Things Changed Somehow

As Ann continues her recollection of her life with Fred, the picture she paints is far less rosy than we’d expect. It was only one year ago that TB brought Fishstick Annie back to Westview High to inspire the slumping girls’ team with the story of how she defeated the status quo on the way to coaching her team to a division title.

More recently, the senior Fairgoods shanghaied Darin and Jessica to take them on a tour of places they lived earlier in their marriage, and reminisced about how much fun they had in their old apartment. Now with Fred laid low, Ann confides that “somehow,” becoming Mrs. Fred Fairgood forced this feisty female to forfeit her ambition? Does the fact that their marriage turns out to be devoid of romance make this storyline even sadder, or less so?

How I Met Your Stepfather Adoptive Father

$$$Westview Oncologist$$$$$
January 22, 2013 at 12:49 am
Personally, I think Jessica’s assumption of Fred and Ann being the victims of a freak lightning storm to be quite an appropriate catalyst to their tepid romance.

Her interest piqued by Ann’s story, Jessica presses Ann for all the romantic details of her courtship with Fred. No doubt she’s envisioning an epic liason along the lines of Reds, with Ann and Fred finding love against a backdrop of turmoil and unrest. Ann, rather abashedly, brings Jess’ expectations into line, this being Westview and all.

Strike That

In the waiting room, Ann shares with Darin and Jessica the story of her and Fred’s courtship. Batiuk tries to lighten the grim tone of this arc by having his dumb blonde character misconstrue the kind of “strike” Ann is talking about. Because she’s such a romantic naïf, Jess actually seems taken aback at the thought that teachers would actually go on strike. Anyway, when is a strike (in the work stoppage sense) ever “unexpected”?

Something Depressing This Way Comes

I didn’t get to see today’s strip ahead of time, and I really don’t have much to add to the excellent comments that have already posted. I will say that despite their ineptitude (administering tPA before a CT scan, for example), the staff at Westview Memorial work very quickly indeed. Fred came in less than an hour ago, and already he’s been seen by a neurosurgeon.

It's Just Aphasia Goin' Through

Withering Heights
January 18, 2013 at 5:00 pm
…[H]ospital treatment is nothing like day-to-day business at, say, a pizza joint. Things do not happen on the patient’s schedule, and there is much less certainty than, “Hey, I thought I said no anchovies!” So Batominc actually has the patient’s and the family’s point of view down.

And I guess that’s what’s happening today, as the neurosurgeon updates Ann and Darin on Fred’s status. Barring any glaring errors such as Pmc commented on yesterday, the surgeon’s summary to me sounds fairly straightforward and jargon-free. Certainly, a former high school teacher would be able to make sense of it. We’ll give Ann a break since she’s obviously under stress.

“So there’s going to be some residual aphasia,” says the doctor with complete certainty, prognosticating before his patient has even regained consciousness. Apologies to the three of you readers who picked “Survives, eventually makes full recovery” in this week’s poll. The Wikipedia defines aphasia as “the disturbance in formulation and comprehension of language.” Which equals, you guessed it: “Boxcar!” Pure comedy gold. Can’t wait for a frustrated Darin to yell at Ann, “Is he crazy?”