For many fans of The Office (the U.S. version, that is), the show's sixth season — and Jim and Pam's wedding — was when things started going downhill. As Abraham Riesman so wonderfully explained at Vulture, the wedding episode marked a turning point between spoofing viral videos and simply playing into them.
But before the show's memory was tarnished by its subpar later seasons, the country was captivated by the brewing romance between Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) and Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer). And 10 years ago today, Jim and Pam shared their first on-screen kiss.
Today is the 10 year anniversary of Jim and Pam's first kiss! Here's how we did it: https://t.co/ZMwYcJBNQs via @EW
— Jenna Fischer (@jennafischer) May 11, 2016
The touching scene came in Season 2's finale, "Casino Night." It delighted fans and, a decade later, director Ken Kwapis is still talking about the scene. He told Entertainment Weekly that one of the things he loves most about the shot is that Pam's back is to the camera.
"As an audience member, you get to fill in those emotions that you can't see on her face," Kwapis told EW. "You get to imagine how she's reacting. In a funny way, it puts you in her shoes. In a more conventional approach, you'd have a reverse close-up on Pam for her reaction to the kiss, but what makes this one of the great advantages to the mockumentary style is it forces you to get involved in a different way."
Check out the scene below. If there's one TV episode to stream on Netflix tonight, make it this one — and you might want to have some tissues nearby.