Transferring Paul
It was a good day for snarking. There were so many strange things about today’s strip, it was veritable treasure trove of snarkable items.
Aside from the difficulty I had with Constable Paul Wright requesting a transfer to Spruce Narrows I posted yesterday, I had more problems with it today. I went through the monthly letters to see what I could learn about Spruce Narrows, a town which I think has never appeared in the actual strip. The description of the town is pretty sparse. The main reason it is on a higher plane than Mtigwaki is because it is near a small air field and on a bus line. The number of businesses described number under 10. It reminded me a lot of the little town I grew up in North Carolina (except for the airstrip). I have looked at the map for the Ontario Provincial Police showing the detachments across Northwestern Ontario and they are very sparse and are associated with much larger towns. The idea that a town as small as Spruce Narrows would get a detachment made even less sense to me, after reading the Spruce Narrows description.
The second thing that bothered me was why the good Constable felt it was necessary to move closer to Elizabeth. Stephanie had already retconned Otter County’s proximity to Mtigwaki in the Who’s Who. He’s close enough to see her every week, when he gets time off. Why couldn’t he have stayed where he was? For him to make a move like that, for a woman he barely knows and who has never given him any sign of a commitment, it did not make any sense. In order for it to make sense, I created this elaborate story where people around Mtigwaki basically talk Paul into moving closer for a variety of reasons. I am sure Lynn Johnston considered it only for the purposes of being able to write strips with Liz and Paul in them, without having to worry about where Paul is sleeping and without having to worry about it being a special trip for him. However, it paints Paul as being extremely desperate. He is desperate, but I tried to make his decision a little more reasonable. I have known several people over my lifetime who moved faster than they normally would have moved in a relationship, because they thought, if they didn’t, they would lose the other person. You know, the “propose to the girl just before you go overseas” kind of mentality. If Paul thought he would lose Liz if he did not move closer, then it would make more sense to me. It also fit very nicely with the Liz history with relationships.
The other part that disturbed was all the “someone is putting us together” talk. It is as if Paul is not taking credit for his more desperate actions. He can’t say, “I decided to drive to Mtigwaki to see you, because your picture got me hot.” He says, “Good thing your mom left her glasses behind.” He can’t say, “I requested a transfer because I am afraid I will lose you.” He says, “Someone is putting us together.” Of course, Liz does the same thing with her reasons for teaching up north. I had another Mtigwaki character snark Paul strongly on these points.
Tomorrow’s strip: I suppose it is simply another confirmation of what is a running joke with Mtigwaki, i.e. you get no privacy. Jesse and Ellen, his younger sister, are together again. They have not appeared together in the strip for awhile. Unlike what we have been doing with Jesse on April’s Real Blog, he doesn’t seem to mind that his teacher has boyfriend. Quite the contrary, he seems to enjoy mocking her about it. I wonder if ARB Jesse needs a little retconning.
Aside from the difficulty I had with Constable Paul Wright requesting a transfer to Spruce Narrows I posted yesterday, I had more problems with it today. I went through the monthly letters to see what I could learn about Spruce Narrows, a town which I think has never appeared in the actual strip. The description of the town is pretty sparse. The main reason it is on a higher plane than Mtigwaki is because it is near a small air field and on a bus line. The number of businesses described number under 10. It reminded me a lot of the little town I grew up in North Carolina (except for the airstrip). I have looked at the map for the Ontario Provincial Police showing the detachments across Northwestern Ontario and they are very sparse and are associated with much larger towns. The idea that a town as small as Spruce Narrows would get a detachment made even less sense to me, after reading the Spruce Narrows description.
The second thing that bothered me was why the good Constable felt it was necessary to move closer to Elizabeth. Stephanie had already retconned Otter County’s proximity to Mtigwaki in the Who’s Who. He’s close enough to see her every week, when he gets time off. Why couldn’t he have stayed where he was? For him to make a move like that, for a woman he barely knows and who has never given him any sign of a commitment, it did not make any sense. In order for it to make sense, I created this elaborate story where people around Mtigwaki basically talk Paul into moving closer for a variety of reasons. I am sure Lynn Johnston considered it only for the purposes of being able to write strips with Liz and Paul in them, without having to worry about where Paul is sleeping and without having to worry about it being a special trip for him. However, it paints Paul as being extremely desperate. He is desperate, but I tried to make his decision a little more reasonable. I have known several people over my lifetime who moved faster than they normally would have moved in a relationship, because they thought, if they didn’t, they would lose the other person. You know, the “propose to the girl just before you go overseas” kind of mentality. If Paul thought he would lose Liz if he did not move closer, then it would make more sense to me. It also fit very nicely with the Liz history with relationships.
The other part that disturbed was all the “someone is putting us together” talk. It is as if Paul is not taking credit for his more desperate actions. He can’t say, “I decided to drive to Mtigwaki to see you, because your picture got me hot.” He says, “Good thing your mom left her glasses behind.” He can’t say, “I requested a transfer because I am afraid I will lose you.” He says, “Someone is putting us together.” Of course, Liz does the same thing with her reasons for teaching up north. I had another Mtigwaki character snark Paul strongly on these points.
Tomorrow’s strip: I suppose it is simply another confirmation of what is a running joke with Mtigwaki, i.e. you get no privacy. Jesse and Ellen, his younger sister, are together again. They have not appeared together in the strip for awhile. Unlike what we have been doing with Jesse on April’s Real Blog, he doesn’t seem to mind that his teacher has boyfriend. Quite the contrary, he seems to enjoy mocking her about it. I wonder if ARB Jesse needs a little retconning.
posted by howard at 9:16 PM
9 Comments:
I had the same thought about retconning Jesse out of his funk. Also, Ellen is Jesse's little sister? D'oh! I had her as a friend.
I don't know if Ellen is actually Jesse's sister, but I have made that presumption because in one strip, Jesse mentioned having a sister and he has shown up alone with her at Liz's place before.
He's mentioned having an older sister. Back when Liz was first starting out in Mtiggy, there was a strip where she teaches her class how to break up certain words according to their syllable break--for if they run out of space at the end of the line. One of her examples was the word "kissing"--when she asked the class how to break that one up, Jesse said something like "water hose--it worked for my sister and her boyfriend."
Found the strip in question, October 7, 2004. Jesse doesn't say "older sister," but I think it's implied. :)
aprilp_katje,
I should know better than to defy the continuity goddess. We don't know the relationship of the little to Jesse. In fact it appears that Jesse hangs around with more than one little girl.
In the December 12, 2004, it was Alice.
Alice
Ellen is first mentioned in the October 27, 2005 strip.
Ellen
That scamp, Jesse, two-timing already! ;)
Alice's physical characteristics match Ellen's closely, up to and including the shyness. I suspect it is another case of, "We forgot what we called the character and we don't care to look it up" that they have done so many times before. However, Jesse as a two-timer is much more fun.
You're probably right. Names-schmames, right? ;)
I sense a little Mira Sobinski in you. You know, the 1st generation / 3rd generation immigrant.
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