The Conners Review: Walden Pond, a Staycation and the Axis Powers (Season 3 Episode 13)

Once again, The Conners Season 3 Episode 13, “Walden Pond, a Staycation and the Axis Powers” gets bogged down in the COVID of it all. A year into this pandemic we are all tired of hearing about it, living it, and honestly, we generally don’t want it on our TVs.

However, the first few minutes of the episode really ring true for what the major focus of this episode should be — Darlene. This is a character who has been making strides to better herself and make herself someone her kids can look up to.

Now, she is overwhelmed with everything there is to do between her family, her kids, her job, and her crippling anxiety. The first moments of the episode show just how out-of-touch Darlene’s family really is to her needs and limitations.

If it isn’t Mark asking her to basically read a book so she can explain it to him, it’s her sister demanding she does more for the household, or Ben asking for her ad for his store. These are all things her family members can do for themselves or find alternate solutions too and yet they pile up on her. 

When Darlene admits to taking risks by going to a local hotel to hang out by the pool it shouldn’t come as any surprise why she keeps that to herself. Yes, lying is bad, but sometimes it’s easier to do than to add the stress of being guilted about a little “me time.”

No doubt, Dan and Becky would’ve taken her asking for alone time as an excuse to give her a hard time or to guilt her about being selfish. Dan isn’t intentionally pushy about his kids taking on responsibilities, but with Darlene having been under his roof for such a long time he’s come to expect things from her.

Hopefully, Darlene opening up to Ben about how heavy her own personal burdens are is going to lead to some real change in the future. If anyone deserves a break it’s Darlene. 

Watching her own daughter be flippant towards her twice about “bad decisions” or “needing her” breaks my heart. Here is a character who is more than happy to take one for the team, but it’s finally reached a critical mass where she is breaking even her hard and fast rules about COVID risk in order to get away for even a few hours. 

At what point does Darlene deserve a day free of responsibilities? The family talks extensively about Dan being a poster child for health risks, but what about her? While her health risks are under the surface they are still there.

Darlene won’t be able to do her job if she develops anxiety so bad it cripples her and keeps her within her home. She won’t be able to take care of everyone else if she’s hospitalized due to exhaustion or something worse. 

Let’s hope that “Walden Pond, a Staycation and the Axis Powers” is a wake-up call that leads to Darlene getting all the support and understanding she deserves. I’d hate to see this lead to her having to step down from her manager position because she can’t handle all the stressors in her life. 

She deserves to move ahead in the world, the Conner family should be supportive of that.

Stray Thoughts:

• Good for you Neville! Standing up to Jackie and demanding equality in the relationship!
• Dan, it’s sweet you want to help Louise, but taking off your mask isn’t it.
• Harris…seriously…who raised you? I kind of want Roseanne to come back from the dead just so she can whip Harris back into shape. So disrespectful.
• It’s a shame The Conners doesn’t seem to know what to do with Mark or Mary. They deserve stories of substance.

 

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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