I liked the juxtaposition of the two "parties": The colorful Diwali and Andy's looking forward all year to drinking cheap booze in the office. Jim is sort of going along with anything. The computer games, the boss bikes so Jim does, Andy drinks so Jim does. Jim's lost his driving wheel.
I thought Karen was smart about the drinks. She's obviously done this "special night" thing with Andy before and she's learned how to survive it. Like I had to learn about not drinking "Cold Duck".
The computer games, the boss bikes so Jim does, Andy drinks so Jim does. Jim's lost his driving wheel.
I thought it was interesting that Jim started biking to work on Josh's example, because unlike the computer game and the drinking, it wasn't something he needed to do in the workplace to go along. Jim's pretty passive, so the workplace conformity didn't surprise me, but the bike did.
I can't blame Karen at all for not wanting to participate in Andy's little ritual, but I didn't have any sense that just saying no wasn't an option, so the way she chose to handle it seemed odd.
I see Karen as somebody who has a career in mind, so she thinks going along with 'the boys' is just part of what you have to do. Her work for the night is very good and she doesn't get a prissy reputation with her co-workers.
I don't have a really good sense of where Andy sits in the Stamford hierarchy, but it seems like Josh makes snide remarks about him fairly regularly, and I'm not sure Andy himself would hold a grudge, which is I think where I get my sense that Karen wasn't feeling pushed to go along with Andy but rather chose to fake it for some reason of her own that didn't have much to do with office politics. I'm sure we'll see eventually. *shrug*
her Indianness is such a small part of her identity compared to her Kellyness
Heh. Exactly. I was listening to this NPR interview with Greg Daniels and Mindy Kaling earlier today, and Kaling mentions that, when they were working out things about Kelly the character, her being Indian was like the fifth thing below "annoying, chatterbox, pop-culture fiend, etc." It's ironic because the reason why Kaling got cast as Kelly was because Daniels was looking to add more ethnic cast members when he was working on 1x02, "Diversity Day", and Kaling just happened to be there, quite conveniently Indian.
The Pam/Michael scenes were gold. I'm loving what they're doing with Pam's character this season. As for Karen, I didn't think what she did was born out of any kind of maliciousness, but rather of a mixture of 1) well, "SOMEONE has to be sober to do the job" (*insert eyerolls and a sigh*) and 2) a little bit of an evil desire to prank Jim and let the newbie suffer through the hazing ritual of being Andy's drunk-buddy (one gets the feeling that
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Yes, I heard the first part of the interview last night on the radio (in fact, it kept me from exploding with road rage, which was good) and linked it in this post, but I hadn't had a chance to listen to the rest of it until this afternoon. It was interesting to hear how she got involved in the show.
As for Karen, I didn't think what she did was born out of any kind of maliciousness
I didn't feel like Karen was motivated by maliciousness at all, but there was an odd kind of calculation to her behavior that struck me as odd. It's probably, as you say, mostly juvenile--she and Jim definitely have that dynamic--but it didn't sit quite right with me. I'm not sure why it struck me like that, since overall I like Karen pretty well. I think it felt too much like game playing, and for all of Jim and Pam's pranks, they're incredibly uncalculating people; this felt different.
I am v. irritated at Jericho when it's trying to be some kind of "feel-good aw-shucks ain't small town folks grand" Hallmark movie of the week when there is all
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So you did! Duh. In my defense, zombies ate my brains!
Re. Karen. Hmmmm. You know, there is a bit of... how shall I put it. Karen having the upper hands in their games? I'm not sure how to describe it, but Pam and Jim, at least in their mischief-making, has always come across as equal partners. In Stamford, it feels like Jim is a bit adrift (totally understandable as he is the newbie) and letting himself be led (aping Josh's bike-ride, letting Andy get him drunk) as opposed to being the instigator he always was in Scranton. For someone who did take a major chance and changed his life (even if it was born out of avoidant desires -- to prevent himself from getting hurt more -- rather than proactive ones), he's being awfully passive. It *is* a little disquieting, when I think of it that way. I mean, realistic from a characterization stand-point, but a bit sad-making.
Oh, I think the number of typos and forgotten words in my comments are a good indication that I am not immune to the brain fart. :)
You know, there is a bit of... how shall I put it. Karen having the upper hands in their games? I'm not sure how to describe it, but Pam and Jim, at least in their mischief-making, has always come across as equal partners. In Stamford, it feels like Jim is a bit adrift (totally understandable as he is the newbie) and letting himself be led You have helped me locate why that bothered me way more than it should have, because I really don't think Karen was up to no good, but she let Jim think they were in the situation together when they weren't, which is I think a powerful part of the workplace relationships Jim has, and Jim had no reason to suspect dishonesty there. I agree that there is something disquieting, though totally in character, about Jim letting himself be led so much in Stamford; he made a huge life change to get away from Pam, but it seems like nothing short of that kind of crisis will get
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And in that scale, little things like a secret santa gift take on huge meaning, and the really big dramatic moments--the kiss, the confession--feel epic. So the missed text message has weight--missed by random accident, due to the uniquely messed-up dynamics of the Stamford office, but Pam reached out to Jim to share Michael's wackiness, and Jim would have appreciated it, and then Karen was there to give Jim a ride home (Jim's attempt at drunk biking--ADORABLE), and Pam was more devastated than she would have thought that he didn't answer.
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I thought Karen was smart about the drinks. She's obviously done this "special night" thing with Andy before and she's learned how to survive it. Like I had to learn about not drinking "Cold Duck".
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I thought it was interesting that Jim started biking to work on Josh's example, because unlike the computer game and the drinking, it wasn't something he needed to do in the workplace to go along. Jim's pretty passive, so the workplace conformity didn't surprise me, but the bike did.
I can't blame Karen at all for not wanting to participate in Andy's little ritual, but I didn't have any sense that just saying no wasn't an option, so the way she chose to handle it seemed odd.
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Heh. Exactly. I was listening to this NPR interview with Greg Daniels and Mindy Kaling earlier today, and Kaling mentions that, when they were working out things about Kelly the character, her being Indian was like the fifth thing below "annoying, chatterbox, pop-culture fiend, etc." It's ironic because the reason why Kaling got cast as Kelly was because Daniels was looking to add more ethnic cast members when he was working on 1x02, "Diversity Day", and Kaling just happened to be there, quite conveniently Indian.
The Pam/Michael scenes were gold. I'm loving what they're doing with Pam's character this season. As for Karen, I didn't think what she did was born out of any kind of maliciousness, but rather of a mixture of 1) well, "SOMEONE has to be sober to do the job" (*insert eyerolls and a sigh*) and 2) a little bit of an evil desire to prank Jim and let the newbie suffer through the hazing ritual of being Andy's drunk-buddy (one gets the feeling that ( ... )
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As for Karen, I didn't think what she did was born out of any kind of maliciousness
I didn't feel like Karen was motivated by maliciousness at all, but there was an odd kind of calculation to her behavior that struck me as odd. It's probably, as you say, mostly juvenile--she and Jim definitely have that dynamic--but it didn't sit quite right with me. I'm not sure why it struck me like that, since overall I like Karen pretty well. I think it felt too much like game playing, and for all of Jim and Pam's pranks, they're incredibly uncalculating people; this felt different.
I am v. irritated at Jericho when it's trying to be some kind of "feel-good aw-shucks ain't small town folks grand" Hallmark movie of the week when there is all ( ... )
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So you did! Duh. In my defense, zombies ate my brains!
Re. Karen. Hmmmm. You know, there is a bit of... how shall I put it. Karen having the upper hands in their games? I'm not sure how to describe it, but Pam and Jim, at least in their mischief-making, has always come across as equal partners. In Stamford, it feels like Jim is a bit adrift (totally understandable as he is the newbie) and letting himself be led (aping Josh's bike-ride, letting Andy get him drunk) as opposed to being the instigator he always was in Scranton. For someone who did take a major chance and changed his life (even if it was born out of avoidant desires -- to prevent himself from getting hurt more -- rather than proactive ones), he's being awfully passive. It *is* a little disquieting, when I think of it that way. I mean, realistic from a characterization stand-point, but a bit sad-making.
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You know, there is a bit of... how shall I put it. Karen having the upper hands in their games? I'm not sure how to describe it, but Pam and Jim, at least in their mischief-making, has always come across as equal partners. In Stamford, it feels like Jim is a bit adrift (totally understandable as he is the newbie) and letting himself be led You have helped me locate why that bothered me way more than it should have, because I really don't think Karen was up to no good, but she let Jim think they were in the situation together when they weren't, which is I think a powerful part of the workplace relationships Jim has, and Jim had no reason to suspect dishonesty there. I agree that there is something disquieting, though totally in character, about Jim letting himself be led so much in Stamford; he made a huge life change to get away from Pam, but it seems like nothing short of that kind of crisis will get ( ... )
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Really well said :)
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