The Tragic Fate Of This Office Character Made The Show So Much Better

Ryan Howard changed a lot over the course of The Office, but the character’s transformation was good for the show, because it meant that he never got boring. Almost every character in The Office got Flanderized as the show doubled down on their most distinctive traits. Kevin Malone’s intelligence took a nosedive, and Dwight Schrute became a gun-toting maniac.

But they all stuck to their established characterization from the early seasons. Jim Halpert was always the straight man glancing awkwardly at the camera, Andy Bernard was always a hothead who liked to sing a cappella at his desk, and Kelly Kapoor was always a gossip obsessed with fashion trends and celebrity lifestyles.

Ryan was different, though. Ryan didn’t just get Flanderized; he completely changed his personality twice throughout the show’s run. He started off as the audience surrogate, but he became a different character when he went to corporate, and he became a different character when he defrauded the company and came back to Scranton.

Ryan Became A Whole New Character After Going Through A Lot In The Office

Ryan Became A Corporate Suit, Then A Pretentious Hipster

At the beginning of The Office’s run, Ryan was hired as the temp. But at the end of season 3, he got promoted to a corporate position, became everyone’s boss, and turned into an insufferable suit. Then, after defrauding the company, he was knocked back down to his old position as the temp in Scranton.

All nine seasons of The Office are streaming on Peacock.

This led to a whole other evolution for the character, as the introspection following his arrest and community service turned him into a pretentious hipster. He wore suspenders, fake glasses, and pretended to like Smokey Robinson. Over the course of The Office’s nine seasons, Ryan morphed into three different characters.

The OG Ryan Was Nothing But Our Point-Of-View Character In The Office’s Earlier Seasons

Ryan Started Out As The Audience Surrogate

Ryan Howard working at his desk in an empty office in The Office season 1 episode “Pilot.”

In the very first episode of The Office, Ryan is hired at Dunder Mifflin as a temp. Michael shows him around the office and introduces him to all his new co-workers. It was a good shorthand for the writers to introduce the audience to the characters and the world they inhabit.

It was a good shorthand for the writers to introduce the audience to the characters and the world they inhabit.

From then on, Ryan became the audience surrogate character; the normal person reacting to the craziness around him. Ryan was based on a character from the original UK version of The Office, Ricky Howard, who was similarly a temp who got hired in the pilot episode. But Ricky’s characterization was unsustainable for nine seasons.

Ryan Became A Lot More Interesting After The Office Embraced The Show’s Absurdness

The Show Stopped Making Ryan A Foil For The Zaniness & Instead Made Him A Part Of It

When The Office gave up on making Ryan the foil for the absurdity of the workplace and instead made him a part of it, the character became a lot more interesting. B.J. Novak had a lot more to work with as Ryan became a satirical reflection of corporate culture, and later millennial hipster culture.