Jump to content

Type keyword(s) to search

S03.E16: A Fast Car, A Sudden Loss, and A Slow Decline


DanaK
  • Reply
  • Start Topic

Recommended Posts

19 hours ago, SassyCat said:

I wonder about how Molly wrote that letter and put in an envelope with the tickets for Darlene while she was dying. They said she started seizing and never recovered from them and died. Did she preemptively write that and put it in the envelope just incase she died before they left? She did seem to think she was going to live long enough to make that trip.

Its the little things i think about, lol.

That bothered me too, as did pretty much everything else about Molly's story. If someone is that close to death, as Molly's mom said they knew she was, they're generally in bed for a while and not running around pricing speakers. Also if Molly was going to do something generous as her last living act, you'd think it would have been for her parents or Charlotte and not the person she hadn't seen in 30 years. It would have been more believable if Molly had died suddenly in an accident or even if she had been sick but didn't know it, but they probably couldn't figure out a way to use that to create the tortured dilemma of what Darlene will do with the tickets.

  • Love 8
Link to comment
9 hours ago, fishcakes said:

That bothered me too, as did pretty much everything else about Molly's story. If someone is that close to death, as Molly's mom said they knew she was, they're generally in bed for a while and not running around pricing speakers. Also if Molly was going to do something generous as her last living act, you'd think it would have been for her parents or Charlotte and not the person she hadn't seen in 30 years. It would have been more believable if Molly had died suddenly in an accident or even if she had been sick but didn't know it, but they probably couldn't figure out a way to use that to create the tortured dilemma of what Darlene will do with the tickets.

There has always been this weird dynamic with Molly and Darlene that Molly kind of wanted to be the bad girl that she thought Darlene represented. Darlene was really not a bad girl...she was more of someone that did not really give a fuck and liked to read. Darlene never wanted anything to do with Molly...probably another passive aggressive reason Molly always flirted with David.

I think a tiny part of Molly was thrilled to be hanging out Darlene but it still makes much more sense to give the tickets to family or a close friend.

  • Useful 1
  • Love 5
Link to comment
3 hours ago, qtpye said:

I think a tiny part of Molly was thrilled to be hanging out Darlene but it still makes much more sense to give the tickets to family or a close friend.

We don't know that she didn't also give situation-specific final gifts to others. 

  • Useful 1
  • Love 3
Link to comment
7 minutes ago, Bastet said:

We don't know that she didn't also give situation-specific final gifts to others. 

She did have her ex's credit card so why not be generous. 

  • LOL 4
  • Love 1
Link to comment

Watching the eps, I thought they were leading up to Molly coming out, with her talk of all her failed relationships. 

I liked the heavy scene confronting Becky about her drinking. It felt like proper old Roseanne. The Connors can be a bit too cartoony at times.

  • Useful 1
  • Love 3
Link to comment

I actually liked Harris in this episode.  She usually annoys me. I loved her line about giving her car keys to Aunt Jackie because I know you can take me!

Jackie's lie about Beverly Rose slipping between the bed (or whatever, I don't remember) and the wall and not being able to breathe was a good and realistic one.  I work in a prosecutor's office and, in the 14 years I've been here, we've had at least 3 cases where a baby died in similar situations - all three where the parent was very drunk.  In one, mom had to go to work and dad got drunk and passed out and rolled over on the baby.  In another, the baby slipped between the bed and the wall and suffocated, and in the third, the baby slipped between the bed and the wall, onto a heating grate and was burned and died.  All three were absolutely horrible situtations and so tragic. So, to put that fear into Becky was a good and realistic wake-up call for her. 

  • Love 3
Link to comment
3 hours ago, Cowgirl said:

I actually liked Harris in this episode.  She usually annoys me. I loved her line about giving her car keys to Aunt Jackie because I know you can take me!

Jackie's lie about Beverly Rose slipping between the bed (or whatever, I don't remember) and the wall and not being able to breathe was a good and realistic one.  I work in a prosecutor's office and, in the 14 years I've been here, we've had at least 3 cases where a baby died in similar situations - all three where the parent was very drunk.  In one, mom had to go to work and dad got drunk and passed out and rolled over on the baby.  In another, the baby slipped between the bed and the wall and suffocated, and in the third, the baby slipped between the bed and the wall, onto a heating grate and was burned and died.  All three were absolutely horrible situtations and so tragic. So, to put that fear into Becky was a good and realistic wake-up call for her. 

Not only that, despite the last we saw of Becky she'd put Beverly Rose in her crib, Becky could have awoken again and drunkenly put her in the bed with her for some reason which she might not remember.  Drunks can have blackouts and do things.

  • Love 6
Link to comment
Quote

I can't remember--did they fly to Disney World in season 8 or drive? This probably belongs in the Past & Present thread but I'm curious. 

I was talking about the writers when I asked if they'd never flown before. But I guess your point is valid - maybe Darlene has never flown and didn't know you couldn't just get a refund like that. And apparently Ben has never flown either.

  • Love 2
Link to comment

I agree with everyone else about if the tickets were refunded, the money would go back to the buyer's credit card, not Darlene. But since this is TV, I'll hand wave it.  I think it was pretty crappy of Ben to talk Darlene out of going to Hawaii and using the money towards something else.  Molly wanted to go on vacation, realized she wasn't going to make and bought the tickets for Darlene and Ben.  They should go to honor Molly's wish.

They should have had Molly stick around for a few episodes before they killed her off.  

I like Jackie so much more when she's not acting like a total flake!  The scene where she called out Becky on her lying and drinking was powerful!   

Where is DJ? I don't know why they ever brought him (and his daughter) back.  They are barely in any episodes, if at all.  They could have easily have him (and his family) living overseas, etc.  No Mark this episode or the last one either.  

Edited by juliet73
  • Love 3
Link to comment
On 4/8/2021 at 12:35 AM, Cherpumple said:

That's what I was thinking, especially since they were paid for by another (now deceased) person's credit card. Wouldn't any refund go back to the original card? It didn't make sense.

 

On 4/8/2021 at 1:33 AM, chocolatine said:

The whole tickets to Hawaii thing didn't make much sense because, as has already been said, most plane tickets are non-refundable these days, and for those that are, refunds are made to the original method of payment. Plus, Molly said she used the credit card to collect airline miles, and if those tickets were bought with airline miles they're definitely not refundable for money.

It would have made more sense if Molly had left Darlene something nice she had owned, like an upscale car, and for Ben to pressure Darlene to sell it and use the money to move in together.

Yes, Molly said she bought the tickets with credit card points, so since you no longer can resell airline tickets on the open market, they are worth nothing unless used by the people whose name they bear.

 

  • Useful 1
  • Love 3
Link to comment
On 4/8/2021 at 11:14 PM, Dreamboat Annie said:

Darlene chose to invite him (not give him one of the tickets), and he turned it down.  End of his involvement.

 

On 4/9/2021 at 12:26 AM, rmontro said:

But you're right, they're Darlene's tickets, if she wants to use them, she can.

I don't think either of these are accurate.  Ben's name is on the ticket.  Darlene had no ability to sell it or transfer it.

On 4/9/2021 at 11:26 AM, RunningMarket said:

It's been mentioned a couple of times here too, but it definitely also stuck out to me that in the argument of going to Hawaii, there was no mention of... pandemic. I know we all rage against the general masking of actors on this show, but it's like they just dropped it.

The same thing with Darlene's trip to the bar, and only a few episodes ago, she was devastated and almost disowned by Dan at the thought that she might have infected Louise with Covid.

On 4/9/2021 at 3:49 PM, SassyCat said:

I wonder about how Molly wrote that letter and put in an envelope with the tickets for Darlene while she was dying. They said she started seizing and never recovered from them and died. Did she preemptively write that and put it in the envelope just incase she died before they left? She did seem to think she was going to live long enough to make that trip.

She would have had to contact the airline, change her ticket to Ben's name, and print out the new ticket also!

 

  • Useful 1
  • Love 6
Link to comment
2 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I don't think either of these are accurate.  Ben's name is on the ticket.  Darlene had no ability to sell it or transfer it.

Now that I think about it, I believe you're right.  Molly had the tickets transferred over to their names.

  • Useful 1
  • Love 1
Link to comment
9 hours ago, juliet73 said:

agree with everyone else about if the tickets were refunded, the money would go back to the buyer's credit card, not Darlene.

It is a bit easier to handwave because the tickets are first class. When I travel with my family we always buy the cheapest non-refundable fare class tickets with almost no options. When I fly for work I usually get a better fare class (although still not first class) which includes things like check luggage, refunds and I think lets you change the name on the ticket for a small fee. Of course the fact that the tickets were bought with credit card points makes it more weird but I always just assume that TV writers are dummies like the writers on 30 Rock, or out of touch nerds like the Itchy and Scratchy writers on The Simpsons.

  • Love 5
Link to comment
Quote

I liked the heavy scene confronting Becky about her drinking. It felt like proper old Roseanne. The Connors can be a bit too cartoony at times

THIS a thousand times. Particularly Jackie pinning Becky against the fridge. Humor defusing sorrow. 

Why why why did they bring back Molly just to kill her off? And she had a brain tumor with no symptoms when she was out drinking, but all of a sudden she dropped dead? Lazy lazy lazy writing.  There are a lot of us old-schoolers that memorized the original series so why not bring back Mr. Tilden instead of us all writing our own histories about him remarrying and Charlotte living her best life somewhere far away from Lanford. 

Darlene is not the mom Roseanne was - Roseanne was always about taking care of her family no matter what, even when she was working throwaway jobs to put food on the table. Darlene is one constant bitter complaint about how hard her life is, when her dad is still working and her kids are basically raising themselves because of her poor decisions. 

IMHO if they are going to bring back old characters from the original series, BRING BACK ANDY AND JERRY!  And heck, throw Fred in there. Give Jackie something to do that's just hers. 

  • Love 4
Link to comment
Quote

IMHO if they are going to bring back old characters from the original series, BRING BACK ANDY AND JERRY!  And heck, throw Fred in there. Give Jackie something to do that's just hers. 

Oh gawd, not Fred. If anything bring back Gary, he was Mr. Right.

  • Love 7
Link to comment
Quote

 I think it was pretty crappy of Ben to talk Darlene out of going to Hawaii and using the money towards something else.  Molly wanted to go on vacation, realized she wasn't going to make and bought the tickets for Darlene and Ben.  They should go to honor Molly's wish.

Not only that but Ben's argument was pretty flimsy. Sure they could use the extra money for a down payment on a place of their own, but now that Ben has his own hardware store and Darlene got a promotion at work, they are presumable making decent money between the two of them and should be able to save up for a down payment themselves. Taking a much-needed break for a few days FOR FREE is a decent option. It's not Darlene was asking for something unreasonably selfish.

Quote

Where is DJ? I don't know why they ever brought him (and his daughter) back.  They are barely in any episodes, if at all.  They could have easily have him (and his family) living overseas, etc.  No Mark this episode or the last one either.  

I can only assume the producers have deduced that Michael Fishman cannot act. Either that or the actor himself does not want regular involvement.

Quote

There are a lot of us old-schoolers that memorized the original series so why not bring back Mr. Tilden instead of us all writing our own histories about him remarrying and Charlotte living her best life somewhere far away from Lanford. 

It's entirely possible Wings Hauser wasn't available. I have no idea what he's up to these days. That said, the fact that he was a single father was a fairly important plot point, because it spoke to the way Molly behaved (she was a little wild and undisciplined). I'd say it was important enough to establish the woman in this episode was her stepmother if they needed a parental figure in the story and couldn't use Mr. Tilden.

  • Love 6
Link to comment
35 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Oh gawd, not Fred. If anything bring back Gary, he was Mr. Right.

Every time my mom and I catch the episodes with Gary, my mom, without fail, will be like, "I don't understand what Jackie's issue was, this guy was perfect for her." :p. 

I liked him, too, yes. 

  • Love 4
Link to comment
3 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

Every time my mom and I catch the episodes with Gary, my mom, without fail, will be like, "I don't understand what Jackie's issue was, this guy was perfect for her." :p. 

I liked him, too, yes. 

I thought he was perfect for her. And she quit the force anyway so why did she throw away the best man she was ever going to get? He was cute, funny and most importantly kind. And he thought all her weird little quirks were cute. "Yes, and I lie in bed and listen to you spit them across the room."

  • Love 5
Link to comment
7 hours ago, ItsHelloPattiagain said:

IMHO if they are going to bring back old characters from the original series, BRING BACK ANDY AND JERRY! 

I don't mind a throwaway line telling us what these two are doing (or if they exist), but I have no interest in seeing them on screen. We only saw them as babies, so I have zero attachment to them as characters, while there are so many others I would love to see instead- Gary, Ziggy, Leon, Anne Marie, Crystal, Bonnie, Dana, the Bowmans, Dean Dean the son-in-law machine, Chip. Heck, I'd even be up for seeing Arnie and Nancy before Andy and Jerry because at least I know them.

  • Love 5
Link to comment

I don't think the same actor need to play Molly's dad. A random guy for one episode makes more sense than a mom showing up with no explanation. One word (stepmother) is all it takes to satisfy us. 

It's not the first time they would have recast a character. What they did was an insult to viewers.

  • Love 9
Link to comment
On 4/13/2021 at 5:53 PM, peacheslatour said:

Oh gawd, not Fred. If anything bring back Gary, he was Mr. Right.

But Gary didn't have the involvement with Jackie that Fred did. (since they were married and had a kid who is somewhere bouncing around the universe with poor Jerry Garcia Conner)  I think Fred would be interesting because after he and Jackie broke up, he became "interesting". (like he went skiing, oh le horror!) 

I'm game for them to bring on other characters, just as long as they aren't coming on with sudden brain tumors. 

  • Love 1
Link to comment
5 minutes ago, ItsHelloPattiagain said:

But Gary didn't have the involvement with Jackie that Fred did. (since they were married and had a kid who is somewhere bouncing around the universe with poor Jerry Garcia Conner)  I think Fred would be interesting because after he and Jackie broke up, he became "interesting". (like he went skiing, oh le horror!) 

I'm game for them to bring on other characters, just as long as they aren't coming on with sudden brain tumors. 

I could not stand Fred. Plus I've seen the actor play serial killers and rapists too many times. If they recast him, I'll give him a chance.

Link to comment
On 4/13/2021 at 6:24 PM, iMonrey said:

I can only assume the producers have deduced that Michael Fishman cannot act. Either that or the actor himself does not want regular involvement.

Michael Fishman started or is starting his own production company so he may be busy with that.  It also seems like he talks more about the behind the scenes work on SM so he might prefer that more than acting I don’t know.  I would say he’s not the best actor, but I don’t think I’ve seen him say more than a few lines in any episode I watched.

 I always liked the character of DJ because while he seemed weird, he didn’t come off as a horrible person. The same with Becky, she has her problems, but doesn’t seem miserable, which is sad because she’s headed to rehab.  So even somebody at somewhat of a rock bottom seems happier (seems I’m not saying she is) than the person who is making more money, has a “good” boyfriend, and first-class tickets to Hawai’i.  Darlene is just so awful to be  around and it’s magnified because she’s the center of the show.  She’s just not that interesting.  I’m hoping the Molly-David Silver plots make Darlene change significantly or I might just have to give up on the whole show.

Although I thought the reason they had Candice Bergen on this episode was ridiculous, I did like how she interacted with Dan and Jackie. Unfortunately, it also points out how much of a lead Darlene isn’t, not to bash Sara Gilbert personally.  

 

Edited by Irate Panda
  • Love 3
Link to comment
Quote

I always liked the character of DJ because while he seemed weird, he didn’t come off as a horrible person. 

I had huge problems with the DJ character. There were too many oblique references to him being involved in animal cruelty that were just shrugged off by the rest of the family.

  • Useful 2
  • Love 1
Link to comment
44 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

I had huge problems with the DJ character. There were too many oblique references to him being involved in animal cruelty that were just shrugged off by the rest of the family.

I was think one or two when the original show started and don’t remember all the episodes, I basically remember the episodes of  him when he was trying to be a filmmaker when he was I guess a teenager and in reruns whichever season Roseanne worked in the salon.  I didn’t know all that 😳 Geez, hope they don’t have DJ missing in all these episodes because he’s off being a serial killer!  
 

Does anyone know how long the David Silver character (I forget his name on here) is supposed to last? Also, is Ben’s mom supposed to know Ben offered to give Dan 10% of the store? 

  • Useful 2
  • Love 1
Link to comment
On 4/17/2021 at 4:02 PM, RocknRollZombie said:

I know he was suppose to be the creepy /weird kid but yeah, the whole mice thing, the doll heads, dang if Roseanne would have been a horror movie DJ would be the slasher like Michael Myers 

Roseanne also joked that the squirrel population in the neighborhood had doubled after DJ made friends with Todd. And when Becky complained about DJs hair clogging up the bathroom sink, he responded that it wasn't his hair, "but don't worry, it's dead." He also put a bee in the freezer to see if it could come back to life. But when it did Darlene smashed it, so that doesn't make her look too good either. And don't forget that Roseanne completely shrugged off Crystal's comment that her son Lonnie was afraid of DJ. Like you said, if they wanted to, they could've easily pivoted to a gritty reboot of the show starring DJ as the budding serial killer.

  • Love 3
Link to comment
On 4/12/2021 at 11:52 PM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I don't think either of these are accurate.  Ben's name is on the ticket.  Darlene had no ability to sell it or transfer it.

 

The show handled the logistics of the airline tickets very poorly.  But I maintain that the tickets were a gift to Darlene from Molly.  Molly changed the ticket from her name to Ben's (so it was possible for her to transfer the name on the ticket, probably not for anyone else but I don't really care much about all that) as a courtesy to Darlene assuming that is who Darlene would want to take (and she was right).  But the tickets were a gift to Darlene, not Ben and not to both of them.  In fact Darlene said to Jeff in the very next episode "my friend gave me two first class tickets to Hawaii...".  (Emphasis on "me" is mine, Darlene didn't say it with emphasis.)

I don't need to see more of DJ if at all, and I have no use for Andy or Jerry.  I'm glad the focus is on Dan, Jackie, Becky and Darlene and there seems to be enough going on with them, and they would just be filler at this point, unless they were used to help drive the main stories.  In other words, I don't think they're needed, at least for now.  

  • Love 4
Link to comment
On 4/13/2021 at 5:26 PM, ItsHelloPattiagain said:

Why why why did they bring back Molly just to kill her off? And she had a brain tumor with no symptoms when she was out drinking, but all of a sudden she dropped dead?

Lots of brain tumors are huge and inoperable by the time they cause symptoms enough to investigate.  I'll go with she had to have a scan for some other reason (I just had an MRI for a hearing loss that might have been caused by a tumor [but wasn't]). If I had a big honking tumor anywhere else in my brain I'd have found out even if we weren't looking for it.

  • Useful 1
  • Love 1
Link to comment
5 hours ago, kassa said:

Lots of brain tumors are huge and inoperable by the time they cause symptoms enough to investigate.  I'll go with she had to have a scan for some other reason (I just had an MRI for a hearing loss that might have been caused by a tumor [but wasn't]). If I had a big honking tumor anywhere else in my brain I'd have found out even if we weren't looking for it.

Kassa - I had the same thing done after a sudden hearing loss four years ago (the MRI - no tumor here either). But most people don't wander around having brain tumors for no reason (I work at a diagnostic center and they do tons of them for "headaches", just to rule out a brain tumor and yes, we've had a few pop up in younger people).  IMHO, if she had a brain tumor bad enough to cause a seizure, she would have known about it ahead of time. It just seemed like one of those "How can we use Molly to make Darlene turn all YOLO? Say, let's give her a brain tumor that kills her off, but leaves a pretty face and body!" 

 

  • Love 3
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...