clckworang

I agree that the show is on a big down streak. I thought this latest episode was especially poor. So much felt off about it, but the way they're handling Jackie's character might be one of the biggest issues. And is it just me or have they seemingly decided to really downplay the gender fluid aspects of Darlene's son? It seemed to be really played up in previous seasons, but I don't think I've noticed anything this season.

Joe Schmoe

Robin is a transgender character played by transgender actress Alexandra Billings. Agree about the Jackie stuff.

Coral

Did they solve Dan's foreclosure issue yet? I don't remember hearing anything about it the last couple episodes and Dan doesn't appear to be trying anything to solve it.

Typical bad work ethic in the family with Becky. She's paying too much attention to her kid while working that she could lose her job - which she needs because she has a kid to support.

Is it me or does Dan seem more happy with Louise than he was with Rosanne? I can't blame him. What a different in personality and looks.

windom

I thought that Darlene and Becky agreed to help Dan pay the mortgage so they wouldn't lose the house. Maybe Dan's girlfriend and Darlene's boyfriend too? Not sure if they are actually living there.

Joe Schmoe

Yes, Becky and Darlene convinced Dan to let them start paying him rent.

Coral

Thanks. I forgot about that for some reason - even though I may have talked about that earlier in the thread. More reason for Becky to get her shit together at work - hard to raise a baby on the streets.

mickey65

"Thanks for ruining flowers for me, Carla!"

Daytripper

I laughed at that too. Ben stoned was also pretty funny. Can't believe the next new episode isn't until January 13rd. No Christmas themed show!?

Joe Schmoe

I know U.S. employers can do drug testing, but is it legal for them to have someone actually watch you pee?

Noonan

The two that I've had, no one was in the room but I had to lock up anything in my pockets in a box they had outside the bathroom.

They certainly can watch you if you're on probation and needing drug testing.

Daytripper

BTW, do you sense that Darlene is going to get fired or suspended without pay from Wellman's because she's about to fail her drug test? The show ended with her getting stoned with Ben outside. Again, more smart decisions and choices by this family. It's hard to feel sorry for people like this. Darlene was never that stupid before. And they ruined Jackie. The show seriously needs an overhaul ASAP. And how about letting up on the depressing storylines week after week. We get it, they're poor. Can you toss them some good luck now and then? It definitely could use more laughs. It is supposed to be a comedy after all.

windom

It's pretty pathetic that Dan has to beg his granddaughter for money to pay the mortgage. Is he even still working? I hope he finally sold his motorcycle, but it was shown a few episodes ago. He's probably still making payments on that too.

DWilson

I got tired of the "Poor Me" stuff about half-way through and just checked out...

bluesix

I'm surprised to see comments about the show becoming too depressing because for me, it's firing on all cylinders and never been better!

Even old school 'Roseanne' was about this family never getting a break. I think Roseanne (the star) created the show to reflect where she came from which was white trash struggling to get by every week on a blue collar salary and paying one credit card bill by charging it to another credit card. That is still the reality for many lower income families like the one the show tries to portray.

My problem with the show is that its always tried to have it both ways in the 'culture war'. The reality is that a family in a small blue collar town would never have such progressive attitudes the way people in the Conner family do. These are the people who elected Trump after all. Yet somehow the Connor family ends up becoming a microcosm of every minority cause that liberal Hollywood loves to celebrate. Roseanne in the 90s was groundbreaking for episodes that featured gay and lesbian characters like Sandra Berhard, Martin Mull and Morgan Fairchild (all self-proclaimed gay/bi in real life). At one point wasn't Bev, the grandmother a lesbian? And yet the show still tried to pretend that Roseanne's character was a Trump supporter to try to keep appealing to the blue state audience it attempted to represent.

I wasn't shocked to find the Wellman supervisor end up becoming a 'trans' character or see the storyline about Harris going to protest against the 1percenters because this show has always tried to be on the cutting edge of whatever flavor of the month minority Hollywood wants to show they are supporting. Unfortunately I don't think it rings true to the reality of the world this family would live in.

The show still has some great moments and created some unique characters that you don't ever see on a mainstream TV show....Becky's alcoholic single mother and her relationship with Emilio is great and how refreshing that they didn't just make her end up marrying Emilio and realizing she really did love him. Her character actually is just a reformed alcoholic slut who had a one night stand and got pregnant and kept the baby..no happy ending for her there...

Darlene and Ben and their stupid magazine and her trying to get pregnant at 45 when she can't even provide a decent life for the two kids she has is also great...that's real, people make stupid selfish choices and have their dreams crushed and end up working at dead end jobs and the shitty life they gave their kids ends up putting them into the same no-win cycle...hopefully Ben ends up at Wellman too because thats how it would be in the real world....

the big disappointment for me as others have pointed out is the complete waste of talent by using Laurie Metcalf to portray 'Wacky Jackie'. Her character always was an idiot who never followed through on anything but she seems to have evolved into just becoming an over the top clown. No woman would survive in a small town like this, let alone run a small business in the time of COVID, by acting like a buffoon, I wouldn't be surprised if the writers make her end up sleeping with the 'trans' supervisor character at some point. I wish they would bring some of the realness they give Becky and Darlene to Jackie as well.

Hopefully the writers are brave enough to keep the misery coming! With any luck Dan or someone else on the show will die of COVID by the end of the season and then the Connor family would really be screwed.

windom

So people in towns like that are all required to have the same beliefs? Anyway...they basically live in a suburb of Chicago, and Illinois is a blue state, not that having those attitudes is exclusive to democrats.

Coral

What's the point - the characters would just piss away any good luck that came their way.

I don't agree with the show being real because it shows people constantly making stupid decisions. That would only hold true for people who aren't very smart. The characters in this show are far from dumb. Darlene and her kids are all pretty smart. Dan's not a dummy either. Becky's a little reckless, but hardly a stupid person. However, they continue to make one bad decision after another which keeps them in the same place they're complaining about.

When the show came back after 20 years, I figured the family would be better off than it was. Not necessarily rich, but definitely not living paycheck to paycheck struggling to get by.
They should've gotten their shit together after all these years.

I knock Shameless for different things, but the characters in that show are resourceful and street-smart and are not lazy. They hustle to try and get by, whereas the characters in this show can't even do the bare minimum for a job they're lucky to have - and just bitch and moan all the time.

I had a laugh when Becky was surprised that the manager was trans. Not believable that she didn't notice - seemed pretty obvious to me in the first 10 seconds of seeing/hearing him.

Daytripper

I know Sandra Bernhard is bi, but just curious where you heard that Mull and Fairchild were bi or gay. I did a quick search online and don't see anywhere we either have admitted to that.

Josh-da-man

I believe bluesix means the characters they portrayed... Leon (Martin Mull) and Nancy (Sandra Bernhard) were both LGBT. Don't recall who Morgan Fairchild played, though.

Daytripper

She played a woman Nancy (Bernhard) dated for a short time. The character worked at a cosmetic's counter.

clckworang

It is not legal to have someone directly observe your employment drug test (whether it be pre-employment or random) except if you've been caught trying to cheat the test. They can ask you to empty all your pockets, remove your hat, but they also aren't allowed to physically search you. They can also have someone stationed outside the door but not to directly observe. Of course, this doesn't apply for drug testing if on parole.

mickey65

Candice Bergen as Ben's mom's last night. An episode I could relate to...like Ben, my Mom lied to me my whole life about who my dad was. I took a DNA test after she was long dead and uncovered that "secret" she took with her, and found out my (now "half") sister and brother have the same dad - but I don't! Still not able to find out who he is (my DNA is on 5 websites and no one from his family has ever submitted theirs up to now).

And then shit with Becky and her "husband"...poor guy.

Josh-da-man

I was sort of expecting it to be divulged that Ben's real father was Ed, Dan's dad.

Paff

I'm sure they're just teasing it until the inevitable pairing of Becky and Emilio, but it's awfully odd that despite having sex (albeit a drunken hookup for Becky), and them getting married, that she'd friend zone him as hard as she's doing.

JZ1276

Candice Bergen's character said something like she used to send her first boyfriend dirty emails. Unless I heard it wrong how is that possible?

Daytripper

Watching these actors get so close to each other during their scenes during this pandemic makes me so nervous. For example, the scene alone with Gilbert and Bergen at that kitchen table. Bergen was already seated while Gilbert was walking around pouring wine. And just when I thought Gilbert would sit at the end of the table, she ends up sitting right next to Bergen. And they faced each other while doing their dialogue. Not 6 feet apart. The pandemic is very much part of the current story line, you would think they would have handled that scene alone differently. The Conner family (and Jackie) appear to live in a bubble and are masked when they're out of the house. They had no idea who all Bergen has been around, and she comes walking into that house sans mask.