Chapter 68

Once the pizza was ordered, the two of you ended up lounging on the couch again, but instead of working Sabrina brought up Netflix and started playing a rerun of the Office.

“Basic bitch,” you snorted.

She dropped her jaw in shock and slapped your arm. “So what? It’s a good show. Jim and Pam are my favourite TV couple.”

“OK, I don’t want to ruin something you like,” you said. “So you tell me if you’re willing to hear my thoughts, or want to just keep enjoying the show.”

“I want to keep enjoying the show,” Sabrina said, and you nodded and hugged her to you, and she snuggled in.

About ten minutes into the episode Sabrina groaned. “Alright, tell me your commentary.”

“You sure?” you asked.

“Yes. It’s going to haunt me until I know.”

“Alright, so at the start of the show Jim is the protagonist, right? And Pam is obviously the love interest. But the thing is, Jim and Pam are actually the bad guys because he doesn’t respect the fact that Pam is in a relationship, and she gets into an emotional affair with Jim instead of respecting Roy or just breaking up with him. And sure, they go back and forth on it for a while, but at the end of the day Pam is cheating on Roy emotionally. People hated the storyline near the end of the show when Pam almost cheats on Jim with the documentary camera guy, but here’s the thing - she’s been a cheater from the very start of the show. It’s totally in character for her to do that.”

“Well ... that...” Sabrina said, frowning deeply. “I don’t think-” She exhaled in frustration. “So who is the protagonist, then?”

“No one,” you said. “Literally no one. They trade off here and there on who looks like the hero on the show, but really none of them are good people. Which I guess might be the point. Well, other than Roy - he’s the only character who got a full character arc by the end when he meets Jim again and had bettered his life after getting out of the toxic Office space.”

Sabrina sat silently for a bit, still watching the show, and about five minutes later she sighed loudly again and then exited out of the show. “OK, you were right, that did ruin the show for me. Thanks for being right, jackass.”

You chuckled. “I’m sorry, I did warn you. I haven’t been able to not think that since I read it online.”

“Well, now I need to pick another favourite TV couple. Got anything against Castle?”

“Never seen it,” you shrugged.

Sabrina sat up, eyes wide with excitement. “Really? I can break your Castle cherry?”

“I- uh, sure?” you said.

“Wait, have you watched any Nathan Fillion shows? Firefly? The Rookie?”

“I watched a couple of episodes of Firefly, it was alright,” you said.