What I’m Watching: The Conners

The Conners: Season 1, Episode 8 “O Sister, Where Art Thou?” (B+)

This was a great episode, and I’m starting to really appreciate the rhythm of this show, which I’m glad I opted to continue watching. When Darlene introduced Becky to Dan, she came in hot, and all three of them were hurling around insults that were both entertaining and relatively accurate. Becky being home when Harris got brought back by the cop enabled her to give her niece a bit of guidance that wasn’t altogether parental, and of course Darlene wouldn’t react well to the news that Becky hadn’t told her about this event. Trashing Becky’s life choices in the process came off as very cruel, and I enjoyed their make-up scene by the pool table where they were honest with each other. Becky got in the best licks by analyzing just how terrible Darlene was at pool. Dan not being grumpy for once worked well, though he wasn’t at all picking up on the signals that his friend Louise, played by Katey Sagal of “Sons of Anarchy” and “Married with Children” fame, was sending. Her response to his confrontation of what their relationship was turned out to be very blunt and funny. Jackie commits wholeheartedly to whatever she does, and pretending to be a frontierswoman to help Peter write his latest paper was a difficult endeavor, one that prompted a hilarious takedown of just how one-sided the entire thing was and how much it was driving her crazy. Their relationship may not be over just yet, but it doesn’t seem like it’s going to last too much longer.