S02.E08: Lanford, Toilet of Sin

[iMonrey]

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Next time Jackie has a nightmare, maybe it should be about an Andy who never was.  Though I did laugh at the zombie Bevs. (I doubt I would have if I hadn't known they were coming.) 

That's another thing about Bev. I was willing to assume the reason she hasn't been an active part of this situation is because Estelle Parsons just wasn't available, but lo and behold, she turns up in this episode, in a dream sequence. It's just odd that she's at the center of this family crisis and largely absent.

[tessaray]

33 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

That's another thing about Bev. I was willing to assume the reason she hasn't been an active part of this situation is because Estelle Parsons just wasn't available, but lo and behold, she turns up in this episode, in a dream sequence. It's just odd that she's at the center of this family crisis and largely absent.

It's the kind of scene that could easily be filmed out of order to accommodate EP's schedule? I only make that guess because the sarcastic note sounds like something that would have made a great line in person.   

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

A local restaurant (which was terrible, and this is an area where great independent restaurants abound) recently closed its doors after nearly 40 years, and people were all upset about it on social media, but increasing rent wasn't the only reason for the closure - the other half was declining sales.  Not all these folks who go on and on about the family establishment and oh how sad that it's closing actually eat there regularly to keep it open, and people being attached to a local joint isn't enough to keep it in business.

Add in the fact many people in Lanford know the Conners, and know about Roseanne's death, and it stands to reason Dan's sentiment about local folks wanting to see someone get a win would be brought out in this situation.  The Lunch Box probably lasted there longer than anything else that's come and gone since, so people get all nostalgic upon reading that newspaper article and try to help.  Whether that will translate to being a regular customer (those who can afford to in the first place) once it's reopened is quite the open question, though.

Well, I hope they all really like stew. I still think they're being stupid.

[CrystalBlue]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

That's another thing about Bev. I was willing to assume the reason she hasn't been an active part of this situation is because Estelle Parsons just wasn't available, but lo and behold, she turns up in this episode, in a dream sequence. It's just odd that she's at the center of this family crisis and largely absent.

Ms. Parsons is elderly and already has a full schedule.  Bless her to keep on truckin'!

[peacheslatour]

Why are some posts showing up in such large type?

[tessaray]

19 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Well, I hope they all really like stew. I still think they're being stupid.

Opening a restaurant - or any small business - is almost always a stupid idea even when all the stars (and finances) align but bless the folks that still go for it.  

As for the large type thing, I think I saw it mentioned as a bug somewhere. 

[iMonrey]

I'm not sure they're sticking with the stew idea. The ending of this episode suggested the town was coming together to bring back The Lunchbox, and we even saw the old sign out front. I assume the plan now is to revive the original menu. At least I hope so. I'd like to think the stew thing was nothing but a joke. That's about the dumbest idea I can think of.

[Bastet]

I thought they'd abandoned the stew idea, because they said something about Lanford's first wood-fired pizza oven.  But then later stew was mentioned.  (I'm still going off memories of Tuesday's haphazard viewing, as I'm not home yet to re-watch with full attention.)  So I guess they're going for a more diversified menu.  Either that or they still have no idea what they're doing.  On this show, it could go either way.

[BeachDays]

Yeah I’m thinking just a diner-  have a little of everything. 

[bunnyblue]

On 11/30/2019 at 9:42 AM, Bastet said:

So I guess they're going for a more diversified menu.  Either that or they still have no idea what they're doing. 

On 11/30/2019 at 11:21 AM, BeachDays said:

Yeah I’m thinking just a diner-  have a little of everything. 

Which sounds like a recipe for failure. If Gordon Ramsay has taught me anything, it's that restaurants with big menus are terrible. You can't possibly make every item on the menu "to order" if you've got 50 things on that menu. The food will end up being frozen and microwaved. I do hope the show clarifies what type of food the Lunch Box 2.0 will be selling; because so far we've got stew and pizza, which seems like an odd combo.

[peacheslatour]

19 minutes ago, bunnyblue said:

Which sounds like a recipe for failure. If Gordon Ramsay has taught me anything, it's that restaurants with big menus are terrible. You can't possibly make every item on the menu "to order" if you've got 50 things on that menu. The food will end up being frozen and microwaved. I do hope the show clarifies what type of food the Lunch Box 2.0 will be selling; because so far we've got stew and pizza, which seems like an odd combo.

The original Lunch Box served loose meat sandwiches, chips (in bags), soda (in cans!) and pie. That's it. That's how they made it work. If these two cooking neophytes want to open a restaurant they should keep it as simple as possible. Stew would be a start, then they could maybe make chili and sandwiches. And the pie can be provided by a local bakery.

[jewel21]

When Jackie was dreaming and said she wanted to re-open The Lunchbox because that's when she was at her happiest, and admitted that she was being selfish, I was hoping she would wake up, come to her senses, and tell Darlene to keep Bev's money for everyone's inheritance. Instead, the town showed up begging her to re-open The Lunchbox and I was so disappointed. I still am. Just because she was happy back then doesn't mean that re-opening a restaurant will make her happy again. Things were different then, she was working with her friends, and Roseanne was alive. I think Jackie may end up learning the hard way that revisiting your past doesn't guarantee happiness. 

[readster]

9 hours ago, jewel21 said:

When Jackie was dreaming and said she wanted to re-open The Lunchbox because that's when she was at her happiest, and admitted that she was being selfish, I was hoping she would wake up, come to her senses, and tell Darlene to keep Bev's money for everyone's inheritance. Instead, the town showed up begging her to re-open The Lunchbox and I was so disappointed. I still am. Just because she was happy back then doesn't mean that re-opening a restaurant will make her happy again. Things were different then, she was working with her friends, and Roseanne was alive. I think Jackie may end up learning the hard way that revisiting your past doesn't guarantee happiness. 

Yeah, well you would also think that Dan would have figured out after the Bike Shop went out of business and he had the City Job. He SHOULD have stayed there instead of quitting to go help Chuck with the prison job just because: "It will be a bigger paycheck!" When he had benefits and retirement all set up and was doing great there. 

[qtpye]

If Dan kept the city job, it is likely that he could have been retired rather than still living paycheck to paycheck in his later years.

I think TV magic is going to make the restaurant a success but it really is a stupid idea and in reality Jackie will probably lose everything she has.

I wonder what happened to Jackie's house? I hope she made a tidy profit selling it but in an economically depressed community, it seems highly unlikely.

[peacheslatour]

3 hours ago, readster said:

Yeah, well you would also think that Dan would have figured out after the Bike Shop went out of business and he had the City Job. He SHOULD have stayed there instead of quitting to go help Chuck with the prison job just because: "It will be a bigger paycheck!" When he had benefits and retirement all set up and was doing great there. 

Especially since all he ever did was bitch and moan about how much he hated dry walling.

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Just because she was happy back then doesn't mean that re-opening a restaurant will make her happy again. 

I think Thomas Wolfe said it best.

[iMonrey]

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I find it funny that people don’t bat an eyelash that Dan is alive and well in this reboot, but can’t fathom that Andy doesn’t exist! 

Dan's "death" only happened in that weird final episode that made the bulk of the series a fictional novel Roseanne was writing. It also made Becky married to David and Darlene married to Mark. The existence of Andy, on the other hand, was well established for several seasons and featured in a number of prominent story arcs. 

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Yeah, well you would also think that Dan would have figured out after the Bike Shop went out of business and he had the City Job. He SHOULD have stayed there instead of quitting to go help Chuck with the prison job

This may be something else that has been retconned. That prison job only happened in the last or second to last season too. 

From the start of the first reboot I've gotten the distinct impression the show retconned much of the series post Season 3 or so, because nobody ever got a leg up and everyone was still basically struggling to get by working menial blue collar jobs. They never mentioned the Lunch Box either until just recently, so they are picking and choosing which plot points from Roseanne are still canon. 

[Angeltoes]

On 12/1/2019 at 4:24 PM, bunnyblue said:

You can't possibly make every item on the menu "to order" if you've got 50 things on that menu. The food will end up being frozen and microwaved.

I'm still keeping the Cheesecake Factory on my bucket list.

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, Angeltoes said:

I'm still keeping the Cheesecake Factory on my bucket list.

I worked with a guy who was training to work there and had a menu he was studying. It was HUGE and he told me they make very little of what they serve there on the premises.

[Yeah No]

On 11/27/2019 at 10:15 AM, joanne3482 said:

The mold is Bev's issue. She is the owner of the building. Had she rented it out and the franchise found the mold she would have had to fix it or else I presume the franchise could have gotten out of their lease. I would think a building being unusable would be a lease-breaker. 

What I don't understand is that any time a business that handles food opens an inspection is done to make sure that it complies with all food safety laws, etc. and mold on the premises would definitely be a reason for it not to pass.  So it's not only a lease-breaker but an opening-breaker no matter who runs the place.

On 11/27/2019 at 11:39 PM, Lili said:

I don't think Darlene should have been arrested. She was only trying to look after Harris. So what if she was yelling for her on the streets? If your kid is ignoring you, and you have no other way of reaching them, chances are, you would do the same thing.

I actually didn't find her arrest all that realistic.  Well, I guess it depends on where you live.  Where I'm from (NYC) in many neighborhoods you could yell your brains out and never get arrested.  You could basically have a brass band out in the street at 2 a.m. and the cops wouldn't do a thing.  I'm guessing these kids probably live in a lower income neighborhood where an arrest for that kind of yelling would be highly unlikely.  I suppose the show writers might not realize stuff like that.

[joanne3482]

On 12/2/2019 at 8:09 AM, readster said:

Yeah, well you would also think that Dan would have figured out after the Bike Shop went out of business and he had the City Job. He SHOULD have stayed there instead of quitting to go help Chuck with the prison job just because: "It will be a bigger paycheck!" When he had benefits and retirement all set up and was doing great there. 

Plus cities are one of the few employers who still offer pensions with lifetime income in retirement. I work for a city and where I live city employment is still viewed as the cream of the crop option by the working class around me. 

[tessaray]

14 hours ago, Yeah No said:

What I don't understand is that any time a business that handles food opens an inspection is done to make sure that it complies with all food safety laws, etc. and mold on the premises would definitely be a reason for it not to pass.  So it's not only a lease-breaker but an opening-breaker no matter who runs the place.

They didn't find the mold until Dan knocked down a concrete wall. Which explains why they never caught it before. But the odds of mold being contained in that one small area seem remote, so it still is unrealistic. 

With the building being Bev's only asset, I guess Jackie had to decide between fixing it herself or losing the Lunchbox location forever. Because Bev would eventually lose the building if she didn't have the revenue from rents for taxes and maintenance.

[bobalina]

Do we know the building is Bev's only asset?

[CandysWrapRoom]

On 12/2/2019 at 9:09 AM, readster said:

Yeah, well you would also think that Dan would have figured out after the Bike Shop went out of business and he had the City Job. He SHOULD have stayed there instead of quitting to go help Chuck with the prison job just because: "It will be a bigger paycheck!" When he had benefits and retirement all set up and was doing great there. 

I have the equivalent of Dan's "city job" with benefits and retirement and it is a daily struggle not to walk away from the absolute meaningless mindless drudgery that is 40 hours of my week for something that I don't hate for less money. I get it.

[tessaray]

2 hours ago, bobalina said:

Do we know the building is Bev's only asset?

No. But it was implied when she said that it was the family's inheritance on the line.  Well, the note was a bit snarkier.  But I think Darlene said essentially the same thing when she didn't want to let Jackie and Becky have it.  I've deleted the episodes from my dvr so that's my imperfect recollection. 

ETA:  I'm sure the writers could always come up with some Microsoft or Google stock certificates in the family Bible if necessary.

[Chaos Theory]

I know people don’t like her but I think the show retconned much of Darlene’s history as well.    She has some form of higher education so even in Lanford she shouldn’t be trolling for minimum wage jobs.   But then if she succeeded and was able to take care of her kids where would this show be?  

[Pallas]

The episode topic is not a catch-all. There is a Small Talk topic for discussions not related to the show itself; a few recent posts have been moved from here to there. If your post is not about the episode, please find another topic for it. 

[Phoebe70]

Let’s hope they don’t revive the “loose meat sandwich” on the menu. I always thought it sounded and looked disgusting.  No wonder it went out of business. If I wanted a bag of chips and a can of pop I’d head to a vending machine, not a restaurant. Roseanne always had an attitude and couldn’t care less about cleanliness. Who knows how long that meat sat out?  I’m sure the place had multiple health code violations. I wasn’t shocked when it went under. 

[Sile]

So far, the public help has netted them a box of random tablecloths found while cleaning out grandma's linen closet, a sketchy looking jukebox that was taking up space in somebody's garage and is now taking up valuable floor space and a crockpot that a woman has been trying to get rid of since the 70s.

Whew, all of our obstacles have been overcome. Now let's open this restaurant and dish up some stew!

[Browncoat]

A decrepit jukebox and a crock pot will not remediate mold.