J. Riley, Veterinarian

Good thing Tommie rented a Hummer or perhaps a Volkswagen Thing to drive Lily up to Happiness Falls, or else it might've been cramped in that car and who knows what kind of hilarity would've ensued!

Such a Pretty Little Deer

A good home for Lily? Like.... the forest? WHAT IS HAPPENING! I just can't believe Tommie/Margaret Shulock skipped "spectacular grief" "rage against God" "crushing despair" or even "misdirected deer neglect and maltreatment" and went straight to "negotiations with stranger for deer disposal." What is the larger story here? I should know better but... but maybe there's going to be a really awesome payoff here, you guys. Like, Happiness Falls is the deer jerky capital of the world, or Happiness Falls is a home to a surreal Twin Peaks-like mystery. Or something!

Tommie's High Standards

Um... what?

Sorry Lily.

The Low-Down

Theoretically, I understand this conversation will eventually move the plot, in some blandly handsome but misunderstood way, but I feel like there are at least a hundred more interesting conversations we could listen to these two having than this one. Like when the last time Tommie got paid was, or where Lu Ann bought that dress, or why they decided to install a screen door inside the apartment.

Happiness Falls

Did Lu Ann's hand turn into a pincer?  Because that would be awesome.  She could play human claw machine with that bowl of green fruit.  And, with more of a mess, that box of baking soda/tissues.

You can't hide from Tommie Thompson.  No matter how small of a town you live in, she will call the lowliest civil servant that she can find and smoke you out.

This Jack Riley Fellow

Does "I've already done it, Lu Ann" mean "I've already called Jack Riley a million times, what else can I do, why won't you just let it go!!" or does it mean "Yes, I've pushed Lily off the balcony with a tiny little stick-and-handkerchief get-up and a $20 bill she's already eaten; it's up to her to make her own life in the big city now."

Jack Riley, Deer Whisperer

Three hours?  That's nothing Tommie.  Margo will gladly pay for your gas and lend you her EZ-Pass transponder.  I mean it's not as if you'll see Lily again.  Everyone that you love only takes one-way trips.  So is this the end of the Tommie storyline, or does Jack Riley have that certain generic A3G man charm to rescue to Tommie from her loneliness?

It's Time

Oh boy. Ohhhhh boy. Am I seeing the genesis of Dr. Thompson, Animal Doctor right before my eyes??

 

They said a woman doctor vet could not survive alone in the new frontier Manhattan. But I won't give up. And I'm not alone anymore! I've inherited a family deer, and that may be the biggest challenge of all her name is Lily and she's awesome and I don't need a dumb regular job anyway.

...hmm. Is it more effed up to inherit a family or a deer?

Where Can I Get This Job?

Actually, I'm pretty sure that is her. I think Tommie is excellent at sitting at home feeling sorry for herself.

I'm guessing the fawn is going to play into this. (Yeah, remember the fawn? I think Frank got tired of having to draw something other than generic woman-type and man-type figures.) Maybe Tommie is going to start an animal rescue in 3G! That'll give her a purpose after her definitely not fake fiance died.

This is good though. I'm glad Tommie is finally getting the opportunity to relax. All that girl ever does is work, work, work!

Only Human

You don't understand, Ms. Dawkins. I haven't worked in 10 months. If I don't pay rent soon, Margo will require a sacrifice... and I've sunk way too much money in fawn formula and pee pads to let that happen.

A week of strips about talking about not working? Tell me this can go on forever!

Work Ethic

Tommie, you're not ready to come back to work.  You're just coming back from your post-vacation vacation, you can't rush into it.  You're just here so that we can say you have a job, but you never actually have to work.  Let's face it, Frank can't handle drawing a busy hospital seven days a week.  Think about the time it took to draw the blue man with the turtleneck!  Let the man go back to squiggle art, white walls and green lampshades.  It's for the best.

Ready to Go to Work

Whuh oh! Looks like someone went over their Paid Time Off allotment by 843 hours. Also there's a rumor that someone killed off another imaginary boyfriend during their 843 hours of PTO.

Deerly Departed

I don't know if Tommie feels better emotionally after her slumber, but the power nap seems to have taken years off her life.  To the point where she is now an elfin, pre-pubescent boy who dresses like a Golden Girl.

Lily looks like she wants nothing to do with the Professor's chin beard.  Or at least that he has to put a hair net on that before he gets anywhere her bowl of deer food.

Poor Tommie!

Okay, so Apartment 3G isn't known for its displays of raw, seething emotion, but could the Professor stop smiling at least??  And Margo's reaction of "Oh, no! Poor Tommie!" is the kind of response you would give if you heard Tommie, say, spilled red wine on her favorite shirt, or burped during a public speaking opportunity, not recently became a fiancswidow. Those two must be on the same "that dude totally never existed" wavelength.

Strength

Er... alright then? Can we move on from this storyline now? Tommie is  a HIGHLY trained nurse so of course she should be stronger than to allow the very recent and sudden death of her fiance affect her for more than a moment. Tommie goes all Scarlett O'Hara, the Professor is like soooo done with this and wants to go home, and that's that. But I guess she still has that whole deer in the apartment thing going for her, so score one for Tommie?

The Floodgates Open

Don't blame yourself and your perception of your maneater sexiness, Tommie--let's face it, this was Lily's fault. She was just too cute to leave! And now she must pay... The Yearling-style.

A Quiet Spot to Think

Was the professor lurking in the bushes near a secluded spot in the park waiting for Tommie to show up?  Or is that just the most exciting thing I can think of about today's strip.  In the interest of fairness, this actually does look kind of like Central Park. Well done, Frank!

Upset About Something

Is it bad that I'm more interested in where Margo is going than in Tommie's grief? A couple weeks ago, Margo made it seem like she was dying to meet Tommie's fiance, but now she's all like "Oh yeah, that crazy Tommie, there were tears streaming down her face or whatever. Anyway, got plans, talk later!" Which I'm totally fine with, of course. Could this be the return of our Margo?

White as a Nude-Colored Sheet

"Oh Margo, it's just so awful.  My handsome, British fiancee, who totally existed, has died in a plane crash right before he was coming here to meet you.  Now you'll never have met the great love of my life.  Who existed until his small plane crashed in the forests of Vermont.  Which is totally a place that the buyer for Harrod's would go.  Do you have the receipt for all that boxed lamb?"

No, No, NO!!!

Rose's single majestic tear in the first panel might suggest otherwise, but could this be a massive conspiracy on Rose's part to keep Tommie from marrying her son? Now all Rose has to do is kidnap Jim, who's totally alive, and keep him hostage until Tommie starts dating someone else, which should be... oh... who am I kidding! That's implausible for so many reasons.

Jim's just dead I guess. Man! Jim was in exactly two weeks of strips, and while he was instantly fast-tracked to the rank of "fiancee," his death feels a smidge too soon for my taste. I feel like the cat that catches a mouse and kills it before she's done playing with it.

Oh well. I guess we can all still root for an extended storyline of Margo and Lu Ann thinking Tommie just totally made up her boyfriend!

BONUS FOOTAGE: planes crashing and people screaming "NO!!!" always remind me of Star Fox 64.

The Plane Went Down

DEAD?? Aww. Out of all the outcomes we posited, I thought "dead" was one of the least interesting. I was pulling for Carlye's "Jane Eyre" theory, although Megan's "Downton Abbey" theory definitely had legs. Oh well! So, Jim's out of the picture? Why did he even exist for those two weeks? Or will he, somehow, be alive, but terribly mangled? Will he need some kind of... nurse? Who will recommend some kind of... deer-related physical therapy?

Wedding Bell Blues

So based on the comments it seems like most people are rooting for Jim to be dead.  I wouldn't be opposed to that, at least all of this nonsense would be wrapped up.  Maybe it's just all the Downton Abbey I've been watching recently, but from the first panel of Rose's panicked "this wedding isn't happening" bobble, I thought it was going to be a class issue.   Perhaps Jim is the heir to the earldom of Alesworthshire-Upon-Heath, and his marrying a non-noble, American nurse/amateur deer caretaker is completely out of the question.  His troth has probably already been given to a proper lady who just keeps deer outside on the grounds of her landed country estate.

Thrilled

Ugh, just get to the part where Jim already has a wife! Or is dead! Or had a terrible allergic reaction to the deer! Or dresses up like his mother a la Norman Bates and is taking this phone call as we speak!

Mum-In-Law

Ugh, another layer to this British fiancee, orphaned deer in the apartment story?  A frail, lonely mother-in-law is just what we need.  Maybe she's just tired from drawing a checkerboard pattern on half her wall.