Also, is this awkward exposition, as in "Gee, my time of departure exactly coincides with the moment you ask me about it!" or is this more passive aggression from Deanna, as in "My Delicate Genius will blow up at me if I tell him in so many words that he's running late, so I'll just ask him as if I have no idea myself when he should leave."?
Panel 2: Whaaaaaaaaa? Actual affection between these two? Did the artist forget s/he was drawing the Patterson Redux instead of Liz and Paul? Robin seems to be quite the little voyeur, and we get another Paging Dr. Freud moment, this time from Merrie.
Panel 3: Well, butter my ass and call me a corncob. For once, Mike doesn't brush Merrie off like a fly. She seems quite a bit larger than she was just a panel ago, too.
Panel 4: Ooh. In another era, I would think that the facial expressions in this panel are foreshadowing. Probably just another overenthusiastic artist, though, and another lame pun.