Boo!

"It'll pass, kind of like my face is passing from my skull." Seriously, is her face melting? Maybe it's horrified at what Margo has become - a supportive, encouraging person - that it is leaving to find a new host.

By the way, now that we know Gary's dead, I'm hoping he'll haunt Lu Ann like she's been haunted before. Oh, and Paul! I don't mean metaphorically. I mean like "boo, I'm haunting you!" Then Paul and the Linski collective will really turn and run. They don't put up with that sort of fraternizing with the dead.

Major Gary

Dear Mrs. Powers,

sor-rry, we have been way backed up lately, jumping in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and then that whole Arab Spring thing happened, plus Libya, and just everyone was distracted. But enough about us.

U.S. Army Air Force Major Gary Powers has been declared killed in action. Like, a while ago. We are so sorry. We will send you his remaining possessions, including his Athens Summer Olympics hand towel and his Ashlee Simpson Autobiography CD. He sure did love that CD. And youuu...!

Take care,

Your friends at the U.S.

Army Air Force

Okay, I don't really know how the U.S. Army Air Force operates, their letters are probably a little nicer than that. In any case, that kind of nips the "dramatic soap opera reentrance" in the bud... UNLESS THERE'S A GOVERNMENT CONSPIRACY. Oooh!

Morning of Memories

I wish that I would wake up from a nightmare/roommate having a nightmare with my hair perfectly coiffed, eye makeup that highlights my eyes but isn't too heavy, and pouty, dew touched lips. First, if my roommate was having night terrors, I would, 95% of the time, sleep through it. Second, if actually awakened, I would have a full head of frizz and spend the first two minutes of being awake fumbling for my glasses, which were probably on my face when I fell asleep, and thus the entire night was spent crushing them out of shape before knocking them into a crevasse somewhere in the bed vicinity.

Ooo, so Gary disappeared before being declared dead/his whereabouts are still unknown? That opens up some interesting possibilities. He could pull a soap opera return from the dead and fight Paul to win back Lu Ann's heart. Or he's just dead and we're going to spend these next few weeks watching Lu Ann mope about it while Paul slowly backs out of this.

I've Been There

We can never see below these ladies' armpits, but it's pretty obvious Margo is folding her arms as she delivers that line in the second panel. And with a smile! "Dead lover nightmares? You can bet I've been there, girlfriend! Ha ha! Ha...." Meanwhile, Lu Ann is serving up some major Ann-Margret/Natalie Wood. Looking good!

Only in Dreams

Oh Margo, it's like the software that pairs emotions with the proper facial expression was being updated when you were awakened by Lu Ann's night terrors. Poor Tommie is even losing strip time comforting Lu Ann, which she would be way better than Margo at. Maybe she's at the hospital nursing an orphan.

If this were an episode of Golden Girls, this nightmare would lead to a late night cheesecake party and some Old World Sophia wisdom. Unfortunately, this is just the opening act to a long, slow story about the Gary Powers we never got to know. But now I am hungry for cheesecake.

Hold Me Close, Tiny Gary

Oh my gosh, Lu Ann DOES care about Gary! ..........you know, Gary? Good ol' Gar! I guess that's the name of her dead fighter pilot husband, who she hasn't mentioned for 35 years. But what if she's talking about Tommie's old flame?? That would be totally scandalous! And weird. That guy was icky.

Well, so with the "Dream of Death" (something Margo's well versed in), I guess we're implying that Lu Ann is still hung up on her dead husband? And she didn't tell Paul about her previous marriage not because it took place decades ago and it doesn't matter to her anymore/it's all in the past/she genuinely forgot, but because she's ummmmmm deceptive? Being coy? I don't buy it. Lu Ann has like zero guile. Maybe Margo can give her some tips after she finishes screaming at Lu Ann for waking her up.

Let's Do the Time Warp

She probably just hasn't had time to bring it up, Paul.

I wish the question had been one of the ones you folks came up with yesterday, but this is pretty fascinating. They're putting an actual timeframe on the time warp that these people live in. Does anyone know when she actually married her first husband? In the 60s? And apparently I'm too bad at math to figure out the ratio of A3G years to real years, but uh... it's kind of staggering right?

I would love this to wind up being the case, but I guess they'll just make up some story about how her husband died that doesn't take place in the Vietnam era. But really, wouldn't everything make so much more sense if it was still, like, the 70s in A3G world?

I hope in this version, Margo murders Gary. Nobody breaks up their little apartment... nobody. So watch yourself, Paul.