"Drew," he said to his son in a husky voice, "please do what Mary says. Just look around - our man-cabin has pink drapes and Georgia O'Keefe-ish art on the walls. I sit on a goldenrod couch all day and neither of us ever go to our jobs at the hospital. We're not in charge anymore, Drew. If Mary wants you to go to Vietnam and contract an unspecified disease, then that's what needs to be done. Please, do it for your Dad."

return to awesome

Whooo! We're going back to Vietnam! Let's go celebrate at the Bum Boat!!!!

speculation

So many suicide foreshadows, and yet I really doubt that any harm is coming to Dr. Drew Corey. He's already been through so much - a two-week date with Vera during which he drank a mug of water, finding out that Vera faked him out about wanting to hook up again, and confessing his naive love only to get brutally rejected. Can't a man just hang out on a cliff and recoup?

I hope it doesn't take too much away from the man's sense of drama to point out that the cliff in question is only about 15 feet high; trees are taller than the road. Even if Dr. Drew Corey decides to really get "away from it all", the most action we can hope for is busting through that little fence and careening down the gentle slope beyond for like 1 second before landing unscathed on some grass. Hey, and how come, even though he showed up for his date in a checkered blazer and driving a pink SmartCar, he's driving away in a brown coat and a black car? Probably cause the date lasted so long his inspection sticker expired and he had to steal a car, so he just wore whatever they had lying around on the seat.

In all this time that we've been precoccupied with this hellish and bizarre dating scenario (meeting up with someone you're not interested in to tell them that you're now dating your boss), what do you suppose Mary's got herself up to?
-Planning Charterstone's annual pool party
-Holding Toby at gunpoint
-Munching away on that 20-lb bag of kibble she bought for Chester
-Feeding the ducks at the zoo
-Using a glass held against the wall to listen to her neighbors' conversations
-Making it in the staff lounge at the hospital with Dr. Jeff Corey

Come on!

What is it, Vera? What?! WHAT??

One Hot Date

This date is off to a great start. First Vera shows up in a parka and tries to make out with Drew. He resists but thinks excited thoughts in his thought bubble. Now Vera has taken off her parka to reveal a matching blazer/skirt set. Drew in his houndstooth is digging the cafe's craptastic sound system and eagerly trying to make Vera reminisce about their romance, even though all they did was go on a miserable failure of a date involving horses and infidelity, yet here they are on a date again, and if he's really so psyched for this "second chance" why is he bring up their checkered past? Vera, so demonstrative a moment ago, is gazing sulkily into her water glass. Drew is of course oblivious, and so ready to make it work this time that he is doing like a gentleman does: also ordering just water.

Really, any dude with the cajones to drive around in a pink car deserves a second chance.

Also curious: it's been months since the "incident" with Dawn and Vera? In real life it has - that took place in the fall - but in Mary Worth Time that happened about a week and a half ago. Unless we are to believe that MW Time follows real actual time, which would mean that Mary's bike ride lasted for two and a half weeks, her teatime with Toby spanned three days, and Dr. Drew Corey's fabled courtship of Vera consisted of two dates.

What's that, Drew?

I'm so curious just what Drew thinks is going on. After all, this is a man who despite his alleged intelligence (the man is a doctor, after all) has misjudged every social situation he's ever been showcased in. A pool party, dating Dawn, dating Vera, horeback riding, and even talking on the phone have proved too much for our Dr. Drew to navigate. The rest of us might view such a situation and think something like:
1. Vera wants some closure.
2. Vera's giving him a booty call.
3. Vera is knocked up.
4. Dr. Drew Corey has something of Vera's, like a figurine or a piece of lingerie (or the Mary Worth universe equivalent, which would probably be riding boots or a down parka) that she wants back but doesn't want it sent through the mail.

Dr. Drew is thinking:
1. Vera wants me back!!!
2. If we go on another date, I can wear my marlinspike shirt!!!
3. Vera loves me, she love love loves me!!!!!
4. I'll take her out for a drink at the Bum Boat!!!!
5. Awesome!!!!!!!!

It's a bit startling that that first panel is so crowded with people, none of whose actions are very clear. I'm digging this whole sequence in the dog park, though. Apparently it is a place where you can weave in and out of wooded areas from second to second, and it's normal to walk next to, rather than on, the paved path. Large buildings suddenly loom up in the background, and strangers get really close to you and make odd excited gestures. Just the kind of place where Drew would go jogging in jeans and hope for some Vera action!