January 10, 2010: Sunday Showdown!

(Click to enlarge)

Clockwise from the bottom left:

• Leroy puts on quite a surreal display at the local fine dining establishment to the incensed embarrassment of Loretta and the odd lack of response from the rest of the patrons. The prospect of actual, edible, non-tainted food is such a rare treat for Leroy that he has to spitefully commemorate every one of his real meals like a great victory, much to the chagrin of Loretta. Since I can't imagine any of the other diners to humor Leroy's ridiculous behavior, I'm pretty sure that he hired the photographer ahead of time to act as his accomplice. Mission accomplished; Leroy gets the first point.
• Loretta goes back to the basics with a classic rank out about Leroy's slothful slobiness. Loretta's wonderfully elegant one liner has amazing versatility in that it can be read to attack Leroy's laziness, weight, and dishonesty all in one fell swoop. With this exemplary effort, Loretta proves once again that when it comes to wordplay and verbal dexterity, she is the undisputed grand master. Loretta ties it up 1-1.
• The gift counselor's freakish, incongruously detailed, appearance may suggest that she may somehow be related the Lockhorns' equally disturbing acquaintances, Stan and Pauline. Monstrous facades aside, between the yearly gifts of vacuums, ironing boards, and tin foil, when has Leroy ever given Loretta anything but practical gifts for their anniversaries? If those previous gifts are his idea of fanciful, impractical gifts, one can only imagine what would fall under his view of more practical gifts (weather striping? rock salt? dishrags?). It's a push.
• When it comes to annoying Loretta and avoiding the culturally beneficial horrors of the opera, the normally old fashioned Leroy is more than willing to embrace the latest gadgets. I wonder what Leroy is so happily listening to on his iPod in lieu of the opera. I figure it's a varied playlist of old time swing music, white noise, and Paul Harvey commentaries. Another night at the opera ruined and another point for Leroy.
• In this scene, the Lockhorns seemed to have shifted from being bewilderingly dysfunctional to bewilderingly macabre. I guess we're supposed to be amused by Leroy's completely inappropriate pride over beating the hearse to the burial? At first glance, it looked like the Lockhorns were the ones who drove the hearse in, which raises all sorts of disturbing Lockhorn homicide scenarios. Actually, doesn't it look like Loretta's totally ready to push Leroy into the open grave? Regardless, it's a push; which means Leroy takes his second consecutive Sunday showdown: 2-1.

Official Count:

Leroy - 2

Loretta - 2
Push - 6