Brothers, Babies and Breakdowns

"Brothers, Babies and Breakdowns"
Season 2: Episode 13(24 / 106 episodes)
Network	ABC-TV
Air date	February 18, 2020
Written by	Debby Wolfe
Directed by	Timothy Busfield
Episode Guide
Previous	Live From Lanford
Next	Bad Dads and Grads

Brothers, Babies and Breakdowns is the thirteenth episode of Season 2 of The Conners, also the 24th episode overall.

Summary

Dan avoids coping with a death in the family, only to be confronted by it head-on. Ben and Darlene address Ben's baby fever and have "the talk." The Lunch Box is officially open for business, and Dwight gets the jitters when he has to fill in for the chef who suffers an accident.

Plot

In-Depth

Ben and Darlene are watching Becky's daughter. Ben is annoyed at the constant crying but Darlene says that Becky's instructions are to let her daughter Self Soothe. Later, Ben decides to play with her. Darlene says that it is time to put her to bed or Becky will be angry. Darlene herself is irritated as well.

Becky schedules The Lunch Box to open since it has now been restored to its Canteen Diner appearance. Becky thanks Dan for restoring the restaurant much earlier than expected. Dan says in addition to her hug, he expects a bonus of lifetime stew. Becky counters with a lifetime of hugs with stew for one week.

A massacre involving Jackie, Barry, and Dan has occurred in the kitchen which means that Becky has to take over. Becky says that she can not run The Lunch Box, La Casita Bonita, and nurse her infant all at the same time so Dwight offers his services. After several arguments, Jackie and Becky order him to get to work.

At home in the kitchen, Ben is enjoying more time with Becky's daughter. Dan reads the obituaries in the newspaper. Darlene inquires about if they left a will. Dan sees that last year he lost his wife, now only a few months later he lost his father. Dan says it is old news and throws the newspaper away. Ben asks Darlene what was he like. She says that she does not care so much since he was a wandering dead beat during his first marriage and disappeared in his second marriage. Aside from a few infrequent visits from Dan's mother and stepmother, they still saw so little of them that Darlene forgot that she even had a grandfather. Becky walks in and asks who Darlene was talking about. Becky's reaction is identical to Darlene's.

Still in the kitchen, but now Becky is asking about her daughter. She is annoyed that Ben is hogging her daughter, but Ben asks if he can read to her. Becky agrees, and tells Darlene to get ready to have a child with Ben. Darlene says that he has not been around infants in a long time; He thinks they are fun toys and games to play. Becky says that it not just a phase, and decides to listen to him on the baby's radio. Ben says that Beverly Rose should have a cousin her same age. Becky is glad to be right while Darlene is amazed. Darlene says she is not against having a baby with him, but says it is not possible. Becky says that since she was able to have a baby, Darlene can too. They cordially trade insults with each other.

Jackis tells Dwight that he is now the permanent chef as they have to pay for Barry's enormous hospital bill. As a result, she is much more gentle with Dwight. However, Dwight does not want to be the chef any more.

Darlene, Ben, and Dan are in the kitchen again. Dan gets stew for himself ready to head out to a new client. Dan says that work takes his mind off of his troubles but Darlene thinks he is avoiding his emotions yet again. She talks to Ben about having a baby. Ben has been ready and waiting for her to bring it up. Darlene says that in addition to children being "soul sucking monsters", they have not have had time to write one article for their news magazine. Ben says that if they are going to have a baby, they better get it out of the way immediately. Darlene wants to know why she did not hear from Ben earlier. He says it is because the relationship only recently stabilized. Darlene wants to prove that Ben is not as much of a family man that he thinks, but Ben insists that he can produce the perfect child. Darlene is nervous and walks away for a while.

It turns out that Darlene was right about one thing: Dan is not really going to work. His client happens to be his half brother, an overwhelmed executor of the estate. He confronts Dan, blaming him for not being there all these decades. Audrey, Crystal, and Lonnie are not around. According to Ed Junior, it was only he with his full sister that took care of a dying Ed. He says that Ed "died with nothing" while Dan points out that Ed left behind a paid off house with tons of items inside. Ed Junior does not care. He demands that Dan fix the house for free as well as help him sell the house and the endless possessions. Dan says that he does not owe them anything; His father owes Dan a childhood. Ed Junior was prepared for whatever response Dan has. The moment Dan was about to say that he regretted not reaching out to his father's side of the family, Dan changes his mind about saying that as well as being unfazed about the obituary. His new remark is that he is delighted that Ed has died. They agree to a physical fight until Dan sarcastically requests a fight to the death. Dan agrees to help clear out the house if he gets to keep the possessions.

Dwight has locked himself in a bathroom at The Lunch Box, with angry customers waiting for him to start. Jackie tells him that she was a counselor. He opens the door as well as opening up about his failure at baseball, with an equal amount of pressure put on him as head chef. Apparently his job at Applebee's was not significant enough to worry about. Becky says that the customers left.

Dan returns to see Ed Junior to reconsider what he was going to say in the first place. He still has his can of stew with him, but in the other hand ha has a stack of letters that he wrote to Ed's house. He shows Ed Junior the envelopes showing the correct address with a Return To Sender written on them. Ed Junior looks and sees that it was indeed their father intercepted their letters. The two reconcile, and spend the rest of the day together.

Jackie has hypnotized Dwight and gives the remaining customers a round of free desserts. She implies it was necessary to portray herself as a topless island native.

Ben has surrounded himself with children, insisting that they act as demanding as possible at the same time. Ben passes Harris's test by saying that Harris can not have Ben's car for work since she is not in her work clothes. He passes Mark Junior's test by telling him to study for the quiz by himself. He passes Mary's test by telling her she must write down every reason to get a hamster. He passes Beverly Rose's test by giving her to Harris. Now that Ben has proved that he is a family man, Darlene reveals that the reason why she does not want to have a child with Ben is because she is afraid that Ben will leave them behind. She does not want to relive a failed relationship and custody arrangement with David. Ben reminds her, while feeling insulted at the same time, that he could never be that dull. He says that he never runs away from a challenge. Ben also says that it is completely wrong to compare him to David as David left the country, without the kids, for a decade. On the other hand, Darlene was unfair to Ben by forgiving David, and cheating on Ben with him. Despite being heartbroken, even while having that very conversation with Darlene, is still around. Darlene decides that if they have any children together, since Ben wants to be a father so much, he has to sign an agreement to raise them even if they break up. Ben is ready to sign, but asks why he'd have to take care of Harris and Mark Junior. Darlene added them as punitive damages for breaking up.

Jackie and Becky close The Lunch Box for the day after a successful earning of at least $1,100.00 U.S.D. with other family members cheering. Dan lets himself in and introduces Ed Junior to everybody. Neither of them say who he is, with Harris embarrassing herself hitting on him.

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 (credit only)
• Emma Kenney as Harris Healy
• Ames McNamara as Mark Healy II
• Jayden Rey as Mary Conner

Guests

• Jay R. Ferguson as Ben
• Stephen Monroe Taylor as Dwight
• Noel Fisher as Ed Conner Jr.

Trivia

• Ed Conner is mentioned for the first time since the series came back in 2018. It is revealed that he has just died and that Dan hadn't seen him in the last 20 years.
• Crystal gave birth to Ed Conner Jr. after the end of Season 3 of Roseanne. He only appeared (as a baby) during Season 4, this episode marks his first ever appearance since.
• Oddly, despite being married to Ed, Crystal Anderson is never mentioned. It can be assumed that she and Ed separated many years ago.
• Despite being credited, Michael Fishman (D.J.) does not appear.
• Although aired as the thirteenth episode of the season, it was filmed as the twelve.