Round Two: The Conners

The Conners: Season 1, Episode 2 “The Separation of Church and Dan” (B)

I think ABC should be happy – this show works just fine without Roseanne, and she barely even figured into this episode, with only a couple mentions to reference her absence. We had two notable guest stars in the form of Johnny Galecki, best known for “The Big Bang Theory” and who also made an appearance last year as Darlene’s ex David, and Juliette Lewis, currently portraying an equally problematic girlfriend no one invited on “Camping,” as Blue, whose parenting decisions are truly questionable and infuriating to Darlene. It wasn’t too much of a shock that something would happen when Harris stayed over, and Darlene learning that Blue had permitted her to have sex when she knew ahead of time that it was going to happen just made her even angrier. The fact that David and Darlene had sex and he didn’t tell her about it makes it seem that a divorce might not be nearly as permanent as it sounds, and I’m sure both he and Blue will be back again soon long before any of their children go to college. Darlene giving Harris a hard time about opening up to her mother about sex was entertaining, and I still contend that Sara Gilbert is the strongest part of this reboot. In her one scene, Laurie Metcalf wasn’t bad either, going on her own rant when David asked Jackie a single question. Becky arguing that she should be able to work construction for her father led to a more serious mention of her alcoholism, something that’s still being played for laughs, and I’m curious if we’ll see that again. I enjoyed Dan threatening David when he joked about having sex with Darlene years earlier. On that note, I hope we’ll see more of Justin Long’s incredibly awkward love interest.