Dinner is going to be tense.  Not that Mark will “feel” any of the emotion, blind as he is to other’s feelings…  Oh to live simply, to be unaware of what others are thinking and feeling, must make for a much simpler life, you know?  Not that I would trade, mind you, but Mark’s ability to walk into situations with such linearity of thought and narrowness of view requires much less cognitive energy…

And such foreboding in panel one, taken up mostly by the black bird of doom.  It’s not a very good Raven, if that’s what it is supposed to be, but we will take the Chinese colorist’s interpretation of the moment and paint the episode black…

And Mark, Really?  “Best for the country?”  Your stance is annoying, one that could only be taken by one that has had his life fall into place without a lot of effort and hasn’t had to worry a whole lot about what puts the roof over your head or the horse under your saddle…  Little people need to be aware of what fuels their enterprise, literally, while you maintain fanciful notions of life as grand while we deal with thorny issues like achieving energy independence…