Okay, so I was a late-comer to watching “the Office.” I didn’t start watching it until a few months ago. I’ve been catching up with past episodes on DVD. I skipped the first year episodes however because everything I’ve read says that these episodes were weak, and that the show didn’t really get funny until the second year. So, perhaps there’s something I missed, but what does Michael have against Toby?
I realized Toby has the (thankless) task of having to intervene on behalf of the employees whenever Michael becomes too annoying or offensive, but I can’t remember a time when Toby didn’t back down and let Michael run roughshod over him. And Toby is such a pathetic sad sack, I can’t imagine Michael even noticing him, letting alone working up such a viscous attitude toward him. And it only intensifies as the series progresses. In season two, Toby is just one among the many annoying (in Michael’s view) office employees - if Michael had his way, only he, Pam & Ryan would work there. By season four (episodes I’m watching now), Michael is constantly singling out Toby for nasty abuse. Is there an actual reason for it, did Toby ever actually do anything to Michael, or is it purely Michael being irrational?