Hey readers! Welcome back… I hope everyone has had a good week. For this post, we have another exciting pair of office-workers… both of whom were not a part of the show when it began. Let’s get into it!
*spoilers may appear from this point forward*
Andy Bernard and Kelly “Erin” Hannon are two of the most unique characters in the office who seem to never run out of energy. Neither of them possess much logic, but they both have huge, loving hearts and positive spirits…well, for the most part. This week, let’s start with Erin.
Erin Hannon (Ellie Kemper) joins The Office in Season 5 as Pam’s replacement when Pam leaves for the Michael Scott Paper Company. Well, I should go back. Kevin was Pam’s replacement, but that went very poorly, so Erin was hired. Her real name is Kelly, but this confused her rather-temporary boss Charles Miner (Idris Elba) since there already was a Kelly. Because of this, she decides to go by Erin, her middle name. She, too, dates coworkers; first Andy (which we will get to), then Gabe, then Andy again, and then finally Pete in Season 9.
Kelly is not the “sharpest knife in the drawer.” She the most gullible in the office and believes practically everything that people say to her, no matter the topic. She is also extremely naive. This is likely because Erin bounced around orphanages her entire life, making her behave a bit awkwardly around others. Erin’s history causes her to constantly be hoping for a reunion with her birth parents, which eventually occurs in the finale. To help cope, Erin sees Michael as her “father figure” – as seen in “Viewing Party” – and she helps Nelly with adopting a child. Finally, Erin hates confrontation. She rarely stands up for herself and she is always trying to impress Pam, her receptionist role model.
Then there’s good ole Andy Bernard (Ed Helms). Andy is the only employee who didn’t leave Scranton after they merged with his former branch, Dunder Mifflin Stamford. Almost immediately, he got on the wrong foot with his new coworkers. As the show progresses, one of the things Andy is known for is frustrating his coworkers. Andy is also known for his emotions; we see him cry and become very angry throughout the show, causing him to be forced into anger management. However, Andy is most known for his different expressions and his passion for singing, as seen in the amount of times he referenced his a cappella group at Cornell.
Eventually, Andy becomes the manager of the Scranton Branch. Here, we see another side of Andy: his inability to make smart and logical decisions. Yes, Andy humiliates himself numerous times throughout the show. However, when he becomes a manager, it becomes apparent that he simply is not very good at his job. He lack confidence in himself and he seems to always make mistakes as a boss. It gets so bad that he decided to leave on his family sailboat for vacation, which ultimately causes him to lose his job once and for all. Even though Andy causes his own demise on the show, he created lots of laughter for us viewers.
As mentioned before, Erin and Andy date multiple times throughout the show. This creates a wide range of emotions for the audience. At first, we root for them – they are both loving people who are just looking for a “good partner.” Then, we (and Andy) become frustrated with Erin as she gets involved with Gabe. Then, Andy finds Jessica, causing Erin to become jealous. And for us, we want Andy to be happy after all these seasons, yet we also deep down are still rooting for him and Erin. Then bam, they’re back together. But wait! Andy leaves Erin in the dust on a sailboat, and just as we became frustrated with Erin, we now turn on Andy. Finally, we breathe a sigh of relief when Erin kicks Andy to the curb for Pete, and even more so when Andy leaves for the showbiz. A huge roller coaster of emotions caused solely by the complex love between Andy and Erin.
So yes, Andy and Erin have their (many) moments of stupidity. However, they are two of the most entertaining characters on the show – we simply do not know what they are going to do, or say, next.
Thanks for reading! Hopefully I’ll see you all back soon… in fact, I’m counting on it!
That episode where Andy punches a hole in the wall is definitely one of my favorites. My favorite part of the show regarding Andy is the numerous quips that people throw in to try and make him think that they didn’t know Andy was in a a cappella group, or went to Cornell. My favorite one was at some point in season 9, when Here Comes Treble comes into the office, and they say, we have a former alum here who reminded us just how special.. blah blah blah I don’t remember the exact words, but then Darryl goes “”Who?” and I lost it. I think Andy was definitely the best new addition to the cast after the show began.
My family lived off the land and summer evening meals featured baked stuffed tomatoes, McDonald’s menu, potato salad, corn on the cob, fresh shelled peas and homemade ice cream with strawberries from our garden. With no air conditioning in those days, the cool porch was the center of our universe after the scorching days.
A Paradox, the doughnut hole. Empty space, once, but now they’ve learned to market even that. A minus quantity; nothing, rendered edible. I wondered if they might be used-metaphorically, of course-to demonstrate the existence of God. Does naming a sphere of nothingness transmute it into being?