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.
This week, it’s the season finale! In this episode, all the rising tensions come to a stormy climax, as the Connors face the issue that every family eventually face: money. (And, you know, dangerous floods).
For Roseanne to have her knee surgery, it’s going to cost the Connors $3000. That’s a lot of money, which, obviously, stresses Dan out. His stress becomes a focus in this episode, and I absolutely love his characterisation here. To afford Rosie’s surgery, Dan needs to hire less-expensive workers for his next drywall job. Which means, unfortunately, refusing work for his long-time best friend, Chuck (who I know nothing about but fall in love with instantly. I like donuts, so what?). Not only is Dan betraying his best friend, he is also risking his job at the union. It hurts to see him take this risk, but I agree with his reasoning – if the choice was to risk his job but pay for the surgery, or have Rosie OD on pain medication, the former suggestion would be the lesser of two evils. It’s hard, and it sucks, but that’s life. Life involves making hard choices, which this show really likes to emphasise on, which is what also makes ‘Roseanne’ such a uniquely brilliant show.
Darlene’s new job is so horribly sexist, I too would scream in a dish rag if I had to deal with straight, white men all day, and get paid barely anything in tips. Seeing Becky give her advice, and Darlene being just terrible at flirting, makes things just more hilariously sad. I do love that her newfound misery is inspiring her to write again, though. Becoming a writer is not an easy feat (trust me!), and the fact that she’s keeping at it gives me newfound hope for her future. Sometimes the easiest way of writing is taking inspiration from your own life experiences (which shes done in a very nice way). I believe in her dream!
Rosie tries to relieve the stress weighing on Dan’s shoulder by trying to sell old collectables. I’m not a fan of dolls, and the more interaction and care that a character shares with a doll, the more creeped out I get. I read a lot of horror books as a kid, dolls and statues are a big no-no for me. It’s a nice break of humour before the stress alleviates – there’s a storm raging outside, and the basement gets flooded!
The whole ‘flooded basement’ scene, from Chuck confronting Dan about his plan, to Rosie trying to help Dan out, just breaks my heart. Dan’s breaking down from the stress, and from being unable to support his family, and it hurts to watch, as he breaks down a door in anger. We’ve not seen him angry or upset this season, and to see this side of him is refreshing but sad, even when he tries to crack a joke in front of Rosie. Everyone struggles sometimes, and as much as I don’t want to watch Dan be stressed and without hope, it does humanize him as a character. It’s almost as if he’s hit rock bottom, and my heart bleeds for him. The scene is done so well, you can’t help but sympathise for his predicament, which this show is very good at.
When you hit rock bottom, however, there’s nowhere else to go but up. The American government announces a state of emergency, with the severity of the storm increasing. Dan announces that if the government gives them money to fix the basement, he can take half of that and put it towards Rosie’s surgery, killing two birds with one stone. The Connors rejoice, with a mix of horror (scaring Harris with old Halloween equipment was definitely a highlight) and magic (DJ MAGIC DJ!), and all is well again.
The final scenes really dig the nail into the coffin of emotions. Rosie’s conversation about her fears about the surgery and dying without Dan is really tugs on the heart strings. It’s such a soft scene, and ends in humour, as usual, but I love seeing how close and in love these two are. At the end of the day, they lean on each other, and their commitment to each other makes me want to go, “AWWWWWWW”.
As the season ends with a family dinner thrown the night before Rosie’s surgery, my heart cant help but swell in love for these characters. They’re real, their issues are real, and the love and support they have for each other is real as well. Showing insight into the everyday events of a typical American family is such a simple concept, and yet, ‘Roseanne’ does it so well. Ignore the politics, ignore the controversy, and just love these weird but adorable characters. Randomness and all.
GRADE: 9/10. A little bit of an emotional roller coaster of a finale, but family-themed and heart-warming all the same. What a great ending to a great season!
Let me know what you guys thought of the reboot season of Roseanne in the comments below, and I'll see you all for Season 11! As for me, I have 9 more seasons to catch up on!
