Toby Wyatt Flenderson, is a fictional character in The Office played by Paul Lieberstein. He is the Human Resources Representative at Dunder Mifflin/Sabre: Scranton Branch.
Character Information
- Toby is divorced and has a daughter, Sasha.
- At work, Toby is hated by Michael because as HR representative, he is always stifling Michael's inappropriate fun. He also continually addresses Michael like an adult, instead of pandering to his antics.
Season 2:
Toby once sat by Jim but was moved because Michael thought they talked too much. Toby brings his daughter Sasha to work during Take Your Daughter to Work Day, and despite Michael's hatred of Toby, he bonds with Toby's daughter.
Season 3:
Michael moves Ryan to be near Kelly, which annoys Toby. He is unsure whether this was intentional on Michael's part. He has a crush on Pam and spends hours trying to win a stuffed animal from a crane machine that she likes only to have her suggest he give it to his daughter.
Season 4:
Toby wins the 5K run in Fun Run. In Night Out, it is revealed that he will move to Costa Rica. In the season finale, Toby has a huge going away party, which Michael says matches the joy in his heart. Toby purchases a camera just so he can take a picture with Pam. In one episode, Jim, Pam, and Toby start laughing, Toby puts his hand on Pam's knee. Jim sees this, and Toby announces "Umm... I'm moving to Costa Rica. I've thought it over... so yeah." Then he runs out the door and hops the fence.
Season 5:
In Weight Loss, Toby appears at the end. It is shown that he is in a hospital in Costa Rica for breaking his neck in a zip line accident. Finally, to Michael Scott's absolute horror, Toby returns in Frame Toby. Michael is desperate to get Toby fired and goes to the Vance Refrigeration warehouse to buy pot, which he then puts in Toby's desk. When the police come, they find that the alleged "pot" was just a Caprese salad. Michael seems to hate Toby even more, if possible.
Season 6
During The Meeting, Toby and Dwight try to find out if Darryl is really hurt and bond over a mutual interest in trains. Toby accidentally calls Darryl's sister an asshole. In Niagara, Toby seems thrilled when Jim and Pam cannot be found and joyfully says, "Looks like this thing isn't going to happen." It does. In The Lover, Michael tries to befriend Toby to try to get him to stop Pam from being mad at Michael, but when Toby fails, Michael calls him a jackass.
When Michael pushes religion in the office during Secret Santa, Michael calls Toby the antichrist. In Whistleblower, Jo Bennett criticizes Toby's mystery novel that he was writing in his spare time at work. However he does not appreciate her criticism and states in a floating head interview, "Write your own damn novel." In the same episode, Toby tries to get a candy bar that was stuck in a vending machine by tilting that machine over. Dwight comes over to help him but soon abandons Toby to answer a phone call. Toby is seen trying to hoist up the heavy machine.
Season 7
When Michael spanks his nephew Luke, whom he had recently hired, he was forced into counseling with Toby (Counseling). Michael was resistant to cooperate, giving the silent treatment, telling false stories about his life, and eventually giving Toby the finger.
Season 8
In the season premiere, The List, Toby is put on the same side of Robert California's list as Jim, Dwight, Kevin, Oscar, Phillys, and Darryl. When his side is taken out to lunch by Robert, and Kevin starts talking about how he likes Elmo because of "the tickling", Toby says "I should not be here," and leaves.
Personal life
Toby's parents divorced when he was a child. Both parents wanted custody, and both asked him to testify against the other in court. He was unsure what to do because he loved both his parents and didn't want them to get divorced in the first place. ("The Deposition")
Toby likes Pam. He attempted to ask her out in The Convention, but was unsuccessful. He got nervous, and pretended to forget what he had wanted to say.
Toby went to Bishop O'Hara High School, the same high school as Katy, the purse sales girl and Jim's girlfriend during the early part of the second season. ("Hot Girl")
Toby joined the seminary but dropped out after a year to pursue a woman named Cathy. He followed her to Scranton and took the first job available, which was in Human Resources. The two married, and had a daughter, Sasha. They later divorced. ("Casual Friday") (This story contradicts the claim that Toby went to Bishop O'Hara High School, suggesting he grew up in the Scranton area rather than moving there as a adult.)
Toby's ex-wife remarried and is now named Cathy Becker. ("The Fight")
Trivia
- Toby will sometimes go out of his way to avoid Michael's activities.
- In a Booze Cruise deleted scene it is revealed that he intentionally arrived late enough to miss the boat.
- In Boys and Girls he pretends to follow Michael into the warehouse, but instead remains in the office.
- In other cases, Michael will exclude Toby from office activities, such as in Beach Games, in which Michael forces Toby to stay at the office while everybody else goes to Lake Scranton.
- It has been established that Toby has a crush on Pam, and Pam and Jim are aware of this.
- According to Weight Loss, Toby breaks his neck the third day in Costa Rica while zip lining.
- In the episode Survivor Man, it is revealed that Toby is allergic to mushrooms.
Behind the scenes
- Writer Michael Schur came up with the name Toby Flenderson.[1]
- Steve Carell mentioned that in his first scene with Paul Lieberstein, he already sensed a hatred for Toby Flenderson in Michael Scott.
- Toby's avoidance of (or exclusion from) Michael's activities serves a production purpose: It allows Paul Lieberstein to continue working as a writer instead of having to be on set.[2]
Appearances
Toby appears and speaks in every episode with exceptions noted below:
- Pilot - does not appear
- Health Care - does not speak
- Basketball - does not appear
- The Dundies - speaks only in a deleted scene
- Office Olympics - speaks only in a deleted scene
- The Fire - speaks only in a deleted scene
- Halloween - speaks only in a deleted scene
- Email Surveillance - speaks only in a deleted scene
- Booze Cruise - speaks only in a deleted scene
- Boys and Girls - does not speak
- Valentine's Day - does not appear
- The Coup - does not speak
- Traveling Salesmen - speaks only in a deleted scene
- The Return - speaks only in a deleted scene
- Ben Franklin - speaks only in a deleted scene
- Product Recall - does not appear
- The Job - speaks only in a deleted scene
- Launch Party - speaks only in a deleted scene
- Local Ad - speaks only in a deleted scene
- Dinner Party - does not speak
- Chair Model - speaks only in a deleted scene
- Business Ethics - does not appear
- Baby Shower - does not appear
- Crime Aid - does not appear
- Employee Transfer - does not appear
- Customer Survey - does not appear
- Business Trip - does not appear
- The Duel - does not appear
References
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