PERFORMANCE REVIEW
It's taken me a few days to sort out my thoughts about this episode. I didn't like it at all the first time, but subsequent viewings have softened my initial opinion. While the show was kind of dirty for my tastes, there were some deliciously funny moments, like Dwight trying to prove that Gordon wasn't really Ben Franklin - "I don't care what Jim says. That is not the real Ben Franklin. I am 99% sure." However, while the buffoonery involved with the two "adult entertainers" was good, the heart of the episode was the Jim, Pam, Karen love triangle. I didn't expect Karen and Jim to have spent more time together after Jim's admission that he still liked Pam. While I thought that this block of February episodes would continue the Office's recent trend of whirlwind change, it looks like Karen's demise will be long and painful, as well as inevitable. I feel that we are presented with two possible versions of Karen right now. Most likely, Karen is feeling clingy, and is refusing to let Jim go. Jim is obligingly trying to work things out, but it is obvious his heart is not with Karen. I also present a crazy conspiracy theory. What if Karen has already given up? Stay with me here. What if she gave up, and decided she liked Jim enough to just be friends, and is now working in cohorts with Jim to help him get Pam. I know that this scenario is highly unlikely, and I mainly present it just so that if it does happen, I will get mad props from my reader(s). However, there is a slight bit of evidence. First, the hug. I think the hug looked out of place to everybody. If you paid attention, though, you would notice that Karen immediately judged Pam's reaction. So, either Karen is being a bit of a witch and is trying to mark her territory (which would be my first version of Karen), or she was trying to gauge Pam's interest. There is also the way Karen phrased her important question during Pam and Karen's conversation in the break room. Karen asked, "Do you STILL have feelings for Jim?" An important, albeit subtle, distinction. It would be kind of weird to phrase it that way unless she was trying to trick Pam into saying she liked him. Nonetheless, I think that Jim and Karen are still going out, and the Office writers are going to have countless fans begging for Jim and Pam to get together before the season's over. Even though the Pam/Jim conversation was awkward, and there were no obvious signs that Jim and Pam were getting closer together, this episode was a small step forward for their relationship. Jim always jokes about Pam being a "fancy, new Beesley" and he is right. Pam needs to rethink her approach with Jim. Jim was burned twice by Pam, and it is now Pam's turn to take a chance and set things right. Pam's awkward attempt at flirting about sleep, and her declaration that she needed a boyfriend, seemed out of place. If she keeps it up, maybe Jim will realize this, and wonder why Pam could be acting strangely.
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You know, the more I think about it, the more I'm pretty sure you're right. Karen and Jim have worked things out over the last few nights (what was it, five?!). Perhaps at first they tried to keep things together, and Karen tried her hardest to keep Jim, but after Jim told her everything that's happened between him and Pam, she realized that it's better that they're together. That's why it's taken so many late nights. Now they're working together...or Jim's not aware that Karen is working toward getting him and Pam back together.
Either way, I'm sure that Karen's accepted it, and is very willing to be great friends with both Jim and Pam. This will solve everyone's 3-year anxiety about their two favorite lovebirds--or at least get us closer to what we all want--and still manage to keep Karen around. I still love Karen, and I don't think there's a reason to dump her off of the show.
And about Andy...I think he's gonna stay too, unless he's gone already. They didn't mention him last episode, so I got really nervous. I don't want Andy or Karen to leave, I think they've got great potential to become long-time members of the cast. Andy does need to tone it down and become more light Dwight, in that he doesn't flip so much, but is still fun to tease.
Anyway...good work on the theory. Stick with it, cause it's right. I'm 99% sure.
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