Bittersweet Candy Bowl

alright. im not sure if its just me but honestly i gotta agree with daisy and say mike is being a jerk.

i understand lucys been pretty hard on him and him needing a break from her is understandable but i kinda think hes not handling this all too well. i mean he knows how fragile she is and…. i dunno.


am i overthinking this? mike used to be my favorite character, “the nice guy” but now i kinda sorta dont like him at all.

anyone agree with me? or am i on my own here?

Nah, I’m with you there. But it’s good thing he is, since then we all know character development aren’t all good.

I just want Lucy and Mike together, makes me wonder if he would’ve still been a jerk if Lucy didn’t say anything.

I agree with you hannah, Mike is being a douchecanoe >:C

The thing about nice guys is they’re never entirely nice guys, despite what the people around them think. Then, when they’re finally at their limit and say, “I’m sorry, but I just can’t do this anymore,” they’re thrice damned for it.

I think that’s what’s happened with Mike; he’s finally hit a wall with Lucy, and has no idea how to help her anymore. He’s also old enough now to recognize it’s not going to do anyone any good if he crashes and burns alongside her. Yeah, he could have told her in a better, more concise way, but then how many of us are so articulate in such emotionally charged situations?

You’re certainly not alone in thinking Mike’s being kinda dickish, and I suppose I agree…somewhat. I just can’t find fault in him for pushing back when put up against a wall.

Hey, he can’t be a nice guy forever. Sure did me in a few times before.

ok im just glad im not the only one hwo has mixed feelings about mike. its kinda funny actually. whenever he comes up in the comic i always find myself feeling kinda peeved at hime. iunno. its wierd. me and lucy end up feeling the same ways towards hime…. if that makes any sense at all.

i mean i get that shes put him through shit’n such so he deserves to kinda be a dick toward her it just bothers me.

basically the part where lucy said he hated her and he did nothing was the part where i kinda started strongly disliking mr maishul.

Mike is only reacting in a normal manner to all the crap that he’s been through. I mean, he has suffered severe physical pain for Lucy, almost dying at one time. While he courted her for a long, it was to no avail. Now that he thinks he is a healthy relationship, Lucy finally drops the bombshell about loving him. It isn’t strange that he’s cracked the way he did. Though yeah, he’s cracked further than I expected, and he’s been a real prick about it.

I don’t know… My feelings in regard to the characters changed completely after Mike fell into the river in Acapulco. I used to think Paulo and Lucy were jerks and Michael was the nice guy, but I saw then that things had changed. Now he acts like he doesn’t care about his friends, while Paulo has shown that he can be a great guy and Lucy has opened herself up…

I think Michael is a jerk. But I also think the change was kind of abrupt. Not that I’m complaining about the comic, mind - I just don’t know exactly how to think of him anymore.

What not -one- comment here about how he was completely willing to put all the drama behind them, and shake hands in the most recent comic? NOOO that doesn’t count! He doesn’t DESERVE kindness now that big dumb jerky face! Come on now… Okay fine, Mike -was- a jerk. What he did was understandable, not right by any definition, but understandable. He was frustrated, he said something very cruel, and at that point was too annoyed with everyone to do the right thing.

He’s only Human, a teenager to boot! He makes mistakes for heavens sake. It’s not as if Lucy has been acting like a saint the past five years either!

Or.. wait he isn’t human.. he’s a cat… um… whatever! My point is he deserves forgiveness at the very least.

I’m with Pronkat and Bribri here. Had I been taking crap for such a long time from somebody, I’d probably also had exploded as well. It’s not something you would want to do, but it’s comprehensible.

My thought is that he won’t be like this for the rest of his life, I mean, he only needs time to be alone and think about all the stuff that’s been going on in such a short time. Although it will be interesting to see him and Lucy reconciliate (as in who’ll give in).

@Bribri: Sorry, it’s just that I can’t help feeling sympathy for Lucy as it is now. And since Mike is the one who put her in this situation, as it were, I haven’t forgiven him completely. I know it’s illogical, but I can’t help it.

He was the better man on this page, though.

i never ment to say simply that he was a complte jerk… just that he has become more jerkish.

i kind a agree with ILB about him not caring so much. i feel like is its not about sandy then so what. well thats not true…. he did ausition for sues play…. >< oh man.

im just sayin hes bothering me. he seems to be better in the later chapters… the ones coming out now.


im just glad that you guys are pointing out points i havent thought of. you helping me put back together my shattered image of mike

Wall of text incoming, so forgive me. I hope I don’t wind up coming across as a “know it all” type. I simply have a bad habit of overanalyzing characters.

Hannah, I mostly agree with you, Mike was being a jerkity jerk jerk. But as others here have pointed out, there are reasons for it.

Mikes response, as Quacksalver pointed out, was understandable and even acceptable, but more harsh than it should have been.

Here is the problem as I personally see it. Mike claims to Zachary that he is only there to comfort Lucy and there is nothing more to it. He says he “knows his role”, and the beat up stuffed animal certainly is a powerful message for that page. But if you look back and take the story as a whole, Mike was BS’ing himself there. But why?

Well, he just went through a life altering event with the fall, and then winds up comforting Lucy before he even has a chance to fully recover after his plight. That kind of stress, when added to the harassment from Paulo and David regarding his “imaginary” girl friend, and a very clingy Lucy, which Mike had been trying to keep from happening, would lead to an overwhelming sense of doubt, and possibly self loathing (for immediately rushing to comfort Lucy rather than taking care of his own needs). On top of that, Abbey’s earlier speech to Mike about how he “favors” certain friends is probably still haunting him. It is entirely possible that a part of that self loathing is being redirected toward Lucy, who he now perceives as a major contributing factor to his own stress.

That misdirection of loathing is what is talking during the Mike/Zach exchange. Yes, Mike may have reached his limit, but it doesn’t seem to be in his character to be quite as cold and harsh as he was with Lucy from the point where she came clean to the point where Lucy turns to Paulo.

In the end, I believe Mike’s attitude and reactions thus far are more the result of deeper seated issues, rather than his real opinions/feelings about Lucy.

What worries me now is, Mike doesn’t appear to be attempting to vent his own frustration, or seek help from anyone with regards to this buildup of stress. Until he does so, he’s still a walking time bomb.

Despite Mike’s behavior toward Lucy (which was indeed quite jerkish) I kind of get the feeling he’s not showing the whole story. At the end of A Distance Apart and the beginning of Unrequited, he does seem rather conflicted about Lucy’s confession. I see it as he’s either feeling bad about not being able to reciprocate Lucy’s feelings or that he realizes that he still does like her even with his relationship with Sandy. Even while he was annoyed with her during the trip to Acapulco, Mike didn’t hesitate in almost getting himself killed to save Lucy. Maybe most of what he’s doing now is about trying to shove aside said feelings.
I dunno.

He has his reasons.
In chapter description, it said Mike believes himself to be in a healthy relationship with Sandy.
Be faithful as he should, he’d rather not risk a fight between Sandy and Lucy.
I know he still has feelings for Lucy, but for now he’s already chosen Sandy.

You know one thing I thought of is Mike never really chose Sandy himself. If you read the “A Difficult Choice” chapter it seems more like while Mike is kind of obsessed with Sandy but he never himself said yes I choose Sandy and was more pushed into it by Lucy first and then everyone else and if he thought anything else he was then pelted as a cheater. If you read he had actually kind of given up on Sandy until he say her on TV and his obsession kind of came back but then it was always kind of Lucy who kept reminding him of Sandy. Its kind of ironic if you think Lucy was kind of the person who kind of made Mike choose Sandy.

Yes, how Lucy’s past decision backfired on her a moment ago.
Seeing as these are based on human emotions, of course everyone would be blind to something.
Mike is blinded by Sandy to accept Lucy (or even Daisy, but who here wants to see MikexDaisy more than MikexLucy) Even now he remains faithful, but he sure can act normal after a day or two.
Lucy loves Mike, but far into her own comfort zone to realize that till her started to lose him. Of course now is the healing process, but her lack of trust still sets her back from her friends a bit. (Paulo being closer and Sue going farther)

first off, I have to empathise with Mike a little bit. Lucy was very clingy, and after she confessed her love, Mike really did not have many options. HOWEVER, after that I begin to lose respect for Mikes POV. in the last chapter where he does little except throw insults at an already crushed Lucy, he really is being a jerk.

While Mike really is being a jerk now, its just a sign that he has to develop as a character. Lucy had to deal with her own underlying problems, and it is getting to be Mikes turn to deal with his. He should only hope that his actions dont turn back against him as much as Lucy’s did.

@Jay: I have to disagree about the fall being “life-changing”. I mean, he sat down by the river, fishing, after falling. That shows two things: He didn’t have much to recover from, and he doesn’t care/is inconsiderate about how his friends feel about him apparently falling to his death. Somehow I can’t see that the event did him much harm (apart from the physical injuries, of course.

Now, it is possible that he suffered post-traumatic stress, but I don’t find that very likely since it was only a few hours after falling. The ones who went through the ordeal were his friends. The other things you mention may have affected him, but the fall itself seems to have passed him by.

I understand what you’re saying ILB, by all appearances he seemed/seems unaffected by the fall. But looks can be deceiving and a life changing event does not always show its impact right away.

His calmly sitting there fishing may just been a coping method. Also, his apparent lack of emotion over the fall, and his uncharacteristic uncaring attitude toward his friends feelings, suggests to me an automatic emotional shutdown meant to protect him from the stress.

Never the less, perhaps a better way of putting it would be an “eye opening” event. Since up to that point Mike has never been faced with quite such a big risk.

I am perpetually amazed by how little damage that fall did. Woulda killed an ordinary person.

Yes, he could be attempting to cope. But he seemed so natural…

I have no idea what really happened, of course, but Michael is a terrible actor so he can’t have been intentionally hiding his emotional scars.

You never know mate. I mean, Mike could have pretended to act bad to get out of the play in a “nice” manner, and then really acted when he saw Lucy…

*The counselor had decided to close her business early today and is just walking out the front door when she catches a glimpse of something in the corner of her eye. She turns around, but there is nothing there, so she leaves. The Ninja, slightly embarrassed at the close call, sits down at her computer to peruse her files and, of course, visit BCB.*

I find it kind of funny that we are sitting here trying to psychoanalyze a fictional character. =)

@*Ninja: Of course! That means less time we can spend psychoanalyzing ourselves! Wait…

Anyway, I have to concur with the arguments Jay, Chrono, and some of the others are making. Although never seeing Sandy in person, he has stayed in contact with her and in every possible instance he has missed seeing her physically. It’s almost like he’s in love with a voicemail; it’s a real, true person at the other line, but he has to insert his own pictures and notions of her. That is coupled with the fact that he has been teased for his liking of her, to the point that when anyone thought he was trying to hit on another girl, he was dubbed a cheater and beaten, so much so that his original scarf was ruined (which may have a special significance to him that we as yet don’t know; he sighs looking at it crumpled into a ball at the beginning of Unrequited.)

He has nearly drowned twice and been beaten for Lucy. However, he is still constantly berated and made to feel down by her. He knows how much he means to Lucy, but he recognizes the dichotomy: one side despises him, the other side cannot bear to live without him, and both are always in conflict with one another. The girls find out the truth, and what do they do? They berate him without a second thought, defending Lucy the entire time without even giving him the time of day to explain that his feelings are his own, that he is already in love with someone else and he has been made to feel, by them, that any attempts to even consider another girl have been met with “Cheater! Cheater!,” the whole debacle with Daisy is still fresh on his mind, and he shouldn’t love Lucy simply because she loves him back. The boys continue to ridicule his ‘imaginary’ girl friend, then all they talk about is her, not him.

Also, another example can be Abbey or Lucy. Both have tried to hide their emotions (Abbey over the abuses of his father, Lucy over… well, damn near everything,) and both have had total meltdowns after their defenses collapse. Perhaps Michael is about to have his time in the pits.

This isn’t mean Michael is completely blameless in my book. He still could be handling this in a more mature way; letting down Lucy gentler, trying to explain things over his friends arguments, etc. We’ll just have to see how this play is going to change things.

Wow, what a big wall of text. And just think, I hadn’t even known this comic existed a week ago. And now I’m eager to see the coming pages and care about these characters. Thank, Taeshi!

*The Ninja stares blankly at Lost Carol’s post. He is utterly dumbstruck. Eventually coming to his senses, he manages to leave a quick reply before making a hasty retreat in order to avoid being spotted by the janitor.*

@Lost Carol: Very insightful.

@ Lost Carol:
…that actually sums things up for Mike. o_o
Granted, he still tries to keep in contact with everyone (and that includes Lucy and Sandy), but this has enough points for a counter arguement.
Anyone want to give a shot?

@Ninja

I say most of us psychoanalyse any good fictional matter. I know I do with almost every aspect of LOST. It’s driving my mum bonkers! XD

*As the janitor leaves for the night, the Ninja crawls out from under the Therapist’s Couch and returns to the computer. After taking a minute to figure out what happened while he was hiding, he feels ready to post another reply.*

@Pronkat: First, the only reason I include the ‘*’ in front of ‘Ninja’ is because it should be pronounced “asterisk Ninja”… because it’s funny since I… well you get the idea, and it isn’t very funny anyway…

Second, it does make sense that when you get into something, you try to understand what makes it work and what goes on behind the scenes. It is due to Taeshi’s amazing abilities that it IS possible to analyze a fictional character as if he were real and have results that are more plausible than those we often get in real life (ever try to psychoanalyze a real friend?) I have no problem with this, I just find it mildly amusing.

PS: If you post a topic on LOST here, you will drive me bonkers!

@*Ninja, Merci tres beaucoup. *blushes*

(BTW, since we’re on the topic of our names, I include the The in The Lost Carol. No comedic reasoning, just… well, I like the name, but Lost Carol sounds feminine already, so I guess the The makes it more masculine to me)

ANNDD back on topic… I concur. When you like a story and appreciate its quality, you start to think about it, and try to understand what makes you appreciate it so much. I like Mishul & Lucy & Abbey et al, even after having known the story for so little time, I want to understand what makes ‘em tick, hence psychoanalyzing. Or, as I love to call it, “Getting all up on this Freudian shit.”

@Ved of Flames

Thanks as well. I would love to hear a counterpoint, because that’s the best part about this. Everyone will come at this from a different viewpoint, and all of us could be terribly wrong. We eagerly await each new page from the only person who knows what will happen, Taeshi.

So, after looking bck at it, I have determined that Mike has virtually character developed backwards. He concludes and admits to other that he was a jerk for ignoring Lucy for Sandy the first time, apologies, then does it again. I swear, he is just being used as a plot device for Lucy angst development now.

After recently find and reading the comic I don’t think that Mike even realizes that he is being a jerk until well after the fact especially when Sandy is involved. I’ve noticed that when Sandy is involved Mike is literally blind to all else, especially Lucy. In childhood, when his friendship and eventual relationship with Sandy began he totally ignored Lucy. That this did damage to his own friendship with Lucy, that this isolated her, is something that he didn’t completely understand for years to come. With the current state of things I wonder how long it will take for Mike to realize the consequences of his actions this time around.

@The Lost Carol: You are right in saying that Sandy is distant – but Mike has been in contact with her on several occasions. He can have a clear picture of what she looks like, and what she is like without jumping into the world of fantasies and hopes. After all, he received a Christmas present from Sandy, he called her several times and she has contacted him. Mike even has a picture of her that he carries around.

He did nearly drown once… That time, it was Paulo’s and his own fault, not Lucy’s. That is, he jumped from tree to tree, but fell into the water without trying to save anyone (bar the birds in the tree). Lucy risked her life to save him, not the other way around. The second time he apparently didn’t nearly drown (although, as someone above me has pointed out, it could be his subconscious attempting to cope). In the «Confrontation» chapter, Lucy was the one who stood up for her friends first. Mike tried to help her after she came in trouble, but she was the first one to really stand up and defend her friends against that very threat (save for Paulo, who accomplished naught). I don’t think he has ever been beaten for Lucy’s sake, although he was struck down by Paulo and the girl brigade for Sandy’s. The fact that Lucy does put him down is regrettable, though she cannot be blamed for most of what’s happened.

The dichotomy you propose is interesting, but I somehow feel that Lucy isn’t split in two. There is much evidence that she cares about him, but that she puts him down because she cares. She has a rough exterior, but it is obvious that she cares for him even from the start. And she has sucked it up and been nice to him before. The girls did automatically take Lucy’s side, something that is quite natural (although, of course, it did put Mike in an awkward spot). Who wouldn’t want the drama to end and their friends to get together? But this all happened after he was shown to consider her a chore. Also, I don’t think he could possibly blame the Daisy troubles on Lucy, even subconsciously. Mike has been through much troubles for Lucy’s sake, but many of those situations were brought forth by him or his other friends, not her. And Lucy has also had a lot of problems because of him. Mike must recognise this, something I guess he does.

Mike has been acting arrogantly, claiming that his friends never knew Sandy when they actually did know her, saying that he has been a babysitter for Lucy all his life when the opposite has been true on many occasions, and not least attacking her when she was down and vurnerable. He cannot be excused of what he has done (something you say as well), and though I agree that he shouldn’t go after Lucy because others want him to I really think he needs to pull himself together.

The reason I’m so against Mike in this post is because I felt the redeemance was covered by your post, TLC. I hope noone gets me wrong.

@(nameless)

That’s a very good point mate. Though the realisation should come closer this time as he has admitted being blind to Lucy before.

@The Patriot
I’m trying to think on some of the points you bring up mate, but I find it hard to see what you mean.

How did Mike bring some of the confrontations to Lucy?
When has she been baby-sitting him?
What Lucy troubles are you referring to?

I wish to explore your argument further. Could you put forward a bit more eveidence if it’s not to much bother? Cheers

Mike was the one who more or less caused the whole Confrontation arc to happen. He also fell into the river by his own fault, and Lucy almost drowned because of that (and, as a result, aquired a morbid fear of water).

She hasn’t really been baby-sitting him, so if I said that, I’m sorry. I was trying to say that Mike has brought a lot of troubles upon himself, and Lucy has helped him out of those occasions. Saying that Lucy has been a baby that cannot take care of herself, is entirely untrue, because Michael has been in situations where he has been helpless and Lucy has helped him out of them.

Lucy troubles? I think I’ve given sufficient examples.

Alright, now I get what you mean mate. You do have some valid points. I don’t think Mike truly believes that about Lucy, it’s just that he’s been so conflicted all along, the wrong words come out. Though it’s mainly his fault for not being able to express his feelings earlier.

@*Ninja

Sorry I didn’t see the asterisk mate. ^^; I won’t post any LOST topics. I created a thread for that. Also I have a mate that’s been trying o psychoanalyse me for quite a while. Every time he thinks he has some conclusion I throw him off by doing or saying sowt completely unexpected. I don’t do it on purpose, but he really shouldn’t try to get his first psychoanalysis from a Gemini. We have too many contrasting characteristics.

@ The Lost Carol

Very well summed up. VERY VERY well summed up. I think you may have nailed Mike on the head there.

And yes, Mike certainly isn’t blameless here. As Hannah originally observed, he is being a jerkity jerk jerk.

@ The Patriot

I have to agree, Lucy is not “split in two”. Rather I think she never grew out of the younger phase where children who began to form deeper connections to others would pick them because they didn’t know what else to do. The old concept that if a boy/girl picks on someone, it’s only because he/she likes that person. She picks on Mike because she just didn’t know what else to do.

Oh, and regarding our fondness for psychoanalyzing. As has been noted this is exactly the kind of thing readers can enjoy doing, especially with such a well created story and characters with REAL depth. It also helps, as The Lost Carol pointed out, in allowing us to analyze ourselves from a safe distance. “Of course! That means less time we can spend psychoanalyzing ourselves! Wait…”

*The Department of Psychology at Harvard had one of the most sophisticated security systems ever invented, Laser tripwires, infa-red detectors, multi-spectrum surveillance cameras, and anything else you could possibly think of (yes that includes bear traps). But nonetheless, the Ninja had managed to gain access to their secret records and was busily searching through them, when a thought stuck him.*

@The Lost Carol: Sorry, I got lazy and didn’t think that it was important. I also didn’t realize that you were a guy…VERY sorry about that.

Anyway…Looking back at the rest of this thread, it seems that the discussion has slowly evolved from “Mike’s being a jerk and should stop right now” to a complicated look at what might be going on inside his head, what his reasoning is, and how his previous experiences have shaped both his character and his friendship with Lucy. I dare say that if this topic get a half-dozen more posts we’ll be into mind-reading. I claim partial credit for steering the topic in this direction (too egotistical…maybe I didn’t).

Now back to talking about the topic,and away from talking about talking about the topic.
I think that we can all agree that Mike is justifiably annoyed with Lucy and that his feelings are a bit confused, adding to his frustration. He is definitely trying to do what he thinks is the right thing. However I believe that there must have been a much better way to handle the situation than ruining their friendship. I’ve personally stayed good friends with my ex-girlfriend and if Mike had been a little gentler, he and Lucy could have remained friends despite his commitment to Sandy.

GAAAAHHHHH!!!! My post has turned into a monster! How did it become so huge!

@*Ninja

I love how you build a great anecdote with every post mate! Anyhow, I don’t think Mike ruined their friendship per say. I just think hat their reaction is pretty natural considering the circumstances. Mike has had a crush on Lucy for and awfully long time, and he’s also the first person Lucy truly opened to, only to be rejected. They just need time to cool off and sort it out. Meanwhile we get to enjoy all the Drama between Mike, Lucy, Paulo and possibly Tess. If Sue is further developed and Jessica confesses to Lucy then this could be the juiciest chapter yet!

Wait, what? What should Jessica confess to Lucy?

Oh it’s just a thought I had. Jessica fancies Lucy, and now with Lucy being forced to take part in the play to which Jess was a panel judge, I thought it could either be a real dramatic or comic moment in the story. It’s just a silly thought though nowt special…

*The security guard patrolling the secret records division when he notices a small yellow post-it on the floor. Careful not to touch it in case it is some sort of devious trap, he bends over to examine it. I can’t believe you fell for it you moron The guard looks around just in time to catch the merest hint of someone dashing through the exit he was supposed to be guarding. THE NINJA STRIKES AGAIN!!!*

@Pronkat: I’m glad that you find the tales of my exploits (or my little snippets of fiction; I refuse to reveal which) humorous! Also I didn’t mean to intimate that Mike ruined his relationship(friendship, whatever it was) with Lucy on purpose, but by acting rashly and mismanaging the situation. I understand that he was upset and frustrated at the time, I’m just pointing out that it could have ended up differently. As to the Drama, it will be painfully fun to watch this unfold. =)

BTW, since we already have a gay character, it would make sense to introduce Jessica as a lesbian to balance the scales. (And since Carson is so stereotypical, having Jessica be non-stereotypical would also add balance.)

At least the words look right this time…

Well from the character chart we can see that Jessica does fancy Lucy. I’m just waiting to see if she comes out during all this tension and see what happens…

Too many characters!!! I’ve completely lost track of Jessica. Back to the previous comics to review.

*bump*

@THE PATRIOT: Good arguments. I had forgotten about the picture. As to the ‘drowned and beaten for Lucy,’ you’re right; Mike got himself into the first instance by getting into the race with Paulo. I was looking at it from the viewpoint that Lucy nearly drowned trying to save him. The second time was everyone’s fault for taking the rock bridge & not the rope bridge, although Mike did facilitate the bridge’s demise by stopping David (who caused the middle to crack.) As to my allusion to Confrontation… well, I think you have a better explanation, and also anything Mike did during that… confrontation has to be taken with a grain of salt since he was rip-roaring drunk during that time.
As to the dichotomy… I still think it’s there, but I’m seeing it more as a means of analyzing her behavior, and not as if Lucy’s full blown manic-depressive or has a split-personality. Mike knows that Lucy isn’t always one or the other; if she was always so manic, I think others would’ve seen it and she would’ve gotten professional help, and or Mike would’ve pushed her away if she was always abusive or clingy. And yes, the issue with Daisy has nothing to do with Mike’s current situation with Lucy; but to him, he would still be thinking about “Oh snap, I’m not attracted to this girl but she’s in love with me! What do I do?” But regardless of either side of the argument, the fact does remain; Mike is acting like a jerk, but he hasn’t totally ruined his relationship with Lucy… yet. During their argument, he said he hasn’t completely abandoned her (… yet), but right now he is upset with her. But for his own sake, and the sake of everyone else, he needs to examine why he is acting out in this way (more on a thought about why later,) and reach some form of a conclusion.

… Oh, and you figured out my shortened nickname (TLC.) For that, and your great counterpoint, hi-five. *high-five*

@*Ninja
‘s all right. It isn’t that important, I just can be anal sometimes (… me? Anal?)

After thinking of our discussion, I was thinking about the Summer Vaycay chapter again, when something occurred to me: the bandage on Mike’s head. We’ve seen all the events from everyone else’s perspective, but not his. We presume the injuries weren’t that serious, as he was fishing when they found him and he was at the bonfire later that night, but let’s reexamine. As the bandage shows at the bookends to Search & Rescue, Mike was hit in the head, and, considering the fall from that height, an injury like that is unsurprising. However, it might be possible that the hit to the head might have caused a concussion or worse levels or brain trauma, which can result in a change in personality. I’m not saying Mike has full blown brain damage, but maybe that hit might’ve loosened a few screws, and now he acts differently. We also don’t know what kind of care he received. Was he attended to by paramedics, or just his friends? His friends would think to bandage him up, yes, but probably not to check for a concussion or signs of similar or worse trauma. Is this change permanent? Maybe, maybe not. Is it possible the bandage was merely hiding some scrapes and it has absolutely nothing to do with our current subject? Absolutely! And, ultimately, if he does have some sort of short in his brain, that may not be his fault, and there are objectionable reasons for changes in his personality, but he still is at fault for what he says and does, and would need to seek professional help… then again, after what happened to Abbey, the fact that he wasn’t given professional help immediately following… whatever happened with his biological parents showcases that maybe in this world stuff like that might be overlooked.

So, in conclusion… Mike’s acting like a “jerkity jerk jerk,” but only time will tell if he’s acting like one or is becoming one, and if he is, if it’s too late for our favorite nice guy to turn back.

If I may…

I think you’re right in what you say right now, TLC. And the “personality change through injury” seems plausible, at least if what people tell me is true. I heard of this man who got an iron bar blasted through his brain (ouch, poor guy) during a dynamite accident, and he changed personality from a regular, Mike-alike nice guy into an apathetic negativist…

Yup, that happened ILB. Whatever was destroyed in that mans head caused him to completely shift his personality. http://www.escardiocontent.org/periodicals/yeupc/article/S0303-8467%2808%2900387-9/abstract

(Gotta make an account to see the full article)

Nice catch on the head bandage TLC, that detail escaped us.

Unfortunately, while it is plausible, I have to disagree with the idea that physical trauma caused this personality change. If it was physical trauma, then I would imagine the damage would have been severe enough for actual medical treatment to be NEEDED, not just recommended. There didn’t even appear to be stitches needed, and if there WAS physical trauma, from that height, there would have been a nice sized gash in his skull (which kind of makes the head bandage a bit of a mystery). We hear nothing of an emergency room trip or even a doctors visit. I doubt Taeshi would have skipped over something like that.

Certainly a physical cause can’t be ruled out, but to me, mental trauma still seems the more likely culprit. At least until Taeshi decides to do a flashback to describe in more detail exactly WHAT happened to Mike during and after the fall.

I once heard a guy in my school got into a fight and was bashed on the head. He fainted, yet as the fight was after school and no teachers were around, he wasn’t taken to a doctor. And he was wasn’t bleeding or owt like that so no one cared. If some mental trauma did happen to Mike, I’d doubt his mates would even realise he needed serious medical help as long as it wasn’t externally obvious…

I don’t think he’s hadling this well, but in his deffence, Lucy put him in one hell of an awkward position with a no win solution. If he did get together with Lucy, then what about Sandy, her heart would be broken, and of corse Mike would still love Sandy more than Mike… at least this way he’s not draging it out. Lucy would have been devistated no matter what happened.