S05.E21: Dating, Drinking and Grifter Logic

[Yeah No]

On 4/30/2023 at 2:42 PM, Bastet said:

Back at the house the next day, Louise was all over Neville, mostly for making Jackie worry by disappearing.  Dan came home, released from jail, and Neville apologized, and Dan gave some speech about family taking care of each other.  They reconciled, but Dan told him he was going to have to pay the $500 for Dan to get an attorney to get this expunged from his record.  I think somewhere in there Jackie came over and they talked it out, too, but I'm fuzzy on those details.

I wonder if the next episode will follow up on this.  I checked with my lawyer friend and he said that in real life they would definitely have given Dan a breathalyzer test when they got him back to the police station.  If they never did he definitely could get it expunged from his record.  Of course he also said we shouldn't expect this show to be that realistic.  I can't argue with him there!

[b4pjoe]

I'm not a lawyer but in Illinois they give you the standard roadside tests. If you fail those they will either give you a breathalyzer test on the spot or take you back to the station and give you the test. If you fail they will charge you. If you pass they will release you. They will not "forget" to give you the breathalyzer test. It isn't Mayberry where they put you up in a cell overnight to sleep it off. Given the fact he stayed in jail overnight he must have failed the breathalyzer test and was charged though usually they keep your license as bail and release you after processing unless you are too drunk to be released on your own, are a repeat offender or have other warrants. Also if you refuse the breathalyzer test in Illinois you automatically lose your license for a year. And $500 isn't going to automatically get a DUI dropped or expunged. Plan on spending a lot more than that with no guarantee of beating it.

[65mickey]

On 4/30/2023 at 7:56 AM, Ottis said:

Did that ep end abruptly with Neville and Dan leaving the bar? Our recording did

Mine did also. Funny thing is that it did not air on Wednesday, 4-26, a special was on. So what I watched was recorded around 2:00 Am 4/27 and it cut off with the two of them leaving the bar. I tried watching it on demand and it did the same thing!. I have  Xfinity. 

[kassa]

The Conners were never grifters until the later weird Lunch Box years. Dan and Roseanne were working poor/struggling, lied to the occasional bill collector over the phone, but turned down lavish presents from their parents (pre-character assassination Mr. Harris used to arrive with vcrs and other loot for the kids; Bev tried to buy Becky a car, I think, which Roseanne refused). They were conflicted over accepting financial help from Jackie and their families. Sometimes took it, but it hurt to do it. They were barely getting by some years, but they took pride in getting by.

They played the occasional "look at us trashy folk" act in front of their kids the way anybody would try to embarrass their kids in private. When the writing went off the rails in later years, that's when they started acting like animals in public, but the initial Conner family saved most of their worst snark for the privacy of their own home. Roseanne had plenty to say about the Wellmans (both factory and hair salon) but she mostly sucked it up subserviently in the workplace.

Neville's smart to discuss financial boundaries with Jackie, but having money and always-in-a-financial-bind relatives is a third rail of relationships.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 4/26/2023 at 8:30 PM, Annber03 said:

I'm glad Dan and Neville were able to ultimately work things out. Even if it did involve a night in jail in the process. 

Which he richly deserved.  What a thoughtless person.

On 4/26/2023 at 8:41 PM, Snow Apple said:

I laughed at the vegetarian making Darlene, a vegan, realize she's annoying too.

On 4/27/2023 at 1:31 PM, Snow Apple said:

Also, they need different ladles for vegan and allergens and non-employees may just use the same ladle for everything. 

I was really surprised that Darlene stuck the gravy-covered ladle into the mashed potatoes. Cross-contamination, whether for allergies or with regard to dietary preferences, is something that Darlene should be more sensitive to.

On 4/26/2023 at 11:39 PM, Bastet said:

Darlene and James both having their hair hanging out of their hair nets was driving me crazy.  (Especially since, like me, they both have curly hair -- we shed more, because we only brush/comb our hair when it's wet.) 

Agreed.  Kind of like wearing a mask but not covering your nose.

On 4/27/2023 at 9:05 AM, Yeah No said:

Of course he should seek out a lawyer but who knows if he will?  Knowing how Dan is, he may want to fall on his sword to show Neville his loyalty to the family to get him on his side.

But then he really would be grifting the $500 that Neville is going to give him for a lawyer!

 

[Glade]

James is so cute, I hope he stays on the show - I assume he and Darlene had their hair out to show how much they look alike (he resembles Darlene more than Mark does.)  But yeah, what I recall my student cafeteria was an array of hot/salad bars that were all self-serve and then the lunch ladies would weigh what we selected at the register.  And they didn't serve frozen mixed carrots/peas and other 90's elementary school cafeteria trash because college students wouldn't eat that.   

[mythoughtis]

Was the car parked on the street or in a parking lot?  The cop arrested him without  even a field test ( walking etc).  Just telling the officer ‘ yes I had a couple drinks’ isn’t enough to admit guilt.  He didn’t even ask how long it had taken to drink them.  Dan was not exhibiting any symptoms of over-imbibing.  This was all done for laughter and I am tired of these particular writers acting as if they’ve never been  in the real world. They have definitely never learned anything about Illinois- except that Romeoville exists and Joliet has a prison. 

[Lorna Mae]

On 5/2/2023 at 5:00 PM, kassa said:

Dan and Roseanne...turned down lavish presents from their parents (pre-character assassination Mr. Harris used to arrive with vcrs and other loot for the kids; Bev tried to buy Becky a car, I think, which Roseanne refused).

The VCR was from Ed, Dan's father. "Is that what the VCR was for -- to soften us up?" "No, the VCR was second prize in a sales contest. If I'd won second prize, I'd be in Hawaii right now, and you wouldn't have to put up with me at all!" As for Bev, she only started trying to lavish the Conners with gifts after she divorced Al and had a big settlement to spend. She wanted to give her old car to Becky, and it was Dan who said no, because Becky was supposed to earn a car. So Roseanne got Bev's old car, and Becky got Roseanne's old car. "No, my dad already 'fixed' it -- that's why I can't get it out of the driveway." "Car doesn't have to run for you to live in it, little girl..." 

-----------------------------

And waitaminut. Since when does Mark work as a security guard? I thought the episode would turn on that -- Darlene saying "Okay, if Mark has a job, maybe I don't have to do this after all." 

Edited May 4, 2023 by Lorna Mae

[pinkandsparkly13]

1 hour ago, Lorna Mae said:

And waitaminut. Since when does Mark work as a security guard? I thought the episode would turn on that -- Darlene saying "Okay, if Mark has a job, maybe I don't have to do this after all." 

The security guard job was just a lie he told that boy to get out of going out again. Although he actually does work at Whole Foods. 

[chediavolo]

On 4/26/2023 at 11:39 PM, Bastet said:

Oh, FFS.  Yes, the cop is right that Dan in the car with the keys in the ignition would be enough to bring him in for DUI -- if he was over the legal limit.  Which, at his size, he would not even be in the same universe of after one Long Island Iced Tea and a couple slugs of beer.  The cop didn't do a breathalyzer in the field - which he'd have passed with flying colors - but even if they were basing the arrest on a blood draw done at the station, he'd be good to go.  Nice story about Dan taking the hit for Neville, but do it with him being detained and released, not actually booked.

Speaking of the Long Island, I love Dan downing it in response to Neville's challenge, and then gagging not because it's too strong, but because it's too damn sweet. 

Darlene and James both having their hair hanging out of their hair nets was driving me crazy.  (Especially since, like me, they both have curly hair -- we shed more, because we only brush/comb our hair when it's wet.)  Also, even for cafeteria food, that shit was gross.  Elementary schools have long since had better options, never mind universities.

The date storyline was silly, but I did get a kick out of Harris saying, "I didn't go to college.  Our mom put all her love and energy into Sweater Vest here."  (She's not wrong.)  And of Becky's "You live in Mayberry, you're going to run into Aunt Bea.

And, yeah, the tag should have been an updated rendition of holding cell "Jail House Rock".

Well, if that long island iced tea was that sweet then the bartender made it wrong. I’ve downed way too many in my day, and there should only be a splash of sweetness. They are strong, strong, strong.
But yes, I don’t believe Dan  would have not passed a breathalyzer test and why the hell didn’t that  cop give him one? And that was a real prick cop thing to do to even arrest him for sitting behind the wheel  after drinking. He could’ve given him a warning and made them both call an  Uber if they did not pass the breathalyzer test which again he did not give. Abuse of power. 
Mark  is a little entitled little bastard. When his date mentioned  to Darlene that he was working in the cafeteria to pay off student loans and I thought to myself oh, that’s what your son should be doing. And you should be working at the better job that you had instead of working in the cafeteria when you don’t have to. Because there’s someone out there who actually needs that job. Makes no sense she didn’t take the high paying job, and Mark did not get a student loan. 

[ESS]

Now this epiosde was funny and I loved seeing Neville and Louise back and poor Dan went to jail again, but this time for Neville which was a nice thing for him to do(even though it didn't seem as though he was that drunk) and Neville should have watched what he said, but I can understand why he was so upset with Jackie as well about the money. The sibling scene between Louise and Neville was so funny and him being hit on the head with the newspaper by his sister was hilarious, but I don't blame Louise for that, he deserved it.

Edited March 1 by ESS