Episode Report Card Niki: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT It's The End Of The World As We Know It...
By Niki | Season 2 | Episode 19 | Aired on 04.10.2001
Karen's in an outer office, waiting for Dumanjiak. A blond, middle-aged guy approaches and says, sounding a little surprised, "Karen?" She stands to shake his hand, and it's pretty clear that he's enchanted. He tries to banter with her, but Karen maintains her icy professionalism, and his chuckles grow self-conscious. He gestures toward his office, and Karen leads the way, filing a restraining order with her eyes. As she enters, he quickly apologizes for the mess and rushes in to move stuff out of the way. As he shuffles papers, he knocks a basketball off his desk, which startles Karen. The bumbling D.A. dashes after it, explaining that it's signed and asking if Karen's a fan of the Bulls and whether she goes to the games. She smiles faintly and says not often. He takes a seat and gets down to it: they're investigating Atlantor, and they know she is, too. She clarifies that she's not investigating them; she's trying to stop their project. He gushes all over her about her work, but Karen remains aloof. That's our girl. The ass-pole gives her a little poke, and Karen coolly says, "Mr. Dumanjiak --" "Bob," he insists. She looks down and purses her lips for a second. She doesn't repeat his name, but just says, "Are you going to tell me what this is about?" Karen is shocked when he mentions the grand jury they've impaneled to investigate Atlantor. She asks what they're investigating. "That would be telling," he answers. She asks again whether he can't tell her more about it, and he evades by saying he'd hoped she'd share some of her discoveries with them, "in a neighborly way." Karen says that he'll have to tell her more about it -- she's "got all kinds of constraints, confidentiality issues --" "And your ex-husband is the architect, right?" This pulls Karen up short. Any trace of friendliness is gone from her face, and she stares at him coldly, asking, "What do you want?" They volley back and forth, and Karen finally asks if he's trying to go after Rick. He says he has "no idea, and that's the truth." Karen shifts and says, "And if I don't co-operate?" He makes a few jokes abut bribing her, but she just stares at him, stone-faced. His tone remains light as he answers, seriously, "I don't know what I'd do." Karen fidgets, and looks away.
Cut to Karen's place, later that evening. Rick knocks on the door (nice contrast to Jake, that) and Jessie answers, telling him she'll grab her stuff. He hovers in the doorway and spots Karen in the kitchen, drying dishes. Karen passes the kitchen door to put away a dish and sees him. She guiltily drops her eyes. He shifts from foot to foot and glances around the entranceway. Karen pops her head back into the doorway, tentative. They discuss Jessie's eating, and Karen, for once, says that she ate "enough." She steps out of the doorway. Half a second later, she pops back in, her arms crossed, and asks, "How's it going?" He watches her, guarded, and says, "You're asking me that?" She apologizes and turns back to the kitchen, walking slowly. He squints at her back and says, "What?" She turns around, eyeing him, and says, "What 'what'?" They go back and forth about "what" and who's asking "what" and what "what" means, until Karen finally leans in the doorway, her eyebrows raised in warning, and whispers, "Rick, we really can't talk about this." There's weird Drums of the Rainforest music in the background, and the drummers are pounding away at a furious pace now. Rick steps toward her, whispering, "Karen, I know something is happening. And if you know what it is, I think you have a responsibility to tell me!" Karen's eyes flash. "Excuse me!" she fires back and says that her only responsibility is to her clients. "So there is something going on!" he "a-ha"s. "Are you trying to trick me?" she asks, her voice rising incredulously. She starts to walk away. This conversation is over. Rick starts to say something, but Jessie pops in and says she's ready. She hugs Karen goodbye, as Karen and Rick glare at each other over her head. Jessie flies out the front door, and Rick shoots Karen a death-ray stink-eye. Well, really, how dare she not violate her clients' trust and interests, as well as her professional integrity?