Internet sleuths may have discovered the identity of The Office's Scranton Strangler
The Office’s Toby Flenderson, one-man HR department and Michael Scott’s human punching bag, is a tremendously sad character. Over the course of nine seasons, viewers were asked to feel sorry for Toby as we see how much he hates his job, hear about his horrible divorce, and shrink in second-hand embarrassment or outright revulsion as he tries, very poorly, to express his feelings for Pam Beesly.
Now, however, any sympathy Toby may have garnered is being called into question, as the internet closes in on the identity of the show’s Scranton Strangler, the mysterious killer stalking Pennsylvania.
Twitter user Spencer McClure, likely having obsessed over the inadequately solved mystery for years like a real-world Rust Cohle, has resurrected the case and, well, it doesn’t look good for Toby.
The thread continues by profiling Toby psychologically, noting his simmering resentments, difficult personal life, and the notable fact that the Scranton Strangler was first mentioned on the show at the same time as the birth of Pam and Jim’s child (a scene in which Toby was conspicuously absent, presumably deeply traumatized by his unrequited love). More damning is the O.J. Simpson-inspired episode where the office watches Scranton police chase down the Strangler and where Toby, again, is absent. The coincidences continue to accumulate.