The characters all struggle with the word, “No,” don’t they. “No, Stef. I’m not moving out.” “No Stef, you can’t move in with me.” “No Bernice. I don’t want you to do my jigsaw puzzle for me”
Fast forward to Les yelling at Gunther for blabbing, Gunther looking confused while he’s julienning something, Betts running in and admitting it was her, Les turns on Bets, Gunther attempts some sort of defense of Betts, she’s totally turned on and he carries her into the bedroom. Tiff carries on, alone.
A surveillance camera? Who would have imagined such a clever plot twist??? You know, besides every single person with a Ring doorbell, Bluetooth cameras on their houses, or a smartphone? She’s a crafty old bat.
True, but since someone had previously set her stairs on fire, the police could keep tabs to see if this is another threat. Or at least move the protestors off her property and into the street. Of course that would spoil Batiuk’s plot hole fetish.
To recap: teenagers read Fahrenheit 451 because their teacher told them not to. An angry mob protesting said book is going to sit quietly and listen while an elderly woman reads it to them. Tom Batiuk tells his perplexed readers, “It’s called writing.”
I bet they go Funky Winkerbean on us by Saturday, with her dying in the chair with the dog in her lap.