Gil Thorp by Henry Barajas and Rachel Merrill for November 23, 2019

Chance is fully prepared to melt down into blow top mode.

P1, Unless he was starting ahead of my non-son.

P2, That’s what Jerry Sandusky said, Chet.

P3, Well sure, Chet and Gil will.

P4, He’s spent the day sharpening his scissors.

Chet soon leaves Milford in disgrace, changes his name to Race Bannon, and goes to work for Dr Benton Quest as Bandit’s groomer and walker.

Uh, Chet pretty much gave himself away, didn’t he?

Marjie: “According to my source, Mr. Ballard accessed a student’s personal file.”

Superintendent: “Give me a day to look into this.”

Marjie, one hour later: “Mr. Ballard, we know what you did!”

Then Marjie calls Grandpa to warn him that Kid Blowtop is about to get mercilessly ridiculed, bullied, and shunned, because there is nothing worse than a High School Sophomore who used to throw scissors as a second grader.

And speaking of throwing, I’m throwing out there that the latest two editions of Mopped Up Thorp are online. In fact they’ve been online since midnight!

https://moppedupthorp.wordpress.com/

In all reality , OK , let’s wrap it up,Marjie writes a story about a Milford football player who as a child with the support of his loving grandparents , overcomes anger management issues to play the violent game of football . Basketball starts a week from Monday and the Thorps don’t wish us a Happy Thanksgiving .

It was for the safety of other children… and promoting your own stepkid on the side.

Nothing is over until we say it is. Huh, some Senator quoted that in college. Chance will run roughshod through Valley Tech in the season finale. Late in the game, young Macy will get tackled along the VT sideline. Coach Drool can’t contain himself and sucker punches Chance and all hell breaks loose. Pretty sure this has never happened in a game before.

“I would never do that! But I had good intentions!”

So Step-Dad ‘Chet’ has made his stepson’s life miserable. I wonder if he’ll get kicked to the curb?

Charlie realizes how much Chet would do for him and calls him Dad.Then Gil drives Chet to the border of Milford and Charlie never sees him again.

I guess it’s time for Chance to be the only adult in the room and kill the story by forgiving Mr. Ballard. In any case it is not clear what the actual story is: A school board member illegally accessed the records of an (unnamed) student and tried and failed to publicize them at the expense of said student? But we are now publicizing this anyway (at the expense of the unnamed, but easily ID’d student)? In journalism school they teach you not to be the story, but maybe it is different now.

Divorce! Divorce! Divorce!

Hey, what about Marty? Doesn’t he still have to fit into this story now, after Chet gave him the lowdown last week? Or was that just a big fat nothing?

And how soon before Chet gets kicked off the board? It should be Monday, but knowing this strip, it will take at least 2 more weeks.

And when this story finally mercifully ends, will Charlie call Chet “Dad” finally, melting hearts everywhere?

These questions—and many others—will be answered in the next episode of…Soap. Oops, I mean, Gil Thorp.

Here’s my prediction. Marjie writes her story, keeping Chance’s identity a secret. Chet gets kicked off the Board. All seems well until Marty starts ranting on the radio and identifies Chance as being unstable. Chance gets blowtop mad and rips apart Marty’s studio, the whole time yelling, “Serenity now! Serenity now!”

Chance gets suspended for the rest of the season. Chet is happy now that Charlie can start and play the entire game at fullback. Charlie fumbles 5 times in the game, ensuring Milford loses out on second place. Realizing Chet had his best intentions, he finally calls him “Dad”. Chet walks right by saying, “Do I know you?”

THE END.

Does the ‘Big E’ beside the door mean Chet is a big Elvis fan?

" and after connecting the dots you see we’ve done a two-page holographic replication of Gil, suitable for framing."

P1 & P2 Beard Man obviously is OK with lying seems to be the accepted norm thesis days!!!

Mimi will show up and fix everything