I'm sure they will open up to you, Mary, just as soon as you and Toby are through establishing the facts:1) The Johnsons are nice, polite, and quiet.
2) They like Mary Worth's cooking.
3) They have some sort of problem with their marriage.
4) Without Mary's intervention, the solar system will implode.
Maybe if you baked something for them, Mary, and took it to their apartment, Bonnie? Bonnie Johnson? would open up to you. Did you notice that she likes your cooking?
Today's Full Strip
ah HA Mary was going into Mind Control mode yesterday, just like she did on B?BJ? earlier! That's why she held that transfixed gaze whilst holding that trowel. Yesterday Toby was all "oh I hope they work it out!" today: "Yes, Mary. You must intervene, Mary. They need you, Mary."
ReplyDeleteOh brother. Everyone on Planet Mary Worth is judged by if they like Mary's cooking! I'm starting to pick up on an insecurity I didn't realize was there. Mary just who in you mystical caregiving past didn't like your cooking?
ReplyDeleteMary Worth is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life and I LOVE her cooking!
ReplyDelete"Outside Support" = "Meddling"
ReplyDeleteThis is even more focus than usualon Mary's cooking. Maybe we'll find out that their marital problems are due to the fact that B?BJ can't cook.
ReplyDeleteBut I think they are more likely due to the fact that she is really a man.
I dunno. If I was having "marital difficulties", I think I'd consult a - you know - "professional marriage therapist", instead of confiding in the town gossip, who'd blab about my problems to everyone she knows.
ReplyDeleteIf Mary wants to have any "cred" in the "helping business", she'd better first develop some ethics.
The one thing we know for certain is that Mary's intervention will result in the solution to all of Bonnie?Bonnie Johnson's? problems. Oh, and of course, more praise for Mary's fine cooking. After all, noone can roast a chicken like Mary. I hear they're natural range by the way.
ReplyDeleteYes, they are natural range chickens. She raises them right there in her yard. They do peck a little at that marijuana we occasionally get a glimpse of. And that might explain why her dinner guests are prone to tell her so many things they'd rather keep to themselves.
ReplyDeleteYou all are cracking me up today! (Well, you do EVERY day, actually, but right now I'm sitting her chuckling out loud).
ReplyDeleteAside from B?BJ?'s possibly SERIOUS problems with Ernie?J and free range chickens...
Every once in awhile I become quite concerned with Charterstone's ADA accessibility compliance. Can anyone here, disabled or not, IMAGINE sitting out on that balcony trying to drink a hot cup of coffee? What's it gonna' take--second-degree BURNS and a trip to Mountview for management to remedy this?
Well, Toby's obviously not questioning anything now that Mary's given her the "Why don't you pass the time by playing a little solitaire?" treatment.
ReplyDeleteAnd since when did the town gossip become outside support?
I agree with Phoebe. If Walter and I were having marital difficulties, the last thing I'd do would be to accept a dinner invitation from some old biddie that I hardly knew. Mary's already speculating about the Johnson's marriage, and gossiping to Toby about it! What kind of a ''friend'' does that?
ReplyDeleteI don't believe there has been any evidence presented to support established fact #3. While B&BJ admitted that she and her husband were having problems, she never suggested marital problems.
ReplyDeleteA good rule of thumb for those who wish to serve as a sympathetic ear: never assume.
Mary seems to be quite the gardener. This must be the part of the yard where she grows her green mush.
ReplyDeleteI know just what Toby means. I always appreciate it when a nosy neighbor tries to insert herself in my marriage. It really helps.
ReplyDeleteBonnie? Bonnie Johnson? and Ernie are having problems, but not in their marriage and not with each other. Their problems are with Mary Worth. Will they be able to escape her lair? What did she put in the food? Has she entrapped them forever? You know, they do like her cooking...
ReplyDeleteI think Mary posted this on the community bulletin board of the Charterstone clubhouse. "We hear Ernie and Bonnie? Bonnie Johnson? had dinner at Mary Worth's last night, and though there was talk of some kind of problem, the important thing is that they LOVED Mary's cooking! Congratulations, Mary, you're still Queen of dinners and pool party spreads!"
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy to read all the Manchurian Candidate references. I sure hope your quoting the Old Blue Eyes version! *waves the Queen of Diamonds*
ReplyDeleteSince names tend to have meaning around here, I'm guessing that Ernie (the earner) works too hard to support Bonnie's (le bon temps) love of the good times, which in Santa Royale means shopping at Marcy's.
ReplyDeleteBarbara, that's probably right. It's shopping at Marcy's and not returning the items she didn't need that got B?BJ into trouble.
ReplyDeleteErnie didn't really like Mary's cooking, but he was happy to get a free dinner. At least he thought it was free. He'll soon find out just how expensive it really was.
The Manchurian Candidate with Angela Lansbury, 1962! Thank you Miss Emish. I found the film clip online; a stunning likeness.
ReplyDeleteEven as we speculate, the Johnsons are probably listing their condo for sale in order to escape the clutches of Mary. I know that's what I'd be doing if I lived at Charterstone!
ReplyDeleteToots:
ReplyDeleteBrilliant!! You just made my night! And now I think I'll top off the evening by playing a little Solitaire.
There is something deeply disturbing by the snap of that flower bulb in 4/7's MW. Perhaps it's a metaphor that Mary is going to snap if the Johnsons don't confide in her? That she'll snap Bonnie?'s neck if she doesn't start coughing up gossip?
ReplyDelete*shakes in boots*
Darn, just realized it was the snip of the flower bulb. Snap works so much better for joking purposes.
ReplyDeleteMary's cutting the heads off stuff.
ReplyDeleteMary has been watching "The Addams Family" a little too much. She cares for her flowers the same way Morticia does, cutting the flowers off, leaving only the thorns.
ReplyDeletei LOVE the close-up action shot of the big flower snip. CLASSIC!!!
ReplyDeleteI've been watching Toby closely and notice she is not getting within ten feet of Mary! Also, from that distance and with Mary's back turned to her, how can she even HEAR Mary? I know I sure couldn't! Unless Mary is YELLING as she snips.
ReplyDeleteI feel sorry for Bonnie? and Ernie?, b/c even with profusely praising Mary's cooking, it just wasn't enough to keep Mary from butting into their lives.
Mary is clearly snipping roses in order to make potpourri, which she'll bring over to Bonnie? Bonnie Johnson? on the pretext of giving a gift so that she can pressure B?BJ? into spilling her guts.
ReplyDeletere: 4/7 strip: Toby looks a little wary of Mary and the clippers. Doesn't it look like she's pointing them a little menacingly, in case Toby dare disagree with anything Mary says? Mary is definitely the alpha chick in this friendship!
ReplyDeleteMary is really carrying a lot of tension in her shoulders. The Johnsons not confiding in her is REALLY eating her up.
ReplyDeleteAnyone else "see" the words "too quiet" at the end of Mary's balloon in panel 2 on 4/7?
--wheelhead
amicalpi
What I meant to say was, "Ernie was so quiet at dinner. TOO quiet."
ReplyDeleteThat's what I get for only vaguely paying attention to the dialog of this terrifically scintillating strip.
--wheelhead
derraje (yep, I'm certainly derrajed for reading Mary Worth)