What separated The Office from other TV shows during its run was the mockumentary style. Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch was being filmed for a documentary on life in the workplace. While selling paper doesn’t sound like the most exciting television content, the excitement and suspense came from the workers.
The crew documenting the lives of these characters for nine years rarely stepped in or got involved. However, there were a hand full of moments where they did. They hinted to Pam that Dwight bought Angela a candy bar, and they also showed Jim and Pam that they knew they were secretly dating. But when there were serious, life-threatening matters at hand the crew shockingly stayed out of it.
When Roy Barged Into The Office To Attack Jim
When Pam told Roy that she kissed Jim after casino night, Roy turned into the bad guy and ruined a bar, telling his brother that he was going to “kill Jim Halpert.” The following weekday, the camera crew saw Roy pacing back and forth in the parking lot, knowing very well that something bad was going to happen.
Instead of interfering and calming Roy down, they let the drama unfold. Roy walked into the office and lunged at Jim, ready to hit him. Instead of the crew stepping in, Dwight saved the day and maced him.
Dwight’s Fake Fire Caused A Literal Heart Attack
Dwight’s a smart man but his dedication to safety in ‘Stress Relief’ made him anything but. After getting annoyed that the office didn’t listen to his fire safety seminar, he put them to the test and created a fake fire of sorts to see how they acted.
With so much fake smoke entering the office, people began panicking while the camera crew stood back. While the crew had to pick and choose their battles, they should have stepped in once Stanley had a heart attack, windows were broken, and Oscar began climbing through the ceiling…
The Crew Saw Dwight Shoot Stanley With A Dart And The Roll Him Down A Stairway
When Stanley refused to go on an important sales call with Dwight, Dwight used Clark’s help to force Stanley to go with them. Dwight told the cameras that he was going to tranquilize Stanley, put him in his car, and drive him to the sales call, where he’d be awake by then.
The crew did nothing but film Dwight as he inappropriately shot a few darts into Stanley where he promptly collapsed in the breakroom. If that wasn’t bad enough, they continued doing nothing as Dwight and Clark rolled Stanley in bubblewrap, toss him down the stairs, and stuff him into a car — all against his will.
They Allowed Packer To Deliver Laced Cupcakes…
Todd Packer’s motive in life is taking things too far and making things as awkward as possible. But the worst thing he ever did was poison a bunch of cupcakes and deliver them to his former coworkers.
Pam knew a box of cupcakes from Packer was too good to be true and warned everyone to not eat them, and she was right. The camera crew interviewed Packer where he admitted to poisoning the cupcakes as payback and yet, the crew didn’t warn the Scranton workers.
The Crew Should Have Told Michael Jim Left For An Emergency
When Jim and Michael stopped at a gas station, Jim received a worrying phone call from his mother-in-law about his daughter. With Michael in the bathroom, Jim asked a patron to tell Michael that he left.
The patron, however, left without telling Michael. Micahel had no wallet and no idea where Jim had gone. Instead of the camera crew telling Michael what happened, they stayed mum. Michael then walked around Scranton lost and confused. It was one of the saddest Michael moments on The Office as he had no help.
They Knew A Hitman Was Arriving To Hurt Oscar
With The Office being a mockumentary, the camera crew’s job was to hang back and film things as they unfolded with as little interaction with the workers as possible. But when a man’s life is at stake, they should have stepped in.
Fans knew that the accountant was had a bit of a mean streak due to some of the shadiest things Angela said in the past, but the worst thing she ever did was hire a hitman (Trevor) to injure Oscar. After finding out her husband was having an affair with Oscar, Angela hired Trevor to take out Oscar’s knees instead of having a longwinded conversation with both him and her husband. Luckily for Oscar, Dwight stepped in and got Trevor out of there.
Creed Got An Innocent Woman Fired
Creed has got to be one of the most secretive characters on The Office with a mysterious past. Considering his entire persona was most likely stolen, it’s assumed he has a rap sheet of crimes under his name. But one of his lowest moments was when he failed to do his job, which resulted in an obscene watermark on thousands of sheets of paper.
To save his tail, he blamed it on another woman who was later fired for the mistake. The crew could have saved the woman’s job by stepping in outside of the scene but they did nothing.
Uncle Al Was In Danger And They Did Nothing
Phyllis’s wedding to Bob Vance had cringey moments as well as its romantic moments. And one of the cringiest moments was when Dwight thought Phyllis’s Uncle Al was a party crasher. The camera crew filmed Al wandering around the streets at night, looking confused.
It was later noted that Uncle Al had dementia and that this was a serious situation. Did the camera crew break the fourth wall and bring Uncle Al back to the wedding? Nope, they let him wander the streets alone until Michael found him.
A Very Bloody Creed
In one Halloween episode, Creed walked into work with blood splattered all over his shirt and face. He told the cameras that it was lucky that it was Halloween, meaning the blood on this body wasn’t fake or intentional.
The crew could have asked Creed more questions considering it looked like he murdered something or someone, but they instead ignored everything and carried on as usual. The crew could have easily teamed up with the Scranton police to look into Creed’s background after all the footage they had.
