What I’m Watching: The Conners

The Conners: Season 1, Episode 5 “Miracles” (B)

There are events that happen on shows sometimes which feel like they should be more impactful but aren’t portrayed as such because of how the characters react to them. That’s the definition of Becky’s pregnancy, which she casually figured out when she wouldn’t let her family members order certain menu items and then nearly got taken to a meeting by Dan because he thought she was hung over. The surrogacy storyline with Sarah Chalke happened right at the beginning of last season, and now it’s a matter of whether Becky actually wants to go through with this and support a child on her own. Hoping that the manager and not the busboy was the father didn’t pan out, and now maybe the lesbian couple at the bar will want to adopt her unborn child, which should be interesting. I guess Justin Long isn’t sticking around for too long as Neil, dumped immediately after Darlene got a harsh talking-to from Jackie and Dan about how she was controlling him exactly the way she did with David. It’s great to watch Laurie Metcalf go all-out as Jackie, and though I’m still partial to Sara Gilbert, I’m starting to agree that she makes a strong case as this show’s MVP. I was happy to see Darlene meet Jay R. Ferguson’s stone-faced newspaper editor Ben, who wasn’t at all amused by Darlene’s attempts to liven up the crime blotter with a bit of journalistic enthusiasm. That should be fun to watch, and I’m eager to see how their relationship develops since he’s not about to be told that he can’t eat shrimp.