Recap / Roseanne S 5 E 13 Crime And Punishment

Jackie reveals abuse

Directed by Andrew D Weyman

Written by Bruce Rasmussen

Roseanne confronts Jackie about spending all her time with her beau. Part 1 of 2. Originally aired January 5th, 1993.

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Examples

• Actually Pretty Funny: Dan has been called to DJ's school to discuss some "obscene reading material" DJ brought. It's a comic Darlene wrote. When Dan shows Roseanne, he's appalled. Roseanne laughs unexpectedly and says "That was a funny part."
• Absurdly High-Stakes Game: Inverted. Dan and most of his poker buddies are hurting for cash these days, so the stakes are absurdly low. Chuck raises an eighth of a cent.
• Armor-Piercing Question: When Roseanne discovers that Jackie's back is badly bruised, she asks, "Does Fisher know about this?" Jackie goes very quiet and begs her to drop the subject, which reveals that he was the one who hit her.
  Roseanne: You come over here, your back's all bruised up, you won't tell me nothing, how do I know that you didn't get raped or mugged or something? Does Fisher know about this?
  Jackie: W—why can't you just drop it?
  Roseanne: …That son of a bitch!
• Big Brother Instinct: Big Brother-in-law instinct. When Dan learns that his sister-in-law Jackie is being abused by Fisher, he leaves to teach Fisher a lesson.
• Big "SHUT UP!": Jackie tells Roseanne to shut up when the former curses Fisher's name during their argument.
• Blatant Lies: Jackie telling Roseanne over and over that she's fine when Roseanne's discovered that Fisher's abusing her.
• Cliffhanger: The episode ends with Dan getting arrested for beating up Fisher, leading into a two-parter.
• To Be Continued: The episode ends with these captions.
• Clothing-Concealed Injury:
  • After her abuse is discovered, Jackie tries hiding her bruises with a large long sleeved shirt and a big coat but Roseanne finds it eventually.
  • Dan visibly hiding his injured hand when he brings home a bucket of chicken.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: Since D.J. kept going through Darlene's things, Roseanne opted to let her punish him. Darlene came up with D.J. having to wear a suit and tie to school, which he greatly dislikes and Roseanne is impressed by.
• Didn't See That Coming:
  • Dan is so completely checked out on school-related matters that the staff at D.J.'s school thought Roseanne was a widow, so they're quite surprised to meet him.
  • Roseanne figured that Dan was at most going to put a scare into Fisher. Dan thought that, too, but things escalated to a fight.
  • Averted when Roseanne finds there are cops at the door. Dan's expression indicates he knew exactly that this would happen.
• Domestic Abuse: Roseanne discovers that Jackie is being abused by her live-in boyfriend.
• Everyone Has Standards: Jackie's abuse at the hands of her boyfriend Fisher drove Roseanne into a genuinely fearful panic, and set the typically calm Dan on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge that ended with him in jail.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: After Dan comes home with a bucket of chicken, he is clearly hiding his right hand from Roseanne and Jackie.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Fisher's bad mood during a game of cheap poker.
  • Jackie getting defensive about her relationship with her live-in boyfriend.
  • Jackie preferring to spending more time with Fisher than with Roseanne or any of her family members outside of her relationship.
  • In a couple of episodes before the Reveal that Fisher is abusing Jackie, he gives off some minor hints of his behavior by telling Jackie that she should stop seeing her therapist and she should spend less time with her family: commonplace signs of what is really going on in their relationship.
  • Jackie always flinching and patting herself in the back.
• Inciting Incident: If Darlene hadn't accidentally walked in on Jackie changing in the bathroom, who knows how much longer Jackie's abuse from Fisher would've gone on.
• Friend on the Force: Dan's friend, Jay, is the one arresting him. He tries to make it as easy on Dan as possible, which is why he responded in the first place. Dan doesn't begrudge him, nor does he want him to do anything that could get him fired.
• Hope Spot: Dan is very nervous about D.J. getting caught with obscene reading material, thinking the boy got into his dirty magazines or some such. He's quite relieved to see it's just a comic book, until he sees what's in it and who made it.
• Implausible Deniability: Even when confronted about Fisher's abusive behavior, Jackie defends him, so happy to be in a relationship she is. ^note  Unfortunately, abusive relationships tend to be like this. Jackie leaves Fisher, but only after a great deal of prodding from Roseanne.
• Instantly Proven Wrong: Dan assures the school principal that he has no idea where D.J. got the obscene comic book and that he most certainly never allows such filth in his house. Then D.J. says he got it from Darlene.
• Irony: Dan describes D.J.'s homework as such, though the kid doesn't see the humor in it.
  Dan: You know, Deej, it's ironic. You're a kid, you're not supposed to have any problems. You go to school, and they give them to you.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: The fallout of Jackie's relationship with Fisher is mostly centered on her and Roseanne (and, to a lesser extent, Darlene) as they discover the bruises and have to deal with both the domestic abuse and the idiosyncrasies of their own sisterhood. Roseanne convinces Jackie to see a doctor and tells Dan they're going to the hospital. They go, and Dan is left to his own devices. And then he silently gets his coat and leaves through the back door. It may well be the most intense and subtle pre-asskicking declaration in sitcom history.
  • Followed by some of the funniest dialogue in the series. Darlene has to bail Dan out of jail, their friends all show up ("What is this, Mayberry?"), and Jackie confronts Dan.
• Love Martyr: Jackie constantly defending Fisher's abuse. After her bruises are discovered, she begins to tell Roseanne how Fisher has just had a rough time at work and she blames herself for Fisher hitting her.
• Mama Bear / Papa Wolf: Roseanne and Dan, respectively. They're not only protective of their own children, but also of Jackie, Roseanne's sister (as Fisher found out the hard way).
• Mood Whiplash:
  • A fun game of cheap poker between Dan and his buddies turns dark as Fisher raises his voice and throws a tantrum after losing a game of cheap poker.
  Fisher: Hey, GO TO HELL!! (throws a poker chip, awkward silence between Dan and the boys).
  • Darlene playfully testing her water gun in her room then popping into the bathroom to spray DJ. Only to discover her bathroom's occupied by Jackie and that her back is covered in bruises.
• Never My Fault: Fisher's attitude when he abuses Jackie for asking him about work is this.
• Nothing Is Scarier: We don't see what Jackie's bruises look like but judging by Darlene's horrified reaction and Jackie's defensive shouting, it's pretty bad.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business / Out-of-Character Alert: Roseanne senses a change in Jackie, and wonders what is going on. She's been very uptight and jumpy, not her usual laid-back, easy going self. After a minor difference of opinion about her boyfriend Fisher at the diner, Jackie left the diner in a tearful rage. Roseanne is left clueless.
• Sore Loser: Fisher who does not take well to losing at cheap poker with Dan and the boys, even if it's just a game.
• Shout-Out:
  • DJ has a poster of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in his room.
  • When Jackie says she'd be embarrassed having to answer questions at the hospital, Roseanne suggests going to a different hospital where the staffers don't know them.
    Roseanne: We could make up names and stuff. I'll be Wilma, and you can be Betty.
• Star-Making Role: Laurie Metcalf won an Emmy for her performance in this episode.
• Suddenly Shouting: Fisher gets mad at losing and raises his voice at Dan and his poker buddies, even throwing a poker chip at them. He then storms out.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: How the school and the principal feel about Dj's suit and tie. Also, Dan and the principal's reaction to Darlene's dark comic book she made.
• Very Special Episode: The two-part episode deals with Jackie being abused and the topic of domestic violence.
• Wham Line:
  • When Darlene pops into the bathroom only to find aunt Jackie inside. And judging by Darlene's reaction and Jackie's shouting, she's bruised up pretty bad.
    Jackie: Close the door! Close the door!
  • The entire conversation between Darlene to her mother Roseanne about her discovery following by Roseanne and Jackie's argument.
    Darlene: Something happened to Aunt Jackie?
    Roseanne: Some say environmental, but I say she was born that way.
    Darlene: Well, was she in an accident?
    Roseanne: No, why?
    Darlene: Well, I saw her upstairs and her back's all bruised up.
    Roseanne: No. She didn't tell me about that...
• Wham Shot:
  • After learning that Fisher was abusing Jackie, Dan is left alone in the kitchen... before walking silently out the backdoor, and grabbing a coat. Tellingly, the studio audience already knew what was going to happen next, as some start quietly applauding.
    • And in case it wasn't clear what Dan was going to do, after he comes home (with a bucket of chicken, which he went out to get), we cut to him in the kitchen, preparing to ice his knuckles.
• Where the Hell Is Springfield?: Roseanne offers to take Jackie to the hospital in Elgin, giving a clue as to Lanford's location in Illinois.
• Why Did You Make Me Hit You?: Jackie is being abused by her boyfriend Fisher and Fisher blames her for it. He's having a hard time at work so he takes it out on her. Worst is that Jackie actually believes its her own fault that Fisher is abusing her since she asked him about it so much.
  Jackie: [to Roseanne] Shut up! You don't know the whole story! He's been under a lot of pressure lately; there's no work! And I told him that he should look for a job at a bigger company, and he told me that I didn't believe in him, he told me a million times when he gets in a mood like that, that I should just walk away and I didn't! [bursts into tears] I just kept pushing him and pushing him!
  Roseanne: [hugging Jackie] Don't say anymore.
• Wife-Basher Basher: When Dan finds out Jackie's boyfriend is beating her up, he goes over and does the same to him. In a bit of a subversion, he explains he first tried to scare him off and it escalated into a fist-fight, and he winds up spending the night in jail when charges get pressed.