April 17, 2011: Sunday Showdown!

(Click to Enlarge)

Clockwise from the bottom left:

• Despite his terminally square middle-aged suburbanite appearance, Leroy is actually sort of a rebel in his own right. He has shown time and time again his eagerness to brazenly mess around with authority figures like police officers and the IRS. Whether this constant rebelliousness is motivated by a genuine desire to stick it to the man or just a desperate ploy to get arrested so he can be separated from Loretta is still up for debate. Regardless, Loretta cashes in on it today for the first point.
• The Lockhorns seem to be constantly renewing their vows, or at least proposing to renew their vows, every other week. I think it's just this warped, twisted game of spite by both parties. While each would be undeniably happier without the other, they hate each other so much that they'd rather be miserable together than see each other happy apart. Here Leroy would appear to be ecstatic about the possible expiration of his marriage vows, but really he knows he would never give Loretta the pleasure as well of being out their their toxic marriage. He still gets the point though and ties things up 1-1.
• There's plenty of space in the bottom part of the empty room, but for some reason Loretta has to resort to the unsettling caption box to make her zinger; not a fan. Although Loretta has been accused sometimes of exaggerating Leroy's faults to give extra effect to her insults, here she is totally valid. Leroy's sloppy, chaotic, results thus far at the relatively simple task of painting the walls makes me wonder not just about his painting skills but whether he is even capable of properly holding a brush at all. On the plus side he is well dressed for the occasion in his stellar all white painter's ensemble. Loretta takes the lead 2-1.
• The Lockhorns trapped in the middle of the ocean in a small motorboat without gas; this premise is ripe for a suspenseful maritime thriller in the vein of "Dead Calm" or "Open Water" (that couple did argue a lot). The fact that Leroy's incompetence has led to their inconvenient situation is great for Loretta but she should take note that Leroy may realize that there are no witnesses around, Loretta has no life jacket, and a he is holding the paddles. Loretta clinches the day 3-1.
• At least when Loretta's dishes come burnt to a crisp, one doesn't have to worry as much about salmonella as usual. I found this to be one of Leroy's more clever criticisms about Loretta's food. It's good to see that even though Loretta locked up the showdown in the previous panel, Leroy didn't just quit and packed it in. While it'll only give him a close loss, he'll have some momentum to build upon going into the upcoming week. Leroy takes the point but Loretta holds on to win 3-2.

Official Count:

Leroy - 40
Loretta - 37

Push - 30