S05.E18: Road Trip and Guilt Trip

[Pallas]

Dan and Jackie take a road trip to a hardware wholesaler in Oklahoma; Darlene heads out of town and leaves behind a plethora of to-do notes for Becky and Ben.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

Wow, Dan was obnoxious.  I guess he thinks Jackie is running the restaurant for the sheer joy of it (and to give Becky and Louise jobs, and Dan free food) now that she has a rich husband?

I guess it makes sense that Dan's kids will inherit his share of the store, but I feel bad for Ben having to deal with DJ, Darlene and Becky's nonsense when the time comes.

Edited March 16, 2023 by ItCouldBeWorse

[Annber03]

For a brief moment there at the beginning, when Darlene was away and Becky and Ben were looking at all the sticky notes and the dishwasher, I thought we were going to have an updated version of that episode of "Roseanne" where Jackie takes care of things around the house while Roseanne's away. Would've been interesting to see how that would've gone.

I did like that Becky could sympathize with Darlene's jealousy over her spending time with Harris, though. And I laughed at her, "I'm getting some veeeeeery strong Chuck-E-Cheese energy in here..." line. 

I loved Dan and Jackie's road trip game :D. I'm glad Jackie was able to sort out the real reason behind her financial situation with Neville, even if it wasn't quite the answer Dan was expecting to hear :p. 

[Browncoat]

14 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

And did the truck explode before or after Dan spent all the money? (I assume he discussed it with Ben first?)  How are they planning to get home? Why isn't Jackie concerned about her friend who loaned her the truck will react?

I thought Jackie was talking about a long-ago explosion?

[ItCouldBeWorse]

22 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

I thought Jackie was talking about a long-ago explosion?

That would make more sense.

[SilverLake0315]

23 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

I thought Jackie was talking about a long-ago explosion?

Yup, she was. She mentioned it a few times throughout the episode. 

This show could only benefit from more Ben. I just love him. 

[bad things are bad]

Are they making everyone stupid on purpose?

[ItCouldBeWorse]

6 minutes ago, SilverLake0315 said:

Yup, she was. She mentioned it a few times throughout the episode

I knew that, but I thought they had had a 2nd accident. It wasn't clear to me that Dan was too scared to get into the truck after hearing the details of the previous accident.

[Bastet]

Becky and Ben with the dishwasher and "Teeny Mussolini" made the ridiculous post-it note opening worth it.  I also like Becky's response notes.  And their eventual conversation about Harris.  "You handled it like a maniac, but I get it."

Love seeing Jackie back behind the wheel of a big rig (even if the visual effects were awful).  Her "FOR ONCE?!" and pulling off the road in anger at Dan's preposterous accusation was fantastic.  Sure, they did a lot for her, and she did a lot for them.  And she specifically helped out financially, so that was inappropriate.

They lost that in favor of this stupid drama about Neville and Jackie not co-mingling all their money.  It led to a good conversation with Dan and Jackie, and LOL at Neville being wary of her family as the reason, but this fundamental problem of all TV characters acting like community property is the only way is obnoxious.

Another meh episode.

Edited March 16, 2023 by Bastet

[UYI]

 I couldn't help but be reminded of Roseanne & Jackie's trip to Kansas City in the big rig seeing tonight's episode. 

[One Tough Cookie]

I thought it was really stupid and totally unbelievable that Jackie would have a conversation about money with Neville in a diner.  This show just gets more stupid every week.

Doesn't Ben have any male friends?  And did Dan  check with Ben before he went off to spend a good amount of money?  What a sorry sack of shit the writers have turned Dan into ..smh

[Mittengirl]

I doubt Ben’s little hardware store has enough storage space for a truckload of merchandise, so where are they going to store everything?  If they have to rent storage space, there goes their profits.

Doesn’t Dan only have something like a 15% ownership in the store?  

[chediavolo]

5 hours ago, Mittengirl said:

I doubt Ben’s little hardware store has enough storage space for a truckload of merchandise, so where are they going to store everything?  If they have to rent storage space, there goes their profits.

Doesn’t Dan only have something like a 15% ownership in the store?  

Dan was a complete detestable ass to Jackie. That was a 100% white trash conversation they had about his begging for a loan. It was cringeworthy. And Neville was 100% correct in keeping their money separate because what did Jackie do ? immediately lend Dan a  thousand dollars . 
Don’t worry about merchandise not fitting in the truck because by the time they got there, there will be nothing left. Jackie mentioned in the Diner that by the time they got there, they would only be about two hours left before the store closed so everything of value is definitely gone already . Assholes. 

[Starchild]

2 hours ago, chediavolo said:

And Neville was 100% correct in keeping their money separate because what did Jackie do ? immediately lend Dan a  thousand dollars . 

As soon as Jackie mentioned separate finances, I knew without a doubt that Neville was wary of the family. And yes, he's 100% right to be.

[greekmom]

If you think you are bad with money or a shitty parent, all you need is to watch this show.

Darlene continues to be a pain in the ass.  Dan continues to make dubious financial choices.  Jackie as well. Neville is correct to keep their finances separate.  Becky couldn't clean if her life depended on it.  

[iMonrey]

Quote

Are they making everyone stupid on purpose?

Yup. They think it's funny they're stupid.

Becky doesn't have the money to pay the rent she's supposed to be paying Darlene and Ben to live there. But she has the money to take Harris to the Farmer's Market and go see a couple of movies. Do you know how much it costs to go to the movies nowadays? Hulu is like $7 a month and you can get a ton of movies there. Also, Becky is "so busy" she can't help around the house but she had plenty of time to write about a 50 sticky notes and stick them around the kitchen just for a joke.

As for whatever the hell Dan was accusing Jackie of, it's just more of the show ignoring canon. I seem to recall the Connors' lights being shut off because they couldn't pay their electric bill. Jackie paid it for them.

[EtheltoTillie]

Well, I'm actually confused about the ending.  It seemed like Jackie actually had another accident.  Am I wrong?  It was vague.  I have a feeling they did not get there in time to buy merchandise.   I see someone else posted the same question.

Edited March 16, 2023 by EtheltoTillie

[ItCouldBeWorse]

22 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Well, I'm actually confused about the ending.  It seemed like Jackie actually had another accident.  Am I wrong?  It was vague.  I have a feeling they did not get there in time to buy merchandise.   I see someone else posted the same question.

That was me.  I haven't gone back to confirm that it was the same diner they were sitting in when Jackie had her conversation with Neville, but it does make more "sense" that Dan was now too scared to get back in the truck after Jackie described her accident in detail, than that there had been a 2nd accident (because then there would be no truck to go back to).  However, the tag came after so many commercials, I thought it took place at a different location/later time.

It just wasn't a particularly funny tag.

Edited March 16, 2023 by ItCouldBeWorse

[EtheltoTillie]

17 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

That was me.  I haven't gone back to confirm that it was the same diner they were sitting in when Jackie had her conversation with Neville, but it does make more "sense" that Dan was now too scared to get back in the truck after Jackie described her accident in detail, than that there had been a 2nd accident (because then there would be no truck to go back to).  However, the tag came after so many commercials, I thought it took place at a different location/later time.

It just wasn't a particularly funny tag.

I think it was the same diner, as I had taken note of the chairs when they first started talking, and it looked the same.  But then the ending of the segment said something different, as if they had come back after another accident.  Agree that it was not funny!

[iMonrey]

Quote

Well, I'm actually confused about the ending.  It seemed like Jackie actually had another accident.  Am I wrong?  It was vague.  I have a feeling they did not get there in time to buy merchandise. 

This was just badly written. When she proposed making the trip at the beginning of the episode, she explained it would be good for her to get back behind the wheel of a big rig, after the terrible accident she allegedly had the last time she was behind one. (Which again, is not canon, there was no such accident in the original show.) So Dan already knew, presumably, that her career as a truck driver ended in some terrible accident before he ever agreed to the trip.

Why he was so freaked out at the end doesn't make a lot of sense. I'm guessing we're to believe he wasn't yet aware of the details of said accident until she elaborated on them right there in the diner.

[greekmom]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Yup. They think it's funny they're stupid.

Becky doesn't have the money to pay the rent she's supposed to be paying Darlene and Ben to live there. But she has the money to take Harris to the Farmer's Market and go see a couple of movies. Do you know how much it costs to go to the movies nowadays? Hulu is like $7 a month and you can get a ton of movies there. Also, Becky is "so busy" she can't help around the house but she had plenty of time to write about a 50 sticky notes and stick them around the kitchen just for a joke.

Tell me about it. Im in Canada and I paid for 3 adults with 2 medium popcorn and 3 regular cokes - $110.  

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Also, Becky is "so busy" she can't help around the house but she had plenty of time to write about a 50 sticky notes and stick them around the kitchen just for a joke.

That I didn't mind, because Darlene's barrage of color-coded notes was so utterly insane, Becky responding in kind was one of the few funny moments of the episode for me.

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

As for whatever the hell Dan was accusing Jackie of, it's just more of the show ignoring canon. I seem to recall the Connors' lights being shut off because they couldn't pay their electric bill. Jackie paid it for them.

Yep, when the Conner house went dark, Jackie paid the electric bill.  She also loaned them $1500 at one point, and she bought stuff for the kids.  She ate their food and used their laundry, but for Dan to act like they bailed her out all the time was ludicrous.

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

Why he was so freaked out at the end doesn't make a lot of sense. I'm guessing we're to believe he wasn't yet aware of the details of said accident until she elaborated on them right there in the diner.

Yes, that's how I took it -- when we cut back to them, it's after she's told him all the gory details, and now he doesn't want to get back in the truck.

[Rocknrollzombie]

So more dumb writing, also I saw a tweet about Becky mopping the table with the mop she used to mop the floors…..gross 

[StaceyNotStacie]

Ben has more chemistry with Becky than Darlene. They would have been the better married couple with Darlene as the struggling single mother. 
 

Regarding the finances, I wonder how much “discussion” (aka venting) there is off screen between Neville and Louise regarding their similar in-laws and stepchildren. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

23 minutes ago, StaceyNotStacie said:

Regarding the finances, I wonder how much “discussion” (aka venting) there is off screen between Neville and Louise regarding their similar in-laws and stepchildren. 

I was going to say that Louise has no money to protect from Dan (although if Dan blows everything on the family, I suppose that Louise would have to contribute more than whatever her share is to utilities, mortgage, beer, etc.), but then I remembered that she still owns her condo. I hope that she is segregating whatever income she derives from that, although I am actually surprised, that based on his conversation with Jackie (asking her to mooch off Neville for Dan's benefit), that he hasn't pressured her to sell the condo and invest the proceeds in the store, the house, a beer cooler, or whatever.

Income from her condo could explain how she was able to recently tour, though.

[mythoughtis]

Becky cleaned house when she was young.  She had also worked  as a waitress multiple time - she knows how to clean house and what’s appropriate.  What a dumb storyline 

As was the entire Dan/Jackie trip.  He’s not the majority store owner, he doesn’t get to go buy a ton of tools to sell without clearing it with Ben. Jackie would have had to keep up her CDL license to drive the truck. Why would she?  Neville is buying gas and Jackie is driving, Dan should buy the meals.  
It’s also not Jackie’s place to loan Dan $1000 of Neville’s money without consulting him. Especially after he specifically told her he didn’t want her family getting his money. It just proves he was right. 

[One Tough Cookie]

32 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Louise would have to contribute more than whatever her share is to utilities, mortgage, beer, etc.

Let's  set the record first here the  most primary expense would, of course be BEER!

Edited March 16, 2023 by One Tough Cookie

[Browncoat]

Becky was cleaning the house the way she did, (also leaving all the sticky notes) to get back at Darlene.  Of course she knows how to clean.  Everything she did was a direct response to all the color-coded notes Darlene left.  An outstanding example of passive-aggressive sibling battles!

[StaceyNotStacie]

1 hour ago, mythoughtis said:

Becky cleaned house when she was young.  She had also worked  as a waitress multiple time - she knows how to clean house and what’s appropriate.  What a dumb storyline 

As was the entire Dan/Jackie trip.  He’s not the majority store owner, he doesn’t get to go buy a ton of tools to sell without clearing it with Ben. Jackie would have had to keep up her CDL license to drive the truck. Why would she?  Neville is buying gas and Jackie is driving, Dan should buy the meals.  
It’s also not Jackie’s place to loan Dan $1000 of Neville’s money without consulting him. Especially after he specifically told her he didn’t want her family getting his money. It just proves he was right. 

What size truck did they have?  Was it a huge truck or was it basically a Uhaul type truck that doesn’t require a CDL. If her “accident” was as bad as described, she most likely would have lost the CDL license years ago. 

[QQQQ]

[CrystalBlue]

So was Louise on tour again despite having told Dan she quit or was she hiding in the bedroom?

This was one of the most unfunny episodes ever.

I'm beginning to hate my hate-watching.  It's like one of Darlene's Post-it note chores!

[ItCouldBeWorse]

47 minutes ago, CrystalBlue said:

So was Louise on tour again despite having told Dan she quit or was she hiding in the bedroom?

Jackie said that she was available to drive Dan because Louise was back to working at the Lunch Box and could cover for her.

Jackie is employing half of Dan's immediate family, yet he feels she doesn't do enough to help him.  (And Neville funding the gas for a 10 hour round trip by truck is not an insignificant expense.)

[MSterling]

5 hours ago, mythoughtis said:

Jackie would have had to keep up her CDL license to drive the truck. Why would she?

Sometimes it's easy to keep the certification on the license, but I don't know the rules in Illinois. My dad was a mechanic and had a CDL. He kept it even after he was no longer working at a concrete plant, just in case he needed to test drive something like the cement trucks again. I don't think he ever did, but he could have and it didn't cost extra to keep current.

If the writers thought it through (which I doubt), that may have been their rationale to have Jackie still able to drive the truck.

[Starchild]

18 hours ago, mythoughtis said:

Becky cleaned house when she was young.  She had also worked  as a waitress multiple time - she knows how to clean house and what’s appropriate.  What a dumb storyline 

As was the entire Dan/Jackie trip.  He’s not the majority store owner, he doesn’t get to go buy a ton of tools to sell without clearing it with Ben. Jackie would have had to keep up her CDL license to drive the truck. Why would she?  Neville is buying gas and Jackie is driving, Dan should buy the meals.  
It’s also not Jackie’s place to loan Dan $1000 of Neville’s money without consulting him. Especially after he specifically told her he didn’t want her family getting his money. It just proves he was right. 

This is where I'm a little confused. If she is keeping her money separate from Neville's money, then why is Neville funding gas, and why did she have to ask him for $1000?

Jackie owns a business and has her own income from it. We don't know how well or badly the Lunch Box business is doing, but it's been a going concern for a while. I'm going to go ahead and assume she pays her family members who work for her. But they don't pay rent on the property right? They got it from Bev? So there's a huge business expense that they don't have, that many other businesses do. Jackie's business must be paying her some kind of a salary. She shares shelter costs with her husband, so she can't be using all of it on personal or household expenses.

Unless the Lunch Box is bleeding money, it's hard to believe Jackie couldn't afford to pay for at least part of this road trip without begging Neville. 

Or have I missed something?

[iMonrey]

Quote

(And Neville funding the gas for a 10 hour round trip by truck is not an insignificant expense.)

I don't know if they ever established where in Illinois Lanford is - isn't it about an hour away from Chicago? Because the trip from Lanford to Tulsa and back again would be WAY more than 10 hours. St. Louis to Kansas City alone is four hours, and Kansas City to Tulsa would be another six-seven hours.

Quote

What size truck did they have?  Was it a huge truck or was it basically a Uhaul type truck that doesn’t require a CDL.

What little they showed of the exterior (when Jackie was trying to hitchhike) it looks like a big rig.

[wonderwoman]

55 minutes ago, Starchild said:

Or have I missed something

no — you’re just trying to confuse the issue with logic — a common impulse with this show.

[mythoughtis]

1 hour ago, Starchild said:

Or have I missed something?

Jackie is supposedly paying for Bev’s caregiver and probably part of her assisted living expenses.   She also is supposedly not making much money at the Lunchbox.  Most neighborhood places like this aren’t really making much more than is needed to pay the bills and provide the owner a small income.   
 

We weren’t told why Neville gave her a debit card for gas, just that he did.  The $1000 that she asked Neville to transfer to her was money  she intended to loan to Dan- even though Neville didn’t want his money to go to Dan.  I believe the implication to be gotten is that Neville is  keeping his money separate for that exact reason.  He’s happy to pay for Jackie’s needs, but not Dan and his family.   

[Starchild]

Oh I understand why Neville is trying to ensure that Jackie (and by extension, her family) can't access his money. Just not sure why she doesn't have more of her own.

So Bev's holdings don't cover her care? I knew that Jackie was having to step in to arrange/manage Bev's care (which she resented), but I thought Bev had enough in her accounts to cover the costs.

If Jackie is using her own money to support Bev, that makes Dan even more of an asshole.

[juliet73]

Jackie got the rig and is paying for gas (actually Neville) and Dan couldn't pay for her $11 breakfast? Seriously?  And just because Neville has a good job and knows how to handle money, doesn't make him (or Jackie) obligated to share it with the rest of the Connors.  

21 hours ago, StaceyNotStacie said:

Ben has more chemistry with Becky than Darlene. They would have been the better married couple with Darlene as the struggling single mother. 

YES!  I was totally thinking that while I was watching the two of them in the kitchen reading Darlene's sticky notes.

[Irate Panda]

On 3/16/2023 at 4:03 PM, StaceyNotStacie said:

Ben has more chemistry with Becky than Darlene. They would have been the better married couple with Darlene as the struggling single mother. 

THIS A MILLION TIMES!  Hell, Ben had more chemistry with DJ than Darlene.  I have no idea why Ben would marry into this family especially by way of Darlene.  Louise and Neville I can at least write off they “fell in love”;with their partners when they were all teens or super young so there’s some nostalgic aspect to overlooking the gates of hell the Connor household has become.  
 

Dan asking Jackie to pay for lunch was ridiculous, he wouldn’t even be able to go on the trip if it weren’t for her. I mean had much can a cheap meal at a diner even cost?  Dumb! 

[Rocknrollzombie]

Ben with Becky ….geee I wonder how people would feel if someone told them. Their spouse is better off or should have been with their sibling or cousin because of ‘what they see’. Just because they get along doesn’t mean they should be together. And people really want to see Darlene miserable god. 

Edited March 17, 2023 by Rocknrollzombie

[emmyG]

I don't want to see Darlene miserable, I want to see her happy and fulfilled, with a partner that she shares interests with and has fun with. I want her to be less miserable and to make other people less miserable. 

[One Tough Cookie]

7 hours ago, mythoughtis said:

8 hours ago, Starchild said:

 

Jackie is supposedly paying for Bev’s caregiver and probably part of her assisted living expenses

But in the original series, didn't  Bev move into a complex that was suitable for handling   senior patients  who became incapacitated?And didn't Jackie become deliriously happy about it?

[Bastet]

3 minutes ago, One Tough Cookie said:

But in the original series, didn't  Bev move into a complex that was suitable for handling   senior patients  who became incapacitated?And didn't Jackie become deliriously happy about it?

Yeah, but they've ignored that all along; when we rejoined everyone in the revival season of Roseanne, she was in a retirement community she got kicked out of for spreading an STI, so moved in first with Becky (back when Becky had no kid and her own apartment), then with Jackie.

[Rocknrollzombie]

6 minutes ago, One Tough Cookie said:

But in the original series, didn't  Bev move into a complex that was suitable for handling   senior patients  who became incapacitated?And didn't Jackie become deliriously happy about it?

Yeah …

[One Tough Cookie]

8 minutes ago, Bastet said:

so moved in first with Becky (back when Becky had no kid and her own apartment), then with Jackie.

When did Becky have her own apartment aside from the trailer she and Mark lived in?  I totally don't remember the STD at all.

[Bastet]

4 minutes ago, One Tough Cookie said:

When did Becky have her own apartment

In season 10 of Roseanne -- the one revival season before it was replaced with this spin-off.

[Irate Panda]

3 hours ago, Rocknrollzombie said:

Ben with Becky ….geee I wonder how people would feel if someone told them. Their spouse is better off or should have been with their sibling or cousin because of ‘what they see’. Just because they get along doesn’t mean they should be together. And people really want to see Darlene miserable god. 

I think Ben has way more chemistry with Becky than Darlene, but I think commenting on a marriage between tv characters and real people I know is different (reality shows are the closest thing I cam think where this line is blurred) but I think Darlene would be miserable no matter who she was with it’s part of her personality.  Honestly I think Ben is too nice for anyone in this family.  They should have just made him a neighbor who Dan works for and he could have been on the show equally as much.  
 

I still don’t understand why Dan was so upset about the food bill.  I generally watch this on DVR and fast forward a lot which is bad for. a 22 minute sitcom.  Did Jackie do anything in regards to ‘flashing money” besides pay for gas? Also if she’s paying what I would assume to be at least few hundreds of dollars why is Dan moaning about splitting the Denny’s bill?  BTW does Dan say where he got all the money he’s using to buy this material or is he using the hardware store’s account and does Ben know about any of this?

[iMonrey]

Quote

So Bev's holdings don't cover her care? I knew that Jackie was having to step in to arrange/manage Bev's care (which she resented), but I thought Bev had enough in her accounts to cover the costs.

It's another retcon from the original show's canon.

13 hours ago, Irate Panda said:

Honestly I think Ben is too nice for anyone in this family.

Ding ding ding. Ben is just a very amiable character, all around. Darlene is very abrasive and always has been. But I did think they sort of clicked when they first met, back when Ben hired her to work on his magazine. Opposites do attract, and I could see how Ben would be attracted to her wit and intellect.

[Snow Apple]

Becky mopping the table was gross. Even if she was trying to get back at Darlene, she should seek revenge a different way so as not to harm others in the family (poor Ben). Did she forget Beverly Rose eats off that table?!

Regarding Jackie and her trucker's license: since when this family worry about rules? They are a "ask forgiveness later" kind of people. She kinda knows how to drive and probably just hope she's good enough that they don't get pulled over.