The Conners Review: Plastics, Trash Talk & Darlene Antoinette (Season 3 Episode 3)

As the pandemic continues, The Conners Season 3 Episode 3, “Plastics, Trash Talk & Darlene Antoinette” keeps with their main focus this season — the perils of being working-class Americans stuck inside together. The latest episode really tries to make it about the family, but it ends up making Darlene’s story the only memorable one.

It’s a valiant effort on the show’s part to make viewers care about the side story of Louise wanting to leave the Conner family bubble or about Jackie’s new ventures to keep The Lunch Box afloat. However, those scenes need to be called out for what they really are — filler.

Let’s be frank, nobody cares about Louise and Dan’s disagreement over her wanting to leave every once in a while. To be quite honest, before this episode I thought everyone was already leaving the house every once in a while, with the exception of Dan. 

So to hear that Louise hasn’t been leaving at all and wants to go home to her own home every now and then shouldn’t even be a storyline. It’s a moot point that shouldn’t take up a third of the allotted time for this episode. 

I guess an argument can be made for it being an emotional element to these characters. But, if that is the case then there needs to be an actual conversation between Dan and Louise about the subject instead of skirting around it. 

There is mention of Harris being in a relationship with an older man which lets hope the show decides to explore that story a bit more. The conversations Harris has with Louise throughout the episode are nice to see because it shows Louise integrating herself a little bit more into the family. 

The parts involving Jackie aren’t even worth mentioning so we won’t take up too much time talking about it. While it is nice that The Lunch Box is continuing to get enough business that she can keep it open there is a part of us that wonders, why.

The Conners has a bit of an issue with presenting information and then dropping it like it isn’t important at all. Let’s hope that this season sees a change in this trend. It would be interesting to see if we get more information about Harris’ relationship and Jackie’s business efforts. 

In fact, my favorite parts of Season 2 are the moments where Jackie and Becky work together to bring The Lunch Box back to life. Showing how the restaurant survives the pandemic is a great way this show could evolve, and continue to move forward, instead of stagnating. 

As mentioned before, Darlene’s story is the most memorable of the whole episode. She struggles to interact and bond with her coworkers, which is a story that is relatable to just about anyone.

I mean, who hasn’t felt compelled to not interact with the people they work with? It’s a trait that is very on par with who Darlene is.

The great thing about this story is that Darlene uses this as an opportunity to try and be better. It’s always a wonderful thing when viewers get to see Darlene and Mark have a heart-to-heart. 

It is even better that these heart-to-hearts usually result in Mark teaching his mother a thing or two about the world. It’s honestly like seeing a better version of Roseanne and her children. 

That’s not saying Roseanne wasn’t a great mom — because everyone in America knows that she was. However, her learning curve wasn’t quite what Darlene’s is with regard to reciprocal education between her and her children.  

By showing Darlene learning to be a better person not once but twice in one episode, The Conners is saying that parent/child relationships can go both ways and that they should.

This is how a classic TV program can adapt and change itself with the times. Roseanne created the foundation that The Conners currently sits on, but this family continues to grow and evolve with the times which is how the fans and viewers have been able to continue their support of this show.

I’m always here for more of Darlene because it kind of feels like Roseanne is alive once more — but in a bigger and bolder way.

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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