The Conners Review: Friends in High Places and Horse Surgery (Season 3 Episode 5)

Conflicts are always a great way to bring out the true nature of the issues at hand. The Conners Season 3 Episode 5, “Friends in High Places and Horse Surgery,” is a really great example of when family and work coming together can cause irreparable damage.

Their whole lives Becky and Darlene have been at odds with each other because they are night and day. Where Darlene is dark, cynical, and snarky, Becky has always been sunny, optimistic, and cheerful. 

In recent episodes, their bond has been turning a bend and moving more toward running parallel paths versus perpendicular ones — always missing each other. However, that is now out of the window, because Darlene has an opportunity to prove she can make the hard decisions on the job. 

While Becky’s side of things should be considered in this dispute, we can’t discount the foundation of the problem — Becky is distracted at work and therefore is not doing her job. She can argue that she’s a mom until she is blue in the face but the fact remains, Darlene suggests they write her up because Becky is point blank unable to properly perform her duties.

With the addition of Robin to the mix of characters, The Conners is finally branching out of the home — brave of them in these corona times. Robin is the exact balance these feuding sisters need. 

Everyone knows that in the end, Dan is going to side with Becky because she will play up the ‘Darlene went against the family’ card in order to curry favor with her father.

Who is there for Darlene? Who knows exactly how hard of a decision it was for the younger sister?

Robin. She knows because she warned Darlene about the difficulty of the decision when she asked Darlene to make it. After all, she is there to test Darlene’s leadership and management potential.

I personally hope that Robin sticks around because Darlene needs allies that aren’t within her family circle. Darlene isn’t the type of character to really create allies with anyone because she is a firm believer in doing it her own way. 

However, unlike any other argument, Becky and Darlene have ever had, this one is not going to go away with a simple family meeting. Part of that falls on Becky’s shoulders — as it should.

One of Becky’s biggest issues has always been her inability to grow up and take full responsibility for her actions. She gets all bent out of shape when she feels that no one is seeing her side of things, when really she should be taking a step back and assessing her own actions.

Becky has three write-ups not because Robin has it out for her but because she has been late to work and is constantly pausing her work to video chat with her daughter. Maybe she needs to be fired before the lesson really sinks in that Becky is responsible for Becky’s actions and consequences. 

It’s also really disappointing that knowing Darlene is the one who suggested the latest write-up didn’t immediately give Becky pause. Darlene is not one to purposely alienate herself from her family. 

The general public? Absolutely, but never her own flesh and blood. In fact, more often than not, Darlene will really go to bat for Becky against her own better judgment.

The Conners does a fantastic job of really highlighting the vast difference in emotional maturity between Becky and Darlene without ever being cruel to either of them. Yes, Becky makes some below the belt remarks but that only serves to further prove just how emotionally “young” she is.

It is just plain short-sighted of Becky to argue with Darlene that she’s a mom and therefore deserves slack for her behavior at work. Darlene is a mom too but still manages to follow all that is expected of her at the exact same job.

Becky needs to realize that her duties as a mom disappear once she walks through the doors at work. Bosses are willing to be forgiving but only if you put in the effort. 

It’s going to be a hard lesson for her to learn but the journey to get there is bound to be fun. 

Darlene is on the way up after being at rock bottom for a long time. Let’s just hope Becky and the rest of the Conners can support that sooner rather than later. Seeing the fallout of their feud is going to make the next few episodes interesting indeed.

Stray Thoughts:

• Neville continues to be the sweetest man on the planet. No seriously, why can’t more guys be like him? 
• STOP RUNNING FROM NEVILLE, JACKIE!
• Three seasons in I am finally willing to admit I kind of like Harris.
• I’m constantly thankful that Dan fought for Louise because they are two peas in a pod. 
• Shout out to The Conners for hiring a trans actress to play the role of Robin. Alexandra Billings is PHENOMENAL! Give me more — yesterday!

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

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The Conners airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on ABC.

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