..... Heh. Yeah, this is what the entire chapter was building up to. ^^
The kids really ARE clueless as to how to fix their situation. We've had Jake's incarceration in mind for a good while; and I had actually intentionally been writing them to be MORE dependent on him to fix their problems (One reader actually wrote me saying he thought it'd be interesting to see what would happen if Jake weren't around long before the MM arc was over). In particular, look at how he handled MM trying to arrest the lot of them by spinning the concept back at him. That's the sort of "We need a grown-up" niche he filled. This entire chapter has been them trying to find another grown-up to fill it and learning there isn't one.
One of the biggest appeals on Spencer is every time he shows up, he plays the Jerk Has A Point trope to its fullest extent. He's always giving some super-cynical, super-biting bit of insight to the kids that's entirely right and you can't quite argue with. The difference there is that usually Jake is around to soften the blow; now not so much.
If you're curious why Jake didn't accept Spencer's bail, he knew it would've involved, bare minimum, being asked for a favor down the line, or it being paid for with highly-suspicious funds, or some other ridiculous string Spencer had attached for no other reason than his own amusement.
It's been a bit of a hard rule that we do not "See" Jake while he's in jail. Hence why for the cameo we only see his arm about to hang up on Spencer. If not for that rule he would've been fully visible, listening to Spencer talk with a serious "I don't care" look on his face. Would've made for a good image. ^^
Funny enough for being the big centerpiece of the chapter that everything was building up to, this page went through a couple of drafts - Adam wrote the initial version of it while feeling tired and we both agreed it was kind of missing a spark. Got some revision after the fact as a result, offhand the, "good Jewish girl," line which I threw out as a suggestion.
But yeah, an idea throughout this whole chapter is how the kids have really just been looking for someone who will solve their problems for them rather than taking direct initiative - skilled as they are, they are still amateurs and without Jake they're for the first time really having to think about what they're doing and learn how to play the game.
Think Spencer works pretty well for giving them a much-needed pep-talk / browbeating on that subject. Basically been an idea in mind for this arc for years now to have him play this sort of role in it.
Pretty much, yeah. What I like is it's probably equal parts knowing Spencer would make the situation somehow worse, and half just because he doesn't like the guy.
While Spencer does have a point about their dependence on Jake, I fully expect one free punch after all this is said and done. Not sure by who, but my bets are Val or Jake himself.
The kids really ARE clueless as to how to fix their situation. We've had Jake's incarceration in mind for a good while; and I had actually intentionally been writing them to be MORE dependent on him to fix their problems (One reader actually wrote me saying he thought it'd be interesting to see what would happen if Jake weren't around long before the MM arc was over). In particular, look at how he handled MM trying to arrest the lot of them by spinning the concept back at him. That's the sort of "We need a grown-up" niche he filled. This entire chapter has been them trying to find another grown-up to fill it and learning there isn't one.
One of the biggest appeals on Spencer is every time he shows up, he plays the Jerk Has A Point trope to its fullest extent. He's always giving some super-cynical, super-biting bit of insight to the kids that's entirely right and you can't quite argue with. The difference there is that usually Jake is around to soften the blow; now not so much.
If you're curious why Jake didn't accept Spencer's bail, he knew it would've involved, bare minimum, being asked for a favor down the line, or it being paid for with highly-suspicious funds, or some other ridiculous string Spencer had attached for no other reason than his own amusement.
It's been a bit of a hard rule that we do not "See" Jake while he's in jail. Hence why for the cameo we only see his arm about to hang up on Spencer. If not for that rule he would've been fully visible, listening to Spencer talk with a serious "I don't care" look on his face. Would've made for a good image. ^^