# For Better or For Worse: WTF is up with the ending this week? (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 8, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-wtf-is-up-with-the-ending-this-week-open-spoilers/283771 "2005-01-08T19:00:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-wtf-is-up-with-the-ending-this-week-open-spoilers/283771/41 "2005-01-09T17:26:19Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > Let me just toss out there that Lynn Johnston herself married a ‘flying boy’. Her husband was an outback (or whatever they call it up there) dentist when they met. He flew from small village to small village providing dental care. > > I’m just saying…is all. Heh. That’s occurred to me before, and it’s a possibility for the future (although whether she’s going to have enough time to develop it before she retires the strip I don’t know), but I was always under the impression that Elly is the Lynn-analog in FBOFW-world, not Lizard-breath. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-wtf-is-up-with-the-ending-this-week-open-spoilers/283771/42 "2005-01-09T18:26:37Z")
> [@Lsura](#): > > You can also read the “Monthly Letters from the Pattersons” that are posted over at [fbofw.com](http://www.fbofw.com). The January ones have some interesting comments about the Anthony/Therese/Liz thing. Can anyone give me a clue to say from where is Elly pulling her glasses in the animation alongside her letter? The possibilities are extremely disturbing! ---
**Author:** ![Q.N.Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3da27b/32.png) [@Q.N.Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.N.Jones)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-wtf-is-up-with-the-ending-this-week-open-spoilers/283771/43 "2005-01-09T20:09:32Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > I think what’s meant to be horrible is that Therese purportedly gave an order, rather than this decision being reached after discussion between both parties. No, I think the truly horrible implication is that Therese does not want this baby. She only had it because Anthony wants to be a dad. This situation is pretty complicated, and I’m not sure any of the characters can be condemned out of hand as a cad or a jealous shrew. Anthony is an earnest and well-meaning guy. I have no doubt that he thought he loved his wife when he married her. I’m sure he still does love her, in some way. But they’re not well-matched, and he can’t get past the fact that he still cares for Liz and knows they were better together. Therese may seem like a jealous shrew and a wet blanket, but her fears seem to be based in truth–Anthony seems to still carry a torch for Liz. But she stupidly keeps putting the idea into his head over and over by saying all these obnoxious suggestive comments…and by making herself look like a witch in comparison to her rival. Liz is pretty innocent of wrongdoing here, at least so far. I have always wished Liz and Anthony would get together. I’m still hoping for it. Why did they break up in the first place? I didn’t read too regularly around that time. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-wtf-is-up-with-the-ending-this-week-open-spoilers/283771/44 "2005-01-09T20:11:05Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > What would be interesting would be if Johnston started a storyline where Anthony and Liz acted on their obvious still-existent attraction. All of the Pattersons have always been such “good” characters - it’d be different to see one of them do something like break up a marriage. I hope Liz and Anthony don’t get together. Not only are Liz and Anthony’s life goals completely different at this point (her in the Ojibwa village and he running Gordon’s garage in the city) but we’ve already played the “former loves reunite” card with Deanna and Michael. I’d like to see a storyline where Anthony kicks the Ice Queen out after the baby is born and raises it on his own. I think he’d be a good single dad. Then Therese and Deanna’s mom could get together and be best bitchy friends. 🙂 Heartwarming, no? ---
**Author:** ![Q.N.Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3da27b/32.png) [@Q.N.Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.N.Jones)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-wtf-is-up-with-the-ending-this-week-open-spoilers/283771/45 "2005-01-09T20:42:25Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > I hope Liz and Anthony don’t get together. Not only are Liz and Anthony’s life goals completely different at this point (her in the Ojibwa village and he running Gordon’s garage in the city) but we’ve already played the “former loves reunite” card with Deanna and Michael. OK, but Anthony should at least get to divorce that witch Therese. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-wtf-is-up-with-the-ending-this-week-open-spoilers/283771/46 "2005-01-09T21:02:52Z")
> [@Q.N. Jones](#): > > I have always wished Liz and Anthony would get together. I’m still hoping for it. Why did they break up in the first place? I didn’t read too regularly around that time. It wasn’t anything major. First, when they graduated high school, they agreed not to stay “commited” while they were going to different universities, because that always ends badly. Then, in the summer between freshman and sophomore years, they met up for the first time in ages. It was mutually agreed that if two people don’t keep in touch, that’s not a relationship. Liz took up with Eric at the beginning of her sophomore year, and the next time she saw Anthony, he was engaged to Therese, and had grown that awful mustache. And I second **SpazCat** on not wanting to see childhood sweethearts hook up a second time. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-wtf-is-up-with-the-ending-this-week-open-spoilers/283771/47 "2005-01-10T00:04:00Z")
if i saw a friend being treated like anthony is in this marriage, i’d tell them to run far and run fast. i always get that oogy feeling when someone tries to cut off contact with friends and possibly family. the fact that (as far as the strip shows us) she has cut anthony off from friends and now wants him to stop working as well, really raises a red flag. ---
**Author:** ![drpepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@drpepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drpepper)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-wtf-is-up-with-the-ending-this-week-open-spoilers/283771/48 "2005-01-10T00:41:29Z")
- Bug Eyes ! \* ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-wtf-is-up-with-the-ending-this-week-open-spoilers/283771/49 "2005-01-10T01:09:09Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > I dunno, a thought occurred to me earlier today. The look on Therese’s face is really rather unusual. Normally she just looks like a frosty bitch, but her expression in the last panel looks more… sad. Maybe she realizes that Anthony didn’t walk Liz to her car because of the way she’d react, and feels guilty that her insane jealousy led to Liz being hurt? > > Just a thought, I’ll very likely be shown wrong. That’s how I read it, too, **TMINC** , but when It comes to assigning speculative motives to my fellow humans, I’m an incurable optimist. maybe she feels bad at some level that will never find expression in the comic, Hmmmm. never hurts to take refuge in the theorhetorical. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-wtf-is-up-with-the-ending-this-week-open-spoilers/283771/50 "2005-01-10T01:18:08Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Perhaps the first time, outside a panning review, that “sucked” and “Mary Worth” have coexisted in the same sentence! 🙂 Oh, so you didn’t hear what Mary did to Rex Morgan M.D.'s throbbing penis? 😃 :eek: 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Kiminy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Kiminy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiminy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-wtf-is-up-with-the-ending-this-week-open-spoilers/283771/51 "2005-01-10T02:20:20Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Also, I take issue with today’s strip. Apparently, Liz’s dislocated knee was diagnosed on the spot and while she was unconscious. 😕 Why weren’t the paramedics more concerned about what was most likely a concussion? When she came to, they should have been asking if she knew her name and what day it was, and telling her to follow their finger with her eyes. Let the ER docs examine the knee. Obviously, there isn’t enough room in the strip for all of these details. However, what caught my attention the most is that Anthony is right there with Elizabeth, meaning that he must have seen her fall, and called the ambulance. Terese’s expression may be be due more to the fact that Anthony was watching Elizabeth leave, and he insisted on going out in the ice and cold to help her. As for the powderroom conversation, I got the impression that Terese plans to leave Anthony after the baby is born, not just that she’s going back to work right away. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-wtf-is-up-with-the-ending-this-week-open-spoilers/283771/52 "2005-01-10T03:02:41Z")
> [@Kiminy](#): > > As for the powderroom conversation, I got the impression that Terese plans to leave Anthony after the baby is born, not just that she’s going back to work right away. I don’t think that’s the case. If she did that, Anthony would be free to hook with Liz again. As for the ambulance situation, if the EMTs gave her a quick once over before moving her (which I _think_ is SOP) it probably wouldn’t have taken much to figure out she had a dislocated knee, especially if it was visibly so. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-wtf-is-up-with-the-ending-this-week-open-spoilers/283771/53 "2005-01-10T03:18:41Z")
> [@Kiminy](#): > > Obviously, there isn’t enough room in the strip for all of these details. However, what caught my attention the most is that Anthony is right there with Elizabeth, meaning that he must have seen her fall, and called the ambulance. Terese’s expression may be be due more to the fact that Anthony was watching Elizabeth leave, and he insisted on going out in the ice and cold to help her. > > As for the powderroom conversation, I got the impression that Terese plans to leave Anthony after the baby is born, not just that she’s going back to work right away. As Elizabeth leaves after Anthony makes excuses for Terese’s attitude, she says to herself that she doesn’t need a jealous wife watching her through the window (if Anthony had walked her out) and then after she falls you see all the other guests at the window…so everyone saw her fall, not just Anthony. And I didn’t get any impression that Terese was planning on leaving Anthony. She just doesn’t want to stay home with a baby, and expects Anthony to be a stay-at-home Dad. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-wtf-is-up-with-the-ending-this-week-open-spoilers/283771/54 "2005-01-10T04:42:47Z")
Snoooooooopy: > [@](#): > > Oh, so you didn’t hear what Mary did to Rex Morgan M.D.'s throbbing penis? She advised it to commit suicide, didn’t she? ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-wtf-is-up-with-the-ending-this-week-open-spoilers/283771/55 "2005-01-10T07:23:38Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > IAs for the ambulance situation, if the EMTs gave her a quick once over before moving her (which I _think_ is SOP) Yup, that’s SOP. At least when I took EMT training two years ago, anyway. The only time you ever just scoop someone up and transport 'em without doing a once-over is if the scene has suddenly become physically dangerous. Otherwise, you’re supposed to go over them top to toe, front and back, checking for cuts, bruises, swellings, instabilities, etc. A dislocated knee would feel unstable and be swelling like a bitch by the time the ambulance arrived, so it seems reasonable that the EMTs could make a tentative diagnosis. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-wtf-is-up-with-the-ending-this-week-open-spoilers/283771/56 "2005-01-11T05:53:54Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > Well, it’s just too bad this message board wasn’t around back in the days when I was sucked into the vortex that is “Mary Worth.” Please dont’ mention mary and the Professor, and the agonies of the next mystery guest to bland valley USA. Is she (Mary) still courtin her hottie, or have they cooled it off? enquiring minds and all? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-wtf-is-up-with-the-ending-this-week-open-spoilers/283771/57 "2005-01-11T22:12:13Z")
> [@](#): > > My take: I’m not sure Therese is entirely off base with her jealousy. Seems like a dad-to-be’s first thought should be “Thank god it wasn’t my pregnant wife who fell! I could have lost her AND the baby!..Anyway, Liz, are you okay?” Instead, he’s apologizing to Liz for not having walked her to her car! Walking another person out to a car when the walk is slippery is not necessarily anything romantic, and is something friends of any gender do on a regular basis. There’s no real reason Anthony shouldn’t have done so. But because of his ill-tempered wife and Elizabeth’s obvious desire to not give her any excuse to stress the marriage, he doesn’t walk her out. And as a result of that, Elizabeth falls. So Anthony feels guilty. That seems perfectly reasonable to me. ---
**Author:** ![shelbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@shelbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shelbo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-wtf-is-up-with-the-ending-this-week-open-spoilers/283771/58 "2005-01-11T22:46:37Z")
Is it just me or was Elizabeth looking really good on New Year’s Eve? She’s turned into quite the hottie! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-wtf-is-up-with-the-ending-this-week-open-spoilers/283771.md?page=2)