Karma Chameleon (Wonderfalls)

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“Karma Chameleon”
Wonderfalls episode
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 3
Written by Tim Minear
Directed by Marita Grabiak
Guest stars Sarah Drew
Neil Grayston
Production no. 1AHM10
Original airdate March 19, 2004
Episode chronology
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"Pink Flamingos" "Wound-Up Penguin"
Episode chronology

"Karma Chameleon" is the third episode of the television show Wonderfalls, although it was the second to be aired.

Contents

[edit] Plot synopsis

Jaye is upset at the beginning of the episode when her mother shows her the dustjacket of a book she's having published and in the description of the family, Jaye only receives five words (or, as she notes, four words and a number) while her more accomplished brother and sister receive longer descriptions.

After an altercation with her family, Jaye befriends a young woman named Bianca who is living in a van. Bianca has a stuttering problem and claims she has nowhere to go, so Jaye helps her to get a job at the Wonderfalls store, following the urging of a fish on the wall at the Barrel pub who tells Jaye to "Get her words out." Bianca begins as a nice girl with a good attitude, but in the process of training Bianca, Jaye is horrified to discover that Bianca begins to dress like her and act like her at work. Bianca continues to assume more and more of Jaye's identity, flirting with Eric and even showing up for "Pizza Night" at Jaye's parents' house. She also continually pumps all of Jaye's friends and family for information.

When confronted about her "stalker" behavior, Bianca reveals that she is an investigative reporter who is trying to write an article on disenfranchised members of Generation Y. She claims that she was a freshman at Brown when Jaye graduated, and that she selected Jaye to be the subject of her article because Jaye hasn't done anything to contribute to society since earning her degree. She promises Jaye 5000 words, much better than the five she was going to receive before. (Her family agrees to give her ten more words in the bio, but this isn't good enough for Jaye!)

Unfortunately, Bianca is so taken with Jaye's attitude and lifestyle that she decides to imitate her rather than finish the article. She even turns her notes over to the Wonderfalls assistant manager to show him the awful things Jaye said and did during the course of the interview, resulting in her losing her job. Jaye realizes that the only way she can get rid of Bianca is to force her back into her own life, so she writes an article about herself, sends it in under Bianca's name, and succeeds in getting it published. Bianca leaves, and everything returns to normal.

The episode closes with Jaye offering her mother a 15-word description of herself for the bio indicating that she's a work in progress.

[edit] Arc significance

[edit] Guest stars

[edit] Music

[edit] Quotes

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Bianca: [stuttering] "St-St..."
Jaye: "Stalking me?"
Bianca: "St-St..."
Jaye: "Stabbing me?"
Bianca: "St-st..."
Jaye: "Stealing my organs after you stab me?"
Bianca: "St-st..."
Jaye: "Stitching a skin suit out of my dead corpse after you stab me and steal my organs?"
---
Jaye: "She's an investigative journalist!"
Karen: "Oh, marvelous! Who do you write for?"
Aaron: "What's she investigating?"
Jaye: "Me! She's investigating me!"
Sharon: "Is it a criminal investigation?"
Jaye: "She's writing an article about my life, so the whole world can see what a loser I'm not! Five thousand words about me!"
---
Jaye: "She's nice. We should take her clubbing."
Mahandra: "...Baby seals?"

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Executive producer Tim Minear provides the uncredited voice of the Chameleon.

[edit] Cultural references

[edit] External links

  • Television Without Pity Recap