In the season 5 premiere, Ryan returns to the Scranton branch after Michael arranges for him to work Pam's job. However, his malevolent aspirations to climb back to the top of the corporate ladder are revealed when he adds Jim and Kevin to a list of people who "will be sorry" when he returns to the top. In a deleted scene, he would add Dunder Mifflin CFO David Wallace to that list after Wallace called and became irate upon learning of Ryan's return to the Scranton branch.