View Full Version : Episode 10x5 preview, "Darlene vs David"


QTMcWhiskers
04-15-2018, 02:21 PM
http://tvline.com/2018/04/12/roseanne-revival-video-johnny-galecki-david-season-10-episode-5/

Article contains preview.

So far, what we do know:
* David and Darlene are divorced
* Darlene whines about being alone
* Darlene discusses "partner", rather suggesting she's an out lesbian to her parents and siblings
* other scenes in the episodes I have not been able to see yet, so I must admit I might be missing out on some directly relevant tidbits

After watching the clip:
* I love the framing, summarizing their several year pre-marriage relationship that way
* I wonder why Dan looks so cross at David? What did he do that was worse than Darlene coming out, which is more likely a major catalyst for a divorce to begin with? (Granted, offscreen Darlene would have had some sort of talk I'd guess.)
* The season 9 episode where Darlene's baby was premature and almost died, which was one of the better episodes, now feels hollow
* I bet it will be misandrist, most of the original TV show's latter years (increasingly between seasons 6 and 9) were increasingly anti-male "because, men."
* or the clip is hiding a big twist in the episode that will exonerate David and show Darlene being in the wrong

Won't know either way until it airs but that is what I currently believe. But the advert for the episode seems out of sync with the most likely causes.

Maybe David cheated on her? That doesn't prompt a heterosexual person to magically become homosexual.

If he did cheat, was it before or after she told him she wasn't entirely straight (and may have cheated as well).

Or he didn't cheat and she lied about him. Relationships always have more sides to it than one and it's way too easy to be compelled by one side, especially if it's populist-driven.

In the course of the TV show's original run, Darlene was far more the troublemaker than David ever was. Even after breaking up to get a season's worth of drama, he was still living in her parents' house - one of the major shark jump/fish bone moments people love to recite. Continuity for small things is one thing, but D&D's relationship wasn't a small thing. I hope proper thought went into this upcoming episode and it won't be like seasons 6-9.

QTMcWhiskers
04-15-2018, 02:34 PM
I just read on another forum that it was said or suggested David is a deadbeat dad.

After everything that happened to David? I find that hard to believe. (we'll get the usual meme that patterns of abuse always always always recur, you know...)

It's obviously too late for the script to get a rewrite, like him working overseas or something else... deadbeat dads and deadbeat moms both exist... It's going to be an interesting 20 minutes after commercials, that's for sure.

Artistwithmanymuses
04-15-2018, 02:38 PM
From I read in an article about David's storyline in the reival he went down the wrong road after Mark 's death so that could also play into him, and Darlene splitting up. Dan dosen't think of him as family anymore. Roseanne still likes David as her non biological son and is in contact with him behind Darlene's back.

David could have made mistakes after Mark's death because not only did he lose his older brother he lost his last tie to his biological family. Before the ceremony in the wedding episode. When he was getting ready.
Mark helped him with the bow tie and told him to forget about their parents. which brought back his didn't give a damm about anyone's opinion personality from season 3 and 4.

Impressions
04-15-2018, 03:27 PM
For one thing, we do not know for sure that Darlene is a lesbian. Darlene already claimed that she wasn't a lesbian in the premiere episodes, I'm not sure how you're getting from the video clip that "we already know" that she is a lesbian, and that's the reason for the divorce. I imagine if Darlene was a lesbian, she would've come out by now, unless she's hiding it until this episode. Who knows. I don't think Sara Gilbert would want the Darlene character to be ashamed of her sexuality.

It makes more sense that David acted out in retaliation to Mark's death, and David (or Darlene) filed for divorce as a result. But we'll have to wait and see.

TMC
04-17-2018, 08:17 PM
Sara Gilbert had a Roseanne backup plan in case Johnny Galecki couldn't return for the revival (http://tvline.com/2018/04/17/roseanne-sara-gilbert-interview-david-v-darlene-johnny-galecki/)

Gilbert says she actually doesn't mind that Galecki has been mostly unavailable to work on the Roseanne revival due to his Big Bang Theory commitment. "I think if Johnny didn’t have an empire to run, he would’ve certainly been in more episodes," she tells TV Line, on the occasion of Galecki's return tonight. "But I still like the idea of an inconsistent parent. It’s such a great area to explore, regardless of his availability." Still, if Galecki wasn't available at all, Gilbert said she had a backup plan. "The backup plan was going to be (Darlene) dealing with the heartbreak of him being an absent father," she says. "Darlene would have plans for him to show up, he would say he was going to show up, and then he wouldn’t show up. I was still going to deal with the relationship, but it would not have been the same without him." ALSO: Gilbert texted Galecki to get his advice on naming their TV son, which became a tribute to Glenn Quinn. (https://www.today.com/popculture/sara-gilbert-reveals-sweet-way-johnny-galecki-helped-name-their-t127194)

JSP
04-23-2018, 04:35 PM
I enjoyed the episode.

QTMcWhiskers
05-08-2018, 01:30 PM
I finally got to see the episode, properly.

Wow. Didn't expect it to be 90% conventional.

Thankfully my guesses were wrong.

But something still doesn't feel right.

Dan seems remarkably relaxed over it all. Maybe there's an arc going on.

This "Blue" character feels like a place-marker with no significance. Yet had such an impact on him... as with DJ's wife, we have nothing on Blue to go on. The intent, I believe, is a possible opening for future episodes, but with her, David moving back to Lanford and telling it to Darlene as if he expected applause... it all feels contrived.

On David, where the reason he went off for Habitat for Humanity feels a bit of a stretch (Mark dying from drug usage). Would he really become a deadbeat under those conditions, or any, doing unto his family what was done to him?

When Darlene in that previous episode said "no partner", I made an assumption. Or Darlene loves UK culture so much that she uses it over American rust belt dialect. But most men do cheat and all that so why do what "All in the Family" do and let the Gloria make a mistake when it's just easier to go and make the guy the only bad person in the room?

And despite all that, part of me liked the episode as well. I am hoping David returns back for more episodes, where everything will fall into place. Revival or new, a show's first season is going to have some roadbumps. I just hope the new season gets deeper into issues, brings in DJ's wife (don't tell me I missed a scene where they divorced or she died or something? :( ), etc.