Liz and Françoise
In today’s For Better or For Worse, Liz and Anthony put on a demonstration of how not to get your kids a toy for Christmas without them knowing; but it is beside the point. What is really important is that for the very first time we see Elizabeth Patterson take the initiative to spend time with Françoise without Anthony, including the first time Liz has held her hand by herself. Since there is a tendency in this strip for Pattersons to become successes with a minimal amount of effort, I had feared that Françoise would love Liz without a cause and just because she was a Patterson. Although it would be fun to snark something like that, there is a point with For Better or For Worse, when I hope my predictions of bad plotting don't come true.
That having been said, I sincerely hope that this is not the point where Thérèse makes a reappearance. Elizabeth needs to have the one moment with Françoise to establish some kind of relationship with her; before we can give her any kind of pass on being a mother to this hyperintelligent little girl before the marriage occurs. Technically this moment should have occurred months ago; but I will take it now. Lynn Johnston just didn’t have much time with 2 of the last 4 months stuffed with hybrid strips.
That having been said, I sincerely hope that this is not the point where Thérèse makes a reappearance. Elizabeth needs to have the one moment with Françoise to establish some kind of relationship with her; before we can give her any kind of pass on being a mother to this hyperintelligent little girl before the marriage occurs. Technically this moment should have occurred months ago; but I will take it now. Lynn Johnston just didn’t have much time with 2 of the last 4 months stuffed with hybrid strips.
posted by howard at 10:30 PM
12 Comments:
Unfortunately, Lynn may just have to disppoint us all by injecting Thérèse into the plotline when she's not needed. Instead of having Elizabeth connecting with her boyfriend's daughter because they have interests in common, Françoise will end up clinging to Liz's ankles even tighter than she did Anthony's because 'Mommy' 'saved' the child from a two-dimensional horror monster.
Yet more evidence that Francoise is, in fact, blind as a cave-dwelling salamander: she's two years old and standing next to a Really Cool Toy Store, but seems intent on pointing the exact opposite direction. All the two-year-olds I've ever known would be absolutely enraptured by the window display, not trying to wander over to Orange Julius.
I suppose it's also possible that Lynn, in addition to not knowing how 30-year-olds, 25-year-olds, or teenagers behave in real life, has also forgotten that toddlers like toys.
dlauthor:
I suppose it's also possible that Lynn, in addition to not knowing how 30-year-olds, 25-year-olds, or teenagers behave in real life, has also forgotten that toddlers like toys.
That, sadly, seems likely. It's the same reason she seems to regard child safety as a non-issue. Since she wouldn't drink bleach or rush off into traffic or be entranced by a toy store window, she thinks a two-year-old wouldn't.
howtheduck, in response to your question in yesterday's comments--I will absolutely not buy any Follis shoes! And my not buying shoes there will no doubt cause the collapse of his business and the revocation of his honorary doctorate. Oh, wait, I was never going to be shopping for shoes up in North Bay, anyway. Never mind. ;)
Howard:
Since you have predicted almost every plot development of Lynn's, how do you think the Therese smack-down/Liz-perfect-mommy will go?
Is Therese just going to ignore Francoise? Are will Francoise reject Therese?
Of course, there might be the total: "Liz, you will be a much better mother and wife than I!" line from Therese.
Of course, in real life, if Therese did run into Liz with her daughter and ex-husband, her first words would be "Ha! Didn't take you long to show up, did it, you homewrecking bitch!"
DJ
dlauthor,
Yet more evidence that Francoise is, in fact, blind as a cave-dwelling salamander
I was very amused to find that Lynn Johnston had inadvertently inserted 2 elements in this strip to indicate Françoise has poor eyesight (1) disinterest in the toy store and (2) ability to clearly overhear Liz and Anthony’s whispers with the traditional “lose vision, but enhance other senses” scenario. Now, every time Françoise appears, I am going to have to check to see if Lynn has dropped any more clues like these.
aprilp_katje,
I think that, even though you will not be up in North Bay shopping for shoes, you should still maintain your boycott of Follis Shoes, as a matter of principle.
DJ,
Since you have predicted almost every plot development of Lynn's, how do you think the Therese smack-down/Liz-perfect-mommy will go?
Here are some guesses: The overriding theme of Thérèse in both Anthony’s and Elizabeth’s words describing her and her relationship with her daughter is “giving or throwing away.” In the April 26, 2006 strip, Anthony said, “As if our daughter was something to give away.” In the August 20, 2007 strip, Candace says, “Are you ready to take on the responsibility of a child, Liz? What if the ex-wife shows up and causes problems? What if angelic little Francie pulls the ‘you can’t boss me around-you’re not my mom’ thing?” Elizabeth responded, “She will…-and I’ll handle it!...I can also handle her mom! Thérèse threw away a wonderful man and a beautiful daughter!—She just…threw them away!!!”
These kinds of strips with Lynn Johnston are usually blueprints for how things are going to happen. We have seen the rebellion of little Francie, although not for the reason described by Candace. We have also seen the repentance of Becky McGuire, which ran right along the lines of what John Patterson predicted. The Thérèse smackdown must have the following elements:
1. Thérèse must repent of what she did, by making a comment about how it was a mistake to “throw away” her life with Françoise and Anthony; or agreeing with Elizabeth when she accuses Thérèse of throwing Françoise and Anthony away. That “throw away” line has to be there somewhere.
2. Françoise has to choose Liz over Thérèse. This requires that (a) Françoise remembers who her mother is and (b) Françoise has had her bonding-with-Liz moment. Because of this, I am not sure this can happen at the mall, or it will seem too forced.
3. As with the Becky McGuire smackdown, part of the smackdown events are communicated after the fact to either Elly Patterson or Candace Halloran. Candace is my pick, since she has been reestablished as the Liz confidant.
4. As with the Becky McGuire smackdown, some element of Thérèse’s life must have gone wrong, as a proof she made the wrong decision. Either her boyfriend left her, or she had career problems.
5. In recent years, Liz revenges end with her calling her parting shots over her shoulder as she walks away, so I expect we will see that again.
6. I am not sure if Thérèse will tell Liz she is better than she is. In the Becky McGuire smackdown, Becky only admitted that April was good, but not that April was better than she was at music.
7. There is the unknown element of what “causes problems” means. I don’t think Lynn has the time for a protracted custody battle. The way Candace has laid this out, then these are things which Liz has to accomplish as a proof she is ready to be engaged with Anthony. Since Liz mentioned Thérèse’s offences both against Anthony and Thérèse, then Liz may have be shown to defend them both against Thérèse.
dreadedcandiru2,
Françoise will end up clinging to Liz's ankles even tighter than she did Anthony's because 'Mommy' 'saved' the child from a two-dimensional horror monster.
It's possible, but after Lynn Johnston painted such a sympathetic Thérèse in that last retcon, I don't think she is going to go for a "horror monster"-type presentation.
howtheduck:
It would be difficult to go from what we saw to the snapping horror I dread at that. Because even Lynn might realize how big a logical leap that would be, Thérèse may never make an appearance again. She may be vaguely referenced in the outcome I orginally thought, however. I can foresee Liz trying to come up with some way of telling Françoise that she's not her birth-mother but that isn't important. The way she'd do it to to indirectly cast aspersions on her defeated rival.
dreadedcandiru2,
Because even Lynn might realize how big a logical leap that would be, Thérèse may never make an appearance again.
Lynn has dropped enough hints about Thérèse’s reappearance in the strip and in that little survey on the website, I would be very surprised if she did not show up. Plus, Lynn has an axe to grind in showing us that Liz and Anthony are perfect for each other, and part of that grinding is showing Liz is better than Thérèse.
The way she'd do it to would be to indirectly cast aspersions on her defeated rival.
I am not sure I agree with this. Mike and Deanna used to make jokes about Mira to each other, but never in front of their kids.
While, on reflection, it seems likely that Thérèse will show up sooner or later, Lynn is bound to pull her punches in the villainy department again. By making her grievances more or less legitimate, more critically minded people like us will end up sympathizing with her. The people who belive that Lynn has surveillance equipment in their houses, on the other hand, will boo on cue.
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