(Strip Number 4897, Original Publication Date, 27 November 1987)
Panel 1: As they leave the pub, Ted tells John to tell Elly that something came up so he can introduce him to a woman he thinks of as a spicy dish because he's bad and we should kill him for thinking of women as playthings.
Panel 2: Rather than point out that if he were to try anything like that, Elly would murder his ass, John tries futilely to save his moron buddy from himself by pointing out that Irene ain't gonna like his messing around. Ted tempts fate like the bad man who is bad that he is by playing the 'who, me?' card.
Panel 3: When John tells him that Irene's gotta suspect he's playing her for a sucker, Ted says that he can handle suspicion.
Panel 4: When he says that the trick is keeping them off balance and never letting them know for sure, John is gobsmacked.
Summary: Right here is Ted's major malfunction: his inability to quite understand that women aren't as stupid as he'd like them to be. He doesn't see a person with feelings when he looks at a woman and it keeps on ruining his life because he's a fucking moron who kind of deserves to be the joke character he winds up becoming.
