Karen Filippelli
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| Karen Filippelli | |
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| First appearance | Gay Witch Hunt |
| Information | |
| Gender | Female |
| Age | 20s |
| Occupation | Sales Representative |
| Portrayed by | Rashida Jones |
| Created by | Greg Daniels |
Karen Filippelli is a fictional character from the U.S. television series The Office. She is played by Rashida Jones.
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[edit] Overview
When the character is introduced at the beginning of the third season of The Office, Karen Filippelli is a sales representative at the Stamford branch of fictitious paper distributor Dunder-Mifflin.
[edit] Biography
Karen is a sales representative at the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the Dunder-Mifflin paper and office-supply company. She originally worked at the company's branch in Stamford, Connecticut branch but transferred to the Scranton branch after her boss Josh Porter left the branch in order to take an upper-management job at Staples. She is of mixed heritage, including Italian, although her exact racial makeup has not been fully revealed. She has spoken a little French and Italian, but her degree of fluency has yet to be revealed. She prefers wearing slacks at the office rather than dresses or skirts.
In her free time, she enjoys playing first-person-shooter PC games. Her Call of Duty 2 screen name is "KarenTheJimSlayer" and she plays on the British side. She drives a silver Isuzu Rodeo.
Karen has become friends with Pam but is constantly wary that Jim's feelings for Pam may be an insurmountable challenge to her relationships with both of them.
[edit] Season 3
Karen first appears in the season 3 premiere, "Gay Witch Hunt". She is initially annoyed by Jim's trademark mugging at the camera but later develops a crush on him. While playing Call of Duty, she whispers to the camera about how "cute" it is when his character is stuck in a corner, due to Jim's ineptitude at the game.
The two share some flirtatious moments, such as when she later creates a small explosion of paper clips when Jim pretends to throw a grenade at her. Jim also helps her find some Herr's Salt and Vinegar potato chips, which she mentions are her favorite. In the episode "Diwali", she gives Jim a much-needed ride home when Jim gets drunk at work and is unable to ride his bike.
In the episode "Branch Closing", Karen is saddened when it seems that Jim is pushing her to move to New York City instead of Scranton—much like Jim's reaction to Pam in the episode "Halloween"—indicating he does not really care where she ends up. Later, Jim indirectly apologizes for his "gaffe," and Karen seems to accept this. At the end of "Branch Closing", she admits to the documentary crew that she likes Jim, despite not thinking he reciprocates those feelings. This is significant, as it highlights for the first time one of the major differences between Karen and Pam; Karen is much bolder in her attempts to get what she wants.
During her first day at Scranton, in the episode "The Merger," Karen becomes somewhat offended when the first thing that Michael Scott says to her is, "You're exotic-looking; was your dad a G.I.?" In turn, she inadvertently offends Phyllis by mistaking her perfume for a malodorous air freshener and not knowing Phyllis' fiancé, Bob Vance. She later makes amends by correctly identifying Vance as the owner of Vance Refrigeration.
Karen manages to immediately hit it off with Pam by complimenting her on the sweater that Pam's mother had knitted for her. Later in the same episode, Jim tells Pam he was "seeing someone" (implying Karen). It was later confirmed in "The Convict" that Jim and Karen are dating. Though Jim and Karen have yet to break the news to the other employees on camera (with the exception of Pam in the episode "Back from Vacation"), some on the Dunder Mifflin staff already know. Phyllis commented to Karen in the episode "Traveling Salesmen" that she thinks Karen is good for Jim. In addition, Dwight remarked during a sales call to Jim that he finds Karen to be "pretty" and that she "appears intelligent," implying that he is aware of Jim's relationship with Karen.
Karen stated that one white man she trusts (part of an exercise started by Michael) is Jesus. In "A Benihana Christmas", after Pam admits she has been "cold" to Karen, the two leave the party planning committee to form their own party, which is more successful, becoming friends in the process.
In "Back from Vacation", Karen thinks of getting an apartment two blocks away from Jim's. They get into a slight argument over this.
In "Traveling Salesmen," Karen learns of Jim's feelings for Pam from Phyllis during a sales call. When Jim initially denies Karen's accusation, she mentions that she moved from Connecticut (presumably for Jim), which prompts him to confess the old "crush" he once had for Pam. He admits that he told Pam before he transferred to Stamford and that she did not reciprocate. Karen seems relieved when Jim adds that he is glad she took the Scranton position.
In "The Return," Karen declines to play a prank on Andy with Jim, because of the additional work that Dwight's departure has created for her. Jim ends up conducting the prank with Pam, which irritates Karen. She eventually confronts Jim about it, and asks him if he still has feelings for Pam, which he quietly affirms. This revelation seems to be taking a drastic toll on the two, as it is revealed in "Ben Franklin" that Karen is doing everything she can to keep the relationship afloat, while Jim is becoming increasingly frustrated with her clingy nature. Karen did gain a small victory in the episode when Pam claimed (albeit awkwardly) that her feelings for Jim are non-existent. However, she seems to still be somewhat insecure about Pam; in a deleted scene from "Business School," she was seen attempting to tear down a flyer for Pam's art show but doesn't go through with it when Oscar walks in the room.
In "Phyllis' Wedding", Jim implies that he hypothetically would go out with Pam if she appeared to be interested. But after witnessing Pam leaving the party with Roy, he offers that he "something that's not a hypothetical," that he is with Karen, who meanwhile bounces around the stage singing The Police's "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic."
When Jim is invited as an assistant manager to a cocktail party at the house of David Wallace, Dunder Mifflin's CFO, in Mount Vernon, New York, Karen accompanies him and uses the occasion to prank her boyfriend. Throughout the evening, she frequently mentions to Jim that she had previously dated some of the male guests at the party, one of whom while he was separated from his wife. Although Jim tries to retain his composure, he appears to be distraught by the notion after she points out one alleged suitor after another. When Karen mentions she had a relationship with Wallace himself, Jim loses his patience and asks how many of these employees she has been with, at which Karen smiles and indicates she was merely joking. She also mentions that Jim should not be concerned, as he was her "first." When Jim shows surprise by this admission, Karen mentions, once again, how easy it is to fool him.
In "The Negotiation" Karen tries to convince Jim to go to the movies with her when Jim is suddenly attacked by Roy. Later, Kevin tactlessly asks her how she feels about her boyfriend being assaulted over another woman, and she is obviously displeased. Karen remarks that when she learned about Pam and Jim's kiss, her response was to talk with him about their feelings while Roy's response was much more violent. Karen confesses that she doesn't know which reaction "Jim hated more."
| Characters of The Office (US version) |
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Main characters |
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Michael Scott | Jim Halpert | Pam Beesly | Dwight Schrute | Ryan Howard |
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Minor characters |
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Accounting: Angela Martin | Oscar Martinez | Kevin Malone |
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Miscellaneous characters |
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Katy | Devon | Carol Stills | Bob Vance | Josh Porter | Billy Merchant | Tony Gardner | Martin Nash | Hannah Smoterich-Barr | Stacy | Brenda Matlow | Hank Tate | Ed Truck | Mose Schrute |
