12 Years Later, I’m Still Not Over What The Office Did To My Favorite Characters

The Office is still held in high regard as one of the best sitcoms of all time, but the final seasons began to pick apart some characters in an absolutely unforgivable way. The Office debuted in 2005, which makes the show nearly 20 years old. Over the course of nine seasons, the show developed beloved characters like Michael, Dwight, Jim, Pam, and the rest of the employees at Dunder Mifflin. However, while some characters remained lovable throughout, others embarked on less noble character arcs.

People like Angela started out as quiet and generally charmless, but in later seasons, she became a real villain. Others, like Ryan, had a steady decline in terms of likability. In the show’s final two seasons, Andy, one of the most positive and fun characters, became something completely different. After a string of bad relationships that ended in disaster, the loss of friends and mentors, and what can only be defined as a midlife crisis, Andy became one of the most awful characters in The Office.

The Office Season 9 Completely Ruined Andy Bernard

Andy Was Not The Same In Season 9

While some of the difficulties surrounding Andy’s character began in season 8, it was The Office season 9 that really hammered the final nails in the coffin for his character. After having steadily worked his way up to become the regional manager at the Scranton branch, Andy has a breakdown. Instead of investing time and effort into his newly acquired job, he chooses to abandon his friends and colleagues and go on a series of vacations to find himself over three months. Meanwhile, the rest of the team carry on working without the oversight of a manager holding them back.

This shift for Andy was a natural progression from the series of disastrous events that befell him, such as finding out his fiancée had been cheating on him with a friend for many months, and then Andy losing the love of his life, Erin, to another man in the office. Andy couldn’t handle the pressure of his personal and professional life, and so he chose to leave it all behind. However, this wasn’t the first time the character had endured challenges, and it simply reflected the final straw in many years worth of bad treatment.

Why The Office Season 3 Treated Andy So Poorly

It Started Back In Stamford

The thing is, Andy can be annoying. Incredibly annoying. But, in general, this is coming from a place of trying to connect with others and make friends. Andy was never popular, and his greatest years were when he was in college and found a place to call home with his a cappella band. Since then, he has struggled to climb back to the top and be recognized as someone who brings value to a larger team or group. And this is apparent from the moment he was introduced back in The Office season 3.

When Jim leaves Scranton and begins working in the Stamford office, Andy tries to assert his position as a leader and star salesman. His approach comes off as grating and self-aggrandizing, but he is trying his best. However, when the Stamford branch is dissolved and absorbed by Scranton, Andy is a small fish in a big pond, and he doesn’t have a foundation. He is immediately alienated from the group, and people write him off as being strange. But in spite of all his challenges from season 3 to season 9, Andy did become a fan-favorite character on The Office.

The Office’s Andy Character Assassination Doesn’t Ruin His Other Episodes

Andy’s Still One Of The Best Characters

While Andy began as an outsider and went on to become a villain, he had a long stretch in between where he was one of the best characters on the show. Andy could be goofy and annoying, but he was also kind and loving. Willing to share a tuna sandwich, or trying to drive the team to bond over video games, he did all he could to bring people together. While some characters thrived in a clique, Andy believed in the whole office existing as one big happy family, and it makes him great.

In many ways, he was the perfect replacement for Michael, as a somewhat immature man looking for acceptance in the workplace and placing extremely high value on colleagues, but he wasn’t always given a chance to shine. There are beautiful emotional moments in The Office where Andy is central, and he becomes a genuine friend to many of his coworkers. Had the final two seasons not dragged his character further down, he might have been an even bigger star, but at least the show gave him a shot at redemption in the finale.