Well, you know how annoying Karens can be so why not?
Who here would be against anyone trying to kill a Karen?
"Please vote to preserve the unique character of Warren…" - Robert Duvall

Jimmy was very practical (if violent). To kill Karen might have landed him in hot water with Paulie, as wives were often untouchables, although not always if they were directly involved. To kidnap her to get to Henry? Probably more sensible. But would it have been smarter to do as he did, try to hoodwink Henry?

fap888 summed it all up for me, yes I thought he was going to have her whacked, the look on Jimmy's face when she didn't go in said it all

This message has been deleted.

I suspect he WASN'T trying to harm her or kidnap her at that point, and the paranoia was ruling the day for Karen. BUT, you could surely see it as a distinct possibility. Have his man in the store grab her and hold her as hostage to get at Henry.
I guess we will never know for sure

He probably tried to keep her as hostage to stop Henry from squealing,

This message has been deleted.

Jimmy was using the "dresses" as a ruse to kidnap Karen, lure Henry there to rescue Karen and whack both of them.

My theory.
He knew she was broke, had no money and needed more coke to go on.
So, he thought of taking advantage of her miserable situation and push her into having sex for money(dresses). He was already planning on killing Henry, so destroying his wife first seemed a good idea may be..

Regardless of what (would have) actually happened, I think in the film it's absolutely implied that Jimmy was planning to kill or kidnap Karen. It's a great scene that was perfectly set up. By the time we see it, we're already fairly familiar with the way the mob discreetly carries out its deeds. You could practically smell the tension in that scene.
See you in hell, candy boys!

Why would Jimmy Conway bother to go through such an elaborate ruse? He could have had both of them kidnapped or killed any time anywhere, as he had done with the others he had killed. He knew where they lived, where their relatives lived, their hangouts, hiding places, and all of their habits. Then there was Jimmy's connections with the police who would have at least let Jimmy know if Henry was a rat in the first place. I'm with the Karen was paranoid crowd.

The guys in the store are stacking crates and you hear one of them say block the window. What do you think they were going to do had Karen went in there? Checked and made sure the dresses Jimmy claimed he had in there fit?

Jimmy was going to kidnap Karen to lure Henry to his death and kill the pair.

Maybe he was trying to kidnap her in order to buy an edge over Henry.

He was definitely planning on killing her in that scene. He was so adament. So persistent.

i think he wanted her gone, also in that scene as she is leaving one of the MOCK plates fall off and reveals a California plate! how did martin not get that??

This message has been deleted.

I was always baffled by this scene and was on the verge of posting a question when I discovered this thread. I would go with her drug fueled paranoia. If Jimmy wanted to kill her, he would have, as he killed the others off. He wouldn't have left it to chance and allow her to walk in an alley where she could and did, run away. Another possibility is that, Jimmy probably felt that Karen didn't know about the heist in too great a detail. Remember, Henry as a kid never ratted and Henry was already two/triple timing Karen for a long time. Jimmy probably felt, Henry wouldn't have confided in Karen.

The whole seen already tells you that her murder would have happened indefinitely. Even Jimmy was trying his best to get her into the shop and if he had come after her close enough he would have man handled her to her death. Some people are really slow

Probably.

Possibly, but I would vote for it being her paranoia.
Not that Jimmy wouldn't do it to protect himself or in order to get to Henry - who he probably was going to whack. But at that point kidnapping Karen would have been smarter than killing her. And not harming her might have been even smarter.
Either way, great scene.

I always took it as yes Jimmy was trying to get rid of Karen. He asks her if she knows what kind of questions the cops have been asking Henry and this isn't because he really wants to help. He's concerned that Henry and Karen will rat him out of all the murders he committed. You can put up an argument that Karen was just in a drug fueled paranoia state and we were seeing it from her point of view but I don't think so. Even after she got nervous and felt something wasn't right she got in her car and drove away. The audience then sees Jimmy looking at the alley entrance where Karen would have walked into and he slowly walks back inside but he had a cold look to him like he just missed out an opportunity there.

Stop saying the stupid word "vibes" please. Ebonics nonsense.

It was just her paranoia. Like Henry said, when the mob has you killed, you don't see it coming. A very well directed scene.