Greetings, folks, BChasm here back behind the wheel of this eternally stalling vehicle. Many thanks to Comic Book Harriet for an excellent hosting stint. Trust me, the headaches go away after a while!
So, what do we have here? I’m honestly dying from boredom just looking at this one. I do like the drawing of the house and the environs in panel one–it’s simple and slapdash but it’s nice, including the squiggle birds and the hinted-at ocean. A decent looking house right on the beach–Starbuck Jones has been very good to Mason. And it’s nice of Les to change from the yellow shirt he was wearing yesterday to a blue version of the same thing. I suppose he did that on the ride over, and thank you to Tom Batiuk for not showing that, and also not showing Mason saying, “Wow, Les, you’re really ripped. I could get you into the movies easily, as a sensitive and caring guy who ends up with the girl in the end!” And also not showing Les being all humble and yet unable to say No. So that’s three good things Tom Batiuk did in just this one episode!
Anyway, I get that Les and Mason are pals due to suffering through the abortive “Lust for Lisa” project, but Cayla and Cindy don’t really seem like the type to pal around. Have they ever actually met?
As for the dialogue, ugh. Dullard told Mason that he and Les were up for an award. Cindy took that as a way to catch up on Ohio. Because, as I think the Comics Curmudgeon pointed out, phones can never be used in the Funkyverse. And everything always happens in Ohio…the place Mason wanted to retire to, if I remember correctly. Yeah, no one uses phones, except Les, just yesterday to text Cindy. So he has her number stored in his phone. And…
This strip is like a shelf full of boxes that all get knocked to the floor, contents scattered everywhere. And the person assigned to pick everything up just doesn’t care where things are supposed to go.
Still, I think the point of this episode is to present something so dull and uninteresting that no one can really criticize it. If so, mission accomplished.
Son of Stuck Funky 
Oh for pity’s sake, in what universe does that even approach witty dialogue not Lisa?
This “arc” is really coming off like it’s based on a brochure of what to do when you’re in L.A.. “See Union Station! See the Pacific Ocean!”.
It is:
https://www.discoverlosangeles.com/blog/union-station-story-la-icon
No phone, no lights, no motor car
Not a single luxury
In the Winkerbean universe
Ohio’s primitive as can be.
No phone, no pool, no pets
I ain’t got no punchline yet.
Neither taken, thankfully, from “Starbuck Jones: The Musical.”
(With the deepest of apologies to Sherwood Schwartz, George Wyle and Roger Miller)
I’m confused by the verdant land mass visible in the distance. My knowledge of LA is limited but I’m not aware of any spot where offshore islands or promontories would be part of the view.
“We thought it would be great to get together and catch up on what’s been happening back home.” Flashback to December 2015 when Masone floated the idea of living in Westview after he and Cindy got married and instantly got talked out of it.
“…what’s been happening back home”? Happening? Cindy, you are from Westview, you know better than that.
I like how Darin is not invited to this. It tells us everything we need to know about his relationship with Mason.
I will say this, though, about catching up. I live 2,000 miles away from my family, and while phone and video conferencing applications help, nothing really substitutes for getting to know what’s going on quite like getting together face-to-face.
Darin was not invited to this get-together because NO ONE would be able to distinguish between them! It’d be like trying to differentiate between two Easter Island stone heads.
Uh yes Cayla, Ohio does not border the Pacific Ocean, a fact I’m sure Cindy is at least somewhat aware of. What a rube. Just wait until she discovers time zones.
Darren can give her a briefing on them.
The next time CauCayla tries making small talk, she should try doing it with her mouth closed.
While Mason and Les catch up, Cindy trades banalities with Player 2 Cindy.
Nothing to criticize? No shots of Cindy in her bikini. So disappointed!
Pacific Ocean? “We can see China from our deck.”
Cindy: We thought it would be great to get together and catch up on what’s been happening back home!
Cayla: Well for starters,…there’s no Pacific Ocean back home!
Cindy: Thanks for the update, smartass!
“So that’s three good things Tom Batiuk did in just this one episode!”
Not to be too pedantic but I think it’s more accurate to say those are three bad things he didn’t do.