The Office: The Best Character Of Each Season

The iconic sitcom The Office features arguably the most fun ensemble cast on TV. Not many shows can hold a candle to the sheer amount of characters and unique personalities in the work-based series.

But as the show is full of unique, brazen, and outgoing characters, it actually makes the more normal of the lot really stand out. The selling point of the show is all the hijinks that the characters get up to at the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin, but it’s the human moments and season-long arcs that make fans fall in love with them.

Season 1 – Dwight Schrute

Season 1 of The Office isn’t like any of the other seasons, as it’s much more of a remake of the UK original than it is its own beast. At this point, all of the characters were simply imitations of the original characters in the BBC series, but Dwight Schrute stood out from the rest.

What made him so great here is that, though they grew to become best friends, Dwight’s hatred of Jim is seething and he didn’t hide his feelings about him. On top of that, there were clear signs of the person Dwight would become in later seasons more than any other character, even more than Michael.

Season 2 – Jim Halpert

Though it’s so easy to relate to Jim, as he often plays the voice of the audience, calling things out as any sane person would, that’s also why it’s hard for him to ever stand out as the best character. Being the most normal character amongst so many wild ones isn’t going to get Jim much attention, but his pranks were the primary reason a lot of people tuned in to the show.

Though they were copying the UK show in season 1, Jim really came into his own with tons of inventive pranks in season 2. Jim made Dwight think Friday was Saturday, he turned Dwight into a security threat, and there are so many other now-classic pranks in the season.

Season 3 – Pam Beesly

Pam really developed as a character in season 3. She overcame simply being the receptionist that Jim was interested in and grew into one of the most three-dimensional and by far the bravest of any other character. The season saw her make the leap and follow her passion in art and design, despite it being daunting and awkward at first.

Pam and Michael became much closer, and their relationship developed into something more than just a boss and employee. And more than anything, she showed how much courage she has by breaking up with Roy, and, of course, walking over the hot rocks in “Beach Games.”

Season 4 – Ryan Howard

It took a while for Ryan to finally come out of his shell in the series, but that’s fairly appropriate for his character, as he started out as just the shy temp. His tenure as a temporary employee saw some of the show’s best episodes, such as when Ryan has Michael give a talk at his college in “Business School.”

However, it’s when he started to get too big for his britches that Ryan became a truly classic character. Though it’s one of the saddest things about Ryan, the whole season 5 arc of him becoming the vice president of sales was hilarious. And the way he flaunted his success to his former employees before being convicted for fraud was perfectly poetic.

Season 5 – Michael Scott

There’s an argument to be made that Michal Scott is the best character of any of the seasons, as “Threat Level Midnight” is in season 7, and the whole arc with Jan ends in season 4. But season 5 is one of the best seasons of The Office according to IMDb, and it’s all thanks to Michael’s battle against Dunder Mifflin in the final few episodes.

When Michael starts his own paper company, it makes for a great David vs. Goliath narrative, and his speech in his final meeting with David and Charles is almost empowering. On top of that, there are so many brilliant standalone episodes throughout the season where Michael’s on top form, with the best example being “The Golden Ticket,” where Michael dresses as Willy Wonka.

Season 6 – Darryl Philbin

Season 6 gets off to flying start with Darryl from the get-go, as one of the season’s earliest episodes, “The Meeting,” is how he attempts to claim workers’ compensation when he injured himself in the warehouse. And from that point on, he steals the whole season.

The season sees Darryl move from the warehouse and into the office with a promotion he received from Jo, which leads to a whole issue between him and Michael. And by the end of the season, he’s somewhat reluctantly aiding Andy’s whistleblowing regarding the self-igniting printers.

Season 7 – Holly Flax

Holly Flax first appeared in season 5 as Michael’s love interest, and while her whole schtick is that she’s the female version of Michael, there’s so much more to her than that. She came into her own in season 7, where she moved back to Dunder Mifflin and she wasn’t just another jester, but more three-dimensional than any other character.

Having said that, there are still so many great episodes where Holly is hilarious. Between being distracted by all the same things as Michael when she’s looking for him in “The Search” and the way she and Michael grope each other in “PDA,” her return to the series was surprisingly pleasant.

Season 8 – Robert California

The Office is such a well-oiled machine that there’s barely a bad episode in its nine-season run, but it did hit a few stumbling blocks from time to time. One of those times was when Michael left the show and there was a revolving door of Branch managers. But when Robert California became a series regular, Michael Scott almost became a fading memory.

The character wasn’t just another zany addition to the show, and he’s hard to pin down, which is what makes him so great. He’s so strict about keeping his employees at arm’s length, yet he invites them to his mansion to party. Robert California was the best CEO of Dunder Mifflin and a complete enigma.

Season 9 – Creed Bratton

Though season 9 still has some classic Office moments, every major character had less than satisfying arcs, even if there was a wholly satisfying series finale. Pam and Jim had the strange out-of-character falling out, Andy was inexplicably neglecting Erin, and Dwight was gliding along, getting up to subpar Dwight shenanigans.

Creed has been consistently brilliant throughout the whole of the show, but his moments in season 9 are absolute peak Creed. Between turning up to a Halloween party covered in blood but not knowing it’s Halloween, and “playing hooky” from work only to catch the whole office on the bus, Creed has the best moments of the final season. On top of that, in the series finale, fans saw a side of Creed that they never had before, which was that he’s a rather great musician.