first three seasons, and both seemed to respect each other, almost to the point of being friends. However, hints of a future rivalry were shown in "The Merger", where it is revealed to Jim that Ryan took his old job after he transferred to Stamford. Despite this, the two still got along fairly well with little to no annoyance from each other. However, after Ryan was promoted to his corporate post as a Vice President of Sales for the company, he began behaving in a self-absorbed and egotistical manner, causing Jim to lose much respect for him. Their relationship soon turns into one of bitter rivalry once Ryan learns that Jim has been discussing with the CFO, David Wallace, the downsides of Ryan's company website. Once Ryan begins feeling overly stressed with the failure of the website, he turns to drugs and drinking and decides to find a way to fire Jim, fearing that Jim is undermining his authority and making him look bad to his superiors. He first puts a shocked Jim on "warning" for all of his pranks on Dwight, flirting with Pam, and inadequate sales figures, then pressures Jim to record a huge in-person sale as one made through Dunder Mifflin Infinity. As Ryan tries to fire Jim under false pretenses, Jim begins to develop raw hatred for him. Jim is also shown to be delighted when Ryan was arrested for sales fraud and is relieved that his job is finally safe from Ryan's paranoid business practices. After Ryan was released from prison, he returns as a fill in for Pam after she goes to design school and immediately apologizes to Jim, albeit in a very cynical and egotistical fashion, but Jim accepts his apology regardless, though not without sarcastically mocking him regardless (in his apology, Ryan expresses pride in "giving back to the community", to which Jim responds, "You're talking about your court-ordered community service?") Once Ryan is rehired as a salesman before being demoted back to a temp at the company, he forms a bond with Pam, slightly softening his bitter relationship with Jim. Things finally improve a little between the two for most of season five, but they deteriorate anew in season six when Ryan does not take Jim's new position as co-manager seriously. Ryan then teams up with Dwight to get rid of Jim and the pair celebrate after Jim's demotion back to