NEW `ROSEANNE’, EDGE
‘Roseanne’ character, plot changes betray original series
What if they decided to make “Roseanne” without Roseanne Conner?
At the halfway point of the inaugural season of ABC’s insanely successful “Roseanne” revival, it’s worth considering what happened to the character at the heart of the show.
This isn’t a question about Roseanne’s politics.
Roseanne (Roseanne Barr) just isn’t herself.
Last week, Dan (John Goodman) told Roseanne to back off oldest daughter Becky (Lecy Goranson). And she did.
What happened to She Who Must Be Obeyed?
In another episode, Roseanne pinned her bratty teenage granddaughter Harris (Emma Kenney) and sprayed her with a kitchen sink hose.
It was a funny, cathartic moment.
It was also a betrayal of Roseanne Conner.
A running story throughout the original focused on Roseanne coming to terms with the physical abuse she suffered for years at the hands of her father — and that’s why she was against corporal punishment of any kind.
That history of abuse is also why she rescued David (Johnny Galecki) from his nightmare mother and brought him into her home.
But if Roseanne remains problematic, what the writers have done to Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) seems criminal.
She behaves as if she’s Lanford’s answer to Mayberry Deputy Barney Fife. Jackie could be stubborn, but she was never a moron. It’s embarrassing watching Oscar-nominated actress Metcalf forced to mug.
And what to make of the numerous hints that she never had her child Andy with ex-husband Fred — a big story in the original run?
In one episode, Jackie complained that the only title she would ever hold would be “aunt.”
In last week’s episode, with niece Becky in a clinic examination room, she implied that she had had at least one abortion. That’s news.
Then there was this exchange last week when Jackie was upset after a dog shelter refused to let her adopt a dog.
Roseanne: “You have no one to love and no one to love you.”
Jackie: “Right!”
ABC says the matter of Jackie’s son — whether he exists at all — will not be addressed this season. Maybe next.
But two familiar faces pop up on Tuesday’s episode — Darlene’s estranged husband, David (Galecki, moonlighting from CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory”), and Roseanne and Jackie’s mom, Bev (Estelle Parsons).
Bev’s arrival brings out the worst in Jackie — meaning the best for us at home.
“Hello, Jackie, you look tired,” Bev greets her.
“Nice outfit. I see you’re trying it without a sickle,” Jackie shoots back.
Oh — should I say
spoiler? — Bev is no longer a lesbian. That was a season nine twist, like the lottery win and Dan’s death, that apparently has been retconned.
Bev has been kicked out of her retirement home, for a reason that horrifies her daughters.
David’s arrival for Harris’ birthday has everyone on edge. Darlene is confused by the presence of her estranged husband.
It takes Becky to get Darlene on track, in a nice moment in their evolving relationship. It’s satisfying to see how the sisters have each other’s backs.