The Office (NBC) TV Show • Page 17

Michael: "so can we fire him?" (Toby)
Wallace: "not without cause, Michael."
Michael: "i have cause. it is beCAUSE i hate him."

 

Pam: I only brought the one.
Michael: Are you mental?
Pam: Michael, do you remember, you specifically told me to only bring one sheet of paper? You said it only takes one sheet to make a difference. And I said, "Are you sure Michael?" And you said "Pam! Pam! Pam!" And then you sneezed in my tea, and then you said, "Don't worry, it's just allergies." Do you remember that?

Absolutely love the bolded and underlined part so much. Her delivery is perfect.

 

"Toby works in HR so he's really not a part of our family. Also, he's divorced so he's really not a part of his family."

 

Is Michael's deep-seated hatred for Toby extend from the fact Toby's the only person in the office he doesn't have the authority to fire?

 

I don't think so, I think it's mainly because Toby's role entails interfering with Michael's freedom to "be fun" (as Michael would put it). The fact that he can't get rid of him simply frustrates him further.

Although having said that, a large reason why his hatred for Toby is funny is because it's so inexplicable. There's something wonderfully unreasonable about the sheer loathing he has for him.

 

There's also the fact that, unlike everyone else in the office Toby doesn't answer to him. And since Michael makes a lot of racist and sexist comments and other shenanigans, Toby probably reports him a lot

 

Gruel sandwiches. Gruel omelettes. Nothing but gruel. Plus, you can eat your own hair.

 

JM95 is absolutely right. we know from way back in season 2's Halloween episode specifically that Michael dislikes making tough decisions / firing people (also again when he sends Ryan to the annex after his speech at business school when Ryan worries about being fired and Michael says a good manager doesn't fire people and in season 4 with Stanley's "did i stutter?").

Michael's hatred and loathing of Toby is definitely a portion of him being out of Michael's umbrella of leadership since he's HR / corporate, not a sales or another department, as well as reigning Michael in. Michael sees Toby as the ruiner of his fun, a restriction, a "watchful eye" of the man who won't let Michael do what he wants (for better or worse). also, how they have Toby's personality is a complete 180 from Michael's.

also, Michael original hates Holly because she's HR but then falls in love with her (within minutes due to her poking fun at Toby, lol love it) so i think a big portion is Toby's position in the company and add in the humdrum demeanor of Toby as well as him constantly trying to ruin Michael's run - for i'm guessing the entire duration of Michael being a manager over 15+ years at Scranton - and it's a magnificent amount of loathing and hate for Toby Flenderson, who is everything that is wrong with the paper business.

 

Isn't this right when Holly's saying "Everything he does is sexy. The man just exudes sex"?

 

two other parts i love from that episode:

Michael: "Yeah, I'm trying to lure these kids into my booth, but uh, kids are very wary about being "lured" these days. Thank you Dateline."

Michael: "I would never say this to her (Pam's) face, but she is a wonderful person and a gifted artist."
Oscar: "Why, why wouldn't you say that to her face?"

 

Yes! And "the man is a jungle cat."

 

Michael Scott: Oh, and another fun thing. We, at the end of the night, are going to give the check to an actual group of Boy Scouts. Right, Toby? We're gonna...

Toby: Actually, I didn't think it was appropriate to invite children since it's... You know, there's gambling and alcohol, and it's in our dangerous warehouse and it's a school night... And, you know, Hooters is catering. You know, is that enough? Should I keep going?

Michael Scott: Why are you the way that you are? Honestly, every time I try to do something fun or exciting, you make it not that way. I hate so much about the things that you choose to be.

 

i'm a huge fan of lists so i think over the next 2 or 3 weeks i'm going to watch and rank all the cold opens for the show and compile / present my list here.

 

also, one of the things i really appreciate the show doing is the slow build up of the Jim/management storyline, Michael's falling out with Dunder Mifflin leading to the MSPC and of course the Jim/Pam relationship.

it amazes me how there are so many seeds planted about the Jim/management dynamic and Michael's growing unhappiness with DM before they become main storylines. not nearly enough shows do this these days. too many are just instantly thrown at the audience and instantly forgotten or moved on from, but The Office really did some masterful work with a handful of their long-arc stories.

 

Just finished watching the series for the first time. I loved it. I hate what they did with Andy's character in Season 9, though.

 

forgot how great "Stress Relief" is, especially the cold open. but one of my favorite parts:

Michael: "what kind of ice cream do you want? yell it out."
Stanley: "chocolate."
Michael: "Racism is dead, Stanley. you can have any flavor you want."

 

He started as a total douche and ended as a total douche.

 

Decided to watch a bunch of season 3 episodes tonight. Currently on Benihana Christmas. So many great moments. Andy ordering a "Nagasaki" at a Japanese restaurant, Jim getting Dwight to describe how to viciously kill a goose to the waitress, Michael having to mark his "girlfriend" at the party. And every time I wrap presents, I automatically think of Pam's line to Roy: "If you have to use more than three pieces of tape, you're doing it wrong."

 

I get that, but I think they could've done something with his character. They progressed him and then undid it all.

 

Yeah, that's kinda lame I guess. Though his ending in the finale is good, I think.

 

Dwight and Andy playing Take Me Home Country Roads was great

 

Love that

 

"I got hit in the face with a pee-filled water balloon, Pam, okay? I don't know how they did it. They filled the balloon with pee. A funnel? I don't know. Is that clear enough for you?"