| Karen Filippelli | |
|---|---|
| The Office character | |
| First appearance | "Gay Witch Hunt" |
| Last appearance | "Threat Level Midnight" |
| Portrayed by | Rashida Jones |
| Information | |
| Occupation |
• Sales Representative, Dunder Mifflin, Stamford • Sales Representative, Dunder Mifflin, Scranton • Regional Manager, Dunder Mifflin, Utica |
| Spouse(s) | Dan (husband) |
| Significant other(s) | Jim Halpert (ex-boyfriend)and Michel Scott |
| Children | one |
| Based on | Rachel |
Karen Filippelli is a fictional character from the U.S. television series The Office. She is played by Rashida Jones. She is loosely based on the character of Rachel (surname not given) from the original UK version of the show, in that she transferred during the merger of the two branches, and became romantically involved with Jim Halpert, as Rachel did with Jim's counterpart, Tim Canterbury. However, Karen plays a much greater role in the US series than Rachel did in the British one, while she regularly appears in the third season of the show. When Karen takes over as Regional Manager of the Utica branch, Karen becomes an enemy to Michael and Dwight as she wants to out-do them.
Jones also currently portrays a similar role as Ann Perkins in Parks and Recreation, a series also developed by the creators of The Office.
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Karen Filippelli is the regional manager of fictitious paper distributor Dunder Mifflin's Utica branch. In her first appearance, she was a sales representative for the company, first at the Stamford branch and later at the Scranton branch after the merger.
Karen was 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, but transferred to the Scranton branch after her boss, Josh Porter, left in order to take an upper-management job at Staples. She is now the Regional Manager of the Utica branch of Dunder Mifflin.
Karen's ethnicity is deliberately made ambiguous and turned into a sort of running joke. The Italian ancestry implied by her last name is confirmed in "The Merger." But prior to that in the same episode, Dwight suggests that she may be Filipino due to the sound and spelling of her name. Michael then states that she's very exotic looking and asks if her father was a GI, implying that her mother would be of some foreign nationality. She appears offended but doesn't answer or elaborate. In addition, she has spoken a little French ("Grief Counseling") and Chinese (deleted scene from "Gay Witch Hunt"), but how she picked up those languages, and her degree of fluency, remains unknown.
In her free time, Karen enjoys playing first person shooter PC games (which were popular at the now-defunct Stamford branch). Her Call of Duty screen name is "KarenTheJimSlayer". She prefers wearing pantsuits at the office rather than skirts, leading Michael Scott to quip that she should buy a dress if she doesn't already own one for the occasion of "Phyllis's Wedding". Her favorite chips are Herr's salt and vinegar. She drives a silver Isuzu Rodeo.
Like Jan Levenson, Karen is portrayed as an ambitious career woman — having gunned for the assistant regional manager position at the Stamford branch and now serving as the regional manager of the Utica branch — though considerably more personable than Jan.
Along with Pam Beesly, Karen is often objectified by several men in the Scranton Branch. When Phyllis Lapin is subjected to indecent exposure in the office parking lot, Michael wonders aloud, "Didn't he see Pam? Or Karen from behind?"
Karen first appears in the Season 3 premiere, "Gay Witch Hunt". It is implied in a deleted scene that she was a likely candidate for Assistant Regional Manager before Jim arrived and got the job, causing her to feel somewhat threatened by him; she refers to him as a "major kiss-ass." She is initially annoyed by Jim's trademark mugging at the camera but later develops a crush on him. While playing Call of Duty in "The Coup", 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.[1]
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 "Diwali", she gives Jim a much-needed ride home when Jim gets drunk at work with Andy and is unable to ride his bike. It is also shown she drives a Honda Passport.[2]
In "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, although at the time she does not think he likes her. 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 (at that point in time).
During her first day at Scranton, in "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.[3]
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. Phyllis commented to Karen in the episode "Traveling Salesmen" that she thinks Karen is good for Jim. Dwight remarked during a sales call to Jim that he finds Karen to be "pretty" and that she "appears intelligent".
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, becoming friends in the process.[4]
In "Back from Vacation", Karen thinks of getting an apartment two blocks away from Jim's. They get into a slight argument over this. Pam helps to mend their fight by advising Jim to "go easy" on Karen. Jim is later seen giving some paperwork to Karen that is presumably leasing information for the vacant apartment.[5]
In "Traveling Salesman", Karen learns of Jim's feelings for Pam from Phyllis during a successful 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 uninterested. 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 relents when Oscar walks in the room.[6]
In "Phyllis's 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 states a non hypothetical: That he's glad he's 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, including one who was separated from his wife at the time. 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 "Have you dated every guy here?", at which Karen smiles and indicates she was merely joking. She also mentions that Jim should not be concerned, as he was "kinda 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 out on a date with her instead of staying home to watch a Phillies game as he planned, 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 does not know which reaction Jim "hated more". When Jim is lamenting to her that Dwight will not accept any of Jim's gratitude or gifts for defending him from Roy's attack, Karen's response is that Jim needs to focus on work so they can go on a trip, and Jim is left to resolve his Dwight conundrum on his own.
In "Safety Training", as the workers place bets on various things Karen mentions to the camera she does not know her co-workers as much as she thought she did, and she is "getting cleaned out". She also has a look of discomfort when Jim wins a bet about Pam's jellybeans, and Kevin claims it is not fair since Jim has spent "hours and hours" at reception. However, Pam and Karen share a pleasant moment when she places a strategic bet that Pam deems as being a smart move.
In "Women's Appreciation", Jim reveals that he is taking Karen out for their six-month celebration; Karen is seen buying sexy underwear from Victoria's Secret and Phyllis comments that Jim will love it, as Pam looks on sadly. It is revealed by Jim that Ryan asked Karen on a date a few months earlier, and Karen tactfully turned him down.
In "Beach Games", Jim chooses Karen for his team, which he names "Voldemort", to anger Dwight. During a lull in the games, Jim and Karen set up interviews for a position at corporate. Karen has an upset and almost disbelieving look on her face when Pam addresses the entire office to talk about herself and Jim.
In "The Job", Karen becomes increasingly adversarial towards Pam; such as purposely asking Pam to make copies of her and Jim's job performance scores. Karen and Jim go to New York City a day ahead of their interview to enjoy the city. Karen makes it clear that if Jim gets the job, she would move to New York City to be with him, and that she expects the same from Jim should she get the job. She leaves the Corporate office after her interview to meet her friends for lunch, and she is not seen again in the episode.[7]
According to a preview clip on NBC's The Office website, Jim had dumped Karen and left her "crying by a fountain in New York City" following the events of Season 3.
After being dumped by Jim, Karen explains to Jim that they will still have to learn to cooperate as co-workers. However, the next morning, Jim discovers that Karen's desk is empty, and that she has left Scranton for good.
Ryan mentions in "Dunder Mifflin Infinity" that Karen sent an e-mail months earlier asking him to go out with her, but that he turned her down because of his commitment to his relationship with Kelly Kapoor, though it is implied that this is a lie.
In "Branch Wars," it is revealed that Karen has become the Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin's Utica branch. She offers Stanley a pay raise if he transfers to her branch and he accepts. Michael believes that Karen is doing this to get back at Jim for dumping her (Karen makes it clear that Stanley came to her first). Karen is not impressed with Michael's idiotic offer for her to take Toby instead of Stanley (because Toby is not a salesperson) and scoffs at his plan to poach Utica's top salesperson in retaliation. In an attempt to get back at her, Michael, Dwight and a reluctant Jim travel to the Utica branch dressed in warehouse worker uniforms and fake moustaches. While leaving Jim in the car, Michael and Dwight go off to steal a copier. Michael tries to persuade Jim to have sex with Karen in order to distract her while they escape, telling him to "climb on top of her and think about Stanley," but Jim is left to be discovered by an irritated but highly amused Karen. The three are discovered and brought to Karen's office. She chastises them and later scolds Jim privately for acting immaturely for taking part in the prank. She tells him that he should have called her before coming to Utica, to which Jim responds by telling her that it wasn't his intention to see her, since he is now happy with Pam. Karen responds with withering sarcasm just how much she loves hearing about Jim and Pam's relationship, and facetiously asking to hear all about it. Jim meekly says he thinks he should leave Utica to beat the traffic rush back to Scranton, and Karen snaps that he should do just that.[8]
Karen returns in the Season 5 episode "Lecture Circuit". When Michael arrives in Utica to give a lecture on how/why Scranton is doing better than the other branches, it is revealed that Karen is eight months pregnant and has married a dermatologist named Dan. Karen explains how she and Dan met at a bar. Karen also shows Pam and Michael a picture of her and Dan, which Pam feels has brought her closure. She also ends Michael's inappropriate meeting, telling him she'll just distill his "thoughts" into an e-mail and send it to her team. Karen seems to have made peace with Pam and congratulates her on being engaged to Jim. In the aftermath of Dunder Mifflin's bankruptcy and collapse, it has not been made clear what Karen's status is, nor the fate of the Utica branch; however, between the news that Holly Flax is still working for the office in Nashua and the fact that Utica hasn't been singled out as a closed branch (the way Buffalo was in the Season 5 finale), it can be inferred that Karen remains employed and in charge in Utica.[9]
Karen (along with Roy, Jan, Todd Packer, Helene, and David) appears in the episode "Threat Level Midnight", and is seen as an actor in Michael's film of the same name. She also appears very briefly in an interview sequence, where she complains about being 'singled out' by the documentary crew to comment on her one-line bit part from a film shot several years ago.[10]
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