago

Their home probably smells like updog

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u/curfy4 5d ago

What's updog?

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u/vibraniummade 5d ago

Gotcha!

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u/350RetroF 5d ago

Crap…

11

u/summer-fun-atx You wearin' lady clothes? 5d ago

🤏

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u/7mike_rotch7 5d ago

Hahahahaha

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u/SucculentsnCoffee 5d ago

What’s updog?

19

u/glossonwater 5d ago

Gotcha!

11

u/Bullitt_12_HB 5d ago

What does that mean?

7

u/vibraniummade 5d ago

What does what mean?

7

u/Bullitt_12_HB 5d ago

That word you said…

14

u/Outcoldmasvidal 5d ago

Not much, you?

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u/Paddy_Tanninger 5d ago

It's more worth noting that Jim was always shown to be a neat and tidy dude, and everything in S9 was a massive retcon to all the characters.

Jim: Smart, considerate, tidy, witty, good at improvising, encouraging, low stress, wants the best for his spouse and her dreams

Pam: Pretty much all that same shit

So then they kind of shoehorn a storyline where Pam is for some reason completely unreceptive to Jim following his dreams, Jim is for some reason unwilling to flex on it or work out some kind of arrangement with Pam, and Pam is for some reason completely overwhelmed by driving two kids to daycare in the morning and working her super easy job where she's unfireable, picking them up again at 6 for dinner and bed.

Oh and Jim is also turned into a moron who can't figure out how to take phone calls for his 2nd job while at his 1st job. Hint: you have a car in the parking lot and it's private and quiet in there.

All in all, just a very hacked together 9th season with very little consistency in the characters' writing compared to everything they'd set up the first ~6 seasons.

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u/Accurate-Mine-6000 4d ago

And Jim blame Pam for not filming they daughter’s performance is so out of his character. In all the seasons before this, he had never interacted with anyone like that, let alone Pam.

-3

u/ekmanch 4d ago

Things change when you have kids, dude. None of their reactions were strange.

I do agree about Jim not figuring out how to take phone calls though 😂

3

u/Paddy_Tanninger 4d ago

I have two kids, never gave it a second thought being solo dad while my wife was in med school, going to conferences, often working overnights, studying all weekend, etc. And my job is way more demanding than Pam's.

When you're a family you make sacrifices for each other, especially when that thing is an opportunity to be a huge financial help.

Also, she knows how much Jim dislikes his job and how much it drags him down, so the writing really was unrealistic for Pam here. Proper season Pam would have been fully telling Jim to go for it, make his best effort for a year and see what happens.

10

u/high_while_cooking 5d ago

They have children. It's messy

10

u/Visual-Till8629 5d ago

They had kids so maybe there’s that

6

u/jld2k6 Michael 4d ago

I just noticed that last night for the first time! I couldn't believe I was hearing Jim tell her how messy she is and then she kinda saved it by pointing out that he's messy too lol

4

u/Different-Estate747 5d ago

Even Meredith would be disgusted

3

u/Muppetude 5d ago

Whoa, whoa, whoa! I know Jim and Pam are just fictional characters, but let’s still keep things civil here.

7

u/Outside-Tie3906 5d ago

That damn Clown painting is not helpful.

2

u/arackan 5d ago

And Pam replied that Jim was a slob too (and should move in with him).

1

u/Hopefulmisery 5d ago

Is Jim the neat one?

1

u/make-em-pay 4d ago

Lots of PP

1

u/berlinblades 4d ago edited 3d ago

I think in the early days they both had some depression and related bad habits. Once the family formed they pushed past it,possibly even got religion on the quiet. Jim's backside into slobbiness is him possibly going back to his old ways, possibly foreshadowing the infidelity storyline they originally wanted to do. The sickos would have hated it,but it could have been interesting to see where it goes. Instead everyone got rich and moved to somewhere sunny.

2

u/Salt-Rate-1963 3d ago

Socks?

2

u/berlinblades 3d ago

Lol,I meant sickos.

1

u/_throwingit_awaaayyy 5d ago

If Jim(the good one) is this filthy then I have to imagine Pam is hoarder level gross.