Sunday, September 25, 2016

Mary Worth 2403

"Hi, I'm Tommy. I'm addicted to opiates.

"HI, TOMMY."

"Hi, I'm Iris. I'm Tommy's mother."

"Uh... Hello, Iris..."

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Heard recently that good parenting results in the children and parents getting divorced. Amiably. Children no longer need their parents, but continue to love them as heathly, independent adults. Parents accept the new, adult role. The level of enabling and neediness in this storyline is incredible.

Anonymous said...

Cut to Santa Royale nondenominational church basement for NA meeting.

Tommy and Iris walk in to see 7 disheveled men and women occupying chairs arranged in a circle. Iris is surprised that no one else brought their mom.

Some are smoking, some are drinking the lukewarm coffee but one of them is acting peculiar. He is talking to himself under his breath and keeps repeating, "Please God, don't let them send the old meddler again to lead the circle." He as sweating and growing more agitated as the clock approaches 7:00.

There is a loud thud and the glass of water on the table begins to shake. Then another, and another. It's big and its definitely getting closer. The junkies are all beginning to get scared as they realize there is only one way out. Everyone looks toward the door as the shaking stops and the door knob beings to turn. One of the women screams.

The door swings open and a blinding aura of light floods the room. Smoke and an acrid smell of ego and pompous fill the air. Almost anticlimacticly, Mary enters the room, locks the door behind her and gives the entire room a look of utter disappointment as she takes her chair.

"So, who would like to begin?"

Dawn Weston's Evil Twin said...

@Anonymous: YES! It's the sharing circle and Agitated Aggie at Pax Wellness Resort all over again!

My own snark for the day:
Tommy: Wow, that's a simple, smart solution! Why didn't I think of that myself?

Seriously, why has there been absolutely no mention of Tommy's past history with drugs? This "plot" reads more like a person's FIRST encounter with drug addiction. Suggestions for improvement: Take a character with NO previous drug problem and have that person (DAWN, perhaps?) strain his/her back and get addicted to Vicodin. Then, he/she could seek out Tommy or run into Tommy accidentally at Supermarket or Department Store or Friday Night Dive Bar and have a conversation about drug addiction, etc. THAT would have been more plausible and believable.

Please reboot the strip and start this "plot" over! That should take us to January, at least!

Carlye said...

DWET:Maybe next week Tommy will wake up and find out that this whole episode was just a dream!

meg said...

Anonymous at 12:07- I like your style, kid.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I'm Mary and I'm here to help all of you.

Aunt Chrissy said...

Aww, "Anonymous" at 8:08, you beat me to it! We all know Mary's gonna wedge her way into that meeting somehow!

fauxprof said...

Doctor: and now, while you're smiling snappily at your mommy, we'd like to hose you down with Lysol, because you are really, really pungent.

KitKat said...

You can tell Dr. Leone is qualified - there's his diploma from the College of Addiction Specialization and Home Renovation right behind Tommy's messy head.

Anonymous said...

Hey, did you go to Hollywood Upstairs Medical College too?

Garnet said...

I do think this would have been better done had the addiction happened to a more likeable character that the reader will care about. Tommy's basically an extra pathetic caricature of a drug addict. So far in this strip (if you go back to when he first went to jail), he refused to get a job or education, was an ass to his mother, creeped on Dawn, stole his mother's jewelry to pawn so he could buy meth, he went to a college and encouraged students to buy meth, and nearly killed someone with the meth he sold. Then he got out of prison and did nothing all day while Wilbur found him a very simple job mopping floors and then he proved that he couldn't even do that. Plus, his hair looks like old, wet straw, he probably stinks like a hog barn, he has face lice, he is dumber than an empty bucket of paint, and he can't even lift a box without hurting himself. Now he has a far-too-close relationship with his mother that is giving me the jibblies.

Dawn Weston's Evil Twin said...

I bet Tommy's thinking, "Can I replace my pill addiction with an addiction to LOVE?" Let's see ... who will it be? ... Could it be ... DAWN WESTON?!? ... Tee-hee!

Anonymous said...

June cheats. Compare Panel 1 from Sept. 21 to today's Panel 2. Identical with the exception that she's erased Tommy's arm. Compare Panel 2 from Sept. 23 to yesterday's Panel 2; now Tommy's mouth is closed. Lazy, June, Lazy! Uncle Joe would not approve!

KitKat said...

Excellent call by @Anonymous at 8:51 AM. When I saw today's strip, I remembered Dr. Leone's "prayerful hands" pose from an earlier strip, and Anonymous did the research to back it up. Why is June recycling? Is she so bored/turned off with this sanctimonious excuse for a plot that she's cutting back on the illustrations?

DWET said...

@KitKat: Well, if you're right that she's bored and/or turned off, she'd best get used to it! This Mary Worth, after all.

Anonymous said...

Enough already!! End of story!!! I demand a story featuring Mary!! Where is she? I call shenanigans!!

True Standish said...

I want Dr. Leone to delve into the causes of Tommy's addiction. Mainly, just so that Dr. Leone can say to Tommy, "Review past interactions for possible causes." Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk!

tkraft said...

Anonymous, you're entirely correct in your request. Until that occurs, the strip will be retitled as "Mary Worthless".