S03.E05: Friends in High Places and Horse Surgery

[Pallas]

Darlene's friendship with a manager at Wellman Plastics lands her in an awkward situation; Louise's brother tries to win over Jackie by making a thoughtful gesture. Because that's what Jackie knows.

[peacheslatour]

43 minutes ago, Pallas said:

Darlene's friendship with a manager at Wellman Plastics lands her in an awkward situation; Louise's brother tries to win over Jackie by making a thoughtful gesture. Because that's what Jackie knows.

Sounds like Jackie and Booker all over again.

[Annber03]

Darlene was in the right on this one. I get Becky misses her daughter, but like Darlene said, she can pop in and say hi during breaks, and maybe whoever's watching Beverly can give text updates throughout the day that Becky can check in on when she's at break as well, so she knows all's okay. 

I like Darlene and Robin's interaction as well. I'd be interested to see more of them working together, and her showing Darlene the ropes. 

Also glad that Jackie was able to sort things out with Neville and he's good with them being friends. 

[ShortyMac]

Just now, Annber03 said:

Darlene was in the right on this one. I get Becky misses her daughter, but like Darlene said, she can pop in and say hi during breaks, and maybe whoever's watching Beverly can give text updates throughout the day that Becky can check in on when she's at break as well, so she knows all's okay. 

I agree, and maybe Becky can join a mom/parenting group, and maybe she's dealing with postpartum stuff. 

[Annber03]

1 minute ago, ShortyMac said:

I agree, and maybe Becky can join a mom/parenting group, and maybe she's dealing with postpartum stuff. 

That's a good point. Certainly would explain a few things. I do think deep down she knows Darlene and Robin are in the right here, but yeah, when you're dealing with other stresses, sometimes it's hard to see that as clearly. 

[ams1001]

I kinda hated this episode.

Darlene whining about not being able to have kids...um...did you forget you've already had two?

What kind of assignment is "ask your parents where your family was during the Revolutionary War"? Why is that something today's kids' parents would be likely to know? (Especially if they are members of certain groups, or more recent immigrants. Is there so little diversity in Lanford that it doesn't occur to a teacher that such a question is kind of stupid to ask of a lot of kids?) People spend years doing that kind of research on their ancestors.

Sorry, but screaming Jackie is not the least bit entertaining, and why the hell would this guy want to keep pursuing her, anyway?

And Louise? Your brother should learn to take no for an answer; Jackie shouldn't need to tell him she's a dying lesbian to get him to stop. You should be having that little heart-to-heart with him, not her.

And Becky? You're at work. Facetime your kid on your break. She's not going to forget who you are in nine hours. "I'm a mom" isn't an excuse to slack off your job and then get mad when your boss notices and does something about it.

What kind of vet does surgery on a horse with no assistants in the room...and then puts random visitors to work helping?

 

[Annber03]

2 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

Darlene whining about not being able to have kids...um...did you forget you've already had two?

What kind of assignment is "ask your parents where your family was during the Revolutionary War"? Why is that something today's kids' parents would be likely to know? (Especially if they are members of certain groups, or more recent immigrants. Is there so little diversity in Lanford that it doesn't occur to a teacher that such a question is kind of stupid to ask of a lot of kids?) People spend years doing that kind of research on their ancestors.

I was thinking the same thing when Darlene was talking about that, too, yeah.

And given some of the ridiculous/bizarre questions and projects I've heard about some schools giving students in recent years, I could see this school doing something similar. Best case scenario, they knew the kids' parents might not be able to answer the question directly, but wanted the kids to use this as an opportunity to exercise their own research skills and utilize the genealogy websites that exist out there nowadays. 

[Chaos Theory]

I liked the fight because both Becky and Darlene had valid points.   Darlene would probably not even have the job if it wasn’t for Becky and regardless you backup family even when they are wrong.   Darlene on The other hand was right that Becky shouldn’t have been goofing off even to see her daughter  and  that she could have gotten far worse then docked pay.

Mark at the end was funny.   Did all the ancestors pictures look like Dan?

[SoMuchTV]

21 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

I kinda hated this episode.

Darlene whining about not being able to have kids...um...did you forget you've already had two?

What kind of assignment is "ask your parents where your family was during the Revolutionary War"? Why is that something today's kids' parents would be likely to know? (Especially if they are members of certain groups, or more recent immigrants. Is there so little diversity in Lanford that it doesn't occur to a teacher that such a question is kind of stupid to ask of a lot of kids?) People spend years doing that kind of research on their ancestors.

Sorry, but screaming Jackie is not the least bit entertaining, and why the hell would this guy want to keep pursuing her, anyway?

And Louise? Your brother should learn to take no for an answer; Jackie shouldn't need to tell him she's a dying lesbian to get him to stop. You should be having that little heart-to-heart with him, not her.

And Becky? You're at work. Facetime your kid on your break. She's not going to forget who you are in nine hours. "I'm a mom" isn't an excuse to slack off your job and then get mad when your boss notices and does something about it.

What kind of vet does surgery on a horse with no assistants in the room...and then puts random visitors to work helping?

 

I kinda didn’t hate it but I really can’t disagree with anything else in your post!

[ams1001]

  

3 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

And given some of the ridiculous/bizarre questions and projects I've heard about some schools giving students in recent years, I could see this school doing something similar. Best case scenario, they knew the kids' parents might not be able to answer the question directly, but wanted the kids to use this as an opportunity to exercise their own research skills and utilize the genealogy websites that exist out there nowadays. 

True, I'm sure there are such teachers out there. But if they want to do a genealogy assignment...then just give them a genealogy assignment.... Why tell them to ask their parents? (If they were doing an assignment on their parents' personal history, that'd be different. But ancestors from 200+ years ago? I know a bit about my paternal grandfather's family, because my dad has his grandparents' marriage certificate and some immigration paperwork from the early 1900s, and that's about it.) (I'm overthinking this, I know.)

5 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

Darlene would probably not even have the job if it wasn’t for Becky and regardless you backup family even when they are wrong.

I agree with the first part but Becky still shouldn't expect Darlene to let her get away with things just because she's her sister (assuming she becomes a manager; she might have given her opinion on what she'd do but she wouldn't have been the one who actually wrote her up at this point). If she does it makes Darlene look bad at work and that isn't fair to her.

[Chaos Theory]

Not a teacher myself but I come from a family of them and with all the at home learning a lot of teachers are trying to get families more involved so “ask mom and dad to tell you about your family history” is something I believe might actually happen.    It gets parents involved and maybe even has kids like Mark get more involved looking deeper into the history because of the stories.    And it might not be politically correct but my guess is if one of the kids is an immigrant the assignment would be changed mildly to where they might have been during that particular period of time.  

[SoMuchTV]

1 hour ago, Chaos Theory said:

 And it might not be politically correct but my guess is if one of the kids is an immigrant the assignment would be changed mildly to where they might have been during that particular period of time.  

I know it’s just an excuse to show those sketches as a punchline, but I really don’t like that kind of assignment. Not just immigrants - I’d wager the majority of people here today couldn’t trace their ancestry back to the revolutionary war. 
 

ETA - one of my kids had a “family tree” assignment in high school. The whole idea bugged me. Let’s just say parts of it were exercises in creative writing. 

Edited November 26, 2020 by SoMuchTV

[hoodooznoodooz]

I liked: These fish sticks are delicious.

[Bastet]

Jeez, more with numerous characters not wearing masks when they should be.

Neville's refusal to take Jackie's no for an answer was bad last week, and worse this week.  Louise can miss me with her lecture; Jackie is not obligated to return his feelings.  Maybe go lecture your brother about not respecting women's "I'm not interested" instead.  (Not to mention, don't just walk into people's houses.)

Oh, shut up, Darlene, about Becky simply saying she's going to take the baby for a walk being a cruel reminder you can't have any more. 

And shut up, Becky, with your parental entitlement.  You have breaks and lunch hours just like everyone else to handle personal stuff.  Forty five minutes of work time per day on your damn phone?!

I like Robin.  When I first read about a new recurring character, I wasn't interested since the cast is already so large, but when I saw it would be

Spoiler

a transgender character played by a transgender actor

I changed my tune.  And now that we've met her, I'm even more on board.

I like Darlene trying to kiss up, but also genuinely enjoying that getting the stink of management on her would keep the other workers away from her.  Inviting her over for fish sticks made me laugh.  As did Robin's "One more game of Clue with my husband, it's going to be me in the bathroom with a candlestick".

These tone deaf school assignments still happen, so as annoying as that was, it was realistic.  And Grandma Bev being part of the Spanish Inquisition was funny, as was the tag with all the Dans.

Becky and Darlene imitating each other and Harris going back and forth between finding it fun and mean also made me laugh.

[Annber03]

3 minutes ago, Bastet said:

As did Robin's "One more game of Clue with my husband, it's going to be me in the bathroom with a candlestick"

I liked that line, too :D. 

I also loved the end, when Dan and Louse came out upon hearing Darlene and Becky's argument, and they had this teasing exchange:

Louise: "Lot of drama in this house lately."

Dan: "I think it's you. Before you got here, things were a lot more quiet." 

[Bastet]

37 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

I also loved the end, when Dan and Louse came out upon hearing Darlene and Becky's argument, and they had this teasing exchange:

Louise: "Lot of drama in this house lately."

Dan: "I think it's you. Before you got here, things were a lot more quiet."

Yeah, that was good; she rolls with the craziness of this family and its overstuffed house very well.  I'll just assume she's spending plenty of peaceful and quiet time at her place in between episodes.

[Marley]

Why would Darlene care that much about having a baby. So stupid. She knows she has 2 right? The baby storyline is going on too long for me. Also Darlene is just so miserable I thought she was like at least 50 anyways so didn’t know why she thought she had a chance to have a baby. I know she’s not that old but she bugs me.

Becky is wrong. You can’t just FaceTime your kid all day.  

[bybrandy]

4 hours ago, ams1001 said:

What kind of assignment is "ask your parents where your family was during the Revolutionary War"? Why is that something today's kids' parents would be likely to know? (Especially if they are members of certain groups, or more recent immigrants. Is there so little diversity in Lanford that it doesn't occur to a teacher that such a question is kind of stupid to ask of a lot of kids?) People spend years doing that kind of research on their ancestors.

Yeah, I thought that was weird.  My first answer was, "Um... Finland?"   Except, that is only one branch and my dad totally had relatives who were int he revolutionary war.   But... still... I mean for a large swath of students the answer is going to be, "huh?  I don't know."

I liked the clue joke, too.  But Clue is a three player game.   

[Bastet]

1 minute ago, bybrandy said:

I liked the clue joke, too.  But Clue is a three player game. 

That's one of the things that endeared her to me, that she came up with that joke off the cuff, not at all knowing her audience and thus picking a reference most people know (even if they've never played themselves, because of its many pop culture mentions) to represent whatever she and her husband have been doing to pass the time.

But, yeah, if the writers don't know the game requires at least three players and didn't intend it to be a joke, but really thought she and her husband were sitting around playing Clue, I guess I'd be giving too much credit.

[Arcadiasw]

43 minutes ago, Marley said:

Why would Darlene care that much about having a baby. So stupid. She knows she has 2 right? The baby storyline is going on too long for me. Also Darlene is just so miserable I thought she was like at least 50 anyways so didn’t know why she thought she had a chance to have a baby. I know she’s not that old but she bugs me.

Becky is wrong. You can’t just FaceTime your kid all day.  

Maybe she's worried she can't keep Ben if she doesn't have a baby? 🤷‍♀️

[Yeah No]

Yeah, I hate parental entitlement in the workplace.  I wish the show had brought up the angle of how Becky's slack was being picked up by other employees who may wish they could spend company time checking in on their kids but choose instead to follow the rules.  And it goes without saying that it's very wrong of her to expect her sister to side with her and use her sway with management to in effect give her special privileges over other employees.  

What I'm not buying is that management would be so impressed with Darlene.  It usually doesn't work that way in such work environments.  Over qualified employees are usually looked upon suspiciously, like "What's wrong with you that you couldn't get a better job?"  It's usually looked upon as a mark against you if you haven't found your way to management by Darlene's age.  You'd be looked upon as just a pathetic loser, sorry, but that's the truth.  It's just yet another example of this show not realizing how the world works at this level.

2 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

I know it’s just an excuse to show those sketches as a punchline, but I really don’t like that kind of assignment. Not just immigrants - I’d wager the majority of people here today couldn’t trace their ancestry back to the revolutionary war. 

That's what I thought at one time, but after doing my genealogy online I found out just how easy it is for many Americans to descend from revolutionary times.  If you have ancestry on any one single branch of your tree that goes back in this country that far, it's probably pretty likely that you descend from someone that lived during revolutionary times.  When you get back that many generations there are literally hundreds of branches on your tree, and it only takes one.  Even if most of your family came from a completely different part of the world, there has been a lot of intermarriage.  My own husband never thought he'd have revolutionary roots given that his father came here in 1950 from Ireland and his mother's most recent relatives came here in the 1800s.  But I told him that those people married people when they got here and back in the 1800s it was more likely to match up with someone that may have roots in this country back that far.  And lo and behold I was right.  Growing up I heard stories from my Dad that his mother's side descended from the revolution but I thought it was all a fairy tale.  Then doing online research I found out it was true.  And I'm half Sicilian and also part Jewish, German and French, so it only takes one little thread to get you there.  This country is unique in that for several generations the only people here were all descended from the first settlers and they tended to reproduce with each other rapidly with many children.  Lots of them fought in the revolution or at least lived here during those times.  Then they migrated West and took their genealogy with them.  So it's actually more likely than people think to be descended from the Revolution no matter their race or ethnic background or even what part of the country they're from. 

But it's another matter to actually be able to TRACE those roots and most people wouldn't be able to do that for any number of reasons, like there not being enough evidence or records to find it, or not having the means or opportunity to find it in terms of money and time.  So yeah, asking kids that question is a little too advanced for most people - but this may actually be the kind of stuff kids get asked these days.  Who can actually find that information without doing a lot of work?  In many cases it's like finding a needle in a haystack.  My Sicilian family would have to say, "Living in a fishing village in Southeastern Sicily".  I only know that from belonging to Ancestry.com and being able to take advantage of the work of a cousin who went there to do our genealogy and posted it online.  But for most people even that would only be a conjecture.  I LOLed at the humorous way the show handled this.  It felt to me like they were actually making fun of the assignment, and I don't blame them.

[Bastet]

2 minutes ago, Arcadiasw said:

Maybe she's worried she can't keep Ben if she doesn't have a baby? 🤷‍♀️

One of the many things that annoys me about this damn baby storyline that won't die is that's exactly how it started - Ben wanted a baby, she didn't, but she worried he couldn't be happy long term without one.  Having a kid to keep a man?!  And then somewhere along the line, they stupidly morphed it into her wanting one just as much as he did.  The sooner I stop hearing about Darlene's reproductive system, the better.

[Marley]

I’ve never understood why Ben wanted to be with Darlene anyways. She’s a miserable killjoy who cheated on him. He could do way better.

[Caseysgirl]

I’m not really enjoying this show at all. I remember Dan as being a bit more charming on the old show - now he’s a surly curmudgeon who somehow has attracted someone way over his pay grade. I never liked Darlene, even as a young child, but as an adult she’s grumpy, arrogant and completely unlikeable. Becky seems to have lost all of her charm and brains.  But the worst character change of all has been Jackie.  She’s so unlikeable and her hate for herself is just not enjoyable to watch. This may be an unpopular opinion but without Roseanne this show actually sucks.

[geauxaway]

1 hour ago, Marley said:

I’ve never understood why Ben wanted to be with Darlene anyways. She’s a miserable killjoy who cheated on him. He could do way better.

And I’m sorry to say she’s not pretty or sexy either.  I know that’s shallow but seriously.  Unemployed mom of a bitchy 18 year old and a preachy screechy needy whiny teen.  Ah no

[NoReally]

10 hours ago, ams1001 said:

And given some of the ridiculous/bizarre questions and projects I've heard about some schools giving students in recent years, I could see this school doing something similar.

This reminds me of an assignment we had in grade school: Tell the class what your parents did during World War II. And since all our parents were of that generation, the research part was fairly easy. When we started reporting there were the types of things you'd expect: My dad was in the army, my mom worked for the Red Cross, etc. (My mother actually worked in an airplane factory.)

Then one girl got up and explained that her father, a postwar Polish immigrant, had been conscripted into the German army "and had to kill Americans." That got a bit of a stunned reaction.

But I have to add that no one treated her any differently after that. I grew up in a neighborhood with a lot of recent immigrants, all of whom seemed to have unusual stories.

[readster]

7 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Yeah, I hate parental entitlement in the workplace.  I wish the show had brought up the angle of how Becky's slack was being picked up by other employees who may wish they could spend company time checking in on their kids but choose instead to follow the rules.  And it goes without saying that it's very wrong of her to expect her sister to side with her and use her sway with management to in effect give her special privileges over other employees.  

What I'm not buying is that management would be so impressed with Darlene.  It usually doesn't work that way in such work environments.  Over qualified employees are usually looked upon suspiciously, like "What's wrong with you that you couldn't get a better job?"  It's usually looked upon as a mark against you if you haven't found your way to management by Darlene's age.  You'd be looked upon as just a pathetic loser, sorry, but that's the truth.  It's just yet another example of this show not realizing how the world works at this level.

Sad to say, that happened with me. People who were just rotten or "Higher than thou" were given promotions over me and others who were more experienced and more qualified. Because they could be an "asshole" when we did everything, had great numbers, ect. Yet, who got the promotions? The people who shouldn't be and then take the power straight to their heads even if they can back up claims. Of course those people were quick to finally get a new job opportunity and then said: "Thanks for the extra money and letting me boss you around, but fuck you! I'm off to better things." Some things have no changed in 20 years. 

[Snow Apple]

I liked the manager. I was afraid they'd make her a villain as they usually do for bosses,  but she's just doing her job. She's willing to mentor employees. She didn't look down on the Connors and their fishsticks. 

I had a whole paragraph about Becky and Darlene but deleted it. I'm just weary of them and they draining to me.

[RunningMarket]

It's obvious that Becky slacks at work generally, not just when she's spending 45 (!!) minutes a day Facetiming her kid. There was the scene near the beginning where they were all late getting back to the floor. Millions of women manage to work all day with young children at home/daycare/school, etc. Becky is not special, nor does she deserve special treatment - especially given her work ethic.

[RunningMarket]

Just now, RocknRollZombie said:

I honestly feel like they butchered Becky’s work ethic, she did fine working at la casita bonita and the lunchbox. But now that they have her working at wellman’s she is the ‘lazy’ employee. 

And while people can obviously change, in the OG series, she was shown to be a dedicated and good student.

[hoodooznoodooz]

I was expecting Mark to say to Robin, “Who are you and why aren’t you wearing a mask?”

[readster]

59 minutes ago, RocknRollZombie said:

Yes exactly, there turning Becky into Jackie remember how Jackie was with Andy, yes I known people are tired of seeing Andy mentioned on here but I can see the parallels. 

Right and when Jackie you know had beliefs in a good job she loved. Balanced things out between personal and professional. Now, Becky is: "I have to talk to my ONE YEAR OLD daughter for 45 minutes." "Oh, but it's so tiring working my ass off and getting little pay." Who is this Becky? Same with Jackie, I can understand people act differently in their 60s than early 30s, but Jackie has lost her mind and her dedication to the Lunchbox, while understandable, is being a money pit for her. Same goes with Louise brother, the man is in his 50s, not 19 years old and to think he is a surgical vetentarian who would have dealt with a lot of: "Get over yourself." It makes him come off as an idiot. 

[iMonrey]

Quote

"I'm a mom" isn't an excuse to slack off your job and then get mad when your boss notices and does something about it.

Yeah don't get me started on people who think they deserve special privileges just because they reproduced. And then for Becky to rub it in about Darlene not being able to have a baby? That was a cheap shot.

I like Nat Faxon so I'm happy to see him on the show but he is 45 and Laurie Metcalf is 65. I'm not sure if the show is trying to play her as younger or if they are going to address the age gap. 

[Starchild]

17 hours ago, ams1001 said:

What kind of vet does surgery on a horse with no assistants in the room...and then puts random visitors to work helping?

It bugged me more that she took down her mask. Hey Jackie, horses can get infections too.

 

3 hours ago, hoodooznoodooz said:

I was expecting Mark to say to Robin, “Who are you and why aren’t you wearing a mask?”

I was a bit taken aback by how rude he was. It's out of character for him. So much so that I thought it must be going somewhere, but then they dropped it.

[MissLucas]

As a historian I would never give kids Marc's age such an assignment. The Revolutionary War is way too far away on the timeline. It's complicated to get to the right source material, some of these genealogy sites will rip you off - but reason number one is that you have no idea what you'll unearth. Which makes even asking about their grandparents tricky, the info might be still in living memory but anything bad will not be divulged and if it does, chances are that that will cause conflict. I know this is often played as a joke on tv but I've seen it IRL and it ain't pretty. 

I loathe the whole let's-be-friends thing when one side clearly wants more and the other side can't give more. You're fooling yourselves, stop it. Of course due to tv magic this might not end in tears.

Darlene was an idiot at the beginning and Becky was an idiot at the end. And now I need to check what a Bulldoodle looks like.

[txhorns79]

9 hours ago, RunningMarket said:

And while people can obviously change, in the OG series, she was shown to be a dedicated and good student.

In fairness, that was nearly 25-30 years ago.  She's been through a lot since that point in time.  It's also one of those things where Becky likely doesn't see the bigger picture, i.e. that all her time spent looking at the kid adds up to 45 minutes of time.  I was honestly a little surprised she was so openly hostile to her boss when her boss was having dinner in the house.  She keeps up that attitude and the only thing she's going to be getting in the future may be unemployment.     

[rmontro]

1 hour ago, MissLucas said:

As a historian I would never give kids Marc's age such an assignment. The Revolutionary War is way too far away on the timeline. It's complicated to get to the right source material,

That's what I was thinking.  How many people have even followed their family trees back that far?  And even if they have, how many have ancestors that were in the US at that time?  I know mine didn't get over here until around 1900.

Darlene was clever to ask the supervisor to mentor her, that can put her on the fast track to management.  I'd hate for her to not get the position after having to mess up her relationship with Becky, although I agree Becky was clearly in the wrong.  But it would look really strange to see Darlene succeeding at her job.

[Winston Wolfe]

Wow, this show has turned into a meandering train wreck. The writers appear to be randomly throwing stuff against the wall in the hopes that something, anything will stick. Looks like Rosie's going to get the last laugh. She may have issues (some of which are odious), but I can't imagine the show being this bad if Roseanne were still involved.

On 11/26/2020 at 12:33 AM, Bastet said:

Becky and Darlene imitating each other and Harris going back and forth between finding it fun and mean also made me laugh.

The sad part is each sibling was totally correct about the other. Darlene was an arrogant, depressing, self-obsessed killjoy back in the day and pretty much hasn't changed. Becky was always an average-looking blonde, but a least tried to be a decent person most of the time. Now even that trait seems to be ebbing.

19 hours ago, Starchild said:

23 hours ago, hoodooznoodooz said:

I was expecting Mark to say to Robin, “Who are you and why aren’t you wearing a mask?”

I was a bit taken aback by how rude he was. It's out of character for him. So much so that I thought it must be going somewhere, but then they dropped it.

Yeah, it's not like the family went out of their way to make Robin feel welcome. It was a bit uncomfortable to watch. Even the original recipe Conners made some effort to be cordial to guests.  How do these people have any friends?

Edited November 27, 2020 by Winston Wolfe

[readster]

7 hours ago, Winston Wolfe said:

Wow, this show has turned into a meandering train wreck. The writers appear to be randomly throwing stuff against the wall in the hopes that something, anything will stick. Looks like Rosie's going to get the last laugh. She may have issues (some of which are odious), but I can't imagine the show being this bad if Rosanne were still involved.

Yeah, it's not like the family went out of their way to make Robin feel welcome. It was a bit uncomfortable to watch. Even the original recipe Conners made some effort to be cordial to guests.  How do these people have any friends?

Even when Dan was joking about keeping his "scratching hand" under the table. I mean, Dan acts like he has never had people who are the "bosses" of the family over before. Another thing is, this super visor was like Booker. Professional, pointed things out, but also joked about things, because it's their job. There wasn't some under handed or two face look to this Wellman supervisor. Yet, they all acted like they were. Even Louise, should have been grabbing her brother and going: "You dumbass, you are pushing 50 and you keep acting like the 12 year old trying to draw a pretty picture for. Would you JUST MOVE ON!" Oh no it was: "Oh you have to spare his feelings and lie to get him to stop." WTF?

[MarthaEllisanne]

A few random observations: This family's work ethic has never been good - Roseanne's was the worst so no good examples for kids.  Becky playing the mommy-card in order to slack off at work - she deserves to be written up.  Funny twist with Darlene toeing the line in order to get a promotion when she previously demonstrated terrible work habits and was contemptuous of management. (I suspect she won't last in management.) Jackie's crazy train is getting really, really annoying. Finally, JACKIE PULLED DOWN HER MASK IN A ROOM WHERE AN ANIMAL WAS UNDERGOING SURGERY! COVID aside, that should be a no-no in any surgical situation.

[peacheslatour]

48 minutes ago, MarthaEllisanne said:

A few random observations: This family's work ethic has never been good - Roseanne's was the worst so no good examples for kids.  Becky playing the mommy-card in order to slack off at work - she deserves to be written up.  Funny twist with Darlene toeing the line in order to get a promotion when she previously demonstrated terrible work habits and was contemptuous of management. (I suspect she won't last in management.) Jackie's crazy train is getting really, really annoying. Finally, JACKIE PULLED DOWN HER MASK IN A ROOM WHERE AN ANIMAL WAS UNDERGOING SURGERY! COVID aside, that should be a no-no in any surgical situation.

I was a vet tech. I never once saw the vets wear a mask. I'm not anti mask in the least. Just relating my experience.

[CrystalBlue]

On 11/25/2020 at 7:01 PM, SoMuchTV said:

I kinda didn’t hate it but I really can’t disagree with anything else in your post!

Ditto.

[CrystalBlue]

On 11/25/2020 at 10:54 PM, Bastet said:

That's one of the things that endeared her to me, that she came up with that joke off the cuff, not at all knowing her audience and thus picking a reference most people know (even if they've never played themselves, because of its many pop culture mentions) to represent whatever she and her husband have been doing to pass the time.

But, yeah, if the writers don't know the game requires at least three players and didn't intend it to be a joke, but really thought she and her husband were sitting around playing Clue, I guess I'd be giving too much credit.

Could Mrs. and Mr. Robin had a Covid-free/negative-tested guest over to play the game?

On 11/25/2020 at 11:15 PM, Arcadiasw said:

Maybe she's worried she can't keep Ben if she doesn't have a baby? 🤷‍♀️

Bingo.

[rmontro]

16 hours ago, Winston Wolfe said:

The sad part is each sibling was totally correct about the other. Darlene was an arrogant, depressing, self-obsessed killjoy back in the day and pretty much hasn't changed. Becky was always an average-looking blonde, but a least tried to be a decent person most of the time. Now even that trait seems to be ebbing.

Yeah, it's not like the family went out of their way to make Robin feel welcome. It was a bit uncomfortable to watch. Even the original recipe Conners made some effort to be cordial to guests.  How do these people have any friends?

Good point.  A lot of the jokes now seem to be about what awful people they are, which is a trend in comedy these days.  On the older show, there was bad behavior, but there seemed to be more heart at the center of it.

Edited November 27, 2020 by rmontro

[CrystalBlue]

On 11/26/2020 at 8:14 AM, RunningMarket said:

It's obvious that Becky slacks at work generally, not just when she's spending 45 (!!) minutes a day Facetiming her kid. There was the scene near the beginning where they were all late getting back to the floor. Millions of women manage to work all day with young children at home/daycare/school, etc. Becky is not special, nor does she deserve special treatment - especially given her work ethic.

Plus she has an illegal alien stashed away in a diner's kitchen watching her baby.

[txhorns79]

7 hours ago, readster said:

She may have issues (some of which are odious), but I can't imagine the show being this bad if Rosanne were still involved.

Season 9 of Roseanne would argue against this thesis. 

 

7 hours ago, readster said:

Even Louise, should have been grabbing her brother and going: "You dumbass, you are pushing 50 and you keep acting like the 12 year old trying to draw a pretty picture for. Would you JUST MOVE ON!" Oh no it was: "Oh you have to spare his feelings and lie to get him to stop." WTF?

I find this whole storyline bizarre.  Even if you think Jackie is being a dipstick in how she is handling this guy, she's made it clear several times that she is not interested.  I don't get why that cannot be enough. 

[Irate Panda]

I’m really trying to get into this show and I don’t know if it’s because I’m comparing it Roseanne or it’s just depressing and at times convoluted.  First, I think the cast is too big for a 30 minute sitcom, where basically everyone except DJ is getting major storylines, yet I always think Darlene gets way too much time.  She just seems so irritating, I have no idea why Ben would even be around her and why was the Boss so shocked Becky lived with her Dad, but it somehow seemed ok for Darlene.  I hope they tone Jackie down.    

I know this is Sara Gilbert’s deal, but I really wish she was onscreen a lot less.  I’d also have preferred Becky getting into the apprentice program, but I’m not sure where they are going with the goofing off at work storyline. I’d like it more if Dan was the main focal point and the others were supporting players.  I also don’t think we need 4 working on 5 grandchildren thrown into the mix.  Darlene could have had one child (don’t care which one), Becky could have remained child-free, and I’m not sure why they bothered giving DJ a kid when they rarely give her or DJ anything of substance to do.   Also, please let one of these people get a job that pays enough so they can move out.  I’m waiting for Jackie to get evicted and move into the Conners’ dryer.

[iMonrey]

Quote

Finally, JACKIE PULLED DOWN HER MASK IN A ROOM WHERE AN ANIMAL WAS UNDERGOING SURGERY! COVID aside, that should be a no-no in any surgical situation.

The shows that are acknowledging the pandemic, rather than pretending it doesn't exist, are really struggling with the whole mask thing, In an ideal world they would be wearing those masks throughout entire scenes. But TV makers likely believe audiences want to see the actors' faces. Rightfully so, actually. Half of acting is in the facial expression. The compromise is to show the characters with masks which they tend to doff at some point in the scene so we can see their faces. It's the best compromise they can come up with. It doesn't bother me because I understand the dilemma they're facing. 

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, rmontro said:

Good point.  A lot of the jokes now seem to be about what awful people they are, which is a trend in comedy these days.  On the older show, there was bad behavior, but there seemed to be more heart at the center of it.

Not on Seinfeld. Their motto was "No hugging, no learning". They made no bones about what terrible people they were.

[rmontro]

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

The compromise is to show the characters with masks which they tend to doff at some point in the scene so we can see their faces. It's the best compromise they can come up with. It doesn't bother me because I understand the dilemma they're facing. 

My problem with the masks is that they are such a distraction.  Apparently they have to wear masks at work but they lower them around the neck when they go into the break room.  What's the point?  Doesn't the virus travel in the break room?  I know they have to take them off to eat, but it reminds me of my visit to a restaurant last week.  Everybody wears a mask for the two minutes it takes to get escorted to their table, then everybody takes them off.  I couldn't help but think how absurd the whole thing was.  

Anyway, I would have preferred they just pretend they weren't in a pandemic, like they're doing on The Good Doctor.  Because these half measures don't seem to be serving anyone well.  It's like they wear masks to virtue signal how careful they are, but then they don't use them well, so it just comes off badly.  I guess they want to include the pandemic so they can add an extra layer of misery that they seem to feed off of.

Edited November 28, 2020 by rmontro