Dave Karofsky
Encyclopedia
David "Dave" Karofsky, often referred to as Karofsky, is a recurring fictional character
from the Fox
musical comedy-drama series Glee
. The character is portrayed by actor Max Adler, and has appeared in Glee since its first season
episode "Mash-Up
", first broadcast on October 21, 2009. Initially known only by his surname, Karofsky was introduced as a bully and a member of the McKinley High hockey team who slushies
football captain Finn
(Cory Monteith
), and who teams with fellow athlete and bully Azimio (James Earl) to torment various fellow students, usually members of the school glee club
, New Directions. Later in the season, he is identified as a member of the football team, and is a football player in the second season
. Karofsky is revealed to be a closeted
homosexual early in that season, and is still closeted at the end of the season, though he has stopped being a bully, and has won the election for Junior Prom King. He transfers to another school for his senior year.
Karofsky was initially used as an ordinary jock bully, but Adler's acting impressed show co-creator Ryan Murphy; he expanded Karofsky's role in the show's second season by having him especially target gay glee club member Kurt Hummel
(Chris Colfer
), only to turn out to be gay himself, though closeted. That revelation sparked a wave of reaction from people who thought it was important for Glee to show "the confusion and the torture one person can put themselves through being closeted". Reviewers have been impressed with Adler's portrayal of Karofsky, including Michael Slezak of TVLine
, who characterized it as "surprisingly nuanced" and with a "terrific amount of depth", and The A.V. Club
Todd VanDerWerff who called Karofsky one of the "characters I'm most interested in" at the time his final second season episode, "Prom Queen
", aired.
of Glee, Karofsky appears in five episodes. He is a jock and a bully, initially a member of the McKinley High hockey team. He is first seen in the episode "Mash-Up
", where he slushies
football captain Finn Hudson
(Cory Monteith
). He reappears in "Mattress
", teamed with football player Azimio (James Earl), and writes on Finn's face with black markers to demonstrate how they will deface the glee club's yearbook photo, which Karofsky does at the end of the episode. By "Theatricality
" he is on the football team with Azimio, and they shove Kurt Hummel
(Chris Colfer
) and Tina Cohen-Chang
(Jenna Ushkowitz) against lockers for wearing Lady Gaga
costumes—part of a glee club assignment—around school.
Karofsky is featured in the first eleven episodes of the second season
continuing his bullying ways; in the sixth, "Never Been Kissed
", he especially targets Kurt, who is gay. After he slams Kurt into a locker, Kurt chases after and confronts him, and an increasingly agitated Karofsky abruptly grabs Kurt and kisses him. Before Karofsky can initiate a second kiss, a stunned Kurt shoves him away, and Karofsky leaves. Kurt and his new gay friend Blaine Anderson
(Darren Criss
) later try to talk to him about being gay and closeted
, but he denies that the kiss happened and soon resumes his bullying. He even threatens to kill Kurt if he tells anyone else about the kiss. Kurt's father Burt
(Mike O'Malley
) finds out about the threat, but not the kiss, and Karofsky is soon expelled, but is allowed to return by the school board because no physical violence to Kurt had been witnessed; Kurt transfers to Dalton Academy to get away from him.
The football team has clinched a spot in the championship game, but animosity is running high between glee and non-glee members and harming the team's performance; in "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle
", Coach Beiste (Dot-Marie Jones
) and glee club director Will Schuester
(Matthew Morrison
) force the entire football team to join the glee club for a week to settle their differences and dispel their prejudices. Karofsky is praised by Will as a good performer and dancer, but when the hockey team attacks the football team for their low-status glee club activities, Karofsky leads a walkout from the joint rehearsals by all the non-glee members, and Beiste kicks them off the team. On championship night, the team members—except for Karofsky—relent just before the half-time show, which the team and glee club perform together. Karofsky joins in when he sees the crowd's positive reaction to the start of the half-time show, a mashup of "Thriller
" and "Heads Will Roll
"; the full team ultimately wins the game. Later, in school, Finn approaches Karofsky about joining the glee club and apologizing to Kurt, but Karofsky rejects his suggestion out of hand, since the championship victory has him back on top of the social ladder.
Karofsky appears in three additional episodes later in the second season. Santana Lopez
(Naya Rivera
) decides in the episode "Born This Way
" that she wants to become prom queen; she sees Karofsky and realizes he would be a credible prom king partner moments before she sees him checking out a male student's ass and also realizes he is as closeted as she is. She then blackmails him into teaming up with her as a pretend couple—beards—and starting an anti-bullying club, with the purpose of getting Kurt to return to McKinley and New Directions. Karofsky apologizes to Kurt for his bullying in a meeting with Will, Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba
), and their respective fathers Paul (Daniel Roebuck
) and Burt; Kurt is happy to be able to transfer back. In "Prom Queen
", with the prom less than a week away, Karofsky and Santana arrange to guard Kurt at school when they learn he will be bringing Blaine as his prom date; Karofsky tells Kurt, tearfully, that he is sorry for what he did to him. At the prom, Karofsky is voted prom king but Santana is not elected prom queen; instead, an appalled Kurt is written in and wins. As they take the floor for the traditional prom king and queen dance, Kurt suggests that this is Karofsky's chance to come out and "make a difference", but Karofsky is not ready to do so, and walks away.
He next appears in the third season episode "The First Time". He has transferred to another high school from McKinley for his senior year, fearing that he might be outed if he stayed; he sees Kurt in a gay bar, and tells Kurt he has become a regular there and feels accepted.
episode "Mash-Up
", initially as a member of the William McKinley High School hockey team. Karofsky began as a background character who tormented members of the glee club, and was known only by his surname. So far as Adler knew, his role was for a single episode only, but he returned once more before the first half of the first season ended, and then three times in the nine episodes of the second half of that season. The last of these, "Theatricality", written and directed by series co-creator Ryan Murphy, proved to be pivotal: Murphy was impressed with his acting and wanted to write more for him.
Although Karofsky begins the second season as an ordinary jock bully, Murphy hinted to Adler that there would be more in store for the character. According to Adler, Murphy approached him at the second season premiere and said, we just wrote some really good stuff for you for episode six'." The actor recalls, "I had no idea what that meant, until I read it!" Adler had long wondered why his character behaved the way he did: "I thought there's got to be a reason why he's so angry, why he's such a bully, why he's going out of his way to make other people's lives a living hell". Although he had considered various ideas for Karofsky—"maybe he was jealous of the glee club, maybe he was gay, maybe a million different things"—when he got the script for that episode he "was just as shocked as anybody else" when his character kissed Kurt, though he "thought it was so awesome that they would allow this character to go there."
There was a strong reaction from the show's viewers. Adler said, "I've heard from a lot of fans how important this character is for them because it's important to watch the internal struggle, the confusion and the torture one person can put themselves through being closeted." He wants Karofsky to "accept himself and come out because [he thinks] it would be a beacon of hope for everyone else who's struggling", and noted, "people do get hope from Glee." He also said, "I think [Ryan Murphy] trusts me to do what I'm doing with the character, which is one heck of a compliment from him." Murphy has indicated a preference for positive future developments, and said in early January 2011, "This show is by nature optimistic and I think a character like Karofsky could turn to booze or pills or alcohol and kill themselves or do something dark. But I also love Max and I love that character and I sorta want that character to have a happy ending." At one point in the bullying storyline, Karofsky threatens to kill Kurt, a scene that Adler characterized as "very powerful. Chilling, terrifying, horrifying, yet, at the same time, heartbreaking. … Because there are kids who have messaged me since that episode saying they used to hear that line spoken to them day in and day out at school", and they dreaded school because of it.
In addition to Karofsky's newly revealed sexual orientation, other aspects of his personality have been explored. In "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle", when the football team is forced to spend a week working with the glee club that Karofsky and other members have been bullying, the "softer side" of his personality is seen, especially when he's performing with the club. After the club's director surprises him with a compliment on his performing, Karofsky is the one who suggests that the team perform an extra musical number for the halftime show they are preparing for, though he comes up with a rationale that makes it sound like a necessity to keep up their social status rather than something he particularly wants to do. Adler said, "I feel like that it did make him happy and, obviously, he has some natural abilities that Mr. Schuester was able to spot. I don't think he's ever allowed himself to do that ever in his life, to dance or learn a song, especially to do that in public. ...Doing that was such an obstacle to overcome." In "Furt" and "Born This Way", it is revealed that he had been kind, a cub scout, and an "A" student. However, his behavior had changed for the worse in the former episode before returning to the good in the latter. Although the anti-bullying club formed by Karofsky and Santana in "Born This Way" is created with ulterior motives in mind, Karofsky subsequently makes a tearful apology to Kurt in "Prom Queen", and then insists that Kurt wait for his safety escort after the next class period.
commented that it was testament to the writers and cast that Karofsky's kiss startled the audience as much as it did Kurt, and commended the transitioning of Karofsky from a faceless jock into "a nuanced character with a back story and hidden motives of his own." MTV
's Aly Semigran wrote that, should the episode inspire a single teenager to have courage in the face of discrimination, or re-consider bullying, it would be an impressive accomplishment. Linda Holmes of National Public Radio dismissed "Never Been Kissed" as "one of the most facile and emotionally inauthentic episodes the show has ever produced", and felt that Karofsky's swift transition from bullying to kissing Kurt was absurd and "emotionally unsound". His appearances over the next few episodes drew only oblique commentary, such as The Atlantic Kevin Fallon's characterization in his review on "Furt
" of the bullying storyline as a "very important arc that's been well-acted by all parties involved". In "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle", The A.V. Club
Todd VanDerWerff wrote, "I thought giving Kurt's bully, Karofsky (...), a miniature story arc that resolved itself only partially was a smart move. Up until now, he's been kind of a walking cliché, and now he gets to be someone who's not all repressed sexuality and monstrous tendencies." Reiter commented, "And best of all, we got to watch Karofsky's character develop a bit more. It was nice to see him let loose a little and dance, but all his back-and-forthing about glee was a little confusing."
Michael Slezak of TVLine
complimented "Max Adler's surprisingly nuanced performance" as Karofsky in "Born This Way": "The complex play of emotions in Karofsky's eyes when Santana simultaneously came out to him, threatened to out him, predicted his sad future as a closeted state senator or deacon, and offered him a quick-fix solution by pretending to be his beard, was tremendous. (Again, as a character who started out as a human battering ram, Adler is bringing a terrific amount of depth to Karofsky.)" VanDerWerff referred to Karofsky's parallel journey with Santana, who is also closeted, in his comments about the episode and the next one where the character appears, "Prom Queen". He said in his review of the latter, "the characters I'm most interested in at this point are Karofsky and Santana. They're both people trying to do the right thing, but they're also both people who are defeated by their own weakest impulses. Both lack the courage necessary to come out. Santana is a bitch. Karofsky is trying to make amends for the things he did that drove Kurt from the halls of McKinley. They're both hemmed in by the decisions they've made and their inability to be true to themselves". Meghan Brown of The Atlantic praised Karofsky's "tearful apology to Kurt" in that episode as being "painful and poignant", and Slezak went further: "Whatever awards Chris Colfer and Max Adler get nominated for in the next six months, they earned 'em during this conversation, where Kurt wondered if maybe, just maybe, he wasn't getting bullied because kids were indifferent to him being gay, not because Karofsky was serving as his security detail. ... [Y]ou could see in Kurt's eyes the decision to start treating Karofsky not as a former tormentor, but as a terrified kid struggling with his sexual orientation. And Karofsky's break—his first true apology for bullying Kurt, and his first tentative step toward admitting the root cause of his anger—had me reaching for the Kleenex. Tell me I'm not the only one hoping Glee will keep journeying down Karofsky's difficult road toward self-acceptance."
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
musical comedy-drama series Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
. The character is portrayed by actor Max Adler, and has appeared in Glee since its first season
Glee (season 1)
The first season of the musical comedy-drama television series Glee originally aired on Fox in the United States. The pilot episode was broadcast as an advanced preview of the series on May 19, 2009, with the remainder of the season airing between September 9, 2009 and June 8, 2010...
episode "Mash-Up
Mash-Up (Glee)
"Mash-Up" is the eighth episode of the American television series Glee. The episode premiered on the Fox network on October 21, 2009. It was written by series co-creator Ian Brennan and directed by Elodie Keene...
", first broadcast on October 21, 2009. Initially known only by his surname, Karofsky was introduced as a bully and a member of the McKinley High hockey team who slushies
Slush (beverage)
A slush is a flavored frozen drink.There are a number of different kinds of slush drinks:* Frozen carbonated beverages, typified by the Slurpee or ICEE, are made by freezing a carbonated drink. These machines are complicated and expensive, and notably require a carbon dioxide supply...
football captain Finn
Finn Hudson
Finn Hudson is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actor Cory Monteith, and has appeared in Glee from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Finn was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan...
(Cory Monteith
Cory Monteith
Cory Allan Monteith is a Canadian actor and musician, best known for his role of Finn Hudson on the Fox television series Glee.-Early life:...
), and who teams with fellow athlete and bully Azimio (James Earl) to torment various fellow students, usually members of the school glee club
Glee club
A glee club is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs—glees—by trios or quartets. In the late 19th Century it was very popular in most schools and was made a tradition...
, New Directions. Later in the season, he is identified as a member of the football team, and is a football player in the second season
Glee (season 2)
The second season of the musical comedy-drama television series Glee originally aired between September 21, 2010 and May 24, 2011 on Fox in the United States...
. Karofsky is revealed to be a closeted
Closeted
Closeted and in the closet are metaphors used to describe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior.-Background:In late 20th...
homosexual early in that season, and is still closeted at the end of the season, though he has stopped being a bully, and has won the election for Junior Prom King. He transfers to another school for his senior year.
Karofsky was initially used as an ordinary jock bully, but Adler's acting impressed show co-creator Ryan Murphy; he expanded Karofsky's role in the show's second season by having him especially target gay glee club member Kurt Hummel
Kurt Hummel
Kurt Hummel is a fictional character and one of the male leads in the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. Series creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan initially conceived of him as a fashionable gay countertenor who is routinely bullied at school...
(Chris Colfer
Chris Colfer
Christopher Paul "Chris" Colfer is an American actor and singer known for his portrayal of Kurt Hummel on the television series Glee, for which he won a 2011 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor and was also nominated twice for an Emmy...
), only to turn out to be gay himself, though closeted. That revelation sparked a wave of reaction from people who thought it was important for Glee to show "the confusion and the torture one person can put themselves through being closeted". Reviewers have been impressed with Adler's portrayal of Karofsky, including Michael Slezak of TVLine
TVLine
TVLine is a website devoted to information, news and spoilers of television programs.-History:In late 2010, Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello announced that he would be leaving EW after nearly two years in their employ to establish a TV-centered website with MMC, the media company founded by...
, who characterized it as "surprisingly nuanced" and with a "terrific amount of depth", and The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
Todd VanDerWerff who called Karofsky one of the "characters I'm most interested in" at the time his final second season episode, "Prom Queen
Prom Queen (Glee)
"Prom Queen" is the twentieth episode of the second season of the American musical television series Glee, and the 42nd overall. It aired May 10, 2011 on Fox in the United States. The episode was written by series creator Ian Brennan, directed by Eric Stoltz, and featured the return of guest...
", aired.
Storylines
In the first seasonGlee (season 1)
The first season of the musical comedy-drama television series Glee originally aired on Fox in the United States. The pilot episode was broadcast as an advanced preview of the series on May 19, 2009, with the remainder of the season airing between September 9, 2009 and June 8, 2010...
of Glee, Karofsky appears in five episodes. He is a jock and a bully, initially a member of the McKinley High hockey team. He is first seen in the episode "Mash-Up
Mash-Up (Glee)
"Mash-Up" is the eighth episode of the American television series Glee. The episode premiered on the Fox network on October 21, 2009. It was written by series co-creator Ian Brennan and directed by Elodie Keene...
", where he slushies
Slush (beverage)
A slush is a flavored frozen drink.There are a number of different kinds of slush drinks:* Frozen carbonated beverages, typified by the Slurpee or ICEE, are made by freezing a carbonated drink. These machines are complicated and expensive, and notably require a carbon dioxide supply...
football captain Finn Hudson
Finn Hudson
Finn Hudson is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actor Cory Monteith, and has appeared in Glee from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Finn was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan...
(Cory Monteith
Cory Monteith
Cory Allan Monteith is a Canadian actor and musician, best known for his role of Finn Hudson on the Fox television series Glee.-Early life:...
). He reappears in "Mattress
Mattress (Glee)
"Mattress", also known as "Once Upon a Mattress", is the twelfth episode of the American television series Glee. The episode premiered on the Fox network on December 2, 2009. It was written by series creator Ryan Murphy and directed by Elodie Keene. In "Mattress", the glee club is omitted from the...
", teamed with football player Azimio (James Earl), and writes on Finn's face with black markers to demonstrate how they will deface the glee club's yearbook photo, which Karofsky does at the end of the episode. By "Theatricality
Theatricality
"Theatricality" is the 20th episode of the American television series Glee. The episode was written and directed by series creator Ryan Murphy, and premiered on the Fox network on May 25, 2010. In "Theatricality", glee club member Tina Cohen-Chang has an identity crisis...
" he is on the football team with Azimio, and they shove Kurt Hummel
Kurt Hummel
Kurt Hummel is a fictional character and one of the male leads in the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. Series creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan initially conceived of him as a fashionable gay countertenor who is routinely bullied at school...
(Chris Colfer
Chris Colfer
Christopher Paul "Chris" Colfer is an American actor and singer known for his portrayal of Kurt Hummel on the television series Glee, for which he won a 2011 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor and was also nominated twice for an Emmy...
) and Tina Cohen-Chang
Tina Cohen-Chang
Tina Cohen-Chang is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actress Jenna Ushkowitz, and has appeared in Glee from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Tina was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian...
(Jenna Ushkowitz) against lockers for wearing Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
costumes—part of a glee club assignment—around school.
Karofsky is featured in the first eleven episodes of the second season
Glee (season 2)
The second season of the musical comedy-drama television series Glee originally aired between September 21, 2010 and May 24, 2011 on Fox in the United States...
continuing his bullying ways; in the sixth, "Never Been Kissed
Never Been Kissed
Never Been Kissed is a 1999 comedy film directed by Raja Gosnell and starring Drew Barrymore, David Arquette, Michael Vartan, Molly Shannon, Leelee Sobieski, John C. Reilly, Jessica Alba, Marley Shelton, James Franco , Giuseppe Andrews, Jeremy Jordan and Garry Marshall...
", he especially targets Kurt, who is gay. After he slams Kurt into a locker, Kurt chases after and confronts him, and an increasingly agitated Karofsky abruptly grabs Kurt and kisses him. Before Karofsky can initiate a second kiss, a stunned Kurt shoves him away, and Karofsky leaves. Kurt and his new gay friend Blaine Anderson
Blaine Anderson
Blaine Anderson is a fictional character from the American musical comedy-drama television series Glee. Played by Darren Criss, Blaine was introduced in the sixth episode of the second season as the openly gay lead singer of the Dalton Academy Warblers, a rival show choir to New Directions, the...
(Darren Criss
Darren Criss
Darren Everett Criss is an American actor, singer-songwriter, musician, composer, and a founding member and co-owner of the theater company StarKid Productions. He currently portrays Blaine Anderson, an openly gay high school student, on the FOX television series Glee...
) later try to talk to him about being gay and closeted
Closeted
Closeted and in the closet are metaphors used to describe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior.-Background:In late 20th...
, but he denies that the kiss happened and soon resumes his bullying. He even threatens to kill Kurt if he tells anyone else about the kiss. Kurt's father Burt
Burt Hummel
Burt Hummel is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actor Mike O'Malley, and first appeared on Glee in the fourth episode of the first season, "Preggers". Burt was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan...
(Mike O'Malley
Mike O'Malley
Michael Edward "Mike" O'Malley is an American actor and playwright who has appeared in films and television series. He hosted Nickelodeon GUTS, and he starred in the CBS comedy Yes, Dear...
) finds out about the threat, but not the kiss, and Karofsky is soon expelled, but is allowed to return by the school board because no physical violence to Kurt had been witnessed; Kurt transfers to Dalton Academy to get away from him.
The football team has clinched a spot in the championship game, but animosity is running high between glee and non-glee members and harming the team's performance; in "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle
The Sue Sylvester Shuffle
"The Sue Sylvester Shuffle" is the eleventh episode of the second season of the American musical television series Glee, and the 33rd episode overall. It was written by Ian Brennan, directed by Brad Falchuk, and was broadcast immediately following Super Bowl XLV on February 6, 2011...
", Coach Beiste (Dot-Marie Jones
Dot Jones
Dorothy-Marie "Dot" Jones is an athlete and actress who has had multiple roles in television. She attended California State University, Fresno, where she set records for shot put. Jones is also a 15-time world arm wrestling champion...
) and glee club director Will Schuester
Will Schuester
William "Will" Schuester, often referred to as Mr. Schue, is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actor Matthew Morrison and has appeared in Glee since its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Will was developed by Glee...
(Matthew Morrison
Matthew Morrison
Matthew James "Matt" Morrison is an American actor, director, musician, and singer-songwriter. He is best known for starring in multiple Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, including his portrayal of Link Larkin in Hairspray on Broadway, and most notably for his Emmy and Golden Globe nominated...
) force the entire football team to join the glee club for a week to settle their differences and dispel their prejudices. Karofsky is praised by Will as a good performer and dancer, but when the hockey team attacks the football team for their low-status glee club activities, Karofsky leads a walkout from the joint rehearsals by all the non-glee members, and Beiste kicks them off the team. On championship night, the team members—except for Karofsky—relent just before the half-time show, which the team and glee club perform together. Karofsky joins in when he sees the crowd's positive reaction to the start of the half-time show, a mashup of "Thriller
Thriller (song)
"Thriller" is a song recorded by American recording artist Michael Jackson, composed by Rod Temperton, and produced by Quincy Jones. It is the seventh and final single from his sixth studio album Thriller. It was released on January 23, 1984 by Epic Records...
" and "Heads Will Roll
Heads Will Roll
Heads Will Roll EP is Marion Raven's first EP that was released on October 31, 2006. All of the songs were written by Raven in collaboration with numerous artists including Nikki Sixx , Scott Stevens and Freddy Herrera , Keith Nelson and Xavier Muriel , and Raine Maida...
"; the full team ultimately wins the game. Later, in school, Finn approaches Karofsky about joining the glee club and apologizing to Kurt, but Karofsky rejects his suggestion out of hand, since the championship victory has him back on top of the social ladder.
Karofsky appears in three additional episodes later in the second season. Santana Lopez
Santana Lopez
Santana Lopez is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actress Naya Rivera, and has appeared in Glee from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Santana was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan...
(Naya Rivera
Naya Rivera
Naya Marie Rivera is an American actress and singer known for her role in the musical comedy television series Glee, as cheerleader Santana Lopez.-Early life:...
) decides in the episode "Born This Way
Born This Way (Glee)
"Born This Way" is the eighteenth episode of the second season of the American television series Glee, and the 40th episode overall. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on April 26, 2011. The episode was written by Brad Falchuk and directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, and is a tribute to...
" that she wants to become prom queen; she sees Karofsky and realizes he would be a credible prom king partner moments before she sees him checking out a male student's ass and also realizes he is as closeted as she is. She then blackmails him into teaming up with her as a pretend couple—beards—and starting an anti-bullying club, with the purpose of getting Kurt to return to McKinley and New Directions. Karofsky apologizes to Kurt for his bullying in a meeting with Will, Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba
Iqbal Theba
Iqbal Theba is a Pakistani-American actor. Theba currently has a recurring role as Principal Figgins in the show Glee.-Life and career:Theba became a familiar face in the 1990s when he appeared in various TV shows and commercials in the United States....
), and their respective fathers Paul (Daniel Roebuck
Daniel Roebuck
Daniel James Roebuck is an American television film actor, writer and producer, primarily in films, soap operas and television.-Life and career:...
) and Burt; Kurt is happy to be able to transfer back. In "Prom Queen
Prom Queen (Glee)
"Prom Queen" is the twentieth episode of the second season of the American musical television series Glee, and the 42nd overall. It aired May 10, 2011 on Fox in the United States. The episode was written by series creator Ian Brennan, directed by Eric Stoltz, and featured the return of guest...
", with the prom less than a week away, Karofsky and Santana arrange to guard Kurt at school when they learn he will be bringing Blaine as his prom date; Karofsky tells Kurt, tearfully, that he is sorry for what he did to him. At the prom, Karofsky is voted prom king but Santana is not elected prom queen; instead, an appalled Kurt is written in and wins. As they take the floor for the traditional prom king and queen dance, Kurt suggests that this is Karofsky's chance to come out and "make a difference", but Karofsky is not ready to do so, and walks away.
He next appears in the third season episode "The First Time". He has transferred to another high school from McKinley for his senior year, fearing that he might be outed if he stayed; he sees Kurt in a gay bar, and tells Kurt he has become a regular there and feels accepted.
Development
Dave Karofsky is played by actor Max Adler, who first appeared in the first seasonGlee (season 1)
The first season of the musical comedy-drama television series Glee originally aired on Fox in the United States. The pilot episode was broadcast as an advanced preview of the series on May 19, 2009, with the remainder of the season airing between September 9, 2009 and June 8, 2010...
episode "Mash-Up
Mash-Up (Glee)
"Mash-Up" is the eighth episode of the American television series Glee. The episode premiered on the Fox network on October 21, 2009. It was written by series co-creator Ian Brennan and directed by Elodie Keene...
", initially as a member of the William McKinley High School hockey team. Karofsky began as a background character who tormented members of the glee club, and was known only by his surname. So far as Adler knew, his role was for a single episode only, but he returned once more before the first half of the first season ended, and then three times in the nine episodes of the second half of that season. The last of these, "Theatricality", written and directed by series co-creator Ryan Murphy, proved to be pivotal: Murphy was impressed with his acting and wanted to write more for him.
Although Karofsky begins the second season as an ordinary jock bully, Murphy hinted to Adler that there would be more in store for the character. According to Adler, Murphy approached him at the second season premiere and said, we just wrote some really good stuff for you for episode six'." The actor recalls, "I had no idea what that meant, until I read it!" Adler had long wondered why his character behaved the way he did: "I thought there's got to be a reason why he's so angry, why he's such a bully, why he's going out of his way to make other people's lives a living hell". Although he had considered various ideas for Karofsky—"maybe he was jealous of the glee club, maybe he was gay, maybe a million different things"—when he got the script for that episode he "was just as shocked as anybody else" when his character kissed Kurt, though he "thought it was so awesome that they would allow this character to go there."
There was a strong reaction from the show's viewers. Adler said, "I've heard from a lot of fans how important this character is for them because it's important to watch the internal struggle, the confusion and the torture one person can put themselves through being closeted." He wants Karofsky to "accept himself and come out because [he thinks] it would be a beacon of hope for everyone else who's struggling", and noted, "people do get hope from Glee." He also said, "I think [Ryan Murphy] trusts me to do what I'm doing with the character, which is one heck of a compliment from him." Murphy has indicated a preference for positive future developments, and said in early January 2011, "This show is by nature optimistic and I think a character like Karofsky could turn to booze or pills or alcohol and kill themselves or do something dark. But I also love Max and I love that character and I sorta want that character to have a happy ending." At one point in the bullying storyline, Karofsky threatens to kill Kurt, a scene that Adler characterized as "very powerful. Chilling, terrifying, horrifying, yet, at the same time, heartbreaking. … Because there are kids who have messaged me since that episode saying they used to hear that line spoken to them day in and day out at school", and they dreaded school because of it.
In addition to Karofsky's newly revealed sexual orientation, other aspects of his personality have been explored. In "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle", when the football team is forced to spend a week working with the glee club that Karofsky and other members have been bullying, the "softer side" of his personality is seen, especially when he's performing with the club. After the club's director surprises him with a compliment on his performing, Karofsky is the one who suggests that the team perform an extra musical number for the halftime show they are preparing for, though he comes up with a rationale that makes it sound like a necessity to keep up their social status rather than something he particularly wants to do. Adler said, "I feel like that it did make him happy and, obviously, he has some natural abilities that Mr. Schuester was able to spot. I don't think he's ever allowed himself to do that ever in his life, to dance or learn a song, especially to do that in public. ...Doing that was such an obstacle to overcome." In "Furt" and "Born This Way", it is revealed that he had been kind, a cub scout, and an "A" student. However, his behavior had changed for the worse in the former episode before returning to the good in the latter. Although the anti-bullying club formed by Karofsky and Santana in "Born This Way" is created with ulterior motives in mind, Karofsky subsequently makes a tearful apology to Kurt in "Prom Queen", and then insists that Kurt wait for his safety escort after the next class period.
Reception
The first time Karofsky received significant notice from critics was for the second season's sixth episode, "Never Been Kissed". Amy Reiter of the Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
commented that it was testament to the writers and cast that Karofsky's kiss startled the audience as much as it did Kurt, and commended the transitioning of Karofsky from a faceless jock into "a nuanced character with a back story and hidden motives of his own." MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's Aly Semigran wrote that, should the episode inspire a single teenager to have courage in the face of discrimination, or re-consider bullying, it would be an impressive accomplishment. Linda Holmes of National Public Radio dismissed "Never Been Kissed" as "one of the most facile and emotionally inauthentic episodes the show has ever produced", and felt that Karofsky's swift transition from bullying to kissing Kurt was absurd and "emotionally unsound". His appearances over the next few episodes drew only oblique commentary, such as The Atlantic Kevin Fallon's characterization in his review on "Furt
Furt
"Furt" is the eighth episode of the second season of the American musical television series Glee, and the 30th episode overall. It was written by series creator Ryan Murphy, directed by Carol Banker, and premiered on Fox in the United States on November 23, 2010...
" of the bullying storyline as a "very important arc that's been well-acted by all parties involved". In "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle", The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
Todd VanDerWerff wrote, "I thought giving Kurt's bully, Karofsky (...), a miniature story arc that resolved itself only partially was a smart move. Up until now, he's been kind of a walking cliché, and now he gets to be someone who's not all repressed sexuality and monstrous tendencies." Reiter commented, "And best of all, we got to watch Karofsky's character develop a bit more. It was nice to see him let loose a little and dance, but all his back-and-forthing about glee was a little confusing."
Michael Slezak of TVLine
TVLine
TVLine is a website devoted to information, news and spoilers of television programs.-History:In late 2010, Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello announced that he would be leaving EW after nearly two years in their employ to establish a TV-centered website with MMC, the media company founded by...
complimented "Max Adler's surprisingly nuanced performance" as Karofsky in "Born This Way": "The complex play of emotions in Karofsky's eyes when Santana simultaneously came out to him, threatened to out him, predicted his sad future as a closeted state senator or deacon, and offered him a quick-fix solution by pretending to be his beard, was tremendous. (Again, as a character who started out as a human battering ram, Adler is bringing a terrific amount of depth to Karofsky.)" VanDerWerff referred to Karofsky's parallel journey with Santana, who is also closeted, in his comments about the episode and the next one where the character appears, "Prom Queen". He said in his review of the latter, "the characters I'm most interested in at this point are Karofsky and Santana. They're both people trying to do the right thing, but they're also both people who are defeated by their own weakest impulses. Both lack the courage necessary to come out. Santana is a bitch. Karofsky is trying to make amends for the things he did that drove Kurt from the halls of McKinley. They're both hemmed in by the decisions they've made and their inability to be true to themselves". Meghan Brown of The Atlantic praised Karofsky's "tearful apology to Kurt" in that episode as being "painful and poignant", and Slezak went further: "Whatever awards Chris Colfer and Max Adler get nominated for in the next six months, they earned 'em during this conversation, where Kurt wondered if maybe, just maybe, he wasn't getting bullied because kids were indifferent to him being gay, not because Karofsky was serving as his security detail. ... [Y]ou could see in Kurt's eyes the decision to start treating Karofsky not as a former tormentor, but as a terrified kid struggling with his sexual orientation. And Karofsky's break—his first true apology for bullying Kurt, and his first tentative step toward admitting the root cause of his anger—had me reaching for the Kleenex. Tell me I'm not the only one hoping Glee will keep journeying down Karofsky's difficult road toward self-acceptance."