I have to say that Marten has been written like a gentle 80-year old man for a very long time, and I wasn't exactly surprised when his ideal life sounded like a retiree's. But now he's back in a situation where he has to show some backbone and call a-holes a-holes, making him young again!

But yes, it's weird that people think he needs to be prodded. It's one thing to need purpose, but it's a completely different one to need drama. Faye has purpose, because she's recovering from alcoholism and suicidal tendencies. Bubbles has purpose, because she's recovering from robo-PTSD and social isolation. They both have purpose, because lots of people helped them out, like Dora, Marten, Yay, and probably more, which allowed them to become small business owners, aka America's most respected people. Now they can have the purpose of making their relationship work while they enlarge their operation.

So, what should Marten aim for, given he already has mental stability, a job, personal interests, friends, and a girlfriend? Money? Since when does anyone in this comic care about that? A socially prestigious position? Again, who cares?

This "aboulic Marten" thing immediately struck me as unorganic, when it came up a long time ago. Fundamentally, the plot had relied on Marten's pushoverism to progress, but now it assumed that it was a problem Marten had, without coming up with alternative, positive behaviours capable of advancing the plot.

One could also say that it isn't a plot thing, it's a character thing, and maybe that's the best way of understanding it: Faye has a lot of things on her mind and automatically assumes everyone's life should be as hers, so she's more or less pitching self-employment. It's never explicitly stated, but it's a situation that can happen. But what about Pintsize? I have no idea of why he would think those things. If someone is aimless, that's him.

Elliot did have a lesson for Marten, and he gave it to him without too much trouble. It made sense. It was quick and poignant. And it was due to Marten being a doofus in a way that insulted him.