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Why Creed's Character On The Office Doesn't Make Sense

This supporting player on The Office might be hilarious, but he also doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Part of the reason that The Office, which debuted on NBC as a mid-season premiere in 2004 and quickly became one of the network's most popular shows in the network's history, was such a hit with audiences everywhere was the truly incredible ensemble cast. Led by Steve Carell as Michael Scott, the bumbling yet well-meaning regional manager of paper company Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch, The Office made household names out of many people in its core cast, including John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Daily Show transplant Ed Helms, Mindy Kaling, Ellie Kemper, and many more.

A fan favorite character who emerged from the background and helped make up the delightfully weird fabric of Dunder Mifflin, Creed — played by Creed Bratton — has earned a permanent place in every fan's heart, spawning plenty of memes and rounding out the office perfectly. However, there's something troubling about Creed's character — here's why this beloved Office fixture doesn't make much sense.

Creed never should have gotten the job at Dunder Mifflin in the first place

The reason most fans love Creed is because he's, well, completely bizarre — but it's also the reason that he probably never would have gotten a standard office job at Dunder Mifflin at all. Creed is constantly dropping hints about his bizarre past, and even indicates that Creed Bratton isn't his real name. Thanks to the season three episode "The Convict," we do know that Dunder Mifflin does background checks on its employees when Michael is informed that a new transfer is a former convicted felon. However, despite the fact that Creed basically tells the camera that he's committed several felonies, he gets a job at Dunder Mifflin with no problem. After getting that job, he doesn't really seem to do very much; in the season three episode "Product Recall," Creed, who is in charge of quality assurance, doesn't notice an obscene watermark on their paper products, and blames someone else, who ends up getting fired.

To make matters even weirder, in the series finale of The Office, after the documentary airs (within the show) on PBS, Creed gets arrested pretty much immediately after it transpires that the authorities have been searching for him for years. If Creed — or whatever his name really is — was a wanted man, why did he allow a documentary crew to follow him around for several years, and even tell them all of his secrets?

The mystery of Creed notwithstanding, the entirety of The Office is available to stream on Peacock now.