Straightening Out the Rooms
I will have to admit the room situation with the Patterson has me confused. As you go up the stairs in the Patterson house there are 2 small rooms on the left (L1 and L2), and one big room on the right (R1) with the ensuite bathroom with no shower. After it on the right is the bathroom with the shower, used by the people who occupy the upstairs.
In the summer of 2006, April lives upstairs by herself in R1 and L1 was the guest bedroom/sewing room. When Liz moved in September of 2006, she occupied L2. When Mike’s family arrived on Christmas, 2006; Mike and Deanna took over R1, Meredith and Robin took over L1 and Liz remained in L2. April moved to the Rec Room.
The next part is where it gets tricky. The monthly letters say that after Elly, John and April moved out; Mike and Deanna intended to stay in R1 to be next to the kids.
We know the bump beds are moved into L2, and so we know that this is where Meredith is staying. It would make sense therefore, for Robin to stay in L1 because Meredith’s old bed is already set up in there. However, this leaves a few questions:
The Daily Savings strip seems to think that Robin is in L1 and Merrie is in L2 already. Robin’s run in the hall clearly shows this.
In today’s For Better or For Worse, a ceiling fan shows up literally out of nowhere, never before seen in either L1 or L2. Also, why would Robin have to become accustomed to sleeping in L1, a room where he has been sleeping since Christmas, 2006? Aside from Deanna’s redecorating, the only real difference for Robin is sleeping in Meredith’s old bed, where he has been shown to sleep before.
Obviously the author has not thought this stuff through and is counting on people like me to be few and far between. Instead we are in a “Kids Say the Darnedest Things” moment.
I remember when we moved to Arizona and my kids had a choice between 2 same-sized rooms to decide which one would be theirs. They were 2 and 4 years old at the time. They were so excited to have that choice, and I was frankly, quite amazed when they came to a consensus without any struggle. When they finally moved in and had all their stuff from Texas in there, do you know what they did not say?
In the summer of 2006, April lives upstairs by herself in R1 and L1 was the guest bedroom/sewing room. When Liz moved in September of 2006, she occupied L2. When Mike’s family arrived on Christmas, 2006; Mike and Deanna took over R1, Meredith and Robin took over L1 and Liz remained in L2. April moved to the Rec Room.
The next part is where it gets tricky. The monthly letters say that after Elly, John and April moved out; Mike and Deanna intended to stay in R1 to be next to the kids.
We know the bump beds are moved into L2, and so we know that this is where Meredith is staying. It would make sense therefore, for Robin to stay in L1 because Meredith’s old bed is already set up in there. However, this leaves a few questions:
The Daily Savings strip seems to think that Robin is in L1 and Merrie is in L2 already. Robin’s run in the hall clearly shows this.
In today’s For Better or For Worse, a ceiling fan shows up literally out of nowhere, never before seen in either L1 or L2. Also, why would Robin have to become accustomed to sleeping in L1, a room where he has been sleeping since Christmas, 2006? Aside from Deanna’s redecorating, the only real difference for Robin is sleeping in Meredith’s old bed, where he has been shown to sleep before.
Obviously the author has not thought this stuff through and is counting on people like me to be few and far between. Instead we are in a “Kids Say the Darnedest Things” moment.
I remember when we moved to Arizona and my kids had a choice between 2 same-sized rooms to decide which one would be theirs. They were 2 and 4 years old at the time. They were so excited to have that choice, and I was frankly, quite amazed when they came to a consensus without any struggle. When they finally moved in and had all their stuff from Texas in there, do you know what they did not say?
posted by howard at 10:27 PM
19 Comments:
Gotta have a ceiling fan so it can go "tinkelty tonk", or whatever. And the room's gotta be too roomy so Robin has something to complain about. This whole week has been a real snore. It is painfully obvious that Lynn will take ANY story line in an effort to avoid talking about Lizthony. What a ripoff.
Oh, yes. Lynn's dislike of logical consistency and people who demand that things make sense. She and her fans may say out loud that people like us are spoiling the joke by trying to pick it to pieces but what they really mean is that Lynn has the right to change things around arbitrarily and we're just supposed to shut up and like it. Call it "Portrait of the Artist as an Authoritarian Jerk."
qnjones said...
Gotta have a ceiling fan so it can go "tinkelty tonk"
Good point. There is nothing like a good "tinkelty tonk" joke.
It is painfully obvious that Lynn will take ANY story line in an effort to avoid talking about Lizthony. What a ripoff.
Over at the FOOBiverse’s Journal, cookie77 has already expressed the opinion that the “Let’s go home” line from Elizabeth back in December was the effective end of Lizthony. What do you think? Is there more Liz and Anthony love story coming some day?
DreadedCandiru2,
Call it "Portrait of the Artist as an Authoritarian Jerk."
I could call it that, but the backgrounds are the work of Laura Piché and not Lynn Johnston. The Ned Search part of the FBorFW website used to contain a floor plan of the Patterson house + pictures of each individual room. Some months ago, it changed to a Ned Search around pictures of Lynn’s studio. I have noticed that since that happened, Laura Piché’s accuracy for drawing the Patterson home has gotten worse. Whether the two are related, I don’t know. However, I do know that Meredith and Robin Patterson’s combined room at Sharon Park Drive has not looked the same even once. Not only that but the décor in the room where the Christmas Dinner was held altered significantly from strip to strip.
I think once again we are getting a disconnect between the Sundayverse and the Dailyverse. Often, Lynn has gone out of her way to establish various events twice so that they definitely happen in both places. At times, they have been out of sync (like with April's zits and, when she was 10 or 11, the purple streak in her hair). It used to be when events were out of sync, it wasn't by more than a week or so, but I think the Lynnions have just gotten sloppier about all this, hence taking so long for the dailies to catch up with the Sundays WRT Robin and Meredith being in separate rooms.
I think we will see Liz and Anthony again, but it's going to be awhile. I think we might see other characters talk about them in one strip, in that stilted and unfamiliar way, like the way Mike and Dee talked about Liz and Anthony before Christmas dinner. Like, Connie Poirier could ask Elly, "So, how is your girl?" and Elly could say, "I haven't seen her since Christmas. Between work and planning her wedding, she's too busy."
Then, in July or August, we'll see the wedding happen in a week or so of flashbacks. Some of these strips will contain Elly musing over how old she feels, and some will focus on how Mike's kids are bratty at the wedding ceremony. Almost no time will be devoted to the substance of Lizthony's courtship or relationship.
That's my prediction.
I think Cookie's pessimism is wrong because I cannot see Lynn leaving Liz as unmarried. Something will happen to declare her status as a married person.
april_patterson:
I think once again we are getting a disconnect between the Sundayverse and the Dailyverse.
It's become increasingly clear that the Patterson family we see from Monday to Saturday isn't the same one as we see on Sunday. Also, neither of those families are the same as the one as we used to read about in the retcons. That being said, Lynn has unwittingly pulled off something cool: she's juggling three continuities and her fans are none the wiser.
qnjones:
Connie Poirier could ask Elly, "So, how is your girl?" and Elly could say, "I haven't seen her since Christmas. Between work and planning her wedding, she's too busy."
Then, in July or August, we'll see the wedding happen in a week or so of flashbacks.
That's more or less what I expect to see myself. After all, Liz is now a secondary character and her marriage will be handled accordingly. The Pattersons Redux are the only people who matter now.
aprilp_katje,
It used to be when events were out of sync, it wasn't by more than a week or so, but I think the Lynnions have just gotten sloppier about all this, hence taking so long for the dailies to catch up with the Sundays WRT Robin and Meredith being in separate rooms.
This may be true, but in the Daylight Savings strip, Meredith is not in a bump bed. I don’t think this is so much as a disconnect between the Sundayverse and the Dailyverse, as an “It works in this strip for them to be separated, so I can show Robin running to get a broken toy out of his room.”
qnjones,
Almost no time will be devoted to the substance of Lizthony's courtship or relationship.
I can see this. Lynn had already talked about how she had used her romance stories with Rod to generate what little she has done with Liz and Anthony so far. If there is anything else, we could expect Liz and Anthony’s wedding to match hers and Rod’s, which means it will be low key and small.
DreadedCandiru2
After all, Liz is now a secondary character and her marriage will be handled accordingly. The Pattersons Redux are the only people who matter now.
Lynn has said that if anyone took over the strip from her, that is the story she would expect them to pursue. As we are in the 3rd week of the “Mike with the kids / the kids get separate bedrooms” storyline, it certainly seems that way. However, even though Liz may be secondary, I can’t see Lynn Johnston leaving her avatar Elly in the background.
What do you think? Is there more Liz and Anthony love story coming some day?
YES, definitely yes! I anticipate a small, elegant wedding this summer. No flashbacks and no inappropriate behavior by children or their parents. The entire story will be told in three weeks. We will finally meet Anthony’s parents (elderly, quiet, sweet) but we will not see Liz interacting with them.
The wedding gown will be plain and off-the-rack. It will be nothing like the designer gown that Deanna wore. Liz’s gown will have a long belt/sash that will match Francie’s dress.
Anon NYC
howtheduck:
However, even though Liz may be secondary, I can’t see Lynn Johnston leaving her avatar Elly in the background.
I did get ahead of myself there. Mike and Dee will need someone to tell them to stay the course, that they're doing just fine. Elly is that person. We'd see her as a regular presence in the Pattermanse like Phil was in the Early Years (1979-1986) but only rarely see life in the Tiny Train House.
Anon NYC,
Well, Anon NYC, of all the predictions made so far about Liz and Anthony’s wedding, I hope yours is correct. Care to elaborate any more?
Church wedding, or in some secular location?
Will little Francie have any interaction with Anthony’s parents as if they were her grandparents?
And most importantly, do you think the name “Thérèse” will be mentioned even once?
DreadedCandiru2
Mike and Dee will need someone to tell them to stay the course, that they're doing just fine. Elly is that person.
Perhaps Elly can become the new Lovey Salzman!
And most importantly, do you think the name “Thérèse” will be mentioned even once?
Perhaps. What I expect to see is Françoise wanting to see her real Mommy only to be told that the commuter plane she was on sufered a mid-air collision with a helicopter. That way, we'd also get rid of Warren and the stupid people who go on Coffee Talk and malign her for paying attention to her surroundings can condemn her for selfishly plummeting to a fiery death from 1000 feet.
Oh, Anon NYC, I fear you are a dreamer.
I disagree that there will be anything particularly elegant about their wedding. I think you are right, Liz will have a very plain, off the rack dress. I will be interested to see if she wears a veil (traditional symbol of virginity), or a white dress (popularly perceived symbol of virginity), or if she is married in a church (controversial as they are living together). I suspect it will be seriously toned down due to the Lizthony living situation. I bet Anthony wears his ugly brown suit. And I bet Liz "graciously" invites Therese at Frenchy's request, but she doesn't show, causing Frenchy to finally realize Liz Is Her New Mom.
I was mostly kidding about the wedding being discussed in flashbacks, but I think it will not take up more than 2 weeks, tops, and my bet is it will be only 1 week. Mike's kids will be brats in at least one strip--that is a guarantee.
I think Elly and John won't pay for the wedding, and will have even less to do with the planning than they did with Mike's wedding.
I doubt we will get any meaningful interaction with the senior Caines. We might see them, but I doubt they talk much, if at all.
April will be forced to be a bridesmaid, and she will act like it's a real trial for her, so we can all see how Martian-like she is.
I would LOVE it if it turned out that Liz was preggo at her own wedding--a very modern trend that would help with her timeline problems--but I doubt Lynn will go there.
qnjones,
And I bet Liz "graciously" invites Therese at Frenchy's request, but she doesn't show, causing Frenchy to finally realize Liz Is Her New Mom.
Although this would be fair considering Elizabeth was invited to Anthony and Thérèse’s wedding; in that situation Anthony pointed out that he was the one who extended the invitation. If Thérèse has any class or any common sense, she won’t go.
I was mostly kidding about the wedding being discussed in flashbacks, but I think it will not take up more than 2 weeks, tops, and my bet is it will be only 1 week.
There is part of me that thinks back to the old Lynn Johnston, who would not miss an opportunity to have Elly Patterson be shown as the best mother of the bride in the whole world, by tossing out little marital words of wisdom every other strip, as Elizabeth looked on in grateful wonder. Then there is another part of me that can tell that if Lynn Johnston couldn’t even work up a decent romance story after putting Liz and Anthony back together after 7 years apart, then she is little motivated to do a decent wedding storyline.
Mike's kids will be brats in at least one strip--that is a guarantee.
Ringbearer and flower girl are their positions in the wedding. "Meredith convinces Robin the ring is candy, and the wedding ends in the hospital getting Robin’s stomach pumped" would be a very funny ending for me.
I think Elly and John won't pay for the wedding, and will have even less to do with the planning than they did with Mike's wedding.
Is that possible? Oh, and let’s not forget that Josef Weeder is taking the pictures.
I doubt we will get any meaningful interaction with the senior Caines. We might see them, but I doubt they talk much, if at all.
I am really unsure about this one. Mother Caine has not been mentioned since just before the “I have no home” strip and Father Caine has not been mentioned since 2002. I think there is a good possibility we won’t even see them.
I would LOVE it if it turned out that Liz was preggo at her own wedding--a very modern trend that would help with her timeline problems--but I doubt Lynn will go there.
Like any good Patterson woman, Liz will become pregnant on her honeymoon and she won’t know how it happened.
I will be interested to see if ... she is married in a church (controversial as they are living together).
Depends what church. It's my understanding that there are a nontrivial number of priests in the Anglican Church of Canada (the only church that I can remember being mentioned in the strip) who would be happy to perform a wedding for Liz and Candace. (All right, let's just say "Lawrence and Nick" instead.) The fact that Liz and Anthony have been vaguely suggested to be living together would most likely not be an issue.
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