Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for February 17, 2017

Well, Leslie better come up with another plan so he and Prudence can be alone.

Les is taking this better than might be expected.

@ANYFACE: I agree with you. I expected a lot of anger from him.

Wait till all the rest of the crew including Mr. Gray and Gunther’s mom show up. After all, Mr. Gray is the manager of sorts…

There is an old saying, “hoist by one’s own petard”. Les has this plan, which has no actual basis, and will probably result in him having to do something good, which was not his idea at all, plus he has to pay for it somehow. My issue is where did he get the money to pay for this in the first place? I thought he was broke. Could the tv be the source?

@Enigmaforever

Yes, so far Les is behaving himself. But I think that this is mainly because he doesn’t want to blow it with Pru.

Time for Pru to get a clue and explain to Les that she is gay.

Luann doesn’t yet seem to notice she isn’t dressed for the occasion. But it looks like Nancy knows. I doubt Les comprehends how huge the bill will be. He will need help from the DeGroots. Maybe – just maybe – Les will shed his big shot persona – and discover acceptance – for the first time.

I’m wondering where his right hand is in the first panel. He looks rather close to Pru.

He’ll probably try to weasel out of paying!

Maitre d’oh!

I still want to know who stole the damn TV!

Wonder who will be the one to tell Les that Pru is gay. It should some from Pru , of course. But somehow I think Les is going to find out from someone else.

OK, this is right. You can’t invite extra people and expect Les to pay for everything. Everyone knows Les is on a budget. Everyone knows Les is just a kid with a job, not a career. Even when I was a young, back in the 80s I was in college also, everyone knew you didn’t invite extra people to any kind of gathering and expect the original host to pay, it didn’t matter what the event was. He who invites, pays.

How about this OK, this ISN’T right.

At a planning meeting, either the organizer pays, or everyone pays for themselves in shares or according to what they ordered.

Just wait until he gets the bill for a dinner for five!!

Maybe at some point during the conversation Luann or her parents will drop a casual reference to the fact that Pru is gay, so Les will find out. Luann’s parents know that, don’t they?

Les will win her over, live with the unrequited love, drop her like bad habit, crash and burn or blow up. What’s the over and under?

He’s going back to the dark side.

Les is experiencing Karma .

If this was a classic TV sitcom, you’d hear trombone music going down followed by a laugh track.

She is wearing the necklace. I wonder if it will come up as a question of how he afforded such a pricey gift, and why. And is Luann the only one aware of Pru’s inclinations, or are her folks also in-the-know?

Luann and her parents met them there. That means that Pru, Luann and the parents all knew the name of the place. And not one of them knew, or in looking up the address figured out, that this place is pricey? And none of them questioned having a meeting there?

Well, PRU’s first mistake was accepting that outrageous gift from him in the first place!!!!!

I still find it interesting that Evans has never shown Pru with her significant other. She told Luann and Bern that she is gay, but she is never with any females except primary characters who are all straight or haven’t come out yet.

Well since he’s paying for this with the money he “raised” for the charity, the planning is moot!

@31768: I don’t get why you or anyone else would think that Luann is responsible for telling Les that Prudence is a lesbian, or why it would occur to her to do that. She is under the impression that Les invited Prudence to a dinner meeting to talk about the children’s theater project, since that’s what Prudence told her. So why would this topic even come up during the discussion?

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I figure that Prudence misunderstood Les’s interest in her all along, because he pretended to be collecting for the children’s theater (so he could scam customers out of money, like he usually does; remember that he pocketed tips left for others). And I also figure that Les will find out about Prudence’s orientation after the meeting, when he tries to kiss her good bye…

Is Pru wearing the necklace he gave her?

Frank should offer to pick up the tab, since he could possibly write it off as a business related dinner.

Is it curious that Pru would dress up for a dinner she thought was “work planning”?

The parents can tell it was supposed to be a date. Pru and Lu still seem oblivious. If it is just a meeting everyone would pay for their own meals. There is no reason to think Les would pay for everyone.

Geez. Les, “SMES!” The Guy’s a Thug, richly deserving of whatever He gets. I say order the most EXPENSIVE Items on the Menu and after the Meal, Everybody and I Mean EVERYBODY in the Place, Including the Other Guests, Excuse Themselves to the Bathroom, Sneak out the window, and Stick Les with the bill(s).

So here’s how I see this playing out: Les has no idea Pru is a lesbian. When he finds out he will react in a highly inappropriate way, perhaps violently, because he’s basically a sociopath. What would be great would be to see Pru handle him like a street-smart girl from New York would: A nice dose of pepper spray.

Times have surely changed. Not one comment about how shabby they’re all dressed for such a fancy restaurant.

Granted Les can’t make a scene in front of his employers, but I also think he’s handling this turn of events better than expected – he didn’t even miss a beat.

We’ll just have to wait and see what happens later…

PS – the TV is in the car, Shannon and TJ are watching it. ;p

So, what happened to the TV??

I agree with Locake – the parents recognize it was supposed to be a date, so their expressions even capture a double look of surprise that Les doesn’t know Pru’s a lesbian or that she failed to realize his invitation was a date. Luann, of course, is clueless about any of it. As to who will pay, Frank and Nancy are nice enough people that they will offer to pay their own way, and probably Luann’s. Les could make a play for picking up the tab, which would reveal his hand (or should I say sleight of hand) in how he’s able to afford such a meal.

@OUTSIDE PLAYING: But right at the start, when Prudence said the place looked ‘pricey’, Les said it was ‘all taken care of’. That kind of implies that he has made some kind of arrangement for how the meal was going to be paid for, although, at that time, he thought it was just for the two of them…

Wonder if Puddles will get a ’doggie bag".

@SCHRODINGER’S DOG: I can’t afford places like that, but folks I’ve met who go to highly fancy eating joints tell me that the meals are so small, you leave hungry. Nothing left for the doggie…

I agree that Les is handling himself better than expected. But atm he has no choice though clearly he is irritated. But Frank and Nancy will comment on the inappropriateness of such place for an informal meeting on Fuse business and perhaps suggest that such meeting occur at a different time or place. Les would then agree. But then Pru would be left in a situation that she may not want. This debacle will not conclude tomorrow… I hope.

@REDTRUMPENSORE: You are formally invited to visit someone else’s bridge…

ok Luann (and Pru) are clueless but mom&dad should really pick up the atmosphere!

one more day, then back to Brand and Toni! YAAAAYYYYY !!!!

@Schrodinger’s Dog “one more day”. Let’s hope. This could drag on for another week.

Nancy’s popping out eyeballs are always telling. Perhaps she will discretely mention to Pru that Les may have had other ideas.

In order for this to make sense, it’s a restaurant that no one but Les has ever heard of. But making sense is beyond Team Evans, especially since they try (and fail) to make people believe NYC woman Pru is really that naive. It’s fun and hilarious to see the Degroots looking that clueless, though

At least Les is adaptable instantly. But this is only the beginning of the looming Disaster….

Frank and Nancy know about Les’s past because Mr Gray has told them; Les’s hiring is their favor to Mr Gray for his management skills and for getting the Fuse off the ground. I think Frank and especially Nancy are looking on with a mix of curiosity and suspicion. I like that they are there to monitor this situation…. and they may report back to Mr. Gray, and Les knows this and so he is possibly muzzled for the evening.

Can Pru really be that clueless? For that matter, can Les?

The more the merrier!

This isn’t going to end well, I hope this arc ends soon