Cheating, Revelations and a Box of Doll Heads is the eighteenth episode of Season 3 of The Conners, also the 49th episode overall.
Summary[]
Mark is stressed and exhausted from studying for an important entrance exam so Darlene steps in to help, but her plan backfires.
Plot[]
Darlene is upset that she can not find a tutor for her son. Becky has to confess about the sources of her alcohol problem before even more of her life slips away.
In-Depth[]
Tired of The Virus, and wanting to be accepted by University, Mark Junior wants to enroll in Magnet Schools. He says he has to compete to win so Darlene offers to tutor him. He says that Darlene is not up to it. She is worried that they can not find a better tutor.
Becky went to rehab for two weeks. Rachael wants to know why Becky started being an alcoholic. Becky says it must have some thing to do with her late husband, Mark Senior. She wants to keep religions out of it, as she is upset that he died when his motorcycle struck a deer. Rachael is pleased, as it sounds as an Act Of God killed them. Becky tries to destroy Rachael's knitted scarf. The staff told Becky it is the final straw. With Becky admitting she had another outburst, they are on the verge of kicking her out.
Harris says she is going to prank some people. Jackie tells Darlene that since they can not find a tutor, they need to cheat. Jackie asks how far they have gotten by not cheating. Harris runs inside after the prank backfired. Darlene interprets it as a sign to start cheating.
Dan tries to trick Mary into cooking for them all the time. Darlene lets every body know that Becky is punished at Rehab, but did not escape, nor get kicked out. She says that they are asked to go to a meeting. Dan reacts negatively, indicating a partial source of the problems that Becky has. Harris also says Darlene is to blame. Darlene says that Jackie and Beverly are the problem. D.J. agrees to go to the meeting. Darlene says they all need to go and tells Dan to stop drinking alcohol.
Mark Junior is taking an online test with glasses on. Darlene walks in any ways and start holding up cue cards which disqualifies him immediately. He throws her out of the room and shuts the door.
Jackie, D.J., Dan, and Darlene join Becky in the recovery meeting. She tells Darlene constantly talking about her stress is making Becky stressed. Jackie and D.J. are worried that they caused Becky to drink. They go back to Darlene, who apologizes for every thing she can think of. Becky says that she thinks the problem started after Mark Senior died. Dan is very tense and finally says that Becky is in denial. Initially, he did not seem to mind Mark. Looking back again, Dan says that Mark was a selfish little punk that ruined Becky's life. Mark Senior told Becky to drop out and took the money for Becky to return as well as the money for Becky to go to College. Even when he did finally enroll, he did not attend.
They take Recess, with Jackie quickly saying that Beverly caused Jackie to start drinking.
It turns out that Becky was needlessly in love with Mark Senior and did what ever she could to keep him around. When the therapist tells Becky it is perfectly okay to be angry at a dead person, Becky slowly confesses that she started drinking with Darlene at The Lunch Box when they found an alcoholic beverage as a sobriety gift for Leon. After Becky started drinking she told Darlene that Mark and Becky are drifting apart. Becky admits that Mark Senior got away with so much be cause Becky let him. No matter what Becky did to keep him around, it was unsuccessful.
Darlene confronts Mr. Davis who is in charge of admissions. She says that it her fault for interrupting Mark Junior while taking the test. He tells her to go away and that there are plenty of disadvantaged students that do not have parents that force them to cheat. Darlene walks away, taking the "Wall Of Lies" with her.
Dan is happy that she finally got Becky to crack about Mark Senior. Darlene warns him about drinking too much, but he says that all he is doing is relaxing in front of television. Darlene apologizes to Mark Junior. He says it is fine if they can not find a Tutor, and that he wanted to study by him self. She says that he deserves to have opportunities that people such as Mr. Davis are keeping from him. However, Mark Junior tells him that Mr. Davis reviewed the frames of Mark Junior's camera and correlated it with the time that Mark Junior sent the answer. It turns out that he sent the answer before Darlene showed up on the reflection. Mr. Davis also apologized to Mark Junior for Darlene barging in and gave him extra time to finish the assignments. Darlene takes Mr. Davis's comments about her questionable mental health as compliments.
Robin stops by at Becky's to thank her for being there when Robin was in trouble. Robin gives her a Cactus and a Get Well Soon card. Robin also jokes about being able to fire Becky the moment that Becky is no longer an alcoholic. However, Robin takes that back just in case Becky does not want to recover. As Becky opens the card and reads the signatures, It turns out that Robin lied about why Becky went to Hospital.
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
- Emma Kenney as Harris Healy
- Ames McNamara as Mark Healy II
- Jayden Rey as Mary Conner
- Jay R. Ferguson as Ben (credit only)
Guests[]
- Alexandra Billings as Robin Shetsky
- Iris Bahr as Rachel
- Helen Eigenberg as Jerri Lynn
- Andy Fitzgerald as Mr. Davis
- Carleton W. Bluford as Seth
Trivia[]
- The circumstances behind Mark Healy's death is finally revealed to be a motorcycle accident. His exact cause of death had never been stated before.
- Despite being credited, Jay R. Ferguson (Ben) doesn't appear.
- Though the title contains a reference to D.J. Conner, he doesn't have any plot relevance other than attending the family therapy session.
Quotes[]