Panel 2: Okay, so clearly, they've been here long enough to paint and decorate. When, though? When was the time lapse? And if there was one, why not cut to another story in between? And why are there UMLs behind Deanna's head? And why is she talking at the same time she's putting Robin in his crib? I just don't get how she and Mike act like their kids are stuffed animals, and carry on normal conversations at the same time that they're tucking them in bed.
Panel 3: Dunt dunt DUNNNN! Merrie playing with another car! And everyone is so tiny in the frame, in all but the first panel of today's strip. They look like the little toothpick people I did for my grade-4 scale model of an old West town---I finally attached a card that said, "Those pink things are PEOPLE!!" because that was the question I got over and over.
Panel 4: Oh joy. Another stairway for Merrie to fall down. Or wander down, and thence disappear.
Panel 5: Again with the spoken sound effects. It should be "[sniff]...Do you..." not "Sniff...Do you..." But hey, Melville recycles! So at least he cares about the overall environment, even if he's not particularly concerned with the Pattersons' personal environment.
Crimeny crumbcake. This really is the Golden Girls joke come to life. Remember, when one of the characters said she hadn't read one of the soap-opera strips (Mary Worth? Rex Morgan?) in thirty years? Another of the GGs began describing the current strip: "So it's later the same day..." At this rate, by 2007, when (IIRC) the strip is to end, Lovey will be composing her second written warning to the Seaweeds. And Merrie's cast will still be on.
ETA: Now, the question is, now that we know where the fire escape is, does that mean there'll be a fire? How far we have come since April of 1995 when the nation was collectively saying, "Oh please please please don't let her fall in the river!" and now there's just a core of snarkers saying, "Oh please please please let there be a fire, just to liven things up and have foreshadowing pay off!"