[7/27] Now or never...

[XerxesTWD]

I thought Bob was the one that stabbed Rich. Is that incorrect?

[S. Edmund]

Addendum: they're not siblings. Their last name is different. Karen Duvall, Rich Diggle.

eh, while I don't think they're siblings, they could still be with different last names. divorce and all that. which could maybe explain why rich hates his dad so much.

have we ever seen karen's parents?

[Miyu-hime]

...am i the only person who sees sarah walking away and turning a corner to get to marshall?

[JerrBear]

IMO, Sara wants to talk to Marshall because he is always mistaken for gay. Since she may believe that Lisa has mistaken her for gay, she wants someone else's perspective.

[Wysteria]

Actually when I first read this, I thought Sara wanted to talk to Karen. I can't see that making sense but that's what it looked like, this comic gives no hint as to when the "point of view" changes because it is a tease. =>.<=

But I wanted to say that, in reply to people who keep saying siblings need to have the same surnames, be either different ages or twins and have similar financial status:
There's affairs, there's rape, there's even polygamy. Karen could be adopted because two was more than her mother could cope with (or was too linked to bad memories), children don't only happen when two people are married, and certainly not always with the same person as previously.
Anyway, we don't know how old Karen is in relation to everyone else, she could easily be a year younger or older. (plenty of time). I'm guessing Karen's 18 now because that's the "legal age" in America? It's different here.

[Wysteria]

Having said the only resemblance I can make out is hair colour. I'm not sure whether to hope she's in a different room or not.

[Sordid Euphemism]

Hm. Y'know, this may not be Sara meeting Karen, this may be the Pennies walking in to see Karen at the bedside. TUNE IN MONDAY TO FIND OUT!

[JerrBear]

I can see Karen being a half sister or cousin. Maybe someone who didn't even know considering she doesn't seem to know what to say to Rich. Maybe RD called her because of Rich's condition.

[admiralshazbot]

On the split-panel: remember this comic toward end of Dinner For Six? Much like this one, we were given an insight to each character individually. I think this comic is doing the same thing: the first shot of hospitalized Rich, then the reveal of Karen at his bed. If this were supposed to be a fakeout, we'd have some little tiny clue that she's not by Rich's bed. The Dinner For Six comic has the same sort of cutoffs that this one does, in the sense that the panels are ALMOST completely continuing shots, but they skip over slivers of the image(which is why we don't see the rest of Karen's hand). And the leg on Karen's side matches up so perfectly to Rich's upper leg that they must've been drawn as part of the same body.
I can't imagine Karen and Rich being related at all, though. Maybe former friends? Allies? Or they got locked in a walk-in freezer for several hours?

[Kamino Neko]

And I doubt Jack or Stan would imagine that Penny and Karen would fight in a hospital room. Personally, I would expect someone in that situation to set aside their differences (or at least ignore the other). I mean, if they cared enough to come visit him then they probably care enough not to disturb him.

And yet, Stan decided to get into a shouting/swearing match right outside the room.

I do agree that Jack probably doesn't foresee any cattiness in a hospital room of all places, and Stan's being his self-centred ... self, or there'd be a warning so Penny could avoid any surprises that might cause her to disturb Rich. But I wouldn't be entirely surprised if Jack turned out to be wrong about that.

[candycornstomper]

I just got one question... what hospital lets a bunch of nonrelated teenagers into a room with someone whose still in critical condition enough to need an oxygyn mask?

[candycornstomper]

Or they got locked in a walk-in freezer for several hours?

Like Randel and Dante?

[Songbirdsara]

Many hospitals in fact... visiting hours are open to pretty much anyone. It's typically only "family only" during non-visitor hours... I went with several friends, no adults to see a friend in critical condition when I was a teenager; oxygen mask, ivs and all.
Additionally, I'm not really sure whether or not Karen is visiting Rich, but it DOES seem odd that Penny wouldn't have noticed if Marshall had been sitting outside the same room. So, either way, Marshall is sitting elsewhere which looks odd for Karen being in the same room. By the same token then, if Marshall isn't outside the room, how the heck did Sara know Marshall was there??

[Davidj]

Many hospitals in fact... visiting hours are open to pretty much anyone. It's typically only "family only" during non-visitor hours... I went with several friends, no adults to see a friend in critical condition when I was a teenager; oxygen mask, ivs and all.
Additionally, I'm not really sure whether or not Karen is visiting Rich, but it DOES seem odd that Penny wouldn't have noticed if Marshall had been sitting outside the same room. So, either way, Marshall is sitting elsewhere which looks odd for Karen being in the same room. By the same token then, if Marshall isn't outside the room, how the heck did Sara know Marshall was there??

Maybe _Stan_ isn't sitting in front of Rich's room. Rich's father just left. Perhaps the bench closest to Rich's room was being occupied by Marshall and Karen as they waited for Rich's dad to finish so they're sitting elsewhere.

[betsynoire]

Ok. Assuming Karen is in Rich's room, could this put a different spin on Jack and Stan's behavior in the last strip.

Maybe Stan's raving anger is in panic about Penny confronting Karen and things getting out of control in the middle of a hospital? And Jack's seeming maturity is a sort of sly plan to induce just that?

On the other hand, Jack's never really been shown as a scheming architect of chaos.