Hit the Road, Jack

"Hit the Road, Jack"
Season 9: Episode 14(212 / 231 episodes)
Network	ABC-TV
Air date	January 14, 1997
Written by	Roseanne
Directed by	Mark K. Samuels
Episode Guide
Previous	Say It Ain't So
Next	The War Room

Hit the Road, Jack is the 14th episode of Season 9 of Roseanne, also the 212th overall series episode. It was written by Roseanne, and was directed by Mark K. Samuels. It originally aired on ABC-TV on January 14, 1997.

Summary

Dan gets ready to leave for California, Roseanne tries to figure out what to do about their marriage, and D.J. meets a girl named Heather. Dan regretfully packs his bags and prepares to leave home for good. Roseanne deals with her sorrows by driving aimlessly around Lanford.

Plot

Roseanne ignores Dan and drives around town eating fast food and listening to radio shows. She thinks Dan had an affair because of her appearance. As Dan packs his bags to leave, he and DJ have a fight when DJ starts to question about Dan’s mother. DJ became furious when Dan is in denial due to the fact that he had an affair in California and couldn’t tell the whole truth to his son. This resulted in argument between them as Dan starts to think for himself which DJ angrily asks him again while Dan tells him that he has to think straight which he meant he’s thinking about himself. DJ angrily walks away after yelling at his father about the lies.

In the heat of anger, DJ goes to a video store and meets his soul mate, Heather. Dan heads back to California, but at the last moment he cancels his flight and moves into a motel near the airport. During the entire episode, Roseanne spends the whole day in the car as she drives around in Lanford while she switches radio stations about people who talks about husbands and wives as well as “the other woman” which makes her traumatized by Dan’s affair.

At night, she calls Jackie who is resentful and bitter towards Dan about his affair which she shows more disapproval towards him. Jackie shows up and talks with Roseanne about what’s going on as she told her that Dan left the house. After driving all day, Roseanne and Jackie goes to a fast food place to eat for dinner.

At the end of the episode, there’s a montage about two snails mating onscreen as the end credits roll.

Cast

Starring

• Roseanne as Roseanne Conner
• John Goodman as Dan Conner
• Laurie Metcalf as Jackie Harris
• Sara Gilbert as Darlene Conner (credit only)
• Michael Fishman as D.J. Conner
• Sarah Chalke as Becky Conner (credit only)

Guests

• Cole Roberts as Jerry Conner
• Heather Matarazzo as Heather
• Anthony Robbins as Himself
• David Mendenhall as Clerk (uncredited)

Trivia

• This episode features the first appearance of Heather Matarazzo as Heather, she will appear in a total of four episodes this season.
• Despite being credited, Sara Gilbert (Darlene Conner) and Sarah Chalke (Becky Conner) do not appear.
• This is the first time that DJ and Dan had an argument. In this episode, DJ knows what’s going on, but he doesn’t know about Dan’s affair which he becomes furious towards his father as he presumed that his father hated the family. Dan is in denial again and makes up an excuse to leave the house. Many fans dislike Dan’s behavior towards his son because he was dishonest about the situation as well as trying to make an excuse to leave his family. Some fans got so upset about this episode when he tries to deny his affair which he shows his hypocritical behavior in this episode.
• At the end of the episode, a montage of two snails mating shows as the end credits roll. It is a reference to Dan having explicit sex with the nurse during his affair and cheating on Roseanne. Some people felt dumbfounded by this as to why there’s a montage of two snails mating onscreen, but some people think it’s because Dan’s affair was evident in this episode after “Home for the Holidays” and “Say it Ain’t so.”
• In this episode, Jackie comes to the kitchen and is feeling resentful towards Dan for his affair and cheating on Roseanne as well as ending their friendship. While she was talking to Roseanne, she hides the bath towels away from Dan while he was in the shower as payback due to his affair.