‘The Office’: Jim Halpert Sucks Because He Hates Halloween

If there’s one thing the internet loves, it’s suddenly realizing that those totally average sitcom dudes we were supposed to root for were in fact lame. Time has not been kind to guys like Ross Geller and Ted Mosby, dudes on shows who tried to pass off their self-centered entitlement as romantic (JFC Ross, let Rachel have a career!). Depending on the last time you rewatched The Office, maybe you’ve added Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) to this list of groan-inducing gents. Maybe you too think that Jim is undeniably the worst. Me? That hot take sits right with me, although I’d never say Jim is as bad as Ross (JFC Ross, maybe spend some time with your son who lives just a few blocks away??). But of all of Jim’s sins, none offend me more than his utter disinterest and at times active hostility towards Halloween. Jim Halpert hates Halloween, and I hate that so much.

Here are two things I love: Halloween and sarcastic everyman dudes on sitcoms. Full disclozh: I have dressed up for Halloween for every year for as long as I can remember, from consecutive years as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in the late ’80s to Gay Gomez Addams just last year. I don’t mess around. Tim Canterbury, the original Jim on the UK Office, is one of my favorite characters of all time (and it introduced me to the enduring hotness of Martin Freeman). I was Tim for Halloween in 2004, people! I wore a homemade Hat FM! So yeah, I couldn’t resist transferring that residual love of Tim to Jim when the US Office started, and that is possibly why I feel so betrayed by Mr. Halpert’s disdain. I feel like I’m supposed to relate to Jim, but he has a disinterest in Halloween that I cannot abide.

The Office loves Halloween. Even if an episode isn’t exclusively about the holiday, the show will usually include a cold open that shows the cast in costume. And then there’s Jim, a wet blanket rolled up into a button-up shirt and half-assed costume. The Season 2 episode “Halloween” introduces us to Jim’s take on Halloween when he comes to work dressed as Three-hole Punch Jim (above). It’s lazy (he tapes three pieces of black construction paper to his shirt) but at least it’s clever. Or if not clever, it’s at least weird and I can get behind someone committing to a dumb idea and acting like it’s a thing. Gaslighting is okay as long as it pertains to Halloween costumes, I guess.

Then there’s the next Halloween episode in Season 5, “Employee Transfer,” where Jim’s costume retains a level of emotionally-detached weirdness but plummets into the depths of laziness. He’s just Dave.

Dave who? Dave whoever. It doesn’t matter. And you know what? I’m actually gonna knock this one’s “weirdness” points because literally anyone could raid the supply closet and scribble a generic name on a name tag. This isn’t weird, it’s boring! And so was the “costume” he wore in a deleted scene in Season 6’s “Koi Pond,” which can be seen in a montage in Season 7’s “Costume Contest.”

He’s Facebook. Because he wrote the word “book” on his face. What reaction does Jim want from this? Is he angling to be the most despised person in the office? Because when everyone else in the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch is operating at an 8 or higher (eternal shout out to Gabe’s over-the-top Lady Gaga outfit), Jim comes breezing into the office at a 1, a 0, or in the negatives. He is a one-man party poopin’ machine, and he doesn’t seem to get that the surest way to stand out is to be the only person in what I would call an anti-costume! Nothing makes your co-workers feel like crap for trying by giving the whole notion of costumes a middle-finger, dude!

What’s worse is when his cooler-than-thou attitude negatively affects those around him. In Season 8’s “Spooked,” Jim complains about being forced into a group costume with Kevin and Darryl. Kevin apparently cried when Jim said no! So, what elaborate look were they asking their supposed best bud Jim to rock? Moe from the Three Stooges? A Ghostbuster? A musketeer? Nope! They just wanted him to wear a Chris Bosh jersey!

Oh, the embarrassment of having to wear a jersey over your absolutely regular clothes for a few hours!

But the real low point for Jim re: Halloween comes in the Season 7 episode “Costume Contest,” the first Office episode where there’s actual monetary incentive to at least give a teeny tiny bit of a shit. The Halpert family wants that coupon book, and Pam comes up with a solid couples costume: Olive Oyl and Popeye, with their daughter as Swee’Pea (whose name I just learned is spelled that upsetting way). So, does Jim suck it up and team-up with his wife to do something that is clearly important to her?

Nope! He commits the worst sin you can commit on Halloween (that doesn’t involve eggs and/or toilet paper, at least): he leaves his costume buddy hanging. Without Jim as Popeye, Pam just looks like an old lady! And those that know she’s Olive Oyl know she’s obviously missing a Popeye (who dresses up as just Olive Oyl?!).

This is also the episode that finally reveals what Jim’s whole deal is: “I’ve never really been a costume guy. Even when I was a kid, it just seemed like something I was too old for. And then this morning, Pam hands me this little number… No.” Way to bail on your wife, dude! Plus, check out the sudden maturity from the guy who spends all of his spare time pranking an annoying co-worker! You don’t get to concoct elaborate ruses wherein Dwight’s getting scouted by the C.I.A. and then be like, “No, wearing a jersey over a button-up is a bridge too far!” Jim ends up caving and putting on the suit because an old pseudo-flame of Pam’s swings by and basically calls her a dork. So he eventually does the right thing, but it took a guest spot from Timothy Olyphant to get him there.

There are a lot of reasons why Jim is a bit of a bummer, but for me, the fact that he won’t put his mad genius to work on Halloween drives me crazy. Maybe he’s like the vampires in Buffy, and he takes Halloween off because he spends 364 days a year concocting pranks? Or maybe, just maybe, Jim Halpert is the worst and he’s at his worst on Halloween.

Stream The Office Season 7 Episode 6 "Costume Contest" on Netflix