Toby Flenderson
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| Toby Flenderson | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Diversity Day |
| Last appearance | Goodbye, Toby |
| Created by | Greg Daniels |
| Portrayed by | Paul Lieberstein |
| Information | |
| Age | 37 |
| Occupation | Human Resources Representative |
| Family | Un-named parents (divorced) |
| Spouse(s) | an ex-wife Pam Beesly (crush) Amy (girlfriend) |
| Children | Sasha (daughter) |
Toby Flenderson is a fictional character from the US television series The Office. He is played by Paul Lieberstein. He is an original character and has no equivalent in the British version of the show.
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[edit] Overview
Toby Flenderson is the former human resources representative for the Scranton branch of paper distributor Dunder Mifflin. He speaks in monotone and rarely shows emotion. He is intensely disliked by branch manager Michael Scott, presumably because Michael has no authority over him, as Toby reports to corporate headquarters and generally tries to dissuade Michael from some of his ideas, but he is generally well-liked by everyone else in the office. At the end of Season 4, Toby resigns from his position with the intention of moving to Costa Rica.
[edit] Biography
In his childhood, Toby was forced to testify against both of his parents when the two got divorced. A Bishop O'Hara High School and Pennsylvania State University alumnus, Toby is divorced (a fact which Michael constantly and unkindly mentions) and has a young daughter named Sasha who adores Michael. He went to Amsterdam for an undetermined amount of time after his divorce.
Toby joins the others occasionally to conduct business, such as reviewing the company's sexual harassment policy and mediating conflict between employees. Toby prefers to let angry employees vent to him, after which they feel better and the conflict eventually settles down and solves itself. This strategy worked virtually trouble-free for years until Michael Scott publicly read off all listed complaints. Using the excuse that he was allergic to his desk, Toby moved locations to escape Kelly's constant talking, moving out of the cubicle, albeit only to a desk adjacent to it. Toby later wonders if Michael intentionally moved Ryan to his former area in order to torture him via Ryan and Kelly's endless fighting.
Toby is generally a friend of everyone around the office except Michael. Jim mentions that when he first started working at Dunder Mifflin, he shared a cubicle with Toby and that the two of them got along well. Michael moved them apart because he thought that the two talked too much. The others treat Toby with respect. For example, after Toby conducts a brief sexual harassment seminar, the staff is left in a good mood and laughing, until Michael comes in and takes over.
In a deleted scene from "Ben Franklin", when warehouse foreman Darryl Philbin is told that Michael has sent Toby home to prevent him from interfering with the hiring of a stripper, Darryl refers to Toby ("that red-haired guy with the sad eyes") as a cool guy. While on a trip to the Corporate offices with Darryl and Michael in "The Negotiation", Darryl also offers to let Toby crash for the night at a relative's house in New York, denying Michael the same opportunity.
Toby is in the unfortunate position of needing to try (but usually failing) to enforce corporate policies and rules when Michael disregards them, typified by this attempt to quash Michael's plan to invite Boy Scouts to a Casino Night party:
| “ | Actually, I didn't think it was appropriate to invite children since it's, uh, you know...there's gambling and alcohol...and it's in our dangerous warehouse...it's a school night, and you know, uh... Hooters is catering. You know, is that not—is that enough? Should I keep going? | ” |
Michael views Toby as his sworn enemy and takes every opportunity to demean him. As Michael sneers, "Toby is in HR, which technically means he works for corporate, so he's really not a part of our family. Also, he's divorced, so he's really not a part of his family." Michael once said that "Toby Flenderson is everything that is wrong with the paper industry." He also stated "I hate so much about the things that you choose to be". He has also referred to him as "the worst human being ever" and "Satan". Michael has frequently threatened to fire Toby, which he cannot do because Toby does not fall under Michael's authority, instead reporting to the company's HR head in New York.
Toby avoids office activities whenever possible and, like most of the staff, only tolerates Michael. He has offered help to Michael several times despite Michael's continued abuse. However, he gets along with the rest of the staff and even attends Jim's barbecue party, playing video games while Michael sings karaoke. Whenever someone says they're having problems at the Scranton branch, Michael immediately asks if the problem is Toby's fault, and the answer has always been no. In many cases, that person will continue on, saying that Toby was in fact kind and helpful.
Toby's favorite movies are Say Anything, The Shining, Annie Hall, and Toy Story 2. According to the diploma hanging on the wall of his workspace, he graduated from California Coastal College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology.[1]
He once lived in Honolulu for a year and stated in "Branch Closing" that he would take severance from the closing, sell his house, and move to Costa Rica. In a deleted scene from "Local Ad," it is revealed that he worked in advertising for three years before coming to Dunder Mifflin. Also, according to a deleted scene from the episode "Launch Party", it is stated while Toby is taking a Driver's Test that he is colorblind. Toby is also allergic to mushrooms ("Survivor Man").
[edit] Season One
Toby only appears in a few episodes, showing up first in a scene in "Diversity Day," in which he jokes about sitting in an Indian Circle (to which everyone else laughs). Michael, having told many more offensive jokes, is offended by Toby's joke and tells him to "get the hell out of here." Toby does so and the staff suddenly goes very quiet. This is the first instance in the relationship between the two, Toby trying to be responsible, and Michael trying to demean and undermine him as much as possible. In "Hot Girl", Toby is introduced by Michael to Katy the purse saleswoman; after Toby and Katy begin talking happily about their high school days, Michael deliberately humiliates Toby by mentioning his divorce and how he once briefly had to live in his car. He also notices the picture of Toby's daughter on his desk, and refers to her as a "cutie pie;" however, this is probably a further attempt to portray Toby, a divorced father, as undesirable.
[edit] Season Two
One of Toby's major appearances was in "Sexual Harassment," where he holds a Sexual Harassment Meeting for the staff, only to be interrupted by Michael and a blow-up doll. Michael then states that everyone is still "generally quite happy," which he thinks is because Toby has not yet had the meeting. In fact, Toby did have the meeting and everyone clapped after he was done, leaving them in a very, very good mood.
In a deleted scene of "Halloween," Toby tries to persuade Michael to make the decision of whom he is going to fire. Michael tells Toby that he will fire Toby, but Toby says he doesn't report to Michael. Michael then tries to get Toby to quit, but Toby tells him that someone else will just take his place. Michael then claims that if he had the power to, he would immediately fire Toby, to which Toby calmly replies, "I know, Michael."
In "Booze Cruise", Toby is late to the dock because he had dinner. When Michael orders the ship to leave without him, Toby grins broadly, implying he had planned to miss the event.
In "Take Your Daughter to Work Day," Toby's daughter, Sasha, distracts Michael but the two get along, showing Michael's friendly side. They have a good conversation when Michael is asking him whether he can still have a family (Michael wants to have a biological child, and Toby hints he should seek out alternatives), and asks if Sasha has a godfather, to which Toby quickly replies, "Yes."
In "Conflict Resolution", Toby shows that he handles inter-office complaints calmly and efficiently, only to see his work undone by Michael's stupidity. Michael does handle the threat that Dwight will quit unless Michael fires Jim over his history of pranks against Dwight, by making vague promises of future action, an effective approach that is similar to the one Toby had used successfully in the past. Toby covertly shows that he files Dwight's complaints against Jim in a trash box and that he puts the huge number of complaints against Michael in unmarked boxes that are filed into the vast space of the warehouse.
"Casino Night," is by far Toby's biggest role in the season. After trying to tell Michael not to invite Boy Scouts to a Casino Night, Michael demeans him in front of everybody, and Toby just lets him finish. That night, however, while playing no-limit Texas Hold Em, Michael is viciously beaten by Toby in a poker game, to which Michael is irritated that Toby foiled his chances. Later, Toby says to the camera, "I'm not gonna lie - it felt good to take money from Michael. I'm gonna chase that feeling."
[edit] Season Three
In "The Convention", after finding out that Pam is dating again, he makes a couple of attempts to ask her out, but does not actually get the words out. Michael trashes Toby to Jim and eagerly asks Jim if the HR rep is the reason he left for Stamford. Michael is visibly stung when Jim says no.
In "The Convict", Michael jokingly refers to Toby as a rapist, much to the dismay of those present. Later, Toby convinces Michael to release the office employees from the conference room, whom he had locked in there as punishment for unfavorably comparing Dunder Mifflin to a prison. This was a rare moment in which Michael was pleased with Toby.
In "Back from Vacation", Toby asks Michael about the "Jamaica Jan Sun Goddess" photo. Michael tries to accuse Toby of stealing the file from him, but Toby says "nine different people sent it to me, including my ex-wife, and we, well, we don't talk". Michael then insults Toby's divorce again and calls him a perv, but does state for the record that he and Jan do not have a relationship.
In "Phyllis' Wedding" Toby is seen with a beautiful woman whom he says he met in the gym, although everyone believes she is a paid escort. Toby says, "We met at the gym, why is that so hard for everyone to believe?" The woman has not been seen since.
In "Business School" he tells Pam he can't make it to her art show because his daughter has a play. He then offers to miss his daughter's play because "what they do is not art."
In "Cocktails" Toby spends the whole evening trying to win Pam a duck from a claw machine after she comments on how cute it is. When he finally wins it, Pam assumes that he plans to give the duck to his daughter, which prevents Toby from offering it to Pam.
In "The Negotiation", Toby goes with Michael and Darryl to New York after Jan says she won't do the contract negotiation unless Toby is there. When Michael repeatedly mentions his and Jan's relationship at that point, Toby takes notes and Michael insults him, but Toby just says he's "preparing for the deposition" that he thinks will inevitably occur because Michael threatened to withhold sex from a female superior in order to get a modest, scheduled raise. Additionally, when Darryl says he'll stay in New York for the night, he offers Toby to stay at a relative's house and then refuses the same offer to Michael.
In "Women's Appreciation", Toby is out of the office at a PTA meeting when Phyllis is flashed. When he returns, Michael scoffs at his alibi and seriously asks to see his penis to rule him out as a suspect. Toby turns towards Michael and looks like he's about to get angry; Michael then seems to catch himself and admits what he said to Toby was wrong.
In "Beach Games", Michael bans Toby from attending the beach event because he wants it to be fun and says it won't be if Toby is there. Toby is visibly upset that he won't get to see Pam in a bikini and is seen despondently doing paper work in a deleted scene from the episode.
On the Season 3 DVD, Toby gives a series of wraparound interviews. Among other things:
- He lists the various insulting nicknames Michael has for him.
- He describes Michael's "invention" of a safe George Foreman Grill after he burned his foot, which involved putting the Grill inside a bunny cage.
- He says that his job is not a nightmare because you wake up from nightmares; it's more like an unrelenting "daymare".
- He lists what he would do if he had one day to live, including one item that apparently makes the interviewer react with horror and/or disbelief.
- He says, "HR isn't just a job, it's a way of life. (Pause) But I wish it was just a job."
[edit] Season Four
In "Fun Run" Toby goes against Michael's theory of an office curse by mentioning he won a drawing at a local pizza place, but Michael insults him and later ignores his statement that you can't ask employees about their religions. Before the race, Dwight puts Imodium in Toby's drink instead of Ex-Lax and Michael pulls Toby's shorts down right before the starting gun is fired. Toby later wins the race to cure rabies, beating Michael and accomplishing something noteworthy; however, no one notices his win, and Kelly doesn't even bother looking up when he crosses the finish line. Toby then wonders why the 5K course was a straight line instead of a circle that would have returned everyone to the Dunder Mifflin building.
In "Dunder Mifflin Infinity" after Toby sees Pam kiss Jim he sends out a memo about Public Display of Affection. When Michael accosts Toby about the memo (thinking it's about him and Jan having sex in the office), Toby tells him, in front of everyone, that it's about Jim and Pam. When they confirm that they are dating everyone is happy, except Toby. Later Pam and Jim visit him to see if they have to sign a "Love contract", but he tells them to wait and see. In a scene that was added to the episode's repeat airing on NBC, Toby comes into work with a woman he says is his girlfriend and makes out with her right in front of the reception desk and Pam.
In "Money" Toby shows that he is very good at grammar when he corrects Michael and clears up a confusion between the usages of the words "whoever" and "whomever" (who is used as a subject, while whom is used as an object).
In a deleted scene of "Local Ad," Toby pitches an idea of having a slow motion ad that Michael, of course, puts down although the rest of the office seems to like the idea. When the local ad is being played at the bar, you'll notice that Toby was in the ad, but only briefly. While Michael was shooting the scene of the paper airplane flying out of the hand of Creed towards the conference room window, you see Toby in the conference room packing up whatever work he was finishing. Michael did not want Toby in the video, however for a fleeting moment, Toby had managed to unintentionally get a part in the ad.
Toby's distaste for Pam's relationship with Jim is again brought up in "Branch Wars" when Jim is allowed to join "The Finer Things Club", an exclusive organization built up by Pam, Toby, and Oscar, dedicated to discussing civilized culture. During the episode's final scene, after Jim contributes his ideas on the book being discussed, Toby scrutinizes him very bitterly, hinting again at his disdain for Jim's success with Pam. His irritation is attributed to the fact that Jim did not read the book. Also in this episode Michael attempts to send Toby to the Utica branch but is foiled when he cannot commend Toby on his "salesperson" skills.
In the episode "Survivor Man", Toby ends up getting on Jim's nerves. When Jim is named Acting Manager while Michael is off on his "wilderness adventure" and starts altering the office's birthday schedule, Toby asks Jim if he can have a birthday celebration, explaining that Michael deliberately held a party for Toby at 4:58PM on a Friday so no one would attend. Jim agrees, but comments that he likes Toby but that the guy is really annoying him. Jim's dismissive, disgusted attitude toward Toby (whom he has always gotten along with before) very closely mirrors how Michael treats Toby. It is not clear whether Jim is genuinely fed up with Toby or whether this interplay showed how Jim was acting like Michael to a disturbing extent in the episode.
Michael's hate for Toby is brought up again in "The Deposition" when Michael says he does not want Toby in the deposition and nastily asks if the HR rep is there "to renew your divorce vows" (Toby is also sitting a conspicuous distance from Michael in the uncrowded room being used for the proceedings). When the two happen to sit next to each other at lunch, Toby kindly tells Michael that he can relate to Michael's situation, because Toby had to go through his parents' divorce where they both wanted custody of him. While Toby is talking, Michael pushes Toby's lunch tray on the floor then gets up and leaves. Later in the episode, Toby begins to laugh ridiculously at Michael after learning Michael thinks Ryan is "hot", which is the first time Toby is seen in that manner. Also, after Jan's attorney brings out Michael's diary, and the the head of the deposition says "Okay, we'll need ten copies of that diary," to which Toby says, "Make that eleven."
In the episode "Night Out", he puts his hand on Pam's leg and caresses it for a long, awkward moment, which everyone standing around seems to notice. Immediately thereafter, realizing what he had just done, he abruptly announces that he is moving to Costa Rica, runs outside to the security fence, scales it, and disappears into the night.
In "Did I Stutter?", Toby and Ryan together (who both have a problem with Jim; Toby dislikes him for dating Pam and Ryan dislikes him for going over his head) warn Jim on his job performance, citing specifically his disenthusiasm for his job and use of time (namely "goofing off with Dwight" and "time spent at Reception" with Pam). Toby then says to the camera that Jim's time spent with Pam "has finally caught up to him", but he repeats Pam's name several times when unneeded. In the same episode, Toby convinces Michael he needs to deal with Stanley for his open insubordination during a staff meeting, though Michael goes about it a different way because Toby's method "did not work because it was stupid." It is also shown that Dwight thinks Toby may be Jewish, as Dwight's org chart shows a blue Star of David with a question mark next to Toby's name.
In Goodbye, Toby, he follows through on his earlier plans and quits his job as HR representative to move to Costa Rica. Michael is overjoyed at his departure and plans to throw a lavish goodbye party that reflects this. Both Kelly and Pam say they're sorry he is leaving, with Pam even saying in an interview that she thinks he's kind of cute. Toby faces a cruel exit interview from Michael but the tables are turned when the new HR rep, Holly, and Pam join the interview. Michael is unable to berate Toby at length, but does threaten him if he honestly answers the question "How can Dunder-Mifflin be improved?". Toby gets revenge when Michael's insulting farewell gift to him is exposed and Pam gets Michael to give up his watch to Toby. Toby's main concern on his last day is getting pictures of himself alone with Pam, which he finally does as his party is ending. Michael gets a last dig in by having Hank the security guard escort Toby out of the office as he leaves for his new life in Costa Rica.
[edit] References
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