Insane Fan Theories About 'The Office' That'll Blow Your Mind

There are plenty of reasons why Michael (Steve Carell) could possibly despise Toby (Paul Lieberstein). As the human resources representative at the Scranton branch, Toby is the only person with any real control over him.

Michael is also eternally optimistic to the point of delusion while Toby is depressed.

But Michael's hatred could have much deeper roots. Toby represents Michael's worst nightmare: a lonely, divorced father who rarely gets to see his kid. More than anything in the world, Michael wants to have a family and be happy.

We see this potentially play out in a Season 7 episode in which Michael has to sit through six hours of mandatory counseling from Toby. Michael is openly hostile until Toby tricks him into opening up while playing board games. What does Michael talk about? His daddy issues.

From Redditor /u/Athena_Nikephoros: 

If we look at all the stuff Michael gets away with, it's clear that Toby isn't ever coming down on him as hard as he could. As the corporate HR rep, Toby could have gotten Michael fired literally dozens of times.

My theory is that Michael's parents divorced when he was young, and he now channels his anger and feelings of abandonment towards Toby, who is a divorced father. Michael has no sense of subtlety or nuance, and so [he] doesn't see that Toby is a far better father and human being than his own dad.

While the identity of the notorious Scranton Strangler is eventually revealed, one fan theory suggests Toby is the real killer. Remember when Toby suddenly decided to move to Costa Rica? The murders began right after he returned. 

But things eventually get even more suspicious in later seasons.

Toby ends up on the jury that convicts George Howard Skub, the accused Scranton Strangler. But Toby later develops doubts about Skub's guilt and goes on a crusade to prove his innocence. There’s a detailed breakdown of this theory here. It’s a long read, but it makes a very convincing case.

This theory may sound a little far-fetched to even the most seasoned fans of The Office. But several scenes throughout the series hint at a mutual attraction - and possibly more - between Roy and Angela (Angela Kinsey).

From Redditor /u/flaming_muffins: 

Here’s the evidence seen directly in the show:

• In the episode “The Fire” (s2e14) Roy says he’d hook up with Angela in the game “Who would you do?” showing that he has attraction towards her.

• In the episode “Casino Night” (s2ep22), Michael is opening the casino as Lady Fortune and he says “Old friends! New lovers!” and then there’s a shot of Roy and Angela sharing glances at each other (sort of the “let’s hook up” kind of glance). Then later in that episode, before Jim shares his feeling for Pam, we see Roy take off early from the casino night. Where was he going? To go hook up with Angela! Now I know this is stretching it but it makes sense given all of the rest of the evidence.

• In the episode 'Cocktails' (s3ep18) you can briefly hear audio of Roy asking everybody at the bar if they want a drink and you can hear Angela saying something like, 'Oh, no thank you Roy, I’m…' This line on its own doesn’t mean much but its more the way she says it that interests me. She sounds very flustered, the way a girl talking their crush sounds.

• In the same episode, when Pam says that she wants no secrets between her and Roy, Roy instantly becomes defensive and says that he totally could have done something (implying an affair) but he didn’t. The way he says this is definitely suspicious and is absolutely not convincing that he is innocent of an affair[...]

• In the episode 'The Negotiation' (s3ep19) Angela has more of her flustered speaking when Roy comes to get his last paycheck. She calls him 'very strong' and Kevin snickers in the background (maybe Kevin knew about the affair, the way he knows about Oscar’s affair later on in the show).

Now let’s consider Angela’s role in all of this:

First off, we know that Angela is not shy when it comes to having multiple lovers at once. She cheated on Andy with Dwight, cheated on the senator with Dwight, and also mentioned two people named John dueling over her when she was 'living in Ohio' (s5ep18). We also know that Angela has a strong hatred for Pam. This is seen countless times throughout the show. I believe this hatred might be because Roy chose to remain engaged to Pam, basically choosing Pam over her. She might have felt that without Pam, she could have had a stronger relationship with Roy.