Roseanne is the rebooted American sitcom, created by Matt Williams and produced by Roseanne Barr herself. It follows the Conner’s; a dysfunctional but typical American family, as they tackle all the challenges that life throws their way – including each other. In the newest reboot, we are reintroduced to a new ‘Conner’s family – the kids are grown up, the parents have retired, and everyone’s got a lot on their plates.
In this episode, we get a little topical, in my opinion anyway (its not a Roseanne episode if it isn’t topical), as we discuss parenting. One of the many joys of living in a house with three generations (Grandkid, parent, kid) is the clash in parenting tips, as the grandparent, no longer having control over the parent, jumps a generation and parents the grandkid. The end result? Not pretty.
We get to know Harris a little more in episode three, and more specifically, how much of a stereotypical teenager she truly is. Disrespecting her elders, running in and out of the house without a simple ‘hello’, leaving dishes everywhere, hogging the washing machine, etc. All the fun stuff about being a moody teenager. Something that Darlene can endure, but Rosie, evidentially, cannot.
So, I can see how this episode may become problematic; it’s definitely a modern-day issue that I see get debated all the time. When Rosie hits breaking point about Harris using the family washing machine and dryer to wash the second-hand clothes she is selling on her Etzy (that sentence won’t make sense to anyone who doesn’t live on the internet like I do), she decides to take matters into her own hands and disciplines her grandchild – by running her head under the sink, leg straddling the 15-year old’s hip (yes, really). It’s a difficult debate; on one hand, Harris being rude to Rosie and going out super late at night without warning really isn’t okay, but on the other hand, obviously assaulting the poor child is no way to chastise her. As much as I love the dynamics of this family, with each passing episode, I am reminded more and more of how frustrating I find elders to be.
In my opinion? For someone who is meant to be 15, I don’t like Harris. She’s young and immature and selling stolen clothes to save up money just so she can move back to Chicago seems a little excessive, especially since she seemed to know exactly what she was doing. I’m glad Darlene sat her down and talked to her in the end. I’m no parent, but I can see how hard handling a teen can be, and Darlene handled it well in the end. Unlike Rosie.
This episode wasn’t as funny as the other two, but still amusing. Of course, Dann is the light of this show, and his commentary and hilarious faces have me dying with giggles (the chair lift was my favourite scene yet). Even the final scene, where Darlene, Rosie and Dann were in bed, spying on Harris’ social media and gossiping like teenagers, had me non-stop chuckling. I hope the show focuses more on the humour than anything else with the rest of the season, because controversial episodes can only get you so far before they become exhausting.
We’re three episodes in to the reboot season, and something we have yet to see is DJ and his life. Becky and Darlene have been in the fore-front of every episode; I want to get to know DJ more, and how his life has changed since growing up, getting married, having kids, returning from the army, etc. I also love Jackie and want to see her as much as possible. She truly has the best lines!
GRADE: 7/10. The episode was good, but this kind of topic hits close to home for me, and, without getting too topical, I think I disagree with both ways of parenting. Teenagers need a mix of both these days – not too much trust, but not too strict either.
Do you agree? Sound off down below!
