Bad Dads and Grads

"Bad Dads and Grads"
Season 2: Episode 14(25 / 106 episodes)
Network	ABC-TV
Air date	February 25, 2020
Written by	Sid Youngers
Directed by	Jody Margolin Hahn
Episode Guide
Previous	Brothers, Babies and Breakdowns
Next	Beards, Thrupples and Robots

Bad Dads and Grads is the fourteenth episode of Season 2 of The Conners, also the 25th episode overall.

Summary

Dan starts to bond with his younger half-brother, but he can't get over the fact that their father paid for Ed Jr.'s college education, something he refused to do for Dan. Jackie hits it off with a fun married couple, so much so that they "invite" her into their relationship. Harris and Mark do not react well to the news that Darlene is trying to have a baby with Ben.

Plot

In-Depth

Jackie finally has a date after a very long time. She is supposed to meet a math teacher. Darlene tells Becky and Jackie about her plans to have a child with Ben. So far, things do not look good. She says that her doctor told her that she is not healthy to have a baby.

The Conners is recorded in front of a live studio audience.

Dan and Ed Jr. are spending time with each other. They work at the old house again and after that they spun around at an empty parking lot. Ed Jr. offers Dan their father's car but Dan says it will make him think of their father too much. He proves his point when he turns toward a toy car in a box that their father tried to get rid of in a yard sale. They offer Ed Jr. a cup of coffee with cookies. He accepts, but he says he does not want to be called an old sounding name such as "Uncle Ed". Becky deliberately ignores him and starts shouting in his ears and asks about his dentures. Darlene joins in but Harris puts a stop to it. Darlene tells her to lose all romantic interest in him. Harris grabs a fancy folder containing Ed Jr.'s college diploma. They immediately become concerned that he is in debt which is why he needs to sell the old house. But Ed paid for his son's tuition in full. Dan quietly leaves.

Jackie embarrasses herself one thing after the other at a fancy French restaurant. She gets into an argument with the waiter. He says that no such reservation was made, and gives her table to other people, forcing Jackie to sit with some friendly people at the next table. The couple is celebrating their 30th anniversary, while they all discuss how ludicrous dating apps are as well as garage doors and cars being operated by smart phones. Jackie decides to buy them house wine and accepts their offer of karaoke.

Darlene is watching her infant niece as well as exercising. Becky and Harris talk about when Darlene played basketball, which seemed unlikely. Darlene tells Harris that she is going to have a child with Ben. Harris also needed to know if Darlene had any insurance. After their conversation, Harris talks to her brother about Ben. She taunts that now he is going to be forgotten.

At the Lunch Box, Becky tells Jackie about the vase with roses. Jackie says it is not from the math teacher, but instead from the couple she met the other night. Becky is worried that because the amount of time she spent with them as well as the continuing invitations she is getting, Jackie is going to have to have sex with them. Becky suspects that they were pretending to be the math teacher the entire time.

Mark thinks that it is no fun for a man and a woman to conceive a child. Ben decides to give Mark another piano lesson, but he remembers what Harris said. Ben says on the contrary, he gets to be the older brother. Mark is upset that more accurately he is now going to be the middle child instead.

Even more arguments happen between Dan and Ed Jr. Dan is jealous that his brother got to go to college, as well as for free. Becky decides to bribe Dan into another conversation where Dan talks about his feelings. He says that Ed Sr. ruined his chances of going to work designing new cars at a car company. But at the same time, while he can say this in front of Becky, he does not want to strain the relationship with Ed Jr.

Jackie is continuing to spend lots of time with her new friends, but it turns out that Becky is right. Jackie decides to proceed slowly, but is still very disturbed.

Darlene tries to comfort Mark, and he finally says what is bothering him: Darlene having a child now could be fatal. Darlene says it is not good to believe every medical opinion that exists. She says that even those medical opinions that he sourced stated a low percentage of fatality.

Dan and Ed Jr. take their father's car to a place that he visited often. Dan decided that talking is meaningless. He is convinced it is much better to destroy the car that their father prized so much.

Jackie decides that is much more fun to spend time participating in expensive luxurious social activities even if it is with the couple.

The episode ends with Dan talking about the time when Ed Jr bit his first teeth into a soggy waffle.

Cast

Starring

• John Goodman as Dan Conner
• Laurie Metcalf as Jackie Harris
• Sara Gilbert as Darlene Conner
• Lecy Goranson as Becky Conner
• Michael Fishman as D.J. Conner (archive footage only)
• Emma Kenney as Harris Healy
• Ames McNamara as Mark Healy II
• Jayden Rey as Mary Conner (credit only)

Special Guests

• Clark Gregg as Ron
• Jennifer Gray as Janelle

Guests

• Jay R. Ferguson as Ben
• Noel Fisher as Ed Conner Jr.
• Artoun Nazareth as Pierre

Trivia

• Archive footage from the Season 4 episode "Bingo" is included at the end.
• Despite being credited, Michael Fishman (D.J. Conner) and Jayden Rey (Mary) do not appear. Michael Fishman only appears in archive footage.
• Although aired as the fourteenth episode of the season, it was filmed as the thirteenth one.
• Mark "stress ironing" is a reference to The Bob Newhart Show, when Howard Borden and his son Howard Jr. ironed as a coping method.