Top 10 Episodes of the Office (10, 9, 8)

My Top 10 (Non-Disqualified) Episodes of the Office

The Office! This is my favorite TV Show of all time, which is saying a lot. There are so many hilarious actors that you could put any two characters together and they’ll find a way to make it funny. Over the course of 9 seasons there are 201 episodes (if you count double-length episodes as two). I decided to give a snap shot of The Office by picking out 10 episodes that showcase why I love this show so much.

 

Disqualified Episode: Dinner Party

I also wanted my Top 10 List to be distinct from all of the other lists you might find. There are some very well-known episodes that everyone talks about. I didn’t want to focus on these episodes, because there are so many great episodes in that 201 total. I decided to scour the internet for other lists of great episodes of the Office. I kept track of the lists and I disqualified any episode that I found on 5 or more lists. Not to say that those aren’t great episodes, but I wanted to focus on episodes that might otherwise get over-looked. So I present to you, My Top 10 (Non-Disqualified) episodes of The Office.

Note: Disqualified Episodes consist of Diversity Day, The Dundies, Booze Cruise, The Injury, Casino Night, Gay Witch Hunt, The Convict, Beach Games, The Job, Fun Run, Dinner Party, Goodbye Toby, Stress Relief, Niagara, Threat Level Midnight, Garage Sale, Goodbye Michael, and Finale.

 

#10: After Hours (Season 8, Episode 16) 

 
Favorite Quote:

“Five dots Darryl, are you kidding me?! Ok, three dots means to be continued, four dots is a typo, but five dots means, whoa! Do not make me say what I want to say, but if I did, it would blow your mind, dot dot dot dot dot” – Kelly

 

Dwight prepares to check Jim's bed for bed bugs

I know it might seem crazy to start off with a post-Michael Scott episode, but hear me out. The entire Florida arc in season 8 is gold. As you’ll see a few times in this list, I love episodes that take our characters out of the familiar Dunder Mifflin setting and see how they act in the real world. In this episode, we see how they interact after hours in the hotel. In the lobby, we have Dwight and Todd Packer competing for the butt-kisser of the year award as they try to schmooze their way to a promotion. This is probably the most likable I’ve ever found Packer. Sure, he’s still a jerk, but he’s not being perverted and it’s fun to see him and Dwight keep trying to one-up each other. The other big story is the new girl, Cathy trying to seduce Jim. Of course he’d never cheat on Pam, but he didn’t just turn her down. He put his pranking mind put to good use. Getting rid of a horny woman by convincing Dwight to strip down and fart in your bed is genius! Props to Jim for not only staying loyal, but doing it in a creative way.

 

Darryl and Val react to Brandon's accusations

The B story in this episode also brings its A Game. Everyone back at the office is working late, and their attention is quickly shifted from work to gossiping about Darryl’s personal life. It basically becomes an episode of Maury. It has all the elements: Surprise guests, boyfriend confrontations, explorations of feelings, examining incriminating texts. We even had the audience there to make it more dramatic. I still agree that as a whole, The Office was better with Steve Carell, but episodes like this make the final two seasons watchable. Of course it also helped that Robert California was nowhere to be found.

 

# 9 Crime Aid (Season 5, Episode 5)
 

Favorite Quote:

 “So much for sex without consequences” – Michael

 

Bob Vance and David Wallace bid on Phyllis's hug

Crime Reduces Innocence, Makes Everyone Angry, I Declare. That’s the hilariously stupid acronym that Michael Scott came up with for Crime-Aid. After an office robbery, the employees of Dunder Mifflin put on a charity auction to raise money. This is the perfect opportunity to showcase what our characters can come up with on short notice. Some of the items included Kevin doing your taxes, a CD of Hank the security guard singing the blues, or my personal favorite, Creed. (apparently all-inclusive). It’s like a late night infomercial, I don’t want any of it….but I can’t stop watching it. As ridiculous as it sounds, this auction is also proof of how sweet everyone can be. They were all just trying to help and it ends with a nice moment where David Wallace and Bob Vance end up in a bidding war for a hug from Phyllis. They really do care about each other.

 

Dwight seeks advice from Phyllis

Crime Aid also catches up with 3 of our favorite Office couples in various relationship stages. In the honeymoon stage, we have Michael and Holly. They have such a hard time keeping their hands off each other that the inadvertently caused the robbery by getting frisky and leaving the door unlocked. In the maintaining stage, we have Jim and Pam. Their relationship is tested as they deal with long distance, trust, and paranoia. Finally in the parting stage, we have Dwight and Angela. Unable to accept that it’s over, Dwight seeks advice from Phyllis. I like these stories, because it humanizes these characters. Most people can relate to these relationship stages, which allows us to identify with them. They become more than funny caricatures, they become people.
 

# 8 Michael’s Last Dundies (Season 7, Episode 21)

Favorite Quote:

 “Wow, I do not parent for the award, but I gotta tell you it feels pretty good. Cece if you’re watching this at home, it’s way past your bedtime, by the way how’d this get televised?” – Jim  

Jim accepts his award for Best Dad

You can’t go wrong if you include the Dundies, it’s just a recipe for great TV. We hadn’t seen the Dundies ceremony since the season two primiere, but they’re back! Against all reason, the Dundies are now held in a fancy restaurant and everything that happens cracks me up. DeAngelo co-hosts with Michael, despite having terrible stage fright. Dwight arrives in a full tuxedo and judges everyone’s outfits. Erin decides the best time to break up with Gabe is in public, in front of everyone. Then there’s the actual awards themselves. Jim wins “Best Dad”, so obviously “Best Mom” goes to……..Meredith? Ryan is shocked that he doesn’t win “Hottest in the Office”, although it still goes to a man. It’s never dull when you give Michael Scott creative control. It’s also important to watch carefully as there are a lot of quick lines and background hilarity going on, like Kevin bringing his own crayons to the restaurant.

Michael's Goodbye Song

Unsurprisingly, they all get kicked out and go back to the Dunder Mifflin conference room. This is the part of the episode that all fans remember. This episode is more than just a funny Dundies ceremony. It’s also preparing both the characters and us as the audience for the departure of Michael. Even though he often does stupid stuff and makes their lives difficult, he’s still a part of their family and they’re going to miss him. Everyone breaks into the Goodbye song, where they recount favorite moments and say their goodbyes in song. Even the grumpy characters, like Stanley, Toby, and Angela are singing along with smiles on their faces. If you think about it, it’s Micheael’s last conference room meeting, which I think is very fitting.

 

 

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Top 10 Episodes of The Office (7, 6, 5)

# 7 Back from Vacation (Season 3, Episode 12)

 

Favorite Quote:
 “You’re wrong for me. In every way, but I still find myself wanting to be with you” – Jan
 

Jan confronts Michael

Adjusting back to regular life after a vacation is always difficult. That’s what Michael is dealing with in this episode as he returns from Sandals Resort in Jamaica. He tries to bring the fun, laid back life style into the office with a steel drum and a bad Jamaican accent, much to everyone’s annoyance. Then there’s the photo. Juicy gossip travels at light speed, and even faster if it’s accompanied by an incriminating photo of Michael with a semi-nude Jan in Jamaica. Michael accidentally lets the photo get out and it spreads like wild fire. Suddenly everyone has seen it. According to Toby, nine people, including his ex-wife have emailed him this photo. Michael started the day in vacation mode and ends up running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to hide this photo until Jan finally arrives. Even though they’re all grown adults, the tone is still “oooh, Michael’s in trouble.” The twist ending is that just when we think Jan’s going to rip Michael a new one, she decides to start dating him.

 

Dwight comforts Pam

This episode is also at the point in time when Jim and Pam were still in the “will they, won’t they?” stage. This time it’s Pam’s turn to pine for Jim as he’s dating Karen. The happy couple is fighting about Jim not wanting Karen to move in. Interestingly, we don’t see Jim and Karen fight with each other. Instead, they both talk it through with Pam, who becomes their unwilling counselor.  She talks some sense into Jim, they make up, and everyone’s happy right? Everyone except Pam who is realizing her true feelings for Jim and end up getting comforted by Dwight in an odd yet sweet moment. He didn’t know what was going on, he just knew he had to be a friend.

#6 Office Olympics (Season 2 Episode 3)

 

Favorite Quote:

 “A 30 year Mortgage at Michael’s age essentially means that he’s buying a coffin. If I were buying my coffin, I would get one with thicker walls, so you couldn’t hear the other dead people.” – Dwight

Kevin and Phyllis compete in Flonkerton

Usually it’s Michael who causes the crazy shenanigans that distract everyone from work. In this episode, Michael and Dwight leave to close on Michael’s condo, so naturally everyone should be working hard and being productive, right? Wrong! It turns out, this is the perfect opportunity to see how many fun, wacky games they can come up with. Jim stumbles upon Oscar and Kevin’s paper football game and takes it upon himself to host the very first Office Olympics! There are simple events, such as guessing who will come out of the elevator, and more elaborate events, like Kevin and Phyllis racing with boxes of paper on their feet, otherwise known as "Flonkerton.” This is Jim at his best. He’s having fun and giving everyone at work a pretty good day. He also has his sidekick, Pam who gets creative with the medals and the closing ceremonies. Together, they create a work day that has everyone smiling.

Michael prepares to sign the paperwork on his condo

While all of that is going on, we have Michael and Dwight at the condo. It’s one of many situations where Michael is overwhelmed and way over his head. He didn’t understand the terms of his mortgage, plus he has Dwight pointing out everything from thin walls to carpenter ants. Michael panicks and tries to get out of it and at one point, he even offers to rent the second bedroom to Dwight. This is where we get the first mention of both Mose and Schrute Farms, both of which will become staples of The Office. This just proves that Michael and Dwight can make any situation hilarious.

 

 

 

#5 A.A.R.M. (Season 9, Episodes 22 & 23)

Favorite Quote:

“Dwight listen, no matter what happens, you gotta forget about all the other stuff. You gotta forget about logic, fear and doubt. You just gotta do everything you can to get to the one woman who’s gonna make all this worth it. At the end of the day, you gotta jump. You love Angela, Dwight. I think you always have.” – Jim

 

Jim and Dwight present the A.A.R.M. challenge

Most fans would agree that the series finale is a great episode, but people often overlook this previous episode. We finally see how Dwight runs the office as manager. While there are some quirky changes, like the steam filled security system, things are actually running pretty smoothly. Dwight has even named Jim to be his Assistant Regional Manager. A majority of this episode is Jim pulling one big prank on Dwight. He convinces Dwight that the Assistant Regional Manager also needs an Assistant to the Assistant Regional Manager or A.A.R.M. Basically Jim convinces Dwight to name himself as Jim’s assistant, who is already Dwight’s assistant. What sets this prank apart from others is that he’s not trying to annoy Dwight. Sure, the A.A.R.M. makes no sense, but Jim is having a blast and you can tell that he truly wants Dwight to enjoy being manager. It seems like they’ve finally crossed that line from rivals to friends.

Darry is sent off with a dance party

Jim and Dwight aren’t the only former rivals getting along. Oscar and Angela have also buried the hatchet. Oscar has taken Angela in and has become a second father to her son, Phillip. That’s the beauty of having a double-episode. We’re able to spend more time focusing on multiple different characters instead everyone getting a couple of one-liners. We also follow Andy in his quest to become “America’s Next Acapella Sensation.” A quest that surprisingly ends with Andy wearing old man makeup, crying in front of Aaron Rodgers. On a brighter note, Darryl gets an amazing send-off from Dunder Mifflin as he takes part in a massive going away dance party with the entire staff of Dunder Mifflin.

 

Dwight and Angela are engaged!

In addition, this episode had some important relationship moments as well. Pam is feeling incredibly guilty that Jim left Athlead to stay in Scranton with her. Jim has the documentary crew put together a montage of their relationship. It was the only way he could prove to her that he has no regrets and he really is happy. Jim’s happiness also allows him to help Dwight find his happiness with Angela. After years of a complicated relationship, Dwight finally pops the question and Angela accepts.

 

 

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Top 10 Episodes of the Office (4, 3, 2)

# 4 Happy Hour (Season 6, Episode 21)

 Favorite Quote:

 “You know, it got to the point where keeping it a secret was just too much drama, and I hate drama, so there you go” – Andy

“You love drama” – Erin

 

“I know I do, right? I’m a total drama queen” - Andy

Michael chatting up Donna

Here’s another example of why I love getting the characters out of the office. Lets get them out to a bar and see what happens. The Dunder Mifflin crew goes out for Happy Hour. Pam decides to set Michael up with a friend of theirs and turns it into a double date. The date goes pretty well right up until Michael actually realizes he’s on a date. In true Michael fashion, he sabotages himself by creating another dumb character and acting crazy. He almost gets kicked out of the bar, but somehow ends up hitting it off with the owner, Donna. This is what’s interesting about Michael. He can succeed and do really well at things as long as he doesn’t try so hard. In both sales and dating, Michael has shown to be very competent, providing he stays out of his own way.

 

Like Michael, Andy also gets into his own way in this episode. He’s beginning a relationship with Erin, but is insisting on hiding it due to drama. He does eventually get over himself and they have a good time, which is nice because I really like Andy and Erin as a couple. They’re so weird and quirky, but in a way that compliments each over very well. Aside from the couples, the rest of the crew is also fun to watch in this episode. We have Dwight hitting on Isabel while being followed around by Angela, Oscar trying to be athletic as he tries to impress Matt from the warehouse, and Creed being surprisingly great at Dance Dance Revolution. It’s an episode you can watch with little to know context and just sit back and enjoy.

 

 

#3 Dunder Mifflin Infinity (Season 4, Episodes 3 & 4)

 

Favorite Quote

“Ryan wants everything in our company to be about emails and IMs, but I think he is forgetting about the original instant message, letters attached to baskets of food.” - Michael

Ryan tells Michael to prepare for changes

A lot of things are changing at the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch. Jim and Pam go public with their relationship. Angela decides to end things with Dwight. Most prominently it’s Ryan’s first time back at the Scranton Branch since being promoted to his corporate Vice President position. Right away, he snaps at Michael, demanding respect as the new boss. That, along with Ryan’s initiatives to update Dunder Mifflin with BlackBerries and the new website scares Michael. Keeping up with new technology was never something Michael had to deal with. He had always been free to do things his own way and that is being threatened. We start to see what can happen when Michael’s insecurity spirals out of control.

 

Michael and Dwight return after crashing in the lake

He starts off small with another pointless conference room meeting, but that doesn’t convince Ryan. Michael tries to prove that the old ways are better by winning back former clients without technology. Once again things don’t go his way. With his back against the wall, the only thing Michael can think to do is to take his car’s GPS instructions too literally and drive directly into a lake, so he can blame technology for something. A lot of people see this as evidence of Michael’s stupidity, but I see it as evidence of Michael’s insecurity. Not only is Ryan suddenly his boss, but he’s changing everything too fast and Michael can’t handle it, which lead to this moment of extreme desperation. I like this episode, because it gives insight into who Michael really is behind all of the “That’s what she said” jokes.

 

 

# 2 Viewing Party (Season 7, Episode 8)

Favorite Quote

“I wanted to eat a pig in a blanket….in a blanket” - Kevin

 

Gabe, Michael, and Erin discuss snacks

It’s interesting to see how your opinions on someone can change when you see them in a new setting. Previously, Gabe was just seen as the creepy, skinny guy who made things awkward at work. The Dunder Mifflin staff is invited to Gabe’s house to watch the latest episode of Glee. When they arrive, it seems like Gabe has his life together. His house is nicely decorated, he can cook, he seems very cultured. All of this intimidates both Michael and Andy, making them very jealous. While Andy is jealous because Gabe and Erin are dating, Michael is jelaous, because people are seeing Gabe as the boss. Michael does everything he can to sabotage the party. He insults Gabe, shuts the cable off, and just acts like a jerk in general. His behavior probably would have gotten worse if Erin hadn’t confronted him. She tells Michael it’s important to her that he and Gabe get along. Michael starts to realize that Erin sees him as a father figure. It’s a sweet moment between Erin and Michael. They’ve always had a special relationship and it’s nice when that can come out.

 

Jim begrudgingly feeds Dwight beer

In addition to having sweet moments, this is also one of the absolute funniest episodes. Andy decides to deal with his jealousy by eating a powdered sea horse, which proves to be a terrible idea. Meanwhile Pam and Jim can’t get Cece to sleep, but guess who can….Dwight. He offers to help, but only if Jim becomes his Pizza slave and feeds him on command. This really goes to show that any amount of power in Dwight’s hands is a dangerous thing. There is a lot going on in this episode, but in a good way. We have three main stories that are all hilarious, along with great little moments from the rest of the crew, all while putting our characters in a new setting.

 

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Top 10 Episodes of the Office (1)

# 1 The Merger (Season 3, Episode 8)

Favorite Quote

“I’ll be the number two guy here in Scranton in six weeks. How? Name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a hand shake. I’m always thinking one step ahead, like a carpenter that makes stairs.” - Andy

 

Michael welcomes Karen to Scranton

The Merger is one of my favorite go-to episodes if I want a good laugh. The Scranton and Stamford branches of Dunder Mifflin are merging under Michael’s leadership. Until now, we haven’t really gotten a chance to see new people experience Michael for the first time. When The Office started, the characters all knew each other already. Here we get that experience of people who are showing up for their first day of work expecting a normal boss and instead are introduced to Michael Scott. The existing employees play the part of the audience, telling their new coworkers that they’ll get used to Michael.

 

Michael presents "Lazy Scranton"

So how does Michael welcome a batch of new employees? I would sum up Michael’s management style as “Lets make everyone feel awkward and uncomfortable.” He gives thee new employees random gift bags. He shows them a ridiculous rap video called “Lazy Scranton” that he made with Dwight, welcoming them to Scranton. He tries to be funny with a Night at the Roxbury routine. He even has the new employees sit up on a desk, making them stand out from everyone else. This is where things reach their breaking point. Tony Gardner is unable to lift himself up, even when Michael tries to force him and eventually quits. In all of this, Michael meant well. He really was trying to make everyone feel welcome, but it just goes to show how completely oblivious he can be.

 

Andy and Dwight meet

Any time you’re mixing two groups of people, it’s going to be interesting. It’s not just Michael, either. When the branches merge, it adds a lot of tension to the Jim and Pam storyline. Jim comes back, but he brings Karen with him. Now Pam’s the one who watches Jim date someone else, mirroring Jim’s position in the first two seasons. Despite this, Pam and Karen seem to be getting along, but you can just tell that this is the calm before the storm. Then there’s Andy and Dwight, the annoying suck up of both branches meet. This is the beginning of an epic rivalry that starts instantly and will continue on for seasons to come. This episode marks what I believe to be the best era of the show. Michael is still around, Jim and Pam are still a mystery we can root for, Dwight and Andy are at peak hilarity. I’m glad that this episode wasn’t disqualified, because this is my absolute favorite episode of The Office.

The Rise and Fall of Ben Chang

Ken Jeong as Ben Chang

Great villains make for compelling stories. It gives the audience a reason to root for the protagonists. In Community, our protagonists are Jeff Winger and his study group, thrown together from various points of life as they try to pass a Spanish class at a community college. This doesn’t sound like a big deal until we meet Ben Chang, who essentially starts out as the villain. For the first three seasons, we see Chang slip further and further into insanity. In the beginning, Chang just seemed like a typical TV teacher with anger and control issues. He would give ridiculous assignments and freak out when a student cheated, but he was mostly harmless. This all changed at the end of the first season, when Chang’s lack of qualifications was discovered, causing him to get fired.

In the second season, Chang’s firing forced him to become a student at Greendale. He tried and failed to find ways to put his life together. In my opinion, this is the most likable Chang ever got. He had a burning desire to join Jeff’s study group, a goal he never quite reached, no matter how close he got. Despite this, he got himself entwined in the lives the study group. He briefly lived with Jeff, and most significantly spent most of the season believing he could be the father of Shirley’s baby. Luckily for the world’s population, Chang did not reproduce. He was still crazy, but he was trying.

Chang as Dictator with his pre-teen henchmen

The third season is when Chang’s insanity really got kicked up a notch. He ended up joining Greendale’s security department. This gave him a bit of his control and power back. Although a community college security guard doesn’t have that much power, Chang still allowed it to go to his head. This season is basically a story of how Chang went from crazy person to full-on evil villain. He even had his own army when he recruited a team of pre-teens to be his henchmen. In a dramatic turn, we find out his goal was to kidnap the Dean, get the study group expelled, become supreme ruler of the school, and burn it down along with any incriminating records. As crazy as it sounds, he almost succeeded, minus the destruction of the school of course. In the end, the school returned back to normal, our heroes were reinstated, and Chang escaped into the air vents like a rat.

Chang pretending to be "Kevin"

The first three seasons acted like a trilogy for Chang as he progressed from asshole teacher to creepy homeless guy to power hungry dictator. It was the rise and fall of Ben Chang and it was compelling to watch. The same could not be said for season 4. This season had many problems as it was the only season without show creator Dan Harmon in charge. One of the biggest flaws was Chang’s story. Chang came back seemingly with "Changnesia", had no memory, and called himself Kevin. I’ll be blunt, it was stupid. We eventually find out he was faking, but nothing came of it. I won’t waste more time on this, because it was a dumb idea that was executed poorly.

Chang with Buzz Hickey

The final two seasons of Community were pretty good as a whole, but they didn’t need Chang. I think he was played brilliantly by actor, Ken Jeong, but at this point he no longer had a purpose. Instead of being a villain, he was just kinda….there. This was the guy that almost burned down the school and no one seemed to remember that. It just never felt right to have Chang be a part of the group. Personally, I think Chang should have been written off the show permanently after Season three. They could’ve brought him back for a couple guest appearances, but Chang’s plot-lines in Seasons four through six were pointless and stupid. He felt out of place, which at Greendale is saying a lot.
 

Bulk and Skull: the True Heroes

L-R: Jason Narvy as Skull and Paul Schrier as Bulk

Who are the heroes of Power Rangers? Most people would say the teenagers who transform into color coded spandex suits and use giant robots to blow up monsters. Sure, that’s the easy answer, but one thing to consider is that Power Rangers was a show targeted at a very young audience. This leaves very little room for subtle characterization. The Power Rangers were identified as the role models. They had to be respectful, well-adjusted, great students. It’s hard to have relatable characters who can improve and grow when your characters have nothing to improve on. Sure, there was the odd flaw like Tommy being forgetful or Kimberly being jealous, but those were usually introduced and overcome within one episode. This is what makes Farkas “Bulk” Bulkmeier and Eugene “Skull” Skullovitch so intriguing. They’re the comic relief, not the role models. This opens up opportunities for them to start with messed up morals and gradually grow as people.

Bulk falls into a cake

Bulk and Skull started out as cookie-cutter bullies. They were always hanging around mocking everyone around them, especially the Power Rangers. The routine was pretty much the same. They would either brag about being the best at everything or just be a nuisance in general. This would lead to them getting their public comeuppance, usually while getting some kind of goop or liquid splashed on their faces. They were just there to provide contrast to the capable, dependable Power Rangers. In the second season, Bulk and Skull set off on a mission to uncover the true identities of the Power Rangers. This did tone down their bullying, but they were motivated by fame and greed, so of course karma continued to punish them with goop on their faces.

Bulk and Skull on the Police Force with Lt. Stone

The biggest shift for Bulk and Skull came in the third season when the duo joined the Angel Grove Junior Police Force. Although they initially joined to meet girls, it was a big change to see these guys clean cut in uniforms. What made the difference was Lt. Jerome Stone, who started out as an overbearing boss who eventually evolved into a father-figure for Bulk and Skull. They still continued to get themselves into wacky predicaments, but we saw a change in their motivations. They wanted to make Lt. Stone proud and I found myself strangely starting to root for these guys. They were so loyal to him that they helped him start his own detective agency. We basically reached a point where Bulk and Skull had their own mini sitcom within Power Rangers.

Bulk and Skull as Monkeys with Lt. Stone

Along the way, even as they matured, there was still plenty of bizarre Bulk and Skull plots. At one point they find Goldar and Rito who had lost their memories, and hired them as servants. It was quite a sight to see Goldar, the first monster to ever grow giant and fight the megazord, wearing a maids outfit being summoned by the village idiots of Angel Grove. If that weren’t weird enough, they actually got turned into monkeys for the first half of Power Rangers Turbo. The funny thing is, their role in the show was basically the same. They continued to get themselves into wacky situations, and they were even looked after by Lt. Stone.

Bulk and Skull with Professor Phenomenus

Bulk and Skull eventually became human again and tried to find their place in the world. They began taking a variety of odd jobs, such as park rangers, road construction workers, and delivery men. Of course, being Bulk and Skull meant they’d find a way to mess it up, but they were trying. Than they ended up working for Professor Phenomenus, a quirky scientist in search of aliens. This was the perfect gig for them, because they found a boss as weird as they were. By now, Bulk and Skull have completely shed their identities as bullies. They didn’t care about mocking anyone or bragging, they were just two wacky best friends doing their own thing.

Bulk and Skull stand up to Astronema

Both in real life and in television, you often find someone’s true character in how they react to stressful situations. In ”Countdown to Destruction”, the epic finale of Power Rangers in Space, it looked like the all hope was lost. The city had been under attack and the Power Rangers were nowhere to be found. People started to think the Power Rangers abandoned them, but Bulk was the first one to come to their defense. Later, when Astronema, the season’s villain, demanded that the citizens turn over the Rangers or be destroyed. Bulk and Skull stepped up and declared themselves to be Power Rangers. They took a stand, joined the fight and led the civilian charge against the villains.

Compare this to how Bulk and Skull were first introduced in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. They were a couple delinquent kids with no moral compass. Over time we watched as they went through different phases of life. They learned, grew, failed, and tried. If you ask me, they are the most compelling characters to watch, and are the true heroes if you look closely.

Lost: Bad Mystery: Walt Lloyd

Lost:  Bad Mystery: Walt Lloyd

Lost continually asked its audience for trust and patience with mysteries. The idea was that if you kept watching and paying attention, you would be rewarded with answers to the significant mysteries that kept you watching. In some cases, our patience paid off, but in the case of Walt, it definitely did not. Early on, Walt was shown to have supernatural abilities that even he was unaware of. In a flashback, we saw Walt doing research on an exotic bird moments before that exact bird crashes against his window. On the island, we saw Walt reading a comic book about Polar Bears shortly before getting cornered by a real Polar Bear. We were shown that something was definitely up with this kid, right before he’s literally kidnapped off the show. Walt spent the entirety of the second season as a prisoner of the Others before he and Michael left the island behind, along with our chances of getting any answers.

I know the production reason for getting rid of Walt was that actor Malcolm David Kelly was aging too fast. He was a young kid going through puberty and he was growing faster than the show’s timeline. The reason I don’t accept this as an excuse for lack of answers is that they kept the Walt mystery going. Shannon saw visions of Walt in the jungle. Locke saw a vision of Walt that stopped him from committing suicide. They kept bringing Walt back for one or two mysterious scenes per season. I was hopeful that this was all building to something. That in the end, Walt would come back into the story somehow. Not to mention creators Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof publicly said that there were plans for Walt.

I was especially hopeful when we skipped ahead 3 years in Season 5. I was absolutely convinced that this was part of their plan to re-integrate Walt into the plot. He was the correct age again. He had short scenes off the island with Hurley and Locke, so he clearly hadn’t been forgotten. It all made sense until the entirety of the final season went by without ever addressing Walt at all. I was pissed. They kept stringing the audience along every time we saw Walt. It was as if they kept reminding us not to forget about him. Everything pointed to Walt being a key figure in the series, just like Desmond. In the end, we were left disappointed. Yes, I will acknowledge that we saw Walt in the epilogue, “The New Man in Charge”, getting recruited back to the island by Ben and Hurley. It’s not enough. I see that as an afterthought by the creators once they realized we wanted more to Walt’s story.  As Hurley would say, “Uncool, dude”.

More on Lost: Good or Bad?
Lost: Good or Bad?
Good Character Development: Benjamin Linus
Bad Character Development: Charlie Pace
Good Mystery: Desmond Hume