The Human shield effect....

As howtheduck pointed out today, Elly brought Connie with her not as a source of moral support but as a distraction. The Pattersons, after all, maintain their 'happiness' and 'contentment' with the world by refusing to hear bad news from other people. Remember last Friday when Liz ordered April not to make her feel bad about her thoughtless, selfish act. The unwary might assume that Liz is trying to get her kid sister to focus on something really important but, as we know, she really wants to avoid having to feel something other than self-pity. It's the same thing with Elly's need not to hear about what's wrong; she doesn't want to hear about someone's real problems because they tend to remind her how far-fetched and pointless the things she worries abut really are. To stiff-arm the realization she's wasting her time obsessing about non-events, she brought her crony with her tosteer the conversation away from boring things like her father's physical (and her victim's emotional) health. This is why Liz wants to keep the drama with Anthony going on as long as possible; it keeps her from discussing what really matters.