The Office’s documentary filming style meant audiences got quite an insight into the characters’ lives, particularly through the personal interviews, which meant audiences often knew about people’s love interests before the characters, such as Jim’s (John Krasinski) crush on Pam (Jenna Fischer). The will-they-won’t-they relationship of Andy (Ed Helms) and Erin (Ellie Kemper) also became the focus of later seasons and audiences saw how they pined after each other at the wrong times, before ultimately parting ways.
Replacing Pam as the Dunder Mifflin receptionist in season 5, Erin (Ellie Kemper) ed The Office’s team and quickly caught the interest of both Andy (Ed Helms) and Dwight (Rainn Wilson). Having much more chemistry with Andy, Erin finally went on a date with him after many failed attempts at Andy asking her out. Their relationship was on and off for the rest of The Office and ended in the already unpopular season 9 when Erin felt neglected by Andy and had feelings for Pete (Jake Lacy), whom she ended up with.
The Office pushed Andy’s and Erin’s romance for quite a while and often made them chase each other, but it still never worked because they had no chemistry. Their flirty relationship in season 5 was mostly innocent and fun, but the chemistry between them did not go much further than that. Once Andy and Erin officially got together, their chemistry quickly died out, and they became a quite toxic pair. It seemed The Office was pushing them together to have another main romantic storyline, once Jim and Pam’s relationship settled.
How Andy & Erin Became The Office's Worst Couple
Andy’s treatment of Erin was the main reason that they became The Office’s worst couple, especially when he became one of Dunder Mifflin’s many managers. Andy started out quite well with big romantic gestures, such as his 12 Days of Christmas Secret Santa gift in season 6, episode 13, “Secret Santa”. Despite going wrong, the gift was initially very thoughtful. Andy also hired a marching band and drove all the way to Tallahassee in different attempts to confess his love. However, it seemed that whenever Andy was in a relationship with Erin, he just treated her horribly. Not to mention that the episode showing Andy driving to Tallahassee is the worst rated of all The Office episodes, indicating that even at their best, Andy and Erin's relationship never quite worked for the viewers.
As his first mistake, Andy never told Erin about his past engagement with Angela, despite them working together. Naturally, Michael (Steve Carell) informing Erin of Andy's previous relationship was embarrassing for her, causing their initial breakup. Andy often disregarded Erin’s needs, such as when he made Pete take her out for a burger instead of taking her out himself in season 9, episode 2, “Roy’s Wedding.” The worst of Andy’s actions was when he left on a boat for three months, leaving Erin behind and having little with her. When Erin tried to end it with him afterward, he talked her out of it. Andy and Erin had an initially fun relationship, but they quickly made no sense as a couple, making them an altogether awful pairing. The repetitiveness of their back-and-forth relationship was not as natural as the best of Jim and Pam’s, and Andy and Erin’s relationship in The Office just felt forced.