| rdfs:comment | - The feud between Penny and Karen heats up. Karen attends one of Penny's parties and gathers intelligence from Penny's mother Lynda, who explains that she and her husband allow Penny to throw open-invite parties, with the stipulation that they be held at home and under their supervision, so that there are no drugs, alcohol or "shenanigans." Karen uses this information to throw a birthday party of her own, at a childhood friend's beach house, away from parental eyes and thus including alcohol. However, her party is also open to all, meaning that Penny and her friends, as well as Aggie, receive invitations. Penny isn't keen on going, but relents when her friends insist because they'll "look like the bad guys" if they snub Karen.
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| abstract | - The feud between Penny and Karen heats up. Karen attends one of Penny's parties and gathers intelligence from Penny's mother Lynda, who explains that she and her husband allow Penny to throw open-invite parties, with the stipulation that they be held at home and under their supervision, so that there are no drugs, alcohol or "shenanigans." Karen uses this information to throw a birthday party of her own, at a childhood friend's beach house, away from parental eyes and thus including alcohol. However, her party is also open to all, meaning that Penny and her friends, as well as Aggie, receive invitations. Penny isn't keen on going, but relents when her friends insist because they'll "look like the bad guys" if they snub Karen. Aggie, though not normally the party sort, and also harbouring a grudge against Karen, attends in hopes of seeing Marshall again. Karen puts her down in front of others for her perceived political correctness. Marshall apologizes to Aggie on Karen's behalf (but out of her earshot), claiming that Karen "remade her image all by herself" and assumes that anyone can do likewise. Aggie, realizing that Karen lied to Marshall about that, resolves to chat him up some more in hopes of re-establishing a connection. Her hopes are dashed once again when she overhears Marshall giving Karen a swan figurine as a gift, because "swans mate for life." Meanwhile, Michelle tries to get in a dig about Karen's weight, but it fails. The real challenge to Karen comes when Penny herself shows up. Penny's and Karen's cliques circle the wagons as Penny presents Karen with the Peanuts book Happiness Is a Warm Puppy as a gift, in case, Penny explains, Karen forgot to be happy while asking for (i.e., requiring) Penny's help in remaking herself. She also blasts Karen for attempting to copy Penny's style and status. Eventually Marshall steps in and defends her, claiming that Karen's ambition and drive are precisely what inspire him about her. As girls from both cliques swoon over him, the confrontation ends in a stalemate. As the party winds down, Karen's acquaintances Samantha Evans (who still believes Penny to be racist) and Meg Macomb (the former queen bee whom Penny took down) talk revenge on Penny, with Karen offering a less-than-sincere objection, thus setting the stage for the later arc "The Popsicle War." Meanwhile, Penny tells her friends she realizes now that Karen hates her not because she's jealous, but because "I did something I don't think she'll ever forgive. I helped her." This arc introduces several new characters. Penny's new friends Katy-Ann Williams and Brandi Jones make their first appearances, though still unnamed, while Karen's hangers-on Samantha and Meg receive their first lines. The unintelligent Bob and Elmer, two minor characters friends mostly only with each other, also debut here.
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