The Conners Season 5 Episode 13 Review: New Pipes and Old Secrets

Most of the time that viewers have known the Conner family, the stories have focused on the kids and eventually their kids. However, The Conners Season 5 Episode 13, “New Pipes and Old Secrets” dives into Dan’s emotional needs and Bev’s complicated past.

It’s a breath of fresh air for us to look at characters who are usually part of the joke, not the main focus. This allows for character growth and a new appreciation for something that has always been there.

With it being Season 5, stories that flip the narrative are needed in order to maintain interest and excitement overall.

Dan Is Struggling

Season 5 has been more focused on Dan than ever before and that is wonderful for longtime fans. This episode is further proof that we only think we know who Dan is without his children.

As always, Darlene is asking for him to fix things for her without much thought to what he could be feeling. Dan is a selfless parent who would give up everything if it means his kids can be successful, healthy, and happy. 

That is the way it has always been for him and now that he’s older it sometimes feels as though Darlene and Becky take advantage too much. However, The Conners Season 5 Episode 13, “New Pipes and Old Secrets” takes that behavior and grows upon it by allowing Darlene to put everything together and confront her father.

As Dan says in the episode, he’s not one to tell his kids that he needs them around for his own mental health. Therefore, it’s huge that Becky and Darlene have been able to get him to confess the struggle he is having about living separately from his kids.

In the coming episodes, it’ll be great to see if the writers continue to deal with Dan’s insecurities instead of brushing them back under the couch. I believe that it will continue to be addressed based on the knowledge that Season 5 has been the season of Dan Conner’s character growth.

Bev’s Terrible Secret

As long as we’ve been visiting Lanford, there has always been a complicated relationship between Bev and her daughters. With Bev’s recent dementia diagnosis, the cruel jabs that she is known for have only gotten worse. 

Jackie is struggling to find the perfect solution for the family and her mother — which is something most viewers can relate to on some level. Elderly care is a difficult subject to breach and to do so with a bit of humor is even harder. 

The Conners does a splendid job of Jackie using jokes and thinly veiled resentment to take some of the heaviness out of the story being told. This goes even further toward creating levity when it’s revealed that Bev once suffered a broken arm in order to save her daughters from the abuse of their father.

This is news to both viewers and Jackie and it manages to suck the fun out of everything in a rare moment of honesty. This show is not known for throwing gut punches, but when it does the pain is visceral. 

There is a moment when Jackie is hugging her mom that viewers wonder how Jackie’s late sister would’ve reacted to this news. There isn’t much to find joyful or humorous in Bev’s situation but the continuous reminders of Roseanne make these moments that much more emotional.

There is hope for Jackie and Bev’s relationship based on Jackie’s decision to continue to pay for the more expensive nurse so that her mother can get the care and dignity she deserves. So much of how Bev treated Jackie her whole life would constitute Jackie washing her hands of the woman, but instead, she’s willing to go broke for this small comfort in her final days.

 

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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