Timing Issues
The trouble with trying to work everything real time, is that you have plan where you put your storylines carefully. As we enter the final month before For Better or For Worse goes to the hybrid, you can tell that Lynn Johnston has a lot of Anthony and Liz to tell, since it is the last majour storyline left undone. However, she also had an obligation to her niece Stephanie, to give Shannon Lake a real send off, and to finally finish the Becky / April feud. The wedding started in June, but is interrupted by 2 weeks of Shannon Lake on the table. July starts and we get 1 week of wedding, two weeks confirming the house move leading up to the hybrid occurred, and two weeks of telethon farewell to Shannon, Becky, Eva, and Gerald. August, and we are back once again to the wedding, 2 months after it started.
The interesting thing about the wedding is that overall, the romance between Anthony and Elizabeth is mostly nonverbal—ballet moves, kissing, dancing, and running around outside in the park. There is also an element of it that makes it seem like two children misbehaving. Instead of celebrating Shawna-Marie Verano’s big day by observing all her wedding traditions, like the cutting of the cake, throwing the rice, catching the bouquet, talking with old friends they don’t see very often (Candace, Dawn, Rudy); they are shirking all those social responsibilities by running and hiding and giggling. The part of me which wants to find the situation romantic is thwarted by the part of me which says, “I would kind of like to see how Candace Halloran reacts to seeing Elizabeth back with Anthony. I want to see Anthony’s reaction when Elizabeth catches the bouquet. I can’t believe how rude and tactless Elizabeth Patterson is being to Shawna-Marie at her wedding.”
However, the wedding sequence does make yesterday’s stilted dialogue between Anthony and Elizabeth in broad daylight, seem even more plausible. If they are running and hiding and trying not to make much noise, then they are also not talking. Dialogue is not Lynn Johnston’s strong point, and perhaps she realizes she can make it seem more romantic, if she doesn’t have them talk to each other. It will be interesting to see if she can make it look like Anthony and Elizabeth actually like each other in the daylight, instead of just like to run around together in the nighttime.
The interesting thing about the wedding is that overall, the romance between Anthony and Elizabeth is mostly nonverbal—ballet moves, kissing, dancing, and running around outside in the park. There is also an element of it that makes it seem like two children misbehaving. Instead of celebrating Shawna-Marie Verano’s big day by observing all her wedding traditions, like the cutting of the cake, throwing the rice, catching the bouquet, talking with old friends they don’t see very often (Candace, Dawn, Rudy); they are shirking all those social responsibilities by running and hiding and giggling. The part of me which wants to find the situation romantic is thwarted by the part of me which says, “I would kind of like to see how Candace Halloran reacts to seeing Elizabeth back with Anthony. I want to see Anthony’s reaction when Elizabeth catches the bouquet. I can’t believe how rude and tactless Elizabeth Patterson is being to Shawna-Marie at her wedding.”
However, the wedding sequence does make yesterday’s stilted dialogue between Anthony and Elizabeth in broad daylight, seem even more plausible. If they are running and hiding and trying not to make much noise, then they are also not talking. Dialogue is not Lynn Johnston’s strong point, and perhaps she realizes she can make it seem more romantic, if she doesn’t have them talk to each other. It will be interesting to see if she can make it look like Anthony and Elizabeth actually like each other in the daylight, instead of just like to run around together in the nighttime.
posted by howard at 9:58 PM
10 Comments:
“It will be interesting to see if she can make it look like Anthony and Elizabeth actually like each other in the daylight, instead of just like to run around together in the nighttime.”
That’s not good enough for me. I want to end with fire works! I want a sign of adventure, not just walking on a beach during sunset.
That’s not good enough for me. I want to end with fire works! I want a sign of adventure, not just walking on a beach during sunset.
Sorry you want adventure. Liz already skipped over those guys --the Ojibway cop and traveling helicopter pilot. What she has in Anthony is a single dad, who lives in a house his boss sold him, who works the same job he has worked while he was in university, who lives in the same town he grew up in, who is in love with the first girl he ever dated, and who can barely put two sentences together to make a conversation. He is not Mr. Adventure. He is Mr. Solid, Dependable and Boring. I expect no adventure and no fireworks, because Lynn Johnston has no time left to do that, and mainly because she has made such a big deal that Anthony is not like Paul or Warren.
I had the same thoughts on the misbehaving-children behavior and the rudeness to Shawna-Marie at her wedding. It also doesn't seem to bode well that when these two are trying to have a conversation in the light of day, Liz almost immediately resorts to a rehash of the events at the wedding. Liz, it just happened, and Anthony was THERE, so shut it! ;)
aprilp_katje,
It reminds me a lot of something my kids do a lot. We will have just watched something on television together, and they will feel the need to tell me the storyline of what we just saw, if it was something they really liked. No extra comments added in about the story, just the story itself. I can listen to about 5 - 10 minutes of it, and then I say, "I know. I just watched it with you. I was here. Remember?"
"Anthony and Elizabeth actually like each other in the daylight, instead of just like to run around together in the nighttime.”
Odd, how this echoes the old songs about illicit romances that have to happen under cover of darkness since they are "cheating". This also makes the entire relationship look so sick, with all the sneaking around they did behind Therese's back.
By the way--there was all that time where for days and days Anthony and Elizabeth sat together and talked during the trial. Doesn't it seem as though Elizabeth MIGHT have had these old feelings brought back then? Instead, she is totally oblivious until *oh my gosh* Anthony shaved his moustache and showed up with someone else at the wedding!
Anonymous,
Elizabeth might have had those old feelings brought back then. She and Anthony certainly gave each other a lot of close hugs and meaningful glances. But let us not forget that in the middle of that time period, Elly and John shamelessly plugged Anthony over her current boyfriend Paul, which probably caused all those old feeling to submerge again.
BTW, howtheduck, this strip from July 28, 2003 shows that Anthony had finished his degree (you had a question about this in one of your comments to yesterday's entry).
aprilp_katje,
Thanks for the reference. Anthony must have just graduated in 2003. It’s interesting he graduated in 4 years, when it took Liz and Candace 5 years. I like the strip right before it, where Anthony reveals to April he is the one who sent Elizabeth the invitation to his wedding. We know that Thérèse would never have done it, and considering the way she felt about Elizabeth, Anthony shows an extraordinary lack of sympathy for her.
The revelation to me though, was when I took another look at this strip from August, 2005, and realized it validated my theory about Thérèse being in love with Anthony.
It added a new dimension to the relationship for me, because Anthony specifically says that when he married Thérèse, he thought she was in love with him. He does not ever say he was in love with her.
In this strip which occurred earlier in July, 2005, after Gordon toured Elizabeth over to see Anthony in his new home; Gordon Mayes specifically says Anthony loves his baby, his house, his work, and he tries to love his wife.
I did not realize how often Anthony was shown in FBoFW. Thank you April and Howard for the links to these memorable strips.
We never saw Anthony and Thérèse alone. My impression is that each strip always includes a Patterson. Am I correct?
Anon I
Anonymous,
That is correct. Thérèse never appeared without a Patterson present. In fact, there was a considerable difference in her demeanor in the baby shower sequence, where the Pattersons were April and Elly, and not Liz.
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