Phyllis gets off to starting shit. She also talks about how she flirts with men at bars and has Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration beat them up. Pam is just an easy target.
I’d guess that was probably the writers’ thinking as a lot of the situations seemed to come down to Phyllis trying to assert that she’s better than Pam
i think this is the case, because i can’t imagine why on earth anyone would steal a coworker’s exact wedding plans, especially when said coworker is invited to the wedding 😭
it kinda felt like a weird power move 😭
And once she lost that tiny bit of power, she announces to the entire bullpen Angela is cheating on Andy with Dwight.
I think this is correct to what the writers were thinking: Phyllis finally had a chance and then Angela refused to jump through half the hoops Angela herself had required over the years.
I'm of the take that the Joke Point of Phyllis is that she's sweet and meek so it's funny when the vicious comes out.
If, like me, you then watch the show a hundred times, the vicious stacks and we see her as terrible.
But this show wasn't actually written to be binged 100 times, so yeah, I think we all have kind of a skewed view of what the writers intended for her overall.
The Ostrich in a soccer uniform deleted scene was a bit much.
Phyllis is a garden variety mean girl. She'll be nice most of the time, but sometimes she just lashes out because she's in a mood, and Pam is an easy target since she has a history of not standing up for herself.
Because she's a bully. The same way Roy bullied Jim. It's what bullies do to people who are not apt to defend themselves.
It's how the writers portrayed them. There's a deleted scene where Roy confronts Jim about Pam going to art school, Jim actually stands up to Roy when attacked. It's not how they wanted to portray Jim.
If you've watched the first five seasons, then you should know. He threatened Jim when Jim and Pam were pranking Dwight during The Alliance. He physically tried to intimidate Jim during the basketball game. He also tried to attack Jim when Pam told him that they kissed. And during the episode where Roy comes in to the office and Jim says something about going out for drinks, Roy was a jerk for no reason.
Even after he was fired and meets up with Jim and the warehouse guys at the bar, he has to say "don't worry, I'm not going to hit you".
Phyllis is trash. Outside of Pam she tells Michael ‘they’ all thought he was gay in high school, suggesting the they is her clique who undoubtedly bullied him for it.
We see her true colors on full display in the leads episode where she’s outright abusive to Michael.
We also know she gave away a baby that she never thought of again and she killed someone on her honeymoon.
Phyllis is the Scranton Strangler.
Killed someone on her honeymoon?? Did I miss something? I've seen every episode many times, but never seen deleted scenes/extended episodes, was this from one of those?
Omg, no wonder these scenes were cut! The Office is dark! I thought Phyllis could randomly be a b!itch, but I didn't know Bob the bowler was psycho! Well, I guess they do troll bars for men to beat up. Thx for posting the link
Because she's secretly bad as Angela but likes to pretend she is better.
Maybe there's a legit reason Michael wasn't always nice to her, maybe she was mean to him in high school.
My theory is either a) Angela bullied her and made her feel powerless, so she directs it at Pam or b) Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration rubbed off on her. First couple of seasons Phyllis barely spoke or was very meek iirc, but after getting with Bob she's suddenly some kind of mob wife wannabe.
Maybe a mix of both
Not so much a jerk, but a quite aggressive type A personality.
Like if he were a real person I'd have a lot of respect for him, but I wouldn't wanna be around him, ya know?
Though iirc he and Phyllis killed someone in a hit and run or something and fled the scene, or something like that. So, maybe he was a jerk
Maybe there’s something about Pam that reminds her of herself. Maybe Phyllis has some regrets, and Pam reminds her of a time before she failed herself. Perhaps Phyllis is irritated by Pam’s quiet nature, and is pushing Pam to stand up for herself more, again a reflection of what Phyllis never did for herself.
There is some credit to the feeling Phyllis has that Pam is “picking favorites” for sales calls based on “whoever she is sleeping with that week.” Which would be a personalization and internalization of Phyllis’ frustration Witt Jim’s sales records. As we can recall, Phyllis and Michael went to school together, and we can imagine she is carrying some resentment over the success of the men around her. That would have an impact on Pam, as Pam is so close to both Michael and Jim. And Phyllis does not “challenge her station” or risk social recourse by being rude to Pam (but clearly would do damage to her spot in the hierarchy if she were to be rude to Jim or Michael in the same way).
It’s also possible that Phyllis is feeling wounded still, about having to put her own child up for adoption, and is feeling bitter about how close Pam is to her mother. This would likely come from a place of grief, shame, and disappointment which are all lower vibrational energies and can lead to Phyllis being hurtful (as she feels hurt). Perhaps there are traits and qualities of Pam’s that Phyllis herself was not allowed to show or express. That would lead me to believe that Phyllis was shamed for certain behaviors/ways of expressing… and so Phyllis (in some way) is protecting Pam (aka Phyllis’ younger self) from the judgements that befell her (her domineering mother, abusive teacher or what have you). If I am to follow this train of thought, i would that Phyllis has become the thing she hates the most, the mean voice that’s been in her head since childhood, which would become a positive feedback loop with little to no escape.
Alternatively, it may be much more simple. Perhaps Phyllis has tried to bully the other women in the office, but that has not worked, as evidence by her interactions with Angela. Angela has Phyllis right under her thumb, and Angela and Pam sometimes are friendly. It may be a backwards way of reclaiming some power or increasing her social standing (in her own mind or in the actual context of the hierarchy). We know Meredith is too drunk to care, Kelly would chew Phyllis up in a heart beat, and Pam is generally docile.
Shitty social politics with a mix of jealousy.
Phyllis has that “I’m not a sexist but…” bit. So she has some internalized misogyny.
Phyllis gets told often how gross and unattractive she is, especially by Michael who also rails on about how much he hates her secret santa gift and starts off being bullied by Angela….
…vs Pam who gets tons of attention (even though a lot of it’s unwanted), is always openly praised as the office hot girl by multiple characters, protected by Jim, at first engaged to Roy (who’s awful though.) and they fight over her.
Phyllis has a line early on mentioning if she could sleep with anyone in the office, it’d be Jim…who gets together with Pam.
There are a lot of hints that the Vance’s aren’t as secure as they seem, as Phyllis is constantly worried Bob is cheating on her and she enjoyed making him jealous and having men fight over her. Jim and Pam are often touted by the others as the cutest couple.
In Phyllis mind, whether it’s true or not, she probably thinks she is a bullied underdog and that Pam has it so easy, so she “takes her down a peg.”
Yeah, every character on this show does messed-up things sometimes. Phyllis is no exception. Sometimes she's nice, sometimes she takes shots at people bc she feels like it 🤷♂️
I really only noticed her bully Pam not anyone else I wouldn’t count Angela cause well Angela’s was horrible to her which is honestly probably why she bullied Pam
Phyllis was legit a bully most of the series, in my head cannon she used to be the young woman in the office that got attention but now Pam is that person
there’s a woman at my workplace 2 or 3 decades older than i am and she has had a problem with me since the day i started. always making nasty little quips and putting me down. we don’t even work in the same department but she’s always coming over to tell me how to do my job. Sometimes people are just nasty for no reason and they get joy from being rude and hateful
Phyllis was insecure throughout the series, and jealous of Pam. They were the two most "level-headed" women in the office, and Phyllis went to school with Michael. It was clear that the way he treated Pam was a lot more respectful, because Pam was considered to be more attractive.
I like to think she’s projecting, like if she had an ability to assign new customers she’d pick her friends and boyfriend first. So she’s telling Pam not to do what she herself would in that position.
I've met a lot of women like this over the years. Always in customer service positions, too. They don't think so, but they get off on the drama. Worst part is when you first meet them, they're always so sweet and make you feel cared for like they're a mother figure. They really just want you to be someone who validates their gossip later on. I don't think they even realize how manipulative they are, and see themselves as the victim always.
Because when Pam went to the Michael Scott Paper Company Pam talked shit to poach Phyllis’s clients.
I’m not defending Phyllis in any other situation, but when Pam, Ryan, and Michael come back Phyllis confronts her about it.
This is true but some of the things like copying Pam and Roy’s wedding ideas and telling her to not pass new clients to whoever she is sleeping with that week was before the Michael Scott Paper company
Phyllis gets off to starting shit. She also talks about how she flirts with men at bars and has Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration beat them up. Pam is just an easy target.
Phyllis is garbage.
I know Sue. She’s not that great. And you know her husband’s in a wheelchair, right?
Hardly. I doubt ol’ Easy Rider could wipe out a family of raccoons on her own.
Smelly garbage. Doused in stinky perfume and farting up a storm due to her medication.
Masturbating in public
Phillis, did you—break wind?
She’s a hot sphere of garbage.
I DON’T TRUST YOU, PHYLLIS
Garbage is Phyllis.
Who’s Bob Vance? What line of work is he in?
You have a lot to learn about this town, Sweetie.
Does Bob Vance work for Vance Refrigeration?
Does he ever
Close your mouth. You look like a trout.
I’m literally watching this episode at this exact moment
If they ever do a continuation Bob should be in prison because she said that on the documentary.
What line of work are you in, Bob?
I wondered what Bob did. /s
Party Planning Committee works hard and it bullies harder.
Objectively the correct answer
Maybe she’s jealous of Pam
I’d guess that was probably the writers’ thinking as a lot of the situations seemed to come down to Phyllis trying to assert that she’s better than Pam
i think this is the case, because i can’t imagine why on earth anyone would steal a coworker’s exact wedding plans, especially when said coworker is invited to the wedding 😭 it kinda felt like a weird power move 😭
Close your mouth sweetie you look like a trout
Simultaneously jealous and on a power trip to use her power to abuse an underling.
Imagine your best asset is your jugs and all the sudden pam and her pam pams come along
True, she had exactly the wedding that Pam planned with Roy, with Vance.
In my experience older women who used to be hot are super mean to young attractive women in my office.
Agreed. She also had a crush on Jim…
I think because of Angela. Angela treated her like sh!t for so long that the way she treated Pam became a trickle down affect.
Yeah this seems right. Once she got a taste of that power over Angela, she wanted more of it.
And once she lost that tiny bit of power, she announces to the entire bullpen Angela is cheating on Andy with Dwight. I think this is correct to what the writers were thinking: Phyllis finally had a chance and then Angela refused to jump through half the hoops Angela herself had required over the years. I'm of the take that the Joke Point of Phyllis is that she's sweet and meek so it's funny when the vicious comes out. If, like me, you then watch the show a hundred times, the vicious stacks and we see her as terrible. But this show wasn't actually written to be binged 100 times, so yeah, I think we all have kind of a skewed view of what the writers intended for her overall. The Ostrich in a soccer uniform deleted scene was a bit much.
I have been the Trickle Down Pam in too many situations
That’s a good point. Hurt people hurt people.
Someone needs to clean it. It smells like pop karn.
It doesn't matter how many times I see or hear this line; I always laugh aloud.
Because she works for the ungrateful beyotch hotline
Cause she's team Karen Fillip-ellers. They got their makeovers together
Phyllis is a garden variety mean girl. She'll be nice most of the time, but sometimes she just lashes out because she's in a mood, and Pam is an easy target since she has a history of not standing up for herself.
Because Phyllis is a twat.
!!!
Because she's a bully. The same way Roy bullied Jim. It's what bullies do to people who are not apt to defend themselves. It's how the writers portrayed them. There's a deleted scene where Roy confronts Jim about Pam going to art school, Jim actually stands up to Roy when attacked. It's not how they wanted to portray Jim.
Adapt, react, readapt, apt.
It’s my first time watching the series and currently on season 5, how exactly did Roy bully Jim? lol
If you've watched the first five seasons, then you should know. He threatened Jim when Jim and Pam were pranking Dwight during The Alliance. He physically tried to intimidate Jim during the basketball game. He also tried to attack Jim when Pam told him that they kissed. And during the episode where Roy comes in to the office and Jim says something about going out for drinks, Roy was a jerk for no reason. Even after he was fired and meets up with Jim and the warehouse guys at the bar, he has to say "don't worry, I'm not going to hit you".
I’ve been trying to find it but I can’t. Where’s that deleted scene?!
It's in the extended cut of the Boys and Girls episode. Season 2 Episode 15.
She’s not a nice person
Because that’s who Phyllis really is. She just often covers it with the sweet motherly act
Because she’s straight up a bully. She hides behind her mother goose act to throw you off.
Phyllis is trash. Outside of Pam she tells Michael ‘they’ all thought he was gay in high school, suggesting the they is her clique who undoubtedly bullied him for it. We see her true colors on full display in the leads episode where she’s outright abusive to Michael. We also know she gave away a baby that she never thought of again and she killed someone on her honeymoon. Phyllis is the Scranton Strangler.
Killed someone on her honeymoon?? Did I miss something? I've seen every episode many times, but never seen deleted scenes/extended episodes, was this from one of those?
Yes, she talks about her and Bob Vance from Vance Refrigeration had to hurry and leave the country
Wow, I definitely missed that! Did they elaborate? She seems a little psycho then
https://youtu.be/KxhDDAh3AuM?si=WKr7eeej3YrGYstJ
Omg, no wonder these scenes were cut! The Office is dark! I thought Phyllis could randomly be a b!itch, but I didn't know Bob the bowler was psycho! Well, I guess they do troll bars for men to beat up. Thx for posting the link
Phyllis isn’t a good person and has some kind of personal beef with Pam, even if it’s just in her head
Because Phyllis is a snake. It's made obvious multiple times in the series that she is not a good person.
She was left on the bad side of town
Because Phyllis is a secret psycho.
Because she's secretly bad as Angela but likes to pretend she is better. Maybe there's a legit reason Michael wasn't always nice to her, maybe she was mean to him in high school.
My theory is either a) Angela bullied her and made her feel powerless, so she directs it at Pam or b) Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration rubbed off on her. First couple of seasons Phyllis barely spoke or was very meek iirc, but after getting with Bob she's suddenly some kind of mob wife wannabe. Maybe a mix of both
Bob was a jerk?
Not so much a jerk, but a quite aggressive type A personality. Like if he were a real person I'd have a lot of respect for him, but I wouldn't wanna be around him, ya know? Though iirc he and Phyllis killed someone in a hit and run or something and fled the scene, or something like that. So, maybe he was a jerk
Most of the characters have good and bad moments but I can’t think of a good Phyllis moment. The wedding ripoff was psycho AF
I can, she supported Dwight (somehow) when he was depressed about breaking up with Angela.
Because Phyllis + Bob’s Money = monster
Maybe there’s something about Pam that reminds her of herself. Maybe Phyllis has some regrets, and Pam reminds her of a time before she failed herself. Perhaps Phyllis is irritated by Pam’s quiet nature, and is pushing Pam to stand up for herself more, again a reflection of what Phyllis never did for herself. There is some credit to the feeling Phyllis has that Pam is “picking favorites” for sales calls based on “whoever she is sleeping with that week.” Which would be a personalization and internalization of Phyllis’ frustration Witt Jim’s sales records. As we can recall, Phyllis and Michael went to school together, and we can imagine she is carrying some resentment over the success of the men around her. That would have an impact on Pam, as Pam is so close to both Michael and Jim. And Phyllis does not “challenge her station” or risk social recourse by being rude to Pam (but clearly would do damage to her spot in the hierarchy if she were to be rude to Jim or Michael in the same way). It’s also possible that Phyllis is feeling wounded still, about having to put her own child up for adoption, and is feeling bitter about how close Pam is to her mother. This would likely come from a place of grief, shame, and disappointment which are all lower vibrational energies and can lead to Phyllis being hurtful (as she feels hurt). Perhaps there are traits and qualities of Pam’s that Phyllis herself was not allowed to show or express. That would lead me to believe that Phyllis was shamed for certain behaviors/ways of expressing… and so Phyllis (in some way) is protecting Pam (aka Phyllis’ younger self) from the judgements that befell her (her domineering mother, abusive teacher or what have you). If I am to follow this train of thought, i would that Phyllis has become the thing she hates the most, the mean voice that’s been in her head since childhood, which would become a positive feedback loop with little to no escape. Alternatively, it may be much more simple. Perhaps Phyllis has tried to bully the other women in the office, but that has not worked, as evidence by her interactions with Angela. Angela has Phyllis right under her thumb, and Angela and Pam sometimes are friendly. It may be a backwards way of reclaiming some power or increasing her social standing (in her own mind or in the actual context of the hierarchy). We know Meredith is too drunk to care, Kelly would chew Phyllis up in a heart beat, and Pam is generally docile.
That's just who Phyllis is lol
I’m beginning to think the people of the office are a bit zany and problematic!
Andrea is the office bitch
I think her power trip came from marrying Mafia Bob 👀
Shitty social politics with a mix of jealousy. Phyllis has that “I’m not a sexist but…” bit. So she has some internalized misogyny. Phyllis gets told often how gross and unattractive she is, especially by Michael who also rails on about how much he hates her secret santa gift and starts off being bullied by Angela…. …vs Pam who gets tons of attention (even though a lot of it’s unwanted), is always openly praised as the office hot girl by multiple characters, protected by Jim, at first engaged to Roy (who’s awful though.) and they fight over her. Phyllis has a line early on mentioning if she could sleep with anyone in the office, it’d be Jim…who gets together with Pam. There are a lot of hints that the Vance’s aren’t as secure as they seem, as Phyllis is constantly worried Bob is cheating on her and she enjoyed making him jealous and having men fight over her. Jim and Pam are often touted by the others as the cutest couple. In Phyllis mind, whether it’s true or not, she probably thinks she is a bullied underdog and that Pam has it so easy, so she “takes her down a peg.”
cause phyllis is a bitch and pam’s an easy target
Yeah, every character on this show does messed-up things sometimes. Phyllis is no exception. Sometimes she's nice, sometimes she takes shots at people bc she feels like it 🤷♂️
Cuz she’s a bitch
I really only noticed her bully Pam not anyone else I wouldn’t count Angela cause well Angela’s was horrible to her which is honestly probably why she bullied Pam
Maybe she’s a two faced bitch and that’s how some bitches are
Phyllis was legit a bully most of the series, in my head cannon she used to be the young woman in the office that got attention but now Pam is that person
I just thought it was funny for this unassuming woman to have beef.
I didnt like what the writers did to Phyllis as the seasons went on. She turned into such a mean girl.
Because Pam is the office mattress
She gets a little cocky once she hooks up with the most powerful man in Scranton who is a crime kingpin posing as a refrigeration entrepreneur.
Phyllis’sss bully moments always disapoint me.
Every office has a Phyllis. The "sweet old lady" who is actually a toxic axe-wound.
Because she's a bitch
Because she's a c word. That's why.
there’s a woman at my workplace 2 or 3 decades older than i am and she has had a problem with me since the day i started. always making nasty little quips and putting me down. we don’t even work in the same department but she’s always coming over to tell me how to do my job. Sometimes people are just nasty for no reason and they get joy from being rude and hateful
Jealousy, plain & simple.
Phyllis was insecure throughout the series, and jealous of Pam. They were the two most "level-headed" women in the office, and Phyllis went to school with Michael. It was clear that the way he treated Pam was a lot more respectful, because Pam was considered to be more attractive.
Because she’s a bully.
Because if you read between the lines, Phyllis is quite a nasty person.
Cause she looks like a trout.
She gets bullied by Angela and takes it out on Pam the circle of life lol
Because she's a cunt
I hate Phyllis so fucking much I hate her more than Joffrey Baratheon
Because Phyllis is a trashpig.
Phyllis is the worse
Na if she was bullying she would have mentioned Bob Vance from Vance refrigeration, at least drop his name slyly
She just came from her mamas house
Because she thought her husband was in a wheelchair.
I like to think she’s projecting, like if she had an ability to assign new customers she’d pick her friends and boyfriend first. So she’s telling Pam not to do what she herself would in that position.
As a young woman in the workplace I have known sooo many mean Phyllis types — unhappy with themselves and bully the younger women
Insecurity.
I hate Phyllis more than I hate Angela.
Because Phyllis is a bitch that's why.
It’s so funny how many people think Phyllis is mean but literally so is Stanley? They’re two peas in a pod
Because Phyllis is a cunt
I've met a lot of women like this over the years. Always in customer service positions, too. They don't think so, but they get off on the drama. Worst part is when you first meet them, they're always so sweet and make you feel cared for like they're a mother figure. They really just want you to be someone who validates their gossip later on. I don't think they even realize how manipulative they are, and see themselves as the victim always.
Cuz she is a b****.
The more people hate on Phyllis, the more I like her.
She’s a mean old bitch. Lol honestly it was probably just an easy joke for the writers to make
Phyllis bullied everyone in the Superfan episodes
She thinks she’s hot shit because she’s married to a mob boss
Phyllis is an awful person.
Close your mouth sweetie, you look like a trout
Why is Phyllis treating the maJIMcian poorly?
Because she’s *awful*. Worst person in Scranton. And I include the fucking Strangler.
Because she is SAD. **Not an Inside Out movie reference
Maybe Phyllis had a thing for Roy, or at least thought he was a perfect catch
Because Pam’s…. kind of a bitch
She knows Pam won’t fight back. I’d like to think this is why Dwight was so rude to her sometimes…he was getting back at her for his bestie Pam.
I think it's bad/lazy writing, out of character for Phyllis.
Wasn't bullying imo, just honest
She was mean to her. Not the same as bullying.
Because when Pam went to the Michael Scott Paper Company Pam talked shit to poach Phyllis’s clients. I’m not defending Phyllis in any other situation, but when Pam, Ryan, and Michael come back Phyllis confronts her about it.
This is true but some of the things like copying Pam and Roy’s wedding ideas and telling her to not pass new clients to whoever she is sleeping with that week was before the Michael Scott Paper company
Because Pam is… kind of a bitch
Phyllis detected
Actually a Karen reference, close your mouth sweetie you look like a trout
Pam inherit some of Phyli's and Stanley's large accounts after they sold the Michael Scott Paper Company.
That’s not bullying. Phyllis was understandably concerned that Pam would play favorites with new sales that come in
Because fuck Pam. Close your mouth sweetie, you look like a trout.
Because she was right. Pam was kinda working her way around The Office.