The Conners Season 5 Episode 10 Review: The Dog Days of Christmas

Christmas can put a strain on any family, but as always, the Conner family finds a way through with a few laughs. The Conners Season 5 Episode 10, “The Dog Days of Christmas” pushes both Louise and Becky to their breaking points without tipping them over the edge.

What’s great about their stressors is that they are faced with compassion from Dan and Darlene respectively. It’s a nice opportunity for us to see these relationships grow and become stronger.

Louise doesn’t want to have Dan feel like he needs to intervene with her mom, but she doesn’t know just how well-equipped Dan is for this situation. The same goes for Becky and Darlene with Beverly Rose pretending the be pancake the dog.

Christmas Is Going To The Dogs

The minute Beverly Rose begins insisting she be seen as a dog, my mind immediately jumped to Darlene’s incident as a young child — the barking incident. It surprises me a bit that the two sisters don’t even mention that incident until a few days into Beverly Rose’s behavior.

It doesn’t escape us that the writers clearly wanted Becky to flounder a bit before Darlene gives her the out she needs. It’s a moment of weakness for Becky because she is completely out of her element regarding what to do.

While it has been wonderful to see Darlene move beyond her singular role as a mother, it’s even better to see her use her experience to help her sister. They don’t talk about their mom all the time, but when they do the moment is always a nice throwback.

After Beverly Rose refuses to wear the flower girl dress, Becky somehow doesn’t put it together that her daughter doesn’t want to go to the wedding. This is how Darlene’s throwback story to her barking incident is perfect — it’s not used to shame Becky for her inexperience, but instead inspire her to find the answer.

By talking to her daughter like a young person, Becky is showing her that her feelings will always be supported and respected. Growth like this doesn’t come often, but when it does it’s memorable.

Mommy Dearest

For the first time since Louise and Neville joined the show, we meet their mother. She’s definitely one of those characters that come along to stir things up.

While Louise thinks she can handle her all on her own — and knows all her motives — she’s ignoring her biggest asset, Dan. Luckily, Dan does his own investigating and digging.

Honestly, I’ve never been more thankful that Dan is an ask-for-forgiveness-later kind of guy. His decades of interactions with his own father and Roseanne’s mom, Beverly have prepared him for meddling parents.

Lately, Dan has been letting Louise take charge of all their joint decisions so it’s nice to see him break away from that. His quick thinking allows Louise to find out her mom’s true motives and accept her help on the road all in one.

I need The Conners to continue to see Dan as a leader instead of a sidekick. He has so many layers to who he is — don’t limit him to just one identity.

Stray Thoughts:

• Jackie stopping Neville’s mom in her tracks is truly iconic
• Darlene stealing Christmas decorations despite being an atheist is a great gag. 

 

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 8/7c on ABC.

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