S05.E07: Take This Job and Shove It Twice

[Pallas]

Darlene gets a promotion and Louise gets her notice.

[ams1001]

Who in their right mind would make Darlene a VP of PR (or anyone who has zero experience in the field)?

[Annber03]

"Oh, my god! That was an actual Freudian slip! You read about them in books, but you never think you're going to see one in person!"

LOL, Becky. I liked that callback to the earlier thing about her psychoanalyzing customers (seriously, I kind of want to hear her analysis of people based off the food they order :p). 

But wow. Yeah. That was certainly a revealing comment from Jackie there. It was a good scene, though, I think that definitely explains a lot about the constant friction between her and Louise. That, and of course, she's got a history with this restaurant, so even if Roseanne weren't a factor, having someone else come in and tell her how to run a place she's got a history with, yeah, it makes sense that'd rub her the wrong way. 

That said, Louise did have some valid ideas and suggestions of her own, and I do like that Jackie did acknowledge that. I'm glad that Jackie and Louise did ultimately talk things out and come to an understanding. 

As for Darlene's story, yeah, see, stuff like this is why I could never be at a high level position in a company, either. It was nice to see Robyn again, and of course she'd be the whistleblower. I did like the way they showed how tough it is to risk your job in order to speak up about company negligence/abuse/etc. Will be interesting to see what Darlene decides to do next in terms of a job. 

I also laughed a very dark laugh at Jackie's description of how men get ahead at companies. Ain't that the truth. 

[greekmom]

26 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

Who in their right mind would make Darlene a VP of PR (or anyone who has zero experience in the field)?

Desperate owners who want a stooge to be their spoke person and someone desperate enough due to the money and threat of legal repercussions. 

Shocked even as a line manager this was the first time Darlene heard anything about the ground water being poisoned. Usually a rumour mill at a company would have had that buzzing. 

29 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

sorry double post.

[UYI]

"Take care of my kids. Or sell them at a fair price."

Line of the night for me. (Well, that or anything involving Bill Wellman's Prozac and/or Zoloft-addicted wife.)

[ESS]

I loved this episode a lot!!

I'm not gonna lie I was pretty nervous before it aired about having Jackie & Louise working together. That said I felt bad for Louise for losing her job at Casita Bonita and I'm gonna miss the restaurant I admit, in addition I didn't realize she and Dan had a lot of dates there, but I'm not surprised though I thought that was a sweet call back to their dating days and I love how Dan was supportive of Louise when she lost her job as well, that was a sweet moment. 

Now onto Jackie & Louise that was a powerful scene there I felt bad for both of them by the end there, but more so for Louise because first off she loses her job and then when Jackie let's her work with her she starts screaming at her when she's trying to help and she even tried asking for her thoughts and opinions on what she wanted and how she wanted things done, but she wasn't giving them nor making any decisions so I can't really blame Louise for doing what she did because Jackie wasn't giving Louise any answers to her questions of what or how she wanted things in her own place and Jackie wasn't even listening to her and that's what Louise wanted as no one listened to her at her old job at all and it's the only reason she was doing the ideas on her own; plus Louise definitely did have some good ideas and I'm glad told her she just was trying to help (which she was) and that she actually cared about her and her ideas, of course I had a suspicion before all of the yelling that Jackie might even have been jealous that she wasn't the one thinking of the ideas and I was partly right with that sadly, but that said I'm glad they made up with each other and were able to clear the air and I loved the ending scene there with them and the popcorn and the two of them trying to figure who going to be what it was cute and sweet and real sister bonding going on there! 

Edited November 4, 2022 by ESS

[EtheltoTillie]

The drinking  game at the end was laugh-out-loud funny.  No really, I laughed out loud.  And I never laugh at sitcoms.

"Co-manager."

Dan:  "I'll allow it."

[ams1001]

35 minutes ago, UYI said:

Line of the night for me. (Well, that or anything involving Bill Wellman's Prozac and/or Zoloft-addicted wife.)

I have a condition where I need to be happier. Where can I get those vitamins?

[Bastet]

Such great reactions to Darlene's promotion:  Becky saying "Oh my god, I'm so sorry -- I assume everyone else there died" and Jackie encouraging her with "Just do what men do -- take the job despite not being qualified, stick around long enough to harass somebody, and then they move you up in the company".

I was glad to see Robyn again.  LOL at everyone at work already assuming she and Darlene are a couple.  "Well, visually, it makes more sense than you and Ben" was great.

As someone with chronic depression and anxiety, I loved "The doctor gave me vitamins; I have a condition where I need to be happier" and intend to use that when the time is right.

And LOL at the drinking game in the tag. 

There was a lot of funny writing in this one.  But I'm curious what they have planned for Darlene now that she quit, especially since they were already writing her like she had less money and security than she did.

[Arcadiasw]

Darlene is stupid. I understand her concerns and feeling conflicted but quitting her well paying job whose salary may not match anything else in Lansford getting the other job first is stupid 

[Yeah No]

Yeah Darlene is stupid but unfortunately I didn't expect any better.  I guess they had to make her situation match up to our expectations of her.

[iMonrey]

Quote

Darlene is stupid. I understand her concerns and feeling conflicted but quitting her well paying job whose salary may not match anything else in Lansford getting the other job first is stupid 

I'm torn on this. On the one hand, it's true most people cannot afford to quit their job based on some moral principal. Especially someone who is in the middle of building a brand new house and trying to support at least one of her two children. It's also problematic because the Conners have a long and troubled history of making very poor financial choices. 

On the other hand I can see where Darlene is coming from and I get that we're meant to think she's making a choice any decent, honest person would make because clearly Wellman is evil and destroying the environment and she's being asked to be the face of that. I think it would probably be easier to root for her decision if we hadn't been subjected to such a long history of Conners making very bad choices.

[DanaK]

37 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I'm torn on this. On the one hand, it's true most people cannot afford to quit their job based on some moral principal. Especially someone who is in the middle of building a brand new house and trying to support at least one of her two children. It's also problematic because the Conners have a long and troubled history of making very poor financial choices. 

On the other hand I can see where Darlene is coming from and I get that we're meant to think she's making a choice any decent, honest person would make because clearly Wellman is evil and destroying the environment and she's being asked to be the face of that. I think it would probably be easier to root for her decision if we hadn't been subjected to such a long history of Conners making very bad choices.

I didn’t exactly like that Robyn let Darlene hang like that. Oh, I‘m the whistleblower. Tag, you’re it. Too bad you’re left dealing with it. Darlene maybe should have tried to line up another job before quitting. Or she could have told Wellman what she told him and say she was giving her 2 week notice and dared Wellman to fire her and march her out the same day like some companies do so she could get unemployment

[Egg McMuffin]

Who is this Bill Wellman, and what happened to James Brolin?

[peacheslatour]

27 minutes ago, DanaK said:

I didn’t exactly like that Robyn let Darlene hang like that. Oh, I‘m the whistleblower. Tag, you’re it. Too bad you’re left dealing with it. Darlene maybe should have tried to line up another job before quitting. Or she could have told Wellman what she told him and say she was giving her 2 week notice and dared Wellman to fire her and march her out the same day like some companies do so she could get unemployment

I kept saying the same thing. She should have made them let her go. Then at least she could get unemployment insurance.

[chitowngirl]

And where were Mark and Mary…again??

Edited November 3, 2022 by chitowngirl

[mythoughtis]

1 hour ago, chitowngirl said:

And where were Mark and Mary…again??

And why was Jackie there all evening instead of going home to her husband?  

[Arcadiasw]

6 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

I kept saying the same thing. She should have made them let her go. Then at least she could get unemployment insurance.

I'm surprised Dan was so relaxed about it. This is different from Dan shocked Darlene turned down a job starting at 30,000.

[MissLucas]

Becky's joy at catching a Freudian slip in the wild was everything LOL! And there was some real emotional heft in the scene between Jackie and Louise. All in all a great episode.

At this point I'm just going to assume that sometime before this season started TPTB decided that due to the ongoing economic crisis budget cuts were inevitable. And then they advised the make-up artist to stop buying 32 shades of foundation 'Get one vat of "neutral mustard "- that suits everyone!'

[ljenkins782]

2 good episodes in a row, I’m finding myself actually wanting to watch the show instead of just watching out of completism or habit. 
 

It feels like they finally got the mix right in terms of characters and stories. It has timely issues, but it’s not a sledgehammer to the head with the exposition. And I really like Sam and Louise offsetting the Conner-ness.

it was definitely shitty of Robin to put Darlene in that position while not being willing to risk her own security. I feel like Darlene could have gotten herself fired, but I did think it was sad when wellman threatened her kids’ futures like that, that seemed to be the deciding factor in her quitting rather than making a scene. It’s definitely got to be a fear of hers (with good reason) that her kids won’t get any further in life than she did. Harris seems nearly guaranteed to end up just like Darlene, but mark has a shot to make it.

[chitowngirl]

19 minutes ago, ljenkins782 said:

And I really like Sam and Louise offsetting the Conner-ness.

Sam?

[EtheltoTillie]

It might look like a poor financial choice but I don’t see how someone could stay in a job that consisted of making daily public false statements about a toxic substance.  They gave her the job so she could be a stooge.  She couldn’t understand why she was given the job, because she didn’t even know what PR was, let alone have experience in it. Idiot plot syndrome, unfortunately. 

Edited November 4, 2022 by EtheltoTillie

[Bastet]

Yeah, they gave her the job on the assumption she'd have to go along because she needed the income and benefits too much to quit.  They miscalculated, and now need another stooge -- and she needs another job.  I'm going to miss her being at Wellman, for the occasional Robin appearances that gave us. 

[ljenkins782]

21 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

Sam?

Ben? Can’t remember his name offhand 

[txhorns79]

On 11/3/2022 at 12:36 PM, Egg McMuffin said:

Who is this Bill Wellman, and what happened to James Brolin?

Wasn't he someone Roseanne only met during Season 9?  I suppose you could fanwank that he was just part of Roseanne's fantasy lottery storytelling.

I really liked the scene between Louise and Jackie at The Lunch Box.  That felt very real, and it's interesting to see how Roseanne still haunts Jackie. 

[JAYJAY1979]

The whole issue I always had with Jackie was that she was too enmeshed in Roseanne's life.  She basically viewed them as her family instead of finding her own life and identity apart from Roseanne.

And the freudian slip reveals Jackie's resentment of Roseanne for controlling her life since childhood..yet also misses Roseanne because she needs that guidance.

Part of the reason why Jackie is married and managing the restaurant is partly due to Roseanne being gone..and Louise encouraging her.

And lastly...Robin showed how shady she is..and I hope she stays gone.  Darlene is more than capable of making bad decisions on her own without anyone else helping.

[Snow Apple]

I hope that's not the end of the water pollution story. Hopefully Robin redeems herself by publicly blowing the whistle and the journalist gets it out there. Otherwise, it just about Darlene losing her income and more poverty-porn for the Connors. 

Yeah, it's not that simple in real life but this is a sitcom (supposedly anyway) and I want resolution and justice.

[tribeca]

At first I wasn’t all impressed with Louise making all those suggestions and honestly it did feel a little like she was taking over.   Then I read here and I am alone in that opinion. 
Also Jackie wasn’t always this wacky Jackie.  She had a life and tried things without Roseanne.  She tried different careers, dated may or may not have gotten married.  
After saying all that I am glad it worked out in the end.  

darlene will land on her feet get any other amazing job thrown at it.  
Was wondering does Harris still work at the tattoo shop ?

[Bastet]

38 minutes ago, tribeca said:

At first I wasn’t all impressed with Louise making all those suggestions and honestly it did feel a little like she was taking over.   Then I read here and I am alone in that opinion. 

You're not alone.  She had some good ideas, but was utter shit at expressing them.  It was the set-up for a couple of good scenes, and worked out in the end, but anyone, never mind Jackie's specific history, would feel bulldozed by that.

[JAYJAY1979]

1 hour ago, tribeca said:

At first I wasn’t all impressed with Louise making all those suggestions and honestly it did feel a little like she was taking over.   Then I read here and I am alone in that opinion. 
Also Jackie wasn’t always this wacky Jackie.  She had a life and tried things without Roseanne.  She tried different careers, dated may or may not have gotten married.  
After saying all that I am glad it worked out in the end.  

darlene will land on her feet get any other amazing job thrown at it.  
Was wondering does Harris still work at the tattoo shop ?

Jackie in season 1 through 3 of the original show.. I agree wasn't wacky nor pathetic.  However since season 4 of the original show..she became too tied to Roseanne and family beyond the healthy boundaries of the 1st 3 seasons.

[ljenkins782]

5 hours ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

Jackie in season 1 through 3 of the original show.. I agree wasn't wacky nor pathetic.  However since season 4 of the original show..she became too tied to Roseanne and family beyond the healthy boundaries of the 1st 3 seasons.

Even that was realistic in a way, Roseanne’s control over her was bred into Jackie from day 1, it can be hard to separate your opinions from someone else’s when it’s your whole life. And Roseanne couldn’t see how her instinct to protect Jackie held her back from living her life.

[Rocknrollzombie]

Jackie lived here life apart from Roseanne. It’s not weird or wrong to have closeness to family.
They ran the lunch box together,  Roseanne and Dan were there for her when the truth of her and fisher relationship came to light. Offered her help with Andy. (Sadly that doesn’t seem to be canon anymore to the writers and producers anymore aside from the lunchbox which was Jackie’s idea in the original)

great to know this show once again rewrites history be it big or small.

Edited November 8, 2022 by Rocknrollzombie

[joanne3482]

I know Darlene clearly didn't think of quitting in the same way, but honestly she was smart to quit. The press knew it was happening. She was about to become the face of that situation and that could/would impact her ability to get a job in the future. Any future interview she'd be looked at as the person who lied to Lanford about poisoned water. Now when she applies she can say, they tried to promote me to do x which I felt uncomfortable with so I quit.  That makes her seem ethical and with good morals. (In current employees they may want someone who is ruthless and will do what it takes, but companies like to hire candidates who are ethical). They were setting her up to fail. When the true truth came out she'd be blamed for going rogue or releasing unauthorized statements.  They would have destroyed her and made themselves look good. 

She could actually apply for unemployment as well. Traditionally you can't get it if you quit, however if your employer has done something that forces your hand, and I would say "promoting" her as a big scandal was about to break counts, you can apply. (Anyone can apply, whether or not they get it is a whole other issue).  If she still had the information about her promotion in her records she could use that to show the company's bad faith. 

[Bastet]

Yeah, I thought maybe they were going to pursue a constructive termination unemployment claim, but then I got the sense they were done with the Wellman storyline.  We'll see.

As for Jackie, what she said about Roseanne reflects what she told her therapist about their relationship long ago, so it's nothing new.  It's just that, when that happened, Roseanne was there, so we also heard the flip side about how Jackie expected Roseanne to take care of things for her: Jackie was afraid to make decisions for fear of Roseanne judging them wrong, and said even if something was a mistake it was her mistake to make, Roseanne said yeah, but if you do make a mistake you expect me to clean it up and Jackie said of course, you're my sister; Roseanne's "Oh, I see -- I can't say anything to stop the mistake, but I mop it up after" was met with "If you loved me, I'd think you'd want to", prompting Roseanne to tell the therapist she better call for back-up.

This time, there was no one to provide the other half of that messy equation, because she was talking to Louise and Louise didn't experience their dynamic. 

[joanne3482]

35 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Yeah, I thought maybe they were going to pursue a constructive termination unemployment claim, but then I got the sense they were done with the Wellman storyline.  We'll see.

I'm sure you're right, they're done with Wellman. They can't have anyone even remotely experiencing the tiniest possibility of success. Then the characters wouldn't be relatable. /sarcasm hand

[RunningMarket]

Perhaps the laws in the US are different, but in Canada, if you're fired (ie: for not doing your job) or you quit (without just cause like having to move due to a spouse's new job), you are not eligible for unemployment benefits. There is a difference between being laid off (ie: cutbacks) and fired. Is it lazy writing, or different processes? 

I get that they're trying to pin Jackie's reluctance to do anything on past trauma from Roseanne, but it didn't work for me. I just found her insufferable.

Becky and Ben had some great lines, so that saved this episode for me.

[One Tough Cookie]

OK Darlene-you have two kids and you just bought a house and you quit w/o trying to make the PTB do something about the situation?

If I remember correctly, Jackie and Fred divorced soon after Andy was born?

[Bastet]

Just now, One Tough Cookie said:

If I remember correctly, Jackie and Fred divorced soon after Andy was born?

They got married when he was a baby (Jackie was nursing at the altar).  They got divorced after about a year.

[ESS]

On 11/7/2022 at 2:56 PM, tribeca said:

At first I wasn’t all impressed with Louise making all those suggestions and honestly it did feel a little like she was taking over.   Then I read here and I am alone in that opinion. 

The only reason why it may have felt like Louise was taking over (and she wasn't in my opinion) was because she was a manager and it was what she was used to plus she just lost her job and maybe she was just frustrated and upset by that and Jackie yelling at her didn't help either because she hates that as she's a calm person and doesn't like it when people yell especially at her. 

Edited November 10, 2022 by ESS

[joanne3482]

15 hours ago, RunningMarket said:

Perhaps the laws in the US are different, but in Canada, if you're fired (ie: for not doing your job) or you quit (without just cause like having to move due to a spouse's new job), you are not eligible for unemployment benefits. There is a difference between being laid off (ie: cutbacks) and fired. Is it lazy writing, or different processes? 

Different situations in the US. Depending on the reason for the firing and depending on your employers' willingness to contest the firing will depend on a person's ability to receive unemployment benefits. I've worked at a place where we would fire people for testing positive for drugs, which traditionally would mean no unemployment benefits, but for whatever reason while we would contest the unemployment, we also wouldn't turn over the positive UA test so we'd always lose (honestly one of the biggest time wasters of my job was doing this). Since 49 of the US states are at-will employer states, in theory we can fire anyone for anything at any time. In Texas, for example, you can receive benefits for a firing that isn't misconduct. So if you're just shitty at your job but not actively doing anything wrong I think you can get benefits, but this also varies from state to state. 

[JAYJAY1979]

7 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

Different situations in the US. Depending on the reason for the firing and depending on your employers' willingness to contest the firing will depend on a person's ability to receive unemployment benefits. I've worked at a place where we would fire people for testing positive for drugs, which traditionally would mean no unemployment benefits, but for whatever reason while we would contest the unemployment, we also wouldn't turn over the positive UA test so we'd always lose (honestly one of the biggest time wasters of my job was doing this). Since 49 of the US states are at-will employer states, in theory we can fire anyone for anything at any time. In Texas, for example, you can receive benefits for a firing that isn't misconduct. So if you're just shitty at your job but not actively doing anything wrong I think you can get benefits, but this also varies from state to state. 

In Illinois, the only way you could get Unemployment benefits if fired is if you were fired due to performace.  I had one job fire a bunch of people around the same time due to 'lack of performance' at the job... and almost all ended up getting unemployment after doing an interview with someone at unemployment.
.

[greekmom]

On 11/7/2022 at 11:41 AM, Snow Apple said:

I hope that's not the end of the water pollution story. Hopefully Robin redeems herself by publicly blowing the whistle and the journalist gets it out there. Otherwise, it just about Darlene losing her income and more poverty-porn for the Connors. 

Yeah, it's not that simple in real life but this is a sitcom (supposedly anyway) and I want resolution and justice.

The writers really dropped the ball. Darlene in the early seasons wanted to be a writer. She could have stayed at Wellmens, wrote a whistleblowing story with Robin's help, and gotten a job at a newspaper instead of quitting and now being unemployed.

I agree though. It's totally poverty porn and I am tired of it with the Connors. 

[Pi237]

Louise would’ve been on anyone’s nerves with her constant new ideas. Felt a bit like Leon undermining Roseanne by getting  Jackie & Nancy to agree with his changes by out-voting Roseanne.

Id have loved to see Darlene find a clever way to totally blow the interview by acting negligent, but actually knowing what she was doing, somehow exposing the truth and getting fired. 

Not loving how they’ve changed Ben’s character. Wasn’t he a smart, ambitious man when Darlene met him? Now, he’s just in the background slamming beers and shrugging. 

[Pi237]

The biggest obstacle for me, as a viewer, is the inconsistency of the characters and plot lines. The original season of Roseanne had characters you really felt you knew, what kind of people they were etc. The situations they’d be in were realistic and relatable. Now, they’re more like stage actors who change with each week’s script.  It feels like new people each week, in a way. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 11/2/2022 at 8:34 PM, greekmom said:

Shocked even as a line manager this was the first time Darlene heard anything about the ground water being poisoned. Usually a rumour mill at a company would have had that buzzing. 

No one's concerned that Beverly Rose is being exposed?  (I guess all the beer drinkers will be fine.)

On 11/2/2022 at 9:12 PM, UYI said:

"Take care of my kids. Or sell them at a fair price."

Because Darlene spends any time "taking care" of them.  

On 11/7/2022 at 2:56 PM, tribeca said:

At first I wasn’t all impressed with Louise making all those suggestions and honestly it did feel a little like she was taking over.  

Putting a lock on the bathroom without authorization or telling Jackie she had done it was ridiculous/infuriating.