Knock Knock

Professor, you could've actually knocked instead of yelling KNOCK KNOCK and busting through the door... But uh, nice to have you in the strip while Margo slips into something more comfortable. I hope he's bringing news of the next story arc. Maybe Kat and Kitty have decided to do an I Dressed in the Dark: Where Are They Now? episode.

Routine

I'm not going to say that the past 6-9 (I can't remember and I refuse to go back and look it up) month long odyssey of criminal boredom in Happiness Falls was worth it because it resulted in today's strip, but it almost makes up for it.  Almost...Tommie is barely in the door when she is conscripted into cooking dinner for Margo, and she just rolls over in submission to the alpha dog.

I also imagine that Margo and Lu Ann have just been waiting by the front door subsisting on green and orange fruits because Margo refused to allow Lu Ann to cook when it was Tommie's turn.  Lu Ann does look thinner...

Home At Last!!

I have to admit, when I went to check the comics this morning, I was legitimately excited for the first time in months. Yet when I first glanced at the strip, I genuinely thought we were still back in Happiness Falls, the land where happiness fell. Carol-I-mean-Lu Ann's hair is dowdier than ever, and the interior decorating is identical!

Only Margo could convince me that we're back in Manhattan. I love that the first words out of her mouth are "What about me?" Indeed, Margo. Without you, the entire universe, of billions upon billions upon billions of stars, would go dark. That is your phenomenal cosmic power. Even though Tommie hasn't written or called in months, she's still a big fan, okay?

So I think we're in for a week of rehashing the extreme dullness of the past six months, but then, THEN, something should happen!

Promises to Not Keep

Don't get your hopes up Jack.  Once incidental characters run their course they're never heard from again.  Which is why it's so weird that we would waste a strip with Tommie promising Jack and Carol that she'll show up at their wedding (without a plus one)/come visit.  I mean the adventures of Margo Magee are waiting!  But we should probably stop questioning the weird things that happen in this strip.  Like the daily, unflattering metamorphosis of Tommie's hair.

No Buts, Tommie

Sure, yes, we'll keep her, whatever it takes to get this done! Meanwhile it's not like Jack's been here, it's not like he knows what a rebellious teen deer Lily's become in the absence of a strong father figure or really any supervision at all. (When's the last time anyone checked her homework?) It's not like he's caught her smoking Pall Malls behind the barn, or tasting her first whiskey at a stag-doe party. Yes, she's old enough to go to stag-doe parties, Jack! When are you going to realize Lily is growing up!

A Job Waits For Me

Are you sure there's a job waiting for you, Tommie? Like, sure sure? Meanwhile, Jack turns away to hide his tears of joy that Tommie is finally leaving.

You Said it Jack

I think Jack's comment in the second panel sums up how we all feel about this storyline...and about Tommie changing her turtleneck.  I'm so relieved that we are almost through with this interminable nonsense that I won't even mock that fact that Carol and Jack's engagement falls into the overflowing basket of "Supposedly Hugely Important A3G Moments That Occur Off-Panel."

The end is nigh.  Bring on the adventures of Margo Magee!