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The Office: Why Toby Flenderson Showed All Clues of Being The Scranton Strangler
The peaceful town of Scranton, where Dunder Mifflin paper company’s branch was located, witnessed a tragedy unfold following a series of murders and and the leading theory suspects Toby Flenderson.
Trigger Warning: This article contains details of murder and violence
One of the greatest unsolved mysteries of TV is the identity of the Scranton Strangler as chronicled in the legendary NBC sitcom, The Office. The peaceful town of Scranton, where Dunder Mifflin paper company’s branch was located, witnessed a tragedy unfold following a series of murders.
The killer was rightly dubbed as the Scranton Strangler, whose identity remains unknown to date. Even over a decade after the sitcom wrapped, the conversation around the Scranton Strangler continues, and with a leading theory about Toby Flenderson played by Paul Lieberstein.
Why Toby Flenderson showed all clues of being the Scranton Strangler?
While there is more than one existing theory about the real identity of the Scranton Strangler, Toby Flenderson’s case indicates rather strongly that he might be the one.
In The Office, George Howard Skub is convicted of committing the crimes and sent to prison. However, Flenderson maintains his stance that Skub is innocent and even votes in his favor as a juror for the case. Quite thoughtfully, Flenderson pays a visit to wrongly convicted Skub who, in turn, tries to strangle Toby in prison, suggesting that Skub has a grudge against the latter for posing as an innocent man.
The 2018 parody, Making a Strangler was released on The Office’s YouTube channel, and compiled all of the pieces of evidence that pointed toward Flenderson’s suspicious nature and motivations that could have led him to commit the heinous crimes.
The mockumentary points out how Flenderson mumbled about killing a co-worker, his knowledge of the potential harm of asbestos, losing his mind over a divorce, his view on George Skub’s conviction, and an effort to befriend him.
Interestingly, Toby Flenderson is absent from the scene when all of the Office is watching the police chase the Strangler on TV. At one point, the phone rings, and Mindy Kaling’s Kelly avoids the call to concentrate on the Scranton Strangler’s fleeing from the police in his car.
It is speculated that the call was possibly from Flenderson to confess his crimes before he gets caught. Eventually, he might have driven over to Skub’s house and sneaked in, thus, casting the limelight on him.
The police barge into Skub’s house, arrest him, and is later convicted of the crime. But Flenderson has a strangely soft spot for Skub as he goes on to visit him in prison and even deems him innocent as a juror.
Actor Paul Lieberstein portrayed Toby, but his part in the series transcends beyond acting as he also wrote 16 episodes of the show, per Collider. Talking to PopCulture.com, the 57-year-old screenwriter unveiled an unheard fact about the Scranton Strangler. "it was never quite mentioned that he wasn't a murderer. He would strangle you until he passed out,” Lieberstein clarified. This only further complicates the mystery, but since this arc never materialized, we can stick to our theory.
Another clue that hints at Toby’s anomaly is his peculiar obsession with Jenna Fischer’s Pam. It is believed that he was secretly in love with her but Pam was married to Jim and when the couple had their first child, Toby might have lost it and committed a crime in jealousy. The Office shows Jim and Pam welcome their child to another news flash that the Scranton Strangler is at it again.
Who are the other suspects?
While Toby Flenderson’s whereabouts positively insinuate his links to the Scranton Strangler, there are two other theories surrounding the killer. Creed Bratton, played by actor Creed Bratton, gives off an eerie vibe throughout the series.
The co-worker has a history of strange antics like leading and following cults, and the biggest and the only giveaway was him crashing an office party covered in real blood. Though it shows that Bratton might be a killer, it’s not ever made explicit that he is the Scranton Strangler.
Actor Creed Bratton made a cheeky attempt at the 2019 LA Comic-Con when asked about the mysterious strangler from The Office. In response, He kept mum and jokingly walked off stage.
David Wallace played by Andy Buckley provided his support in the theory that his character could have been the Scranton Strangler by stating his stance on an X post. “He had it in him to just snap. Hot tub middle of the day, boozing, creating the Suck It,” the actor once wrote.
This was essentially pointed out by Mashable video producer Jules Suzdaltsev who claimed nobody could have ever suspected Mallace as the killer, which only intensifies the suspicion given it’s always someone unexpected.
Moreover, Wallace lived in Connecticut and worked in New York City but was always hanging around Scranton, Pennsylvania.
While all of these theories show reasonable clues to suggest the real identity of the Scranton Strangler, fans will have to make terms with the fact that the mystery shall remain unsolved. Until, The Office makers decide to make a Scranton Strangler spin-off sometime!
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