The Office: Why does Michael hate Toby so?
A relative new-comer to The Office would probably be wondering about the relationship dynamics between Michael and Toby. How many times have I heard this asked by a new-comer before: Why does Michael hate Toby so?
Early in the series, the official reason Michael implied to when this subject was brought up was because Toby is from Corporate. As a Human Resources staff, Toby is not directly under the head of the branch (Michael), so a branch manager cannot easily get rid of him. Michael once said — Toby is not part of their Scranton family (and to a certain extent, even his own family as Toby is divorced). He considers Toby the outsider, the mole, the pooper who reports everything back to Corporate. Funny enough though, Michael is also Corporate. Being part of Management automatically makes him one.
Toby’s the guy who says “No? to Michael a lot, by virtue and nature of his job function. And that’s one thing Michael doesn’t like, too — he can’t be told no. But judging by how Jim assessed Toby while he briefly took over Michael’s role for a day in Survivorman — he, too, found himself repelled by Toby. I guess it’s the way things are in the office. I’ve worked in a corporate scenario before, and it’s true, HR people repel their own people.
But I think, the other reason, the deeper reason of Michael’s hatred for Toby perhaps stems from Michael’s own insecurities. Between Toby and himself, it’s the former whom the staff warm up to more. Toby, with his nice and gentle nature, gets along with most everyone in the office, which makes Michael, the obnoxious one, resent him. You know how Michael is like — he wants everyone at work to think he’s a friend and a cool guy.
Anyway, I know I’d find a video of scenes from when Michael expressed his objection for everything Toby…Poor guy.
What about you, what other reasons do you think Michael has for hating Toby?
The Office, Michael Scott, Toby Flanderson, Michael hates Toby
Leave a Reply