S02.E01: Preemies, Weed & Infidelity

[Pallas]

Season 2 premiere! Jackie has prepared a meticulous birthplan for Becky; Darlene is involved with her boss and her ex, and Harris Conner Healey is attending Lanford High. What could go wrong?

[Dan464080]

Pot Cookies. Only eat half.

[UYI]

I won't be home from work in time to watch tonight, but I'm hoping ABC.com will have it posted early enough tomorrow where I can catch up by then. I seem to remember the season premiere from last year being posted there pretty quickly (same situation then too, lol). 

[Annber03]

I'm hoping I'll be able to see it, too. They're predicting some nasty storms for our area this evening, so if that comes to pass, the show may be interrupted here. We'll see how that pans out. 

[TomGirl]

Hmmmmm.  Off to a slow start, IMO.

[Annber03]

As predicted, I did wind up missing the second half of the episode due to storm coverage (not in my town, though, rather for areas north of me). But I liked what I did see of the episode. I got a good laugh out of Dan inviting that woman in to try and find something worth $200 to take with her :D. 

And I've read about the name Becky chose for her baby elsewhere. It's nice. 

[ams1001]

I know I overthink these things, but ...why were Jackie and DJ in gowns and gloves in the NICU and then Becky's allowed to just go in there in her fuzzy robe and no gloves and no doctor or nurse even talks to her about how to handle this tiny fragile newborn she's just meeting for the first time?

Edited September 25, 2019 by ams1001

[SoMuchTV]

6 minutes ago, TomGirl said:

Hmmmmm.  Off to a slow start, IMO.

Oh, I enjoyed it.  Just didn't have anything intelligent to say about it 🙂

[SomeTameGazelle]

It took me a minute to recognize Lucy Punch as the trashy mother complaining about Harris, and then I suddenly remembered that she and Sara had been on The Class together. I don't think their storylines overlapped to speak of.

I had forgotten about Darlene's boss/boyfriend even though I had liked him last season. For some reason when I heard about the storyline with Darlene possibly cheating with David I had pictured her cheating on Justin Long instead. Cheating on Jay R Ferguson seems an order of magnitude more morally questionable. And to be honest I feel like I would rather have seen David around for an episode or 2 before they revealed the infidelity.

[Snow Apple]

I love the little blanket. Iconic.

Harris continues to annoy me which isn't surprising, but I wasn't happy with Darlene in this episode either.

[WednesdayAddams]

Why is that at the start of all the seasons, I think Estelle (Bev) is dead in real life? When I saw her, I again thought "I didn't know they shot episodes before her death." I fell terrible, but I feel like every year I see it mentioned that she died. 

I thought Becky would name the baby Rosey or Rose, not as a middle name. But loved Jackie's response.

[Glendenning]

Re Harris:

Dawson Casting is always interesting, specially in countries like like Britain and Australia which use school uniforms.

[StaceyNotStacie]

I liked everything about this except for Darlene’s story. I loved that they had a lot of Bev in the episode and I liked the callback to Harris’s being a preemie. 

[BeachDays]

This episode had me laughing out loud.  And crying.  So good.  And I’m glad they addressed the fact that Harris was also a preemie.  

[jewel21]

Aww, Beverly Rose. 

I'm always happy to see Bev on this show. And Dan's reactions to her, heh. 

My PVR cut off a bit too early. I saw Dan place the blanket on the incubator but missed what he said. Can anyone recap?

[Steff]

Just now, jewel21 said:

Aww, Beverly Rose. 

I'm always happy to see Bev on this show. And Dan's reactions to her, heh. 

My PVR cut off a bit too early. I saw Dan place the blanket on the incubator but missed what he said. Can anyone recap?

He did a Tarzan voice and said "You not Tarzan, you a Conner". 

[mythoughtis]

I was surprised by the name Beverley- thought they might go with Bev’s mothers’ name.  The Rose shouldn't have surprised me but it did. 

I wouldn’t have minded the David stuff if 1) there was no Ben and 2) they hadn’t done such a hatchet job regarding David last season. 

Jackie was a lot calmer this episode.  Harris is still unlikable. Her teenage Darlene impression sucks.  And child number 2 was barely shown- always a plus. 

Edited September 25, 2019 by mythoughtis

[BeachDays]

7 minutes ago, mythoughtis said:

I was surprised by the name Beverley- thought they might go with Bev’s mothers’ name.  The Rose shouldn't have surprised me but it did.

Bev’s mother’s name was Mary;  DJ already named his daughter after her.  

[ItCouldBeWorse]

Does Jackie consider herself a Conner, too?

[SpiritSong]

1 hour ago, Snow Apple said:

I love the little blanket. Iconic.

Harris continues to annoy me which isn't surprising, but I wasn't happy with Darlene in this episode either.

The baby afghan was a sweet way to end the episode. I loved all the Dan scenes. Hate the David/Darlene plot but I laughed a lot during the show. The witty writing is a highlight for me; I l love the sarcastic humor.

[Bastet]

I’ve been curious about how I’ll respond to this season, since my continued nostalgic comfort of seeing these characters again (and "suck it, Racist Roseanne, the show goes on" pleasure at the spinoff existing) papered over some story objections and disappointment that the writing isn’t as sharp as during the original's prime.

Indeed, it has faded some from last season.  This ridiculous love triangle of Darlene’s, with two guys I have no idea why she’d want to be with, is something I’m less capable of shrugging off at this point.  (She's even sneaking David into the house - in which she lives with the kids she's ignoring and who would be quite confused by this?!) 

Jackie, Dan, and Becky, and Darlene with anyone other than the guys, are still enjoyable, though.  As is Bev still annoying Dan, but her still being around even without Roseanne (seeing her at his poker game was really something).

The pot cookie kid’s mom coming over reminded me of Dana’s mom coming over because Becky got her drunk, only not as funny – but I did snort laugh when she came in looking for $200 worth of stuff in the house and left.

Since Harris is younger than she should be, and they’re ignoring things not just from the final season, I thought they wouldn’t mention Harris was a preemie, too – I thought the Harris of this revival universe was going to be a completely different Harris than the original.

I'd seen a big chunk of it in the spoilers thread, but I loved the confrontation between Dan and Darlene in that they were both right -- him about how it is now and her about how it was then. 

I knew the name, too, and I like that it calls back to Harris's name, in being rooted in her maternal lineage.  And I love "I consider it a personal attack and a negation of my entire childhood of pain that you've named it after the vessel of evil that is my mother."  Best moment of the episode!

Dan putting a little version of the afghan over the incubator I didn't know about, and it made me smile so big it hurt.

[mythoughtis]

I see we are also still ignoring Andy’s existence and Jerry hasn’t been mentioned since we were told he was on a fishing  boat and couldn’t come home for Roseanne’s funeral. 

[Emkat]

I can't help myself...I really enjoyed it. There is a lot of nostalgia here for me so maybe that's why.  But I thought it was really good. 

[SpiritSong]

1 hour ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Does Jackie consider herself a Conner, too?

I think at this point, she does.

[BeachDays]

I remember the two things that made me laugh the hardest-  Darlene and Jackie “looking for Harris’s earring” with the couch cushions, and “you are confusing having a baby with stealing muffins”.  

Regarding the awkward love triangle, my opinion since Roseanne season 10 has been that in-story David and Darlene still love each other, but out-of-story JG obviously couldn’t be on the show, but somehow they would find their way back to each other once he was free.   That seems to be exactly what is going on here.  

Edited September 25, 2019 by BeachDays

[Annber03]

2 minutes ago, BeachDays said:

I remember the two things that made me laugh the hardest-  Darlene and Jackie “looking for Harris’s earring” with the couch cushions, and “you are confusing having a baby with stealing muffins”.  

LOL, I liked that, too. 

[Steph J]

1 hour ago, jewel21 said:

Aww, Beverly Rose. 

You may call her Bev... or sea hag!

[Bastet]

1 minute ago, BeachDays said:

Regarding the awkward love triangle, my opinion since Roseanne season 10 has been that in-story David and Darlene still love each other, but out-of-story JG obviously couldn’t be on the show, but somehow they would find their way back to each other once he was free.   That seems to be exactly what is going on here.  

Well, of course they still love each other; they were each other's first loves, he became part of the family, they were together for many years, and they have kids together.  They will always love each other in a very particular and very special way.  And with season 10 of Roseanne and season one of The Conners, Galecki only had limited availability and no one knew if they'd get future seasons. 

They're more comfortable in their success now, and he doesn't have a primary job from which he takes an occasional break to play David.  So they could play this realistically (yes, this is more typical sitcom and thus less realistic than the original, but aim high), which is that loving each other does not begin to be enough to reconcile romantically now given what he did (not just leaving her, but abandoning his kids) and how new his re-involvement in his kids' lives is - and that's before adding in the fact she is inexplicably banging her gross boss and alleges to be in love with him, too - instead of continuing to force it because Sara Gilbert is really into a relationship that hasn't been a healthy one since Darlene moved to Chicago for school as a teenager.

[BeachDays]

3 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Well, of course they still love each other; they were each other's first loves, he became part of the family, they were together for many years, and they have kids together.  They will always love each other in a very particular and very special way.  And with season 10 of Roseanne and season one of The Conners, Galecki only had limited availability and no one knew if they'd get future seasons. 

They're more comfortable in their success now, and he doesn't have a primary job from which he takes an occasional break to play David.  So they could play this realistically (yes, this is more typical sitcom and thus less realistic than the original, but aim high), which is that loving each other does not begin to be enough to reconcile romantically now given what he did (not just leaving her, but abandoning his kids) and how new his re-involvement in his kids' lives is - and that's before adding in the fact she is inexplicably banging her gross boss and alleges to be in love with him, too - instead of continuing to force it because Sara Gilbert is really into a relationship that hasn't been a healthy one since Darlene moved to Chicago for school as a teenager.

I can see your point but I have a counter point. If they do still love each other and they are now present in each other’s lives on a regular basis, they could definitely be friends and parents and remain super close but also know that that relationship is over as anything more and move on in their personal lives.   Or they could decide to try again, but come at it from a different angle.   There are no rules for growth- it’s up to them to decide what they want and how to approach a relationship moving forward.  Which yeah, Darlene having a relationship with 2 guys and not letting the other guy know isn’t the best start, but also nothing is hopeless if people are willing to change.  We just have to see if they are willing or not.  I definitely do not want more of the same on and off.  But maybe they can figure out a way to finally stay on (some honesty might help there Darlene). 

[Bastet]

42 minutes ago, BeachDays said:

If they do still love each other and they are now present in each other’s lives on a regular basis, they could definitely be friends and parents and remain super close but also know that that relationship is over as anything more and move on in their personal lives.

Like I said in season 10 of Roseanne, that's the healthiest-for-everyone scenario I would love to see as this latest (and final) stage of their relationship.  But that's not what they seem to be going for -- between Sara Gilbert's personal affection for the relationship and the fact the unhealthy choice makes for so-called "better" TV, whether they want to go the dramatic (conflict) or saccharine (first love is twu luv) route.

I think I'm stuck with Darlene and David as endgame, so I'd really like the road to that being a better one.

[bybrandy]

I thought it was genuinely terrible.  It wasn't funny.  There was only a tiny, minuscule amount of heart at the very end with the blanket.  Other than that?   It looked like a school play.   

[nokat]

I think nostalgia is why many of us are enjoying the show. I did enjoy the couch cushion scene with Darlene and Jackie, and the mother walking into the house to take $200 worth of stuff. She looks around, walks back out.

That NICU scene was all wrong, as others have mentioned.
 

[UYI]

Finally got to watch it this morning--as predicted, ABC.com had it up very quick! (And no commercials!)

Most here have already mentioned the funniest moments of last night (the couch cushion scene, the pot cookie mom turning around after seeing nothing close to being $200 in the house to take, Jackie's reaction to Beverly Rose's name), so I'll mention one of the real standouts to me: Becky saying "NO SHE DIDN'T!" through tears when Darlene said Harris turned out fine despite being a preemie.

Lecy in general was great in the more dramatic scenes at the hospital.

I also loved when Dan mentioned to Jackie that having carpet in her apartment with Bev instead of hardwood floors gave her something to wrap a body up with. 😄

I did wonder if Jackie's guide to being a mom would finally lead to mentioning Andy, but of course it didn't. SMH. /still bitter

I really think, like last season, most of the big drama will be in the season premiere, and things will continue to get lighter as time goes on. We'll see. 

Edited September 25, 2019 by UYI

[ams1001]

3 minutes ago, UYI said:

I did wonder if Jackie's guide to being a mom would finally lead to mentioning Andy, but of course it didn't. SMH. /still bitter

Yeah, With Dan's comment about her needing something to give her life meaning I was expecting something about how her own kid isn't around because [insert reason here]. But no.

[nokat]

32 minutes ago, UYI said:

one of the real standouts to me: Becky saying "NO SHE DIDN'T!" through tears when Darlene said Harris turned out fine despite being a preemie.

That was good.
 

[LBS]

I enjoyed the premiere as it set up a lot of story lines but I wasn't wowed by it.  Harris to me is the weakest link.   I wish they would add some nuance to her brattiness.  Her line to Darlene "how would you know?  You're never home" had the same clumsiness as the classic anti-drug PSA "I learned it from you, dad".    Jackie continues to be my favorite character.  I roared when she yelled at Bev - "You never disappoint" after Bev said something mean to Becky as she was going into labor.  Dan and Darlene's scene was really well acted too.

I'm definitely positive about the rest of the season though!

[Glendenning]

Darlene might have worked better with a Mary Sue Torkelson type sweetheart with impish humor than Harris.

[UYI]

I know why she was aged down, but when Darlene said Harris was underage last night that still fucked with my brain. I always forget how old she is actually supposed to be now. 

[Glendenning]

And Emma Kenney is an adult and starting to look beyond school age. Reminds me of the story of the narc squad putting one of their police officers undercover into a high school as a student. Needless to say there was much snarking at him from the real kids.

[jewel21]

So the one thing that made me pause was seeing Becky in labour sitting in a wheelchair in the waiting room. Now, I only know from TV, but usually when someone is in labour they rush them off quickly. Is it normal to keep a geriatric mother in premature labour sitting around a waiting room? Also, Becky's water broke at the house so would they even be able to stop her contractions/labour?

[BeachDays]

17 minutes ago, jewel21 said:

So the one thing that made me pause was seeing Becky in labour sitting in a wheelchair in the waiting room. Now, I only know from TV, but usually when someone is in labour they rush them off quickly. Is it normal to keep a geriatric mother in premature labour sitting around a waiting room? Also, Becky's water broke at the house so would they even be able to stop her contractions/labour?

Yeah I was scratching my head too.  Now I’m trying to remember what happened with Darlene-  did her water break too?  She ultimately had a c-section didn’t she?  I felt like things were more dire with her than with Becky.  

[Snow Apple]

52 minutes ago, Glendenning said:

Darlene might have worked better with a Mary Sue Torkelson type sweetheart with impish humor than Harris.

I've said it before but it's like they're trying to recreate Teenage Darlene 2.0 with Harris, but she doesn't have the deadpan humor or inner caring that shone through with Sara.

It would have been better if they gave her a different personality and interests. Right now, she does nothing but battle Darlene and that's boring.

[BeachDays]

3 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

I've said it before but it's like they're trying to recreate Teenage Darlene 2.0 with Harris, but she doesn't have the deadpan humor or inner caring that shone through with Sara.

It would have been better if they gave her a different personality and interests. Right now, she does nothing but battle Darlene and that's boring.

I agree with this.  She is too typical annoying teenager.  I adore Mark, he’s so refreshing, but Harris needs more depth.  

[Glendenning]

As i said, I think a Mary Sue Torkelson type might have worked. Someone who is mostly a sweetheart but has moments of impish humor. A better contrast with Darlene then Generation Xerox.

[BeachDays]

18 minutes ago, Glendenning said:

As i said, I think a Mary Sue Torkelson type might have worked. Someone who is mostly a sweetheart but has moments of impish humor. A better contrast with Darlene then Generation Xerox.

Isnt that Mark though?  At any rate, the good thing is they can start writing her differently at any point.  Darlene herself went from tomboy to emo to pure snark to what we see today which is a surprisingly open and sweet mom even thought she still has her quirks.  But I don’t know if they care enough to do so.  

[BeachDays]

Regarding Harris, I thought of a way they could possibly address her bratty teen self- had to search for this interview I read a few days ago.  I definitely don’t want her whole arc to be “daddy issues”, but possibly if some of her conflict within David is addressed, maybe we can see a different side of her?   

As for how David and Harris’ relationship will evolve over Season 2, Kenney hopes her character can find common ground with her previously absentee father. “[Harris] sees things more realistically rather than how David sees things in kind of a dreamy world and tries to take the best out of everything. I think that Harris definitely has a soft spot in her heart for her dad because he’s her dad and I don’t think she knows him the way that she wants to. It’s probably a little bit of an unattainable relationship.” 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/decider.com/2019/09/23/the-conners-season-2-interview-lecy-goranson-michael-fishman-emma-kenney/amp/

[Vixenstud]

16 hours ago, ams1001 said:

I know I overthink these things, but ...why were Jackie and DJ in gowns and gloves in the NICU and then Becky's allowed to just go in there in her fuzzy robe and no gloves and no doctor or nurse even talks to her about how to handle this tiny fragile newborn she's just meeting for the first time?

You weren't overthinking....I cringed when Becky opened the ICU cubicle without gloves and started caressing Beverly Rose.  The mini blanket did get my eyes watery.

Not a Harris fan at all, heiffer needs a karate chop in the throat with that sassy mouth of hers.

Kept staring then listening to the blonde mother of the boy that Harris sold the cookie to and recognized Lucy Punch....she was a redhead in the hysterically crude Bad Teacher, love her.

Darlene, don't do Ben or David like that, pick a fucking side and keep it moving! 

Edited September 25, 2019 by Vixenstud

[ams1001]

27 minutes ago, jewel21 said:

So the one thing that made me pause was seeing Becky in labour sitting in a wheelchair in the waiting room. Now, I only know from TV, but usually when someone is in labour they rush them off quickly. Is it normal to keep a geriatric mother in premature labour sitting around a waiting room?

I assumed it was a commentary on the state of health care in this country, especially for low-income people, but, still, that seemed unrealistic. It is federal law that anyone coming into an ER must be treated and stabilized, and that specifically includes women in labor (Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, aka EMTALA). ERs triage patients, and I would think someone in active pre-term labor would not be left sitting in a waiting room just because the intake paperwork wasn't filled out yet. (I really hope I'm not being too optimistic/idealistic with that last sentence. I know we live in a far-from-perfect world, but if nothing else, no hospital wants to risk a premature baby being born on the floor in the waiting room (and the likely-ensuing lawsuit) because they made the mother "wait in line." She'd be moved to the front of the line, or at least only after someone with an immediately life-threatening issue.)

I also hate the trope of the uncaring, rules-following ER desk nurse who just says "fill out this form" without even hearing what the issue is. It's called "emergency" for a reason; sometimes you don't have time to fill things out. Part of the triage process is determining who can and can't wait; it doesn't require filing paperwork first. When I was in a car accident, I didn't have to fill out all the forms before they x-rayed my neck and made sure I didn't have something worse than severe whiplash (which thankfully was all it was; still hurt like hell). I answered some basic medical history-type questions, of course, but most of the paperwork came later, after they determined it was safe to remove the collar and backboard. (And I did have to wait a bit before they took me to x-ray because of a life-threatening emergency that came in shortly after I did.)

27 minutes ago, jewel21 said:

Also, Becky's water broke at the house so would they even be able to stop her contractions/labour?

Preterm labor can sometimes be stopped temporarily, but once the water breaks there's a high risk of infection. A quick google suggests that in such a case they would probably administer antibiotics and steroids or other medications to help the baby's organs (especially the lungs) mature but would probably deliver within a few days. (I know two people who had their kids 10 weeks early; they weren't in labor yet but had dangerously high blood pressure so continuing the pregnancy much longer was not an option. Both got steroids for a day or two, followed by emergency c-section.)

[peacheslatour]

John Goodman looks a lot healthier now. I still think Lecy is the shining star of this show. I hope they don't make Jackie wacky again.

[Glendenning]

Harris needs a retool.

Sassy Obnoxious Brattiness  is NOT "empowerment", television writers. Being from a group traditionally marginalised by society doesn't mean they should be written as having the right to freely act like a jerk.