The Office 11-20-08

The Office
NBC
Thursdays 8pm ET/PT
Episode 8: “Frame Toby” (spoilers)
Director: Jason Reitman
Air date: Nov. 20, 2008

Michael’s hatred of Toby—a very low-key HR employee—is palpable, obvious and pretty amusing. And it took Michael a week to notice that Toby returned to the office? In attempting to produce cause to have Toby fired, Michael commits two acts that could not only cause him to be fired IRL*, but also to have the company sued:
• He asks Pam to pass Toby a note without reading it herself. The note asks Toby to embrace and kiss Pam and continue to do so even if she resists. Pam read it beforehand, and Michael was obviously disappointed.
• He obviously planted what he thought was marijuana in Toby’s office drawer before his lackey Dwight called Scranton’s Finest.
I’m just wondering: how much suspension of reality are we supposed to accept in this show? I just don’t see how Michael could continue to hold onto his job in this situation. Even on the phone call with the D-M corporate office, the guy at Corporate should have warned Michael: “You are not to take any action that would lead to Toby’s dismissal, and we will be wary if any such evidence turns up.”
As for the filthy microwave: as office manager, it was actually Pam’s responsibility to post the note, so she should have signed it. The problem is that since Michael is such an ass, he wouldn’t have backed her up on that. So there’s no point. I wonder if we’ll find out who the culprit is.
Ryan breaks up with Kelly so he can go guilt-free on a sex trip to Bangkok with his friends. Nice.

*In Real Life.