Will has invented a new type of push-back against Hanna's cynical jabs: don't get mad, just do the thing. Like Marigold he's still got some wide-eyed idealism in him yet, all consequences said and done. In this case, armed with his therapist's questions, he's on a mission for clear-cut answers. And it makes sense that Hanna would find that annoying. Answers don't always exist, and they often don't satisfy. You can be a love anthropologist when there's no urgency, when you're not busy examining the bags under your eyes. But Will is more attuned to his aging than Hanna gives him credit for, and he's setting himself up for another big rejection that's likely to hurt more than the last one.
8 thoughts on “#926 – biological imperative”
Jas
Chillary Clinton still is one of my favorite Hanna-isms.
Joey
I love Will's total rejection of Hannah's needling. He's been unambiguous: he's horny, he's lonely, he's impatient, he's fairly unafraid of the consequences of failure and he's got opportunity so he's gonna try his luck. Her attempted dig bounces completely, because he knows his plan and doesn't particularly need to hide it from either himself or Hannah. He's just so damn cheerful as he throws back the "biological imperative."
Of course what he's doing, revisiting the past, picking at old scabs, is exactly the sort of thing that Hannah was just dismissing. Eve and Will have changed in ways that have opened opportunities rather than closed them, and Hannah's analogue to Marek is simply too different, and she's so often resentful of these failed analogies.
Also I'm now confused, I thought Olly's was in Brooklyn, how can they be talking about walking to both Grand Central and Olly's?
peakpointmatrix
I thought Eve lives in Brooklyn but Olly's location has never quite been disclosed? (I could be wrong)
Stephen M
Yeah, a few times in the early chapters her commute from Manhattan came up (biking across the bridge, the legend of her swimming across). It's probably also why she sometimes sleeps in the store, since it's not a trivial trip.
Tangerine
Interesting–I saw this very differently:
I thought Hanna was the one who was talking about how she was bored and horny and lonely. (At least if what we're drawing from is the dialogue in the previous strip.)
I thought Will's motivation was a bit more romantic, per what he said to his therapist. He's been patient about re-approaching Eve, waiting to be his "best self", because he IS concerned about the consequences of failure: he wants his best shot at getting it right and having something real with her.
I thought his cheerfulness came from the fact that he wasn't just throwing whatever at the wall to see what sticks. He's done the groundwork, and he's going in mindfully and with serious intent.
jen
Love their faces in the last panel – basically the relationship of best friends who are totally opposite (while complementing each other's personalities), yet similar enough to get along.
Chris
After all this time reading this comic, I never thought that Olly's would be within walking distance of Grand Central. Midtown East!!
Liz
'You can be a love anthropologist when there’s no urgency, when you’re not busy examining the bags under your eyes.'
You can also take your time falling in love even if you are 30+, people do it all the time. I would say especially in a big city like NY, where the' pool' is much larger than perhaps a small town.