In the the TV show The Office there are many crazy and random characters. Some important throughout the show like Dwight, Michael, and Jim and some not important like Creed and Meredith. But one character that everyone thinks is not important turns out to be extremely important through the complete series and that character is Toby Flenderson. Toby is the HR guy for the company Dunder Mifflin and is constantly treated like crap by Michael, Dwight, and a lot of his other coworkers, but people don’t realize how Toby is one of if not the most important characters in The Office through his ability to keep the office in check throughout the series and mostly through his strange connection with the infamous Scranton Strangler and the theory that surrounds it.

Toby keeps the office in check throughout the series in many ways. Multiple examples of Toby keeping the office in check through his meetings about safety, health, and self defense as well bringing up the importance of working before goofing around and in return gets no respect from anyone especially the regional manager Michael Scott. Another example of Toby keeping the office in check is when he had couples sign a relationship form and set out a reminder of PDA when Jim and Pam started dating because he understood how a relationship between 2 coworkers can affect the efficiency of the workplace for not just to the 2 coworkers but the whole office. Therefore, Toby is an important part of The Office because he keeps the office in check.

Another example of Toby being important to the show is his involvement in the Scranton Strangler case. The Scranton Strangler was a little subplot of a serial killer strangling people to death and when he finally gets arrested Toby is apart of the jury for the case. Eventually the man is found guilty but s little bit after the case is closed and Toby goes back to the office Toby feels as if the man was innocent and when he goes to meet with the man in princess he gets strangled proving that the guy was the true Scranton Strangler….or does it? There’s a interesting theory that Toby is the true Scranton Strangler because ever since the Strangler was first brought up after coming back from Costa Rica which is where he decided to go after flirting with Pam in front of everyone and creeping them out. When he gets there he breaks his neck from a ziplining incident; it was at this moment where he decides that he wants to make everyone feel the pain he did. Now when the Scranton Strangler first appears in a newspaper Andy Bernard gets Pam and Jim’s child on the day of her birth which reads “Scranton Strangler Strikes Again”. At first that sounds weird but Toby has a huge crush on Pam and he was the only one not at the hospital for the birth. In the theory instead of being at the hospital, Toby strangled someone out of anger for Jim and Pam having a child. Following that episode there were a few more episodes where something bad happens to Toby and the next episode there is something about the Scranton Strangler killing someone. Now when Toby is on jury for the case they find the guy guilty and he feels the man is innocent but the theory believes he feels that way because he knows he’s the true Strangler. So he decides to meet the man and reveals the truth to man put in prison for the Scranton Strangler murders and then Toby gets strangled to point of being in a neck brace. Even though it’s just a theory and there are other theories about Creed, Dwight, Ryan, and some idiotic reason Jim being the Scranton Strangler there’s a lot more evidence and just weird things throughout the series that makes you think Toby is the Scranton Strangler or that he at least knows something about the Strangler that the rest of us don’t. Therefore Toby is important to the The Office through his involvement with the infamous Scranton Strangler.

Yes Toby is not every episode but the storylines he’s involved in are very crucial to the episode and the whole show in general. If Toby wasn’t important to the show they wouldn’t put him in the whole Scranton Strangler storyline which at one point became the main storyline of a few episodes because everyone wanted to find out the truth. Also his episodes where he lays down the law of PDA, self defense, and safety are what the show’s storyline is about and how Michael Scott screws it up for everyone. Without Toby there is no “The Office” he’s an essential character to the show’s success and yes he’s not a fan favorite but it’s clear that he progresses a lot of storylines through the series. Toby Flenderson is one of, if not the most important character in The Office due to his ability to keep the office in check with Michael’s really crazy antics and mostly through his involvement in the infamous Scranton Strangler case and the theory that surrounds it.