Critical Hit
| Critical Hit | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chapter | 79 of 129 (list of chapters) |
| Published | September 12, 2013 |
| Page count | 22 |
| Major characters | Paulo, Sue, David, Mike |
| Minor characters | Amaya, Daisy, Abbey |
| Locations | Art gallery |
| Collected in | Volume Four |
| Chapter navigation | |
| ← Safe Boundaries | Happy Hour → |
| Read chapter | |
A school assignment turns the Art gallery into a playground for David and Paulo, much to Sue’s despair. But when the group leaves “the kids” downstairs, an argument about modern art gets personal in the worst possible way.
Synopsis
A class research assignment brings the group to the museum, and Sue spends the first stretch of it as an unpaid babysitter. She has to shove David off a floor sculpture mid-Godzilla impression, and her yelling draws a security guard who threatens to remove them all.[1][2] Paulo and David, for their part, claim a big green ring sculpture as “the easiest essay ever” and plan to copy the explanation off the plaque, which tells them nothing.[3]
Mike wanders in wearing a rented audio guide, and Paulo wants it. Mike refuses, ranting about Paulo’s borrowing record (“REMEMBER THE SCISSORS I LENDED YOU YESTERDAY?”), and the tug-of-war ends with the player sailing into the middle of the mound sculpture.[4][5] Paulo strolls off with a shrug, since he can always look it up on the internet, leaving Mike frozen in horror.[5]
Sue chases the boys into the next rooms and catches David pressing buttons on a laptop. It turns out to be an interactive installation simulating a lethal injection.[6][7] Daisy is delighted (“Euthanasia is such a fascinating idea!”), and David turns from the screen with tears in his eyes for a mock-tragic goodbye.[7]
When the group reconvenes, Mike pulls tickets to the upstairs special exhibit out of his scarf and invites Sue to leave the kids behind.[8] Sue, Amaya, Daisy, Abbey and Mike head up while Paulo jeers at them for paying to learn. Then David hands the employee a ticket of his own and climbs the stairs without a word.[9][10] Alone at the bottom, Paulo overhears Sue and Mike making fun of him.[11]
Upstairs, Sue fares no better with the art, and her attempt at a critique earns a disapproving frown from Amaya.[12] Backing away, she collides with Paulo, who has bought a ticket after all and covers his embarrassment by trashing the very painting she just struggled with.[13] Sue snaps that he doesn’t even try, and the argument turns vicious. Paulo tells her that nobody likes her and that her play sucked. She replies that he’s too scatterbrained to hold onto anything — “Not even Lucy.”[14]
Sue’s anger collapses almost at once into an apology. She admits she’s struggling with the works too, but insists the difference between them is that she’s willing to put her mind to it.[15] Paulo answers by pointing at a completely black canvas and daring her to explain it. She can’t, and she concedes as much before walking away.[16] Left alone, Paulo stares at the canvas for a while, hangs his head, and reads the pamphlet.[17]
Character dynamics
- Paulo and Sue: The pair run on mutual annoyance, and Veronica has put it plainly: “They just find each other annoying!”[18] Sue plays the group’s minder, and Paulo is the thing most in need of minding. Once the others are out of earshot, Sue can’t say what a painting means when Paulo asks her straight out, and Paulo can’t pretend not to care once Lucy comes up.[13][14] The fight settles nothing, but it leaves them more honest with each other. Sue concedes she doesn’t get the art either, and Paulo, alone, finally reads the pamphlet.[17]
- Paulo and David: David will follow Paulo into any bit of nonsense the museum offers, but that doesn’t mean he’ll stick with him. When the group goes upstairs, he doesn’t argue and doesn’t explain. He just buys in and leaves Paulo standing at the bottom of the stairs.[10]
- Paulo and Mike: The tape-player fight is familiar friction. Mike keeps a running tally of everything Paulo has borrowed and ruined.[4] Worse, Mike joins Sue to laugh at Paulo behind his back, something Paulo was never meant to hear.[11]
Trivia & observations
- The lethal-injection installation is drawn from life. Veronica’s commentary says it was inspired by an installation she and Oliver saw at the Museum of Old and New Art, which was itself based on a device briefly used in Australia. The two have even seen its creator, Philip Nitschke, speak.[7]
- Veronica admits a small production regret in her commentary. The painting Paulo dismisses is the exact one Sue critiqued a page earlier, but Sue’s head covered it in those panels, leaving the connection between the two “a lot more obscured” than intended.[13]
- Amaya comes within a syllable of speaking, opening her mouth to share her insight just as Paulo’s off-panel “IT’S PERFECT!!” cuts her off.[19]
- Veronica has since confirmed that Sue’s grudge over David’s verdict on her play is real and lasting. His criticism “hit her ego in a way that she never recovered from. Sue’s very prideful”.[14][20]
- Daisy’s cheery interest in euthanasia comes just one chapter after she declared her doctor ambitions in Safe Boundaries, so it’s morbid curiosity with a career plan behind it.[7][21]
- Per Veronica’s commentary under Mike’s rant, Paulo can’t really complain about careless borrowers: he never got his own stereo back from David after Search and Rescue.[4][22]
- The unnamed museum employee’s entire vocabulary is “Tickets.”, delivered twice with a shove to Paulo’s head.[10][11]
Related chapters
- Happy Hour: At Rachel’s house party in the very next chapter, a drunk Sue corners Mike about what Lucy might have told him before she left. The secret comes out, and Paulo punches him.
- Curtain Call: The play Paulo declares “sucked” is the one Sue put on here, and the drama club he tells her to go back to is the same one she once used to shoo him away from backstage.
- Breaking Up: Sue’s two-word finishing move recalls this chapter, where Lucy is hospitalized and withdrawn from school for good.
References
- ↑ Chapter 79: Critical Hit, page 1
- ↑ Chapter 79: Critical Hit, page 2
- ↑ Chapter 79: Critical Hit, page 4
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Chapter 79: Critical Hit, page 7
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chapter 79: Critical Hit, page 8
- ↑ Chapter 79: Critical Hit, page 10
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Chapter 79: Critical Hit, page 11
- ↑ Chapter 79: Critical Hit, page 12
- ↑ Chapter 79: Critical Hit, page 13
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Chapter 79: Critical Hit, page 14
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Chapter 79: Critical Hit, page 15
- ↑ Chapter 79: Critical Hit, page 17
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Chapter 79: Critical Hit, page 18
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Chapter 79: Critical Hit, page 19
- ↑ Chapter 79: Critical Hit, page 20
- ↑ Chapter 79: Critical Hit, page 21
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Chapter 79: Critical Hit, page 22
- ↑ “Ask response on Paulo and Sue’s dynamic”. 2026-05-18.
- ↑ Chapter 79: Critical Hit, page 3
- ↑ “Ask response on the origin of Sue’s grudge against David”. 2026-05-26.
- ↑ Chapter 78: Safe Boundaries, page 7
- ↑ Chapter 43: Search and Rescue, page 27