The lovable Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt) is a popular character on Parks and Recreation and he certainly deserves the praise. He's an innocent and hilariously, blissfully ignorant guy who is one of the most entertaining characters on the show.
Although overall he's a great character, there are certainly issues with his storyline and missed opportunities throughout the series. A few of Andy's plotlines are lacking and there were opportunities to build his character backstory even more. Let's review some of the issues and missed opportunities with the character throughout the series that just made him seem to get worse.
10 Giving Up On Law Enforcement
Although it's fun to see Johnny Karate get his television series and be a big success it was also interesting when Andy was training for the police examinations. Throughout the show, he's been obsessed with his Bert Macklin FBI persona and it was exciting to see him determined to make it a reality. Unfortunately, the storyline quickly disappeared before it made a real impact on his life.
Allowing Andy to follow through on his dreams would have made him a better character, but dropping this storyline after teeing it up, left viewers feeling disappointed and worsened him overall.
9 Never Changing For The Better
This might play into Andy's charm as he changes little throughout the series, but it still would have been interesting to see Andy change throughout the show as much as say Tom Haverford.
It is probably more realistic that Andy stays static throughout the series and stumbles into success with his Johnny Karate television character that doesn't make him change anything about his habits and allows him to be himself. Most of the other characters change throughout the series and keeping Andy a static character left him out and didn't do his arc any good.
8 Choosing To Stay In England
Although this was because Chris Pratt was cast in the Marvel hit Guardians of the Galaxy and therefore he was gone in England for part of season 6, it didn't fare well for the character. There's a funny excuse provided for his departure, a British Lord (played by Peter Serafinowicz who also had a role in Guardians) takes a shine to Andy and wants him to stay when the group travels to London.
Andy comes back pretty quickly from England, moves back to Pawnee, and the storyline disappears, not providing any details about his time there. The writers' lack of commitment to this storyline left Andy teed up for an interesting job and life in England, but with no follow-through, it seemed to be exactly what it was, just a way to write Pratt off the show. That did Andy no favors.
7 Honest To A Fault
Andy has no filter throughout the series and being in politics and government this hurts him and the group. Most of the characters are honest, but they're able to keep things from their various enemies like Jeremy Jamm that could hurt their cause, and Andy isn't able to do that.
Although this is a lovable trait, it causes a lot of headaches for his department and friends. It's an annoying habit of the character that seems more and more unrealistic throughout the show as he should have learned when to hold his tongue, but he seemed to only become blunter.
6 Needing A Romantic Partner
Most of Andy's story is tied to whoever he is romantically involved with or is pining after throughout the show. In the beginning, the audience is introduced to Andy as Ann's boyfriend. When she breaks up with him he is defined by his need to get back with her.
Then when that doesn't work out he begins to date April. While it's undeniable that they're a fantastic match and it's good they married the fact that Andy can't survive on his own is concerning. Having time to work on himself without a partner could have strengthened the character, but he ends up always being dependent on someone else.
5 Going On An Emotional Journey With No Pay-Off
There was a short storyline where Andy seemed depressed and it's one of the only times where the audience sees Andy lose his patented blissful state. After he's denied being a fit for the Pawnee Police Department he becomes incredibly lost after not being able to pursue his dream.
Again, it's resolved with help from his friends and seemed he was back to normal fairly quickly. Not giving time to this unique Andy storyline hurt him overall because the audience saw how deep he was hurting and then immediately he was back to normal.
4 Never Planning For The Future
Andy accidentally falls into everything he does, and although it always seems to work out for him it's a frustrating personality trait that he never works on throughout the series. He fell into his shoe-shining job, marrying April, and then fell into his endgame job as TV personality Johnny Karate.
Seeing as how he's married with a child by the end of the series the audience would be hopeful that he and April might start planning for their future, but it never seems like they do. Everything seems to fall into place without him having to do any hard work, being forced to work for the things he has could have helped the character grow throughout the series, but instead, he never learns.
3 Not Being A Responsible Dad
Near the end of the series, April and Andy have a kid, but unfortunately, the audience doesn't get to see them as parents. The audience can hope that Andy becomes a responsible father, but nothing throughout the series proves that he can be responsible for his kids.
His Johnny Karate personality shows that he can have a fun time with kids and knows how to make them laugh, but with his lack of follow-through and planning show that he probably wouldn't make a responsible father. He seems to only become more hands-off over time.
2 Influenced By Others
Andy never really works on this personality flaw throughout the series. It's used to comedic effect, but Andy immediately agrees with anything anyone says and then will change his opinion if someone suggests something else.
This makes it difficult to know exactly what Andy is truly thinking and although it remains funny throughout the show it hurts his character development. Andy never learns to think for himself and this trait only grows within him.
1 Lack Of Follow Through
Overall Andy is portrayed as an ignorant guy who isn't smart at all, but there are moments where he's shockingly smart, but there is no follow-through after these moments. He's able to help Ben when he's working at the Sweetums non-profit and does well in his college course. He got a perfect score on his written police exam, which he was the first one to do.
Although he has a surprising amount of savvy, he has no follow-through on any of it. He only takes one college course, doesn't keep his job at the non-profit, and doesn't join the police department. Following through on something throughout the series, even if he didn't end up there, would have helped the character.
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