As Jess and Tess cuddle in the background in panel 1, it is comforting to see that Jules Rivera injected some moments of reality in today’s installment. The gang realizes that the flood has taken virtually everything. But once again, Venus Verité was the only one prepared. She came out of her tent already dressed and thought to bring her phone. I would have thought—given the impending disaster that Mark had been going on about—that Mark would have had an emergency “Go!” bag in his tent, at the ready. Why he didn’t or wasn’t better prepared is something yet to be explained.

But for the love of Mike, why does Rivera constantly make Mark seem like a reincarnation of Gomer Pyle? He often acts like a hick or gets befuddled by the modern world, as if he had gone to sleep in 1959 and just woken up. Well, he did just wake up, right? Perhaps a better question for Mark in panel 3 would be “That’s just what I need, Venus! Where did you get it?” To be fair, Venus could simply have said “Oh, I have a working phone right here!” instead of acting all “East Coast Elite.” But I reckon that is how she is supposed to be. In short, the hunters are all hicks, but Venus Verité is urban and urbane.

Art Dept. I wonder when Mark became a middle-aged couch potato (panel 2)? Yuck! I think Rivera should have expanded that “Me too!” dialog balloon (which should have included a comma) to cover Mark’s flabby torso. If we’re going to admit that Mark’s union suit is all soggy and baggy, how come Venus looks like she got off the plane? Oh, right: Urban and urbane.