The Conners Review: Yard Sale, Phone Fail, and a College Betrayal (Season 4 Episode 8)

The family has some revelations to discover on The Conners Season 4 Episode 8, “Yard Sale, Phone Fail, and a College Betrayal.” It’s not all sunshine and roses at first, but by the end everything comes up Jackie. 

It isn’t very often these days that Jackie serves as anything more than the comedic foil for every other member of the family. However, this time she is on fire and ready to actually bestow some solid advice.

The Ballad of Dan and Roseanne

With Dan a newly married man, its time he really leave his past behind. This includes that bedroom set he bought for Roseanne when they were newly married. 

What seems like just an old set of furniture that Dan wants to keep around for sentimental reasons turns out to be much more. It seems a bit ridiculous that Dan won’t part with the bedroom set for less than $2000, but it’s more than him letting go of Roseanne. 

Through some ridiculous albeit important sales haggling with Jackie playing mediator, the audience is able to see that Dan is sticking to his guns for a reason, even if that reason isn’t quite apparent at first. 

This turns what happens next into a nostalgic, heart melting, love fest for the legacy of Dan and Roseanne. Dan’s decision to burn the set brings his whole family to the yard where he tells them the story of the furniture pieces.

It’s worthy of anyone getting emotional and understanding why Dan was hesitant to part with them. To him they were proof that he could be somebody; that his hard work wasn’t for nothing. 

Dan’s interaction with the yard sale and Jackie’s push for him to just get rid of the items puts him on the path toward closure. He realizes that he needs to burn it all so that he can release those emotions and feelings from his soul to make room for Louise. 

While Jackie’s place in this revelation isn’t very promenant, it’s still important to note. She helped Dan to see that letting go doesn’t mean you stop loving people, just means you are continuing to live.

Darlene: Train Wreck Extraordinaire

One of the greatest things about Season 4 has been Darlene’s journey toward figuring out her own purpose and path in life. She’s working on being the best version of herself that she can be. 

Over the last few episodes, it’s become apparent that Nick is an important factor on this journey. She is letting go of her anger and hurt toward Ben and giving this really nice, wholesome guy a try — or is she?

At first Jackie’s words are the wrong thing to say because they send Darlene on a tailspin of mistrust and pushy behavior. However, Nick meets her where she’s at and tells her she needs to stop and look toward herself to find out why she’s feeling unsure about him.

The conversation Jackie and Darlene have over the taken apart toaster is probably one of the most profound things Jackie has ever said. In all her ramblings about how she’s crazy and Darlene shouldn’t listen to what she says she somehow helps Darlene see what her real issue is.

Nick isn’t wrong when he tells Darlene that most people take years of therapy before they reach the conclusion Darlene stumbles upon through Jackie’s inane advice speech. It’s wonderful to see Darlene crack jokes again and be almost carefree — we can’t ever call her entirely carefree because it is Darlene. 

It’s also a win for Jackie because she so rarely gets to see herself as helpful or even wise. Ever since Roseanne died, she has stepped in to try and be what Roseanne was for her daughters, but she hasn’t quite made it there until now.

So of course, Jackie is going to revel in the knowledge that she helped Darlene realize she’s just afraid of hurting people again. It’s only natural that Jackie feel that proud, it’s a foreign feeling for her.

College Fail?

This means when Becky comes along complaining about the disappointment she is feeling about her GED mentee, Jackie is armed and ready. The boost of confidence allows Jackie to set Becky straight without actually saying what Becky needed to hear.

She just quietly guides Becky in the correct direction for her own epiphany and Becky knocks it out of the park. It just shows that Becky was already halfway there before even interacting with Jackie, but its still a win for Jackie.

Becky is trying so hard to erase her own bad decisions by convincing other girls to fix theirs sooner. Unfortunately, “Yard Sale, Phone Fail, and a College Betrayal” proves to her that her past is her past and she can’t project that onto others. 

These girls she is trying to mentor are going to disappoint her because her standards don’t make sense for them. Hopefully, Becky will walk away from this with a new purpose for her work as a mentor. 

Becky is a wonderful person, despite everything she’s been through in her life. She’s managed to pull herself up and make a future for her and her daughter. That is something she can definitely be proud of.

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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