Ryan Howard
Played by: B. J. Novak
Job: Temp/ Salesman/ VP of North Eastern Sales
Character Rating: 6
Ryan Howard is one of the leads of the show that slowly fades into more of a background role, but he is still of importance to the show. On the Pilot episode, Ryan is fresh out of the temp agency and Michael is showing him around the office. He is very shy, as he is very young and inexperienced. He is still in business school at the time of the first season, but he soon grows in the job. By the third season, Ryan has worked his way up the ladder to a salesman, rather than just a simple temp. There are a few moments where Ryan shows maturity, but for a majority of the show, Ryan comes off as a jerk and a playboy. This blog will, as usual, discuss the three aspects: his personal life, professional life, and his character rating.
From the personal view, Ryan is egotistical whose only goal in life is to please himself. When we first meet him, he is not that bad because he is shy and does not want to lose the job. However, as the show progresses, Ryan begins to show his true colors. In the early seasons, Ryan hooks up with Kelly Kapoor, the customer service representative of the office. The problem is that he did it the day before Valentines Day, so inherently they started dating. The two share a toxic relationship for a while, and they break up and get back together several times throughout the show. In Season 8, Kelly finally dumps Ryan for a better man, which rocks Ryan and makes him realize what he had before he lost it. In the final episode of the series, Ryan and Kelly get back together. What makes this scene priceless yet almost infuriating is that Kelly is in a serious relationship with her new man and Ryan has a baby when the two of them run off and ditch the wedding, leaving Kelly's new man and Ryan's child behind. This alone speaks for Ryan's personality throughout the entire show.
From a professional standpoint, Ryan is ambitious, to his credit. He can be lazy and disrespectful to his superiors as well, but if utilized properly, Ryan could have been a promising worker. He works his way up from temp to salesman after two seasons of the show, and after the third season, Ryan becomes the Vice President of North Eastern Sales for Dunder Mifflin. He acts very cocky in the fourth season as he has a very high position in the company, but eventually loses it after he is exposed for fraud. He is hired back as a temp, but then he leaves abruptly to go to Thailand with friends, which we find out later that he did not actually go. The next time we see him, he is working at a bowling alley working the show rental desk. Michael recruits him to work for his new paper company, and he, Pam, and Michael work for Michael Scott Paper Company for a while until they are bought out. Shortly after, Michael moves him back to the rank of a temp. He tries to start up a company called WUPHF, but he sells out when he realizes that the business is not going to go anywhere.
In summary, Ryan Howard a classic narcissistic employee. He only wants things done his way, and he hates when anyone tells him differently. He often makes some sort of odd comment, which makes people in the office cringe, as it in turn makes the audience cringe. I would argue that Ryan's character was an attempt at representing the negative millennial stereotype. With all of this said, Ryan is a good worker but has a terrible attitude, so he gets a 6 on the character rating for this blog.
Do you disagree? Would you rate Ryan differently? Leave a comment about "Fire Guy" Ryan below. If you wish to share a favorite Ryan scene, like, "Ryan started the FIRE!" that will suffice too.
Comments
Post a Comment