The Office’s Oscar Martinez is returning 12 years on from his final bow at Dunder Mifflin Scranton, as a recurring character in the sitcom’s new spinoff show,The Paper. With Óscar Núñez reprising his most celebrated role, it’s time to look back at the best moments of his namesake’s tenure as a Dunder Mifflin accountant.
A member ofThe Office’s castfrom day one, Núñez quickly developed his character into one of the sitcom’s most important supporting roles. Oscar carved out his own niche as the know-it-all numbers buff of his workplace, who often served as the show’s voice of reason alongside an array of absurdly eccentric colleagues completely lacking in self-awareness.
Ever since arevival ofThe Officewas confirmed, there’s been speculation about which of the original cast will feature in this spinoff sitcom. Now that we’ve seen our first glimpse ofOscar returning in a reboot ofThe Office’s mockumentary format, we can look forward toThe Paperproviding more moments from the character like the ones listed here.
8Oscar Roasts Michael In Spanish
“Stress Relief: Part 2” – Season 5, Episode 15
Season 5’s famous double-header “Stress Relief” is one ofThe Office’s best episodes for superfansof the show. We’ll get to the episode’s most famous scene later, but it actually contains several brilliant Oscar moments. Foremost among them is Oscar’s turn in front of the microphone during Dunder Mifflin Scranton’s roast of Michael Scott.
Oscar chooses to mock Michael’s shortcomings using his first language, Spanish, so that his boss can’t understand a word he’s saying. As a result, he can go as far as he likes with his roast, and he doesn’t hold back.
Gesticulating angrily in Michael’s direction, Oscar shouts, “You give me an ulcer every time I wake up and have to come to work for you, for you!” Usually so calm and composed, stoically tolerating whatever is going on around him at work, Oscar displaying this kind of unbridled anger is a rare occurrence, and it couldn’t be funnier in this context.
7Andy & Oscar’s Business Trip Bonding
“Business Trip” – Season 5, Episode 9
Even beforeAndy Bernard’s tragic downfall inThe Officeseason 9, he’s already been through a lot on the show. Not least among the ordeals he admittedly brings on himself is his relationship with colleague Angela Martin.
When Michael invites Andy and Oscar on a business trip with him in this season 5 episode, Oscar gets Andy to open up about his dysfunctional relationship with Angela. Andy even drunk-calls his fiancée at Oscar’s prompting, a move he comes to regret the morning after.
It’s incredibly wholesome seeing these two characters strike up an unlikely friendship during their trip. Andy’s attempt to set Oscar up by misquotingGood Will Huntingto a couple of seeming heterosexual men is another hilarious highlight.
6Michael Tells Dunder Mifflin Execs Oscar Will Save The Company
“Shareholder Meeting” – Season 6, Episode 11
Dunder Mifflin experiences its fair share of close shaves from a business perspective during the course of the series, from Ryan Howard’s act of corporate fraud in season 4, to the founding of theMichael Scott Paper Companyin season 5. At no point is the enterprise more imperiled, however, than during the season 6 episode “Shareholder Meeting”.
Just as Dunder Mifflin’s board of executives appear out of ideas with the company on the brink of bankruptcy, Michael unexpectedly grabs the microphone and announces to shareholders that he has a plan.
He then calls Oscar, and asks his branch accountant to join him in the hotel suite where he and the company executives are desperately looking for a way to fudge his so-called plan. Earlier in the episode, Oscar explained to Michael exactly what Dunder Mifflin’s problems are, and what they need to do to fix them.
When his moment comes to confront the board of executives with some hard truths, though, Oscar simply pays them an empty compliment and ducks out of the meeting. He might be a know-it-all, but he’s not willing to risk offending his bosses over it.
5Oscar Explains Budget Surplus To Michael
“The Surplus” – Season 5, Episode 10
ThroughoutThe Office, Oscar proves himself to be the most capable accountant at handling the childish and impressionistic whims of branch manager Michael Scott. Nowhere is his ability to tolerate Michael with the utmost patience and understanding better exemplified than in the season 5 episode “The Surplus”.
In one ofThe Office’s best cold opens, Michael asks Oscar to explain a budget surplus to him as though he were eight years old. When this doesn’t work, he then asks him to explain it as though he were five. Oscar’s ingenious application of a lemonade stand analogy to this task is his finest hour as an accountant.
4Andy Asks Oscar If He Thinks He’s Gay
“Gossip” – Season 6, Episode 1
One episode ofThe Officethat’s particularly difficult to watchis “Gay Witch Hunt”, the season 3 premiere in which Michael inadvertently outs Oscar as gay. Once Oscar’s sexuality is known to his boss and colleagues, it then becomes the butt of various jokes, some more savory than others.
Still, everyone in Dunder Mifflin Scranton ultimately accepts Oscar as he is, and he gets to be the one laughing at others for their hilariously backward understanding of homosexuality in later episodes of the show. The best example of this backwardness is Andy’s reaction to a rumor going round the office that he’s gay.
Andy himself wonders if it might be true, and goes to Oscar for reassurance that he isn’t. Their conversation is toe-curling, with Oscar’s question, “If you resisted Brad Pitt a little bit, he would still need to get to you?” now enshrined in sitcom legend. Andy leaves it even more convinced that hemightbe gay.
3The Office Christmas Party Is “Too Soon”
“A Benihana Christmas” – Season 3, Episode 11
Season 3 is amongThe Office’s best, and its greatest Oscar Martinez moment is a single, two-word line of dialogue. In the spirit of Christmas, Oscar decides to return early from the paid company leave he’s been given because Michael outed him at work, and join in Dunder Mifflin Scranton’s end-of-year party.
When he and his boyfriend, Gill, walk through the door to see Angela standing on a desk, enthusiastically singing “The Little Drummer Boy”, while Dwight kneels down holding the microphone and providing percussive instrumentation for her, Oscar realizes his mistake. His face drops, he tells Gill, “Too soon,” and they slip away, unnoticed. Angela’s idea of Christmas isn’t for everyone.
2Oscar Explains Dunder Mifflin’s Cashflow Problems In A Southern Accent
“Murder” – Season 6, Episode 10
Michael Scott does have his own inimitable way of making people feel better about their work, as we see in variousscenes of the episode “Murder” in The Office season 6. To take everyone’s minds off concerns for their jobs with Dunder Mifflin apparently on the brink of folding, Michael challenges his branch to a murder mystery role-playing game.
Each person in the team has to play a fictional citizen of Savannah, Georgia, and Michael makes them put on the kind of accent that seems to have inspired Daniel Craig’s portrayal of Benoit Blanc inKnives Out. This game really isn’t for Oscar, though.
When he enters the room with a serious announcement about Dunder Mifflin’s financial position, his botched attempt at putting on a Southern drawl is one of the most brilliantly bizarre moments of the entire series. It’s also telling as to just how willing the branch members are to go along with Michael’s hairbrained ideas.
1Oscar Climbs Through The Ceiling To Get Help
“Stress Relief: Part 1” – Season 5, Episode 14
The Office’s record-breaking cold open for “Stress Relief”marks the peak of the show in many ways, including Oscar’s starring role in its extraordinary comedy set-piece. Dwight Schrute’s fire drill even manages to push the usually cool-headed accountant over the edge, as he breaks into the office’s ceiling in a vain attempt to escape what seems like a real emergency.
Oscar climbs into the roof and refuses to take Angela with him, telling her, “Stay alive! I’m getting help!” Without warning, Angela then throws her cat into the hole Oscar has made, before it comes crashing down through another part of the roof. This moment is arguably the most iconic inThe Office’s funniest scene.
The Office
Cast
This mockumentary comedy series observes the mundane and humorous daily lives of employees at the Scranton branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. It offers insights into office dynamics, personalities, and the eccentric behavior of both management and staff, depicting an ordinary workplace with extraordinary characters.
