Episode Report Card Niki: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Taking Sides
By Niki | Season 3 | Episode 11 | Aired on 01.03.2002
Karen's in a café waiting for her coffee when we return, and Sam "accidentally" stumbles across her. He makes a lame attempt at a joke, and it falls flat. Uninvited, he settles into the seat across from her, explaining the purpose of a joke. The ass-pole is not amused.
And, we're back at Soliloquy Beach. Sam and Rick together relate how the lifeguards had to pry Karen off Sam. "You were my life preserver," she says coyly, giving Sam a cute little look. "Am I blushing? I'm blushing," Sam laughs into the camera. Karen affectionately tousles his hair.
At the café, Sam facetiously says that the whole mess is Karen's fault, since she's the one who introduced him to Janine. "I did, didn't I? What was I thinking?" she asks with a wry smile. She claims barely even to remember who they all were back then. "Well, we were friends, weren't we," Sam says. "More than friends..." Karen says, looking up at him. Don't get too excited, though. She just means they were "like family." "And now?" Sam asks, a little nervously.
"Now, I'm exhausted," Soliloquy Sam announces, slinging his towel across his shoulders and pushing himself out of his lawn chair. "I need someone to cook for me," he adds, pulling Janine up out of her chair. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," she pretends to grumble. Sam, Janine, and Rick head off with their chairs, and Rick calls out to ask whether Karen is coming. She shakes out her towel and says she'll be there in a second. She really wants a chance to reflect on what happened out there, and stares at the ocean, looking almost disillusioned.
Karen has a similar look at the cafe as she answers Sam. "I know what you did to [Janine], Sam. With Judy," she says sadly. "All right, all right. At least I know where you stand," he mutters. Karen stares across at him and enunciates very slowly: "I don't stand anywhere. Trust me." She gives him a reality check, saying that Janine "wants blood," and that if she finds out that Sam did cheat on her, he could stand to lose Jamie entirely. Sam informs Karen that he and Judy "are over now," as if that somehow changes what he did. He adds that Jamie "is all [he's] got left now," and Karen looks wistful, staring off and softly saying, "I know how you feel." Sam asks what he should do. Karen sighs and shakes her head: "You're asking me?" Sam nods, looking desperate. Karen keeps shaking her head, staring sadly at the tabletop. Finally, she looks up and breaks it to him: "You are what you want. I mean, that defines who you are. If you have any desire to change, change the things you want." Sam absorbs her words, looking pained. Karen's order is up, and she excuses herself.