Are You Ready for Baby Halpert? Probably More Ready than Jim!

UPDATE: Jim & Pam’s baby wasn’t the only arrival yesterday. My new puppy arrived.  Please feel free to share you favorite moments from “The Delivery” in this post as I’m going to be offline for a few days while I get my new baby settled.

With only hours to go until the birth of Baby Halpert, you’re probably starting to have a few contractions.  Remember to breathe.  It will all be over soon and when all is said and done it will be well worth everything you’re going through.

Tonight my favorite TV couple will welcome a new little one into their lives. Jim and Pam become parents in a hilarious and quite emotional one hour episode of THE OFFICE.  If you’ve enjoyed the emotional journey of the receptionist and the salesman then tonight’s story will satisfy on many levels.

As is the case with most of the one-hour OFFICE episodes, one half hour is stronger than the other. However, unlike other hour-long eps, I didn’t feel as if the writers were working over time to make sure the episodes could stand alone. In fact, having watched the screener, I really couldn’t tell you exactly where one ep ended and the other began.  Where Pam is in the course of her labor will ultimately define the episodes in syndication, but the one hour episode feels like a cohesive story with a beginning, middle and ending…which of course is just the beginning.

John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer have never failed to step up when it comes to exploring the true emotions of their characters.  The honesty of the actors paired with the realism of the writing have given us some of the most memorable moments of  the entire series.  Their longing looks on the booze cruise, Jim’s declaration of love on Casino Night, the engagement that took us all by surprise, and of course who could forget the incredible moment when the two found out they were having a baby.  The acting was so brilliant that the audience didn’t even need to hear the words to feel the emotional impact of the moment.

Tonight Krasinski and Fischer give us more pure emotion than they’ve ever given us before.  You’ve never seen Jim and Pam like this.  The two aren’t easily frazzled, but all bets are off when there’s a baby on the way. We’ve seen Jim keep his cool in a lot of different situations, but when I tell you the guy loses it tonight, I’m not kidding.  Of course he loses it in the most adorable of ways. What really impressed me is how these two actors, neither parents in real life, really tapped in to the raw roller coaster of emotions of new parents. While sweet moments are captured in spades, the OFFICE writers didn’t set out to idealize the experience. That’s what makes it so great.

While most of tonight’s episode centers around Jim and Pam, the supporting cast isn’t left in the dust.  In fact important subplots, that could have served as the A-story in other episodes, are brought forth in a way that gives the episode that much more depth. No one took a day off for “The Delivery”. Everyone in front of the camera and behind it were on their mark for this episode.

Sorry if you were reading this hoping to get some spoilers for tonight. It’s not my thing.  But I will give you a few teasers.

• Talk about personality exploration. No one has worn more hats (literally) than Ryan Howard.  It seems this season Ryan is settling into his douchey hipster ways.  I loathe it and love it at the same time.

• Andy is going to bring someone in the office to tears.

• Once again a popular YouTube video plays a role in the episode. Which one will it be?

• What Angela doesn’t say might shock you.

• If you’re a John Krasinski/Jim Halpert fan you are guaranteed to fall just a little bit more in love tonight.

• What happens in one particular scene makes Jim VERY uncomfortable.  Jenna Fischer on the other hand probably enjoyed it to a certain extent.

• Don’t drink any water around the 48 minute mark. Trust me. Hilarious!

• As for the baby’s name?  I obviously can’t say, but I will tell you that we do get his/her first and middle name tonight. And it’s not a name that I had considered at all (um, not that I was sitting around thinking about baby names for Jim and Pam.  Nope. Never.)