JAN LEVINSON

'Janet "Jan" Levinson' (formerly 'Levinson-Gould') is a fictional character from the US television series, ''The Office''. She is played by Melora Hardin.
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Contents

Overview

Biography

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Overview

When the series begins, Jan Levinson-Gould is Michael Scott's superior at the New York City corporate headquarters of fictitious paper distributor Dunder-Mifflin. Jan's no-nonsense managerial style is at odds with Michael's much more casual approach. Since her office is in New York, Jan's contact with the Scranton branch is largely by telephone, although she will make the two-and-a-half-hour drive to Scranton if necessary. She usually asks if she's on camera when talking to Michael on the speaker phone.

Biography

Introduced as a very driven, successful woman, Jan's managerial style clashes with Michael's laid-back business style. Jan is usually reprimanding Michael for failing to perform, violating company policy, or trying to flirt with her. Jan generally gets more respect from the office than Michael does. Her marriage ended in divorce due partially to Jan's desire for children, a dream not shared by her ex-husband ("The Client"). Prior to that, she went by the name Jan Levinson-Gould, but dropped "Gould" following the divorce. In her personal life, Jan faced a rough year not only with her divorce but as a victim of identity theft. She is also seeing a psychiatrist.
Although not a regular smoker, Jan tends to light up when put in stressful situations ("Performance Review", "Casino Night", "Cocktails"), and exhibits poor judgment due to what her psychiatrist deems as "self-destructive tendencies".
Jan has a strong sexuality, revealed by Michael explaining that she made him dress up as a school girl during a role-playing session, and when she did not abide by their "safety word".
Jan drives a Volvo S80.

Season 1

In the pilot episode, Michael refers to her as "Hillary Rodham Clinton" (converting a joke from the British ''Office'' when David Brent refers to Jan's equivalent character as "The Camilla Parker Bowles"), followed by Todd Packer referring to her as "Godzillary." She visits Scranton to talk to Michael about downsizing. Later, she puts Michael in charge of creating a health care plan and is angered to discover that Michael put Dwight Schrute in charge of health care when Dwight calls her cell phone asking to fire Jim.

Season 2

Jan has a drunken fling with Michael after a business meeting, and immediately regrets it, going as far as to accuse him of slipping something in her drink ("The Client"). According to Michael's reports, they "made out" and then she fell asleep on his arm. Afterward she was forced to reject multiple advances by Michael, but in a moment of weakness on Valentine's Day, she passionately kisses him after a meeting at corporate headquarters after he successfully defused a potentially career-ending situation. Her relationship with Michael proves that although many things about Michael repulse and infuriate her, she is still drawn to him. In "Casino Night", it is strongly hinted that she had intended to spend the night with Michael, but is forced to drive back to New York after discovering that Michael has also asked Carol to the event. Since then, her actions as Michael's boss have come under scrutiny from the Scranton employees, who have accused her in interviews of taking her anger out on Michael, and possibly the branch. However, to Jan's good side in "Boys and Girls", Jan visits the Scranton branch to search for female candidates with potential to move up in the company. When it seems like this was a failed venture, she discovers that Pam wants to be an artist and encourages her to apply to a company program that trains graphic designers.

Season 3

Jan arrives once again, to manage the situation with Oscar Martinez being outed as a homosexual. To make up for it, she gives him a three-month paid vacation, during which he and his partner Gil travel to Europe. In a deleted scene from "The Convention", she invites Stamford manager Josh Porter to a hotel room to review reports and have a quick drink. This she does shortly after Michael tells her that they cannot fall back into a relationship, hinting at either feelings for Josh or a desire to make Michael jealous (likely the latter).
After Carol breaks up with Michael, he offers the tickets to a resort in Jamaica to Jan, who accepts. Upon their return ("Back from Vacation"), photos of Michael and Jan together circulate around the office, including a 'PG-13' one of a topless Jan laying face-down on a sunning chair by the beach. Jan (unaware of the photos) confesses her attraction to Michael, however self-destructive she might see it as, and makes her intentions clear that she wishes to pursue a relationship.
During a cocktail party at the CFO's home in Mount Vernon ("Cocktails"), Jan and Michael decide to make their relationship known to the company higher-ups. While Michael is eager to display his affection in public, Jan is quick to shoot down his gestures, only to compensate later, by both kissing him passionately and pulling him into a bathroom for a quick fling (which Michael refuses, considering it to be inappropriate). After the party, Jan admits that she was initially excited by the relationship when it was a secret, but feels unsure of the direction in which it is heading. Michael was hurt by this statement, and she quickly retracted it. In the episode "Women's Appreciation," Michael reveals that he dreads his relationship with Jan because of her bizarre sexual practices, such as acting out a schoolgirl fantasy (she makes Michael dress up as the schoolgirl), taping their sex and replaying it to her therapist, and ignoring Michael when he wants the sex to stop, despite him using a safety word ("foliage"). Michael eventually dumps Jan via voicemail, which she listens to in front of him right after she apologizes for the way shes been treating him.
In "The Job", Michael decides to get back together with Jan upon seeing her new breast implants, to the dismay of Pam and the rest of the office. Upon interviewing for a job at corporate, Michael learns that the job he is aspiring for is in fact Jan's job, and that she is about to be fired. Michael, against his better judgment, reveals this to Jan. Upon hearing this, Jan storms into the office where Karen is in the middle of an interview, and makes a very loud and embarrassing scene. At the end of the episode, she is fired for her erratic behavior and rapid mood swings. Michael, in an effort to console a crying Jan, suggests that she move in with him. Jan jumps at the opportunity and looks forward to making their relationship her "new full-time job" and would like to sit at home in stretch pants and wait for him to come home from work. A visibly uncomfortable Michael can be seen as he drives the car, hearing Jan's new job.