The Conners Review: Lanford, Toilet of Sin (Season 2 Episode 8)

For once Jackie underestimates herself and finds herself to be way off base on The Conners Season 2 Episode 8, “Lanford, Toilet of Sin.” 

This is a trend that I can get myself behind 100%. To be quite honest, the continued trope of Jackie and Becky being given opportunities just to watch them fail is a tired one. 

What happened to good old fashioned strong, independent women archetypes? The comedy on The Conners might hit the mark more frequently if they decided to allow these two women to actually find self-made success for the first time in their lives.

So when Jackie starts to doubt herself on “Lanford, Toilet of Sin,” the sighs start coming because we’ve been here before, and we really just want to see something different. Luckily for us, Jackie manages to turn everything around with a bit of help from the community by the episode’s end. 

It could be said that her journey of self-doubt is necessary in order to get her the help she needs to open up her business. However, this fan is not impressed and actually thinks that the end result could’ve happened without the unnecessary pity party. 

The Conners could take Jackie and have her call up Sandy about the article and, instead of accepting defeat, ask him to either voice the business’ need in his article or for advice on what she can do. That would be ten times more conducive for character growth on her part than to continually have her feel unsure of herself.

Jackie has always been a driven person, even during the days of Roseanne. So it’s disheartening to see her mom’s opinion have such a hold on her in her older years. 

You would think that over time she would become more confident and sure of herself, not the opposite. Either way, Laurie Metcalf knocks it out of the park playing both sides of Jackie — confident and insecure.

How Metcalf hasn’t received more recognition for her portrayal of such an iconic character for so many years is beyond my comprehension. Week after week her performance is one of the true saving graces of the show — besides John Goodman.

In comparison, it is also upsetting to watch Darlene slip and slide down towards this shell of a person that is really hard to recognize anymore. It just seems to me that she is moving further and further away from the version of herself that she started the show with.

This Darlene is becoming a bit boarish both toward her kids and her sister. It feels like Darlene cares more now about making a scene to get her way than she does about actually guiding those around her.

That’s not to say Darlene has ever been an outwardly kind person, in fact, most of the time her kindness is shown through snarky comments and exasperated looks. However, lately, she’s just been downright mean and obtrusive. 

Take the situation with Harris, for example. This season she has become a very complacent parent toward the teen in favor of being more self-serving. 

One could argue that this move has been because Darlene is still grieving the loss of her mother and trying to figure out just how to parent without her. That excuse can only carry the character so far, though.

The minute Darlene decides to make a spectacle of herself in order to get Harris to talk to her is the moment she stepped over the line toward uncharacteristic behavior. Darlene may be a bit unconventional in how she parents her kids, but she would never go so far as to get arrested for her actions.

The biggest problem with Harris isn’t her entitled attitude but Darlene. Harris wouldn’t be half as annoying and exhausting if Darlene wasn’t so pushy and hypocritical towards her.

The Conners needs to figure out how to create humor with Darlene’s parenting situation without Darlene becoming the type of parent her mother would’ve poked fun at. I’m not saying Darlene needs to be Roseanne, but even her mother knew how bad Darlene had allowed Harris to get.

And while “Lanford, Toilet of Sin,” has a positive image of Becky, it’s not enough to save the episode overall. The humor doesn’t catch on and the characterizations of Jackie and Darlene drive it into the ground.

If the show had given a bit more focus to Mark, maybe the likeability would be there. It’s important that Ben sticks around and helps Mark with his project, but The Conners chooses that fact to be a throwaway moment for the episode.

What this show needs to realize is Mark could really make the humor stand out and shine if given the opportunity. Not only that, bringing more focus to him would give the show a leg up on LGBTQ+ respect and representation. 

This character is only in middle school and yet he is already extremely confident in himself and his identity. That is something more and more viewers need to see — either as representation for themselves or as a way to better understand someone they love.

Mark is sorely mishandled every week and its a shame really. Giving him a spotlight to shine under could be just what The Conners needs to climb out of the rut they’re currently in.

What did you think of this episode of The Conners? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Conners airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC.

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