Line #26 Awesome/TheGoldenGirls


1	* Blanche's [[SpoiledBrat troubled]] grandson comes to visit. He misbehaves and treats everyone horribly. This all culminates with him blowing up and Sophia slapping him.
2	** And then later, when Blanche realizes part of his problem is that his parents (her daughter and her "Yankee" husband) are always arguing, she calls and tells them, in a half-bluff/half-truth, that she's keeping him. When her daughter argues this, Blanche says, "All right, but if you don't start giving that boy the love and attention he deserves, [[MamaBear I will kick your uppity butt 'til Hell won't have it again!"]] The studio audience bursts into applause at this.
3	** Dorothy has one when she gives David a loving DareToBeBadass lecture on how he should stick it out and tells him to shape up. This also counts as a SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment\|s}}.
4	** Dorothy also shows her mastery of handling teenagers when kicking David's new friends out. Doubles as a SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment\|s}}.
5	--->'''Dorothy:''' If I find anything missing I will give your names to every narc in this city!\
6	''(teenager hands Blanche a glass)''
7	* Dorothy has ''many,'' but one of the best is her standing up to Blanche's abusive boyfriend, who is irritated that she isn't ready for a party:
8	--> '''Rex''': You wanna go light a fire under her?\
9	'''Dorothy''': No, I don't think so.\
10	'''Rex''': Why not?\
11	'''Dorothy''': Because she's already getting burned enough as it is.\
12	'''Rex''': Look, would you just go tell Blanche to hurry up? I've gotta teach this woman what being on time means!\
13	'''Dorothy''': ''Wait a minute,'' I don't want you teaching her anything!\
14	'''Rex''': You know, you're starting to get on my nerves-\
15	'''Dorothy''': [[ShutUpHannibal Good, because you're already on mine!]] I don't like the way you're treating Blanche. Under all that make-up and sexy talk, there's a little girl there, and for some reason or another she's letting you take advantage of her. I can't stop her from seeing you, but I'll be ''damned'' if I'm gonna hurry her up!\
16	'''Rex''': Who do you think you are?!\
17	'''Dorothy''': A [[ThePowerOfFriendship friend!]]
18	** Blanche gets one, too, a moment later when she comes in to find Rex has roughly grabbed Dorothy by the arm and is trying to jerk her around. For the first time in the entire episode, Blanche stands up to Rex and tells him in no uncertain terms to get out of her house. When he threatens never to return if she throws him out, she declares that that's a promise she intends to see he keeps.
19	* Another of Dorothy's is in the second half of the two-part episode "Sick and Tired," where she is diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. In the first episode, she goes all the way to New York to see a specialist, who tells her she 'is just getting old'. In the second, she sees a different doctor who correctly identifies her condition and assures her that she's going to be fine with proper treatment. She returns home and the four housemates go out to dinner to celebrate, where Dorothy spots the original specialist - the one who told her she was essentially crazy - having dinner with his wife in the same restaurant. Instead of causing a ruckus, she calmly walks over and delivers one of the most AWESOME speeches in television history, letting him have it for giving her a poor diagnosis of just "getting old" and recommending that she see a psychiatrist. She concludes by gently reminding him that one day, ''he'll'' be on the other side of the table.
20	-->'''Dorothy''': Because as angry as I am, and as angry as I always ''will'' be... I still wish you a better doctor than you were to me.
21	** A minor one goes to the doctor's wife. In the first episode, Dr. Budd tells Dorothy to consider dyeing her hair to snap out of her melancholy, saying that "My wife became a blonde, she's a new woman." When Dorothy points out the DoubleStandard and mentions how, if she were a man, she would have been taken more seriously and not told to go to a hairdresser. When the doctor starts to defend himself, his wife promptly shuts him down with a very angry "Shut up, Louis!" Apparently, she thought that advice was condescending bullshit, too.
22	** This episode's place here and on the Funny Moments page is an awesome moment for Susan Harris, for showing that the WriterOnBoard VerySpecialEpisode CAN be done well.
23	* Another awesome Dorothy moment: in one episode, she befriends a local author named Barbara Thorndyke. Throughout the episode, Barbara is condescending and rude towards Blanche and Rose, seeing them as intellectually inferior; and Dorothy doesn't listen when they try to tell her what a snot she is. At the end of the episode, Barbara is about to take them all to an exclusive Miami club, but before they leave, she takes Dorothy into the kitchen to tell her that Sophia's date cannot come with them; the restrictive club they're going to will not allow him in because he's Jewish. After Barbara clearly shows that she has no problem with such a horrible policy and also insults Blanche and Rose, Dorothy tells the intellectual, cultured author to [[SophisticatedAsHell "go to hell."]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5kr7-YfT20 View it here in all its glory.]]
24	* Rose spends a whole episode fearing for her safety after a robbery, believing she can't defend herself. Once her nightmare is realized and she is chased down by a man, [[GroinAttack she knees him in the]] [[UnusualEuphemism "safe deposit box"]]. She proceeds to wail on him until he's left on the floor, writhing in plain. Needless to say, Rose [[AnAesop learned she can defend herself]].
25	** Then, this becomes a SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment\|s}} immediately afterward because the guy she defended herself from was the parking attendant, who was trying to give back her keys.
26	** Earlier in the same episode, the ladies are listening to a security system salesman give them a sales pitch designed to terrify them: "One in every four people will be a victim... ''[pauses for emphasis]'' of a violent crime." Dorothy, realizing the salesman is taking advantage of their fear (especially Rose's), finally has enough.
27	---> '''Dorothy:''' Fine, we'll get the basic system.\
28	'''Salesman:''' Okay...\
29	'''Dorothy:''' But not from ''you'', from your competitor.\
30	'''Salesman:''' What?\
31	'''Dorothy:''' Because what you were trying to do is terrify us into spending more money than we have. Now get out of here before the victim of violent crime in ''this'' house is '''you'''! ''[shoos him out the front door and slams it; the studio audience then applauds]''
32	* The penultimate scene of the episode "Adult Education". Blanche, in order to earn a degree and get a promotion at the museum, goes back to school. She's failing one of her courses, and asks her teacher for help. Instead, he offers her a passing grade in exchange for sex. When the dean fails to help her, Blanche buckles down, studying harder than she ever has. After she finishes her final exam, she finally tells off her lecherous professor.
33	-->'''Blanche:''' You know, Professor Cooper, I've thought a lot about what you said, and I have no intention of repeating this course.\
34	'''Prof. Cooper:''' Good! I'm glad you decided to take me up on my offer.\
35	'''Blanche:''' ''{scoffs}'' I'm declining your offer, Professor Cooper, but I do want to thank you.\
36	'''Prof. Cooper:''' For what?\
37	'''Blanche:''' [[ReasonYouSuckSpeech Well, thanks to you, I studied all day and all night, and whenever I felt like giving up, I thought about you and the kind of man you are, and I studied even harder. In fact, you made me so mad that I decided to get an A on this test come hell or high water! And I think I did. I, sir, am a lady. Maybe not the smartest lady in the world, but I do know that my self-respect is more important than passing your damn course. So you, sir, can kiss my A.]]
38	* Rose [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAbiZOfbURU getting her beloved teddy bear back from a bratty Sunshine Girl]] who was holding it for ransom.
39	-->'''Rose''': Time to time, life deals you an unfriendly hand. There's nothing you can do about it. I guess there's a lesson to be learned here. [[BaitAndSwitch Sometimes life just isn't fair, kiddo. (takes the teddy bear; shoves Daisy out the door)]]
40	* Rose has another one in "It's a Miserable Life". She petitions to save an old tree in their neighborhood when their grouchy neighbor Frieda Claxton, whose property the tree resides on, wants it chopped down. At the public hearing, Mrs. Claxton is nothing but callous and rude towards the girls. Finally it reaches the point where Rose has had enough, and she [[https://youtu.be/edP49baQ_MU gives the old bat a piece of her mind]].
41	-->'''Rose:''' Mrs. Claxton, think about what you're doing! That beautiful old tree is 200 years old. How can you hate a living thing?\
42	'''Mrs. Claxton:''' I hate ''you''.\
43	'''Rose:''' ''That's it!'' I have had all I'm gonna take from you! Now if you don't have the common decency to treat people like human beings, well then I'm sure as hell not gonna waste my time kissing your fanny! Now if you don't like it, Mrs. Claxton, you just sit there and ''shut up'' while we have our say! And if you don't like it, just ''drop dead!''
44	** This immediately turns awkward when Mrs. Claxton does exactly that.
45	--->'''Dorothy:''' What happened?\
46	'''Sophia:''' (''To Rose'') You know when you told her to "drop dead"?\
47	'''Rose:''' Yes.\
48	'''Sophia:''' I think she ''did!''
49	* In "Big Daddy's Little Lady," the B-plot involves Dorothy and Rose writing a song about Miami, trying to win a cash prize. They don't win, but they write a pretty good song, and the episode ends with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sRQELNLRG8 all four girls singing it as Rose plays the piano.]]
50	* In another episode, Rose and Blanche volunteer for the "Be A Pal" program to spend some time with troubled girls. Unfortunately, the girls with whom they are paired turn out to be juvenile delinquents, who shoplift at the mall and leave Blanche and Rose as the fall guys. The girls refuse to confess, since all the judges in juvenile court know them, so Blanche finally resorts to offering them a bribe of $50. The girls raise the ante to $300, and Blanche relents and writes a check. The girls leave, and Dorothy tells Blanche that she's stunned at her for giving in to the demand. Blanche replies that the check is drawn on the vacation account they had closed weeks earlier and is completely worthless.
51	* In one flashback episode as the girls are reflecting on previous birthdays, Dorothy recalls a more recent birthday where Rose took her to "Mr. Ha-Ha's Hot Dog Hacienda," and had her treated like all the other kids celebrating birthdays. Dorothy was about to shove her cake in the clown/owner's face, when Mr. Ha-Ha pointed out that she was acting immature and that if she did it, he could sue. Then, one of the kids shoves ''his'' cake into the clown's face, and wishes Dorothy a happy birthday.
52	** Mr. Ha-Ha had been making a point of taunting Dorothy over the embarrassing situation she was stuck in, so he really had it coming.
53	* In one episode, neighbor [[Series/EmptyNest Barbara Weston]] - a police officer - defeats a mobster called The Cheeseman who is holding the girls and Miles at gunpoint. She does this by acting like she's unarmed, only to surprise him with a gun to his back when he's not looking. This is followed immediately by a SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment\|s}} too.
54	-->'''Rose:''' You said you didn't have a gun. ''You lied!''\
55	'''Barbara:''' ...To a bad guy. It's okay to lie to a bad guy.\
56	'''Rose:''' Geez, there's so much that we as the public don't know!
57	* In another episode, Rose, Blanche, and Dorothy spend a few minutes as hostages in the grief counseling center. An annoyed Sophia walks in, wondering what's taking them so long. When the gunman threatens her, she takes one look at him, takes his gun away, and chides Dorothy for not being able to tell the gun was fake.
58	** Said gunman was holding the girls and a few others hostage because he was depressed about Christmas and decided to make some people spend the holiday with him. Moments before Sophia came in, Rose, not knowing the gun was fake, tells the guy she's not going along with his plans. She tells him that people don't owe him a good Christmas, and from seeing the way he's acting, it's no wonder he spends Christmas alone.
59	* During the series finale, Blanche tricks Dorothy into going out with her Uncle Lucas so Blanche can enjoy a one-night stand. When Dorothy and Lucas realize they've been played, they decide to get back at Blanche by pretending to fall madly in love and get engaged. They spend several days trolling Blanche, acting like SickeninglySweethearts and making comments about redecorating Hollingsworth Manor to be more "Yankee." However, when it looks like their joke has gone too far and Blanche has been emotionally torn apart, Dorothy and Lucas decide to end the joke... and then Lucas asks Dorothy to marry him for real. Not only has Dorothy managed to get some pretty good payback on Blanche, but after all her failed romances, Dorothy finally finds someone who treats her with respect and truly loves her.
60	* In "72 Hours," Blanche, Dorothy, and Sophia all get one in some way.
61	** Dorothy: For calling out Sophia's unjustified paranoia concerning the possibility that Rose might have AIDS, to the point that she's been using a gas station bathroom and has marked coffee mugs with an "R."
62	** Blanche: Confiding in Rose that she also went through an AIDS scare and has since made the effort to take all necessary precautions when having sex and knowing her partners' complete sexual history, and later calling Rose out on her belief that AIDS is something that should only affect "bad" people.
63	--->'''Blanche''': AIDS is not a bad person's disease Rose! It is not God punishing people for their sins!
64	** Sophia: Proudly drinking from one of the mugs she marked with "R" when she agrees with Blanche and Dorothy that they will always be there for Rose no matter what her test may say.
65	* Stan, of all people, verbally tears apart a doctor who is brusque with him and Dorothy when they want information about a very sick Sophia. The doctor immediately backs down and promises that they'll be informed.
66	-->'''Dorothy''': You were ''magnificent!''
67	-->'''Stan''': I have my moments.
68	** Stan also reams Dorothy out in a later episode for not being able to see him as anything more than a FailureHero, when one of his products, the "Zbornie," clearly has proven to be a huge success:
69	-->'''Stan''': I thought I could make up for some of the mistakes, but I was wrong. You won't let me. You have an image of what "Stan Zbornak" is, and no matter how he's changed, you'll never see a new man. Don't worry. I won't bother you with any gifts anymore. In fact, from now on, I won't bother you at ''all''.
70	* Every time Rose proved she was more than just TheDitz:
71	** In ''The Triangle'', bluffing Dorothy's lying boyfriend Elliot into an EngineeredPublicConfession about making a pass at Blanche.
72	** Helping Sophia deal with the death of her {{Crossdresser}} [[TheUnseen son Phil]] in "Ebbtide's Revenge" by telling her that it was all right that Sophia had loved her son, thus enabling Sophia to reconcile with Phil's wife and finally begin the grieving process.
73	** Telling Blanche in "Mrs. George Devereaux" to give her BackFromTheDead husband a second chance:
74	--->'''Rose''': Blanche, this isn't about getting even. For nine years, you've been missing George. Now he's here, and I'm jealous of you. Tell him you love him. Tell him you hate him. I don't care, but just see him before he leaves. Do it for yourself. Do it for all of us who wish we had the chance.
75	*** Doubles as a TearJerker, as Rose runs off in tears afterwards, clearly thinking of Charlie.
76	** In "The Case of the Libertine Belle", Rose was the only one of the four who knew that TheGameNeverStopped, and even performed a necessary step in keeping everyone else fooled at the request of the hotel. She had her roommates and the audience completely fooled. And the reason she went along with it? [[DisproportionateRetribution To get back at Blanche for borrowing her earrings without asking]].
77	** Rose manipulated Dorothy's cheating boyfriend into admitting that he made a pass at Blanche, [[EngineeredPublicConfession while Dorothy was in earshot]].
78	** When Sophia was facing trial for burning down Shady Pines, Rose was the only one who thought to check out the original fire inspector, finding out that he had mysteriously come into some money at the same time and retired soon after. She couldn't put it all together, but the rest of them could, and it was exactly what they needed to get the charges dropped.
79	** When the girls end up stranded on an island alongside three guys during their crappy vacation, amid all the arguing Rose finally ''explodes''. "All right, everybody, NOW SHUT THE HELL UP!" and barks them into submission so they can plan for survival.
80	--->'''Rose''': All right, now move. I SAID MOVE!\
81	'''Blanche''': Dorothy, we're not really going to let Ro-\
82	'''Dorothy''' (''scared''): Quiet! I don't think we're allowed to talk!
83	** After spending most of an episode as Blanche's personal servant to make up for accidentally losing some jewelry, Rose discovers that Blanche herself lost the jewelry in question alongside Rose's watch - which she had taken without permission. When Blanche tries to get out of the situation by stating that she was "doing it for Rose's sake" Rose lets her have it for taking advantage of her. However, when Dorothy comes in after a pretty exhausting day (one of her students had just been deported), Rose steps in and offers to do anything she can to make Dorothy comfortable, including making her some snacks and bringing the TV into her bedroom. When Dorothy heads to bed, Rose says, "You heard her, Blanche, get cracking."
84	** From "Sick and Tired", Blanche is bemoaning the fact that her romance novel was rejected by a publishing company, Rose tries to convince her it's not the end of the world. Blanche whines about how she'll never be famous and special, and chides Rose for her simple farm life view on the situation and that being famous isn't everything. Rose finally has enough, and tells Blanche off for constantly mocking her belief that friends and family are more important than fame and fortune, and for constantly knocking down small town beliefs.
85	---> You know, I'm getting sick of you knocking Minnesota. Maybe we're not as sophisticated as Miami. Maybe we don't have French boutiques and valet parking and facelifts for Christmas vacation. But we have friends, and family, and a sense of community, and caring - and that's pretty special. And our people are special too, and if we have farms, that's great. Without farms, you couldn't eat and without eating, you couldn't go on a diet, and if you couldn't do that, what would you do for the rest of your life?
86	** From "Hey, Look Me Over", Dorothy developed a hearing loss and refuses to go to the philharmonic where they're playing Beethoven's Sonata No.29.[[note]] Which is for solo piano; an orchestra wouldn't be performing it.[[/note]]
87	--->'''Rose''': On the other hand, Beethoven was also deaf, so you'd be hearing the music the way he wrote it.
88	** When Rose's sister Holly comes to visit, Rose tells the girls how much she can't stand her sister because she's an enormous asshole. Blanche and Dorothy don't see it and assume Rose is making a big deal about nothing... until they come home to discover Holly had slept with Blanche's boyfriend. At that point, a fed-up Rose confronts Holly for doing the same thing time and again: intruding in Rose's life, stealing Rose's friends, humiliating Rose, etc. Rose caps off by stating that, as much as she wants to be friends with her sister, that's never going to happen unless Holly stops being a jackass and Rose won't tolerate her presence if Holly doesn't change her behavior.
89	* Sophia's beautiful use of IronicEcho against Blanche, Rose, and Dorothy. Blanche wins 3 (and only 3) tickets to a Burt Reynolds movie and passes to an after-party with Burt afterwards. Blanche, Rose, and Dorothy act rather selfish and uncharacteristically point-blank tell Sophia they're not going to draw straws and she simply can't go. Anytime she starts to complain about it, the others would simply say, "She'll get over it, and if not, who cares - we're going to meet Burt Reynolds!" Later on, the girls end up going to a [[NoTellMotel No-Tell hotel]] while their house is fumigated (Blanche picked the hotel based on how many men were in the lobby) and get caught up in a prostitution sting in the bar downstairs. When Sophia comes to bail them out, she asks them which one isn't going. The girls ''still'' refuse to let her go, so when the guard comes to let them out, she swipes the tickets from Blanche and says she's never seen them before. When Dorothy asks if she'd do this to her own flesh and blood, Sophia says, "You'll get over it, Dorothy, and if you don't... WHO CARES? I'M ON MY WAY TO SEE BURT REYNOLDS!!!"
90	** In the same episode, Blanche makes some unsavory comments about the prostitutes while she's in the cell. One particularly tough woman takes offense and stands up to challenge Blanche to a fight--and that's when Dorothy steps in and delivers a BadassBoast like no other. And it works!
91	---> '''Dorothy''': Listen, you punk. You wanna fight, you'll have to fight me. But I warn you, I did time in Attica.
92	--->'''Prostitute''': Attica's a ''men's'' prison.
93	--->'''Dorothy''': I know. [[LadyLooksLikeADude I was there a year before they found out.]]
94	* After criticizing a plumber for trying to take advantage of them financially, Rose and Dorothy decide to fix the plumbing and install the toilet themselves because Rose [[GeniusDitz actually knew what she was doing]]. After running into a few problems (and being teased by the plumber [[StayInTheKitchen for doing a man's job]]), they are successful.
95	* Sophia gets a big one in "Foreign Exchange" when it's revealed Dorothy may not be Sophia's real daughter, so Sophia has a blood test done to prove she is... but when the results finally come out, Sophia tears up the paper without even looking at it.
96	* Rose gets another one in "Mary Has a Little Lamb." The girls take in their sixteen-year-old neighbor Mary, who has been impregnated by her boyfriend and kicked out of her house by her father. Dorothy, who has been through the exact same scenario, spends an afternoon trying to reason with Mary's father, but can't get through to him. Finally, she plays a trump card that the audience (nor she, for that matter) never sees coming--she tells him a story about a teenage couple from "a little town called St. Olaf." And it ''works.'' This would ordinarily be an OffScreenMomentOfAwesome for Rose, but at the end of the episode, Mary's father comes to pick her up and mentions, in full view of the other girls, what a difference the St. Olaf story made, and how he wants to hear more about the city, as it sounds like a great place to raise a family. Rose's eyes grow wide as she realizes just what this means: Dorothy Zbornak ''told a St. Olaf story''.
97	--->'''Dorothy''': I was desperate!
98	* Blanche gets over her misgivings about dating a paralyzed man and tells him that she want the relationship to be serious, only for him to confess that he's married. When he tries to pull the "My wife doesn't understand me" line, an infuriated Blanche snaps, "Well, I ''do''. You're a cheat." She then orders him out of the house, reaffirming that for all her sleeping around, "Blanche Devereaux ''never'' goes to bed with another woman's husband!"
99	* Blanche tries to apply for membership in the Daughters of the Old South, and in order to gain entry attempts to hide her great-grandmother's Judaism and ties to the Union because of the group's highly prejudiced standard for acceptance. Unable to go through with it, she confesses that she's a "Yankee", and then follows this up with a rousing speech about how her combination of heritages--North and South--make her a true American that doesn't need an exclusionary society to feel loved, earning her a round of applause from her roommates.
100	** Also this when the club rejects her final plea to get in:
101	--->'''Blanche:''' Oh, you lost the [[UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar war]], get over it!
102	* Rose finds herself conflicted in her relationship with Miles when her former boyfriend and fiance Buzz returns to her after thirty years of touring with his singing quartet, having been madly in love with him before she ever met Charlie and having fully expected his return before finally moving on. The two rekindle their old relationship which puts Rose at odds with Miles, who understandably feels snubbed when he learns about Buzz. After the two men confront each other, Miles reluctantly gives Rose time to think things over given her confusion over the situation. Buzz suggests he go to Europe to resume his tour and promises to return when she's thought it over. Seeing that Buzz is making the same promise to her that he broke thirty years prior, Rose puts her foot down and sets the record straight.
103	-->'''Buzz:''' Well, I guess we both made mistakes.
104	-->'''Rose:''' I don't think I made a mistake! I wouldn't have given up my time with Charlie for ''anything''! I'm glad I didn't wait for you, Buzz... And I'm not going to wait for you this time, either.
105	* In "Feelings", Rose suspects that she is being sexually molested by her dentist when he cops a feel during a routine appointment and overhears him expressing arousal, but is not certain of this as she was under the effects of the gas and was hesitant to believe it was true. Disgusted, the girls insist that Rose investigate the matter further, and so at her next checkup Rose confronts him on what happened. Clearly a little too eager to get started, he starts sweet talking her and insists it was an honest accident, and so Rose apologizes to him. He again expresses arousal as he shines a light on her chest; Rose ''immediately'' takes matters into her own hands and holds him up in his office, swearing to report him so that nobody else will endure his lewd conduct.
106	** Doubles as a SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment\|s}} when you see she's holding him up with his ''mouth-cleaning water sprayer'' and forces him to dance by spraying at his feet.
107	* In "Big Daddy", a storm knocks over a neighbor's tree onto the lanai, and said neighbor refuses to do anything about it even when the girls show him the legal documents which prove it's his responsibility. Sophia responds by placing a "curse" on him, and the guy laughs it off. Several days later, he comes back and begs Sophia to undo whatever she did, because it's working: his car won't start, his alarm hasn't been going off, his golf clubs are missing, he can't sleep, and he's developed an enormous boil on his behind. After he agrees to remove the tree, Sophia removes said curse. When the guy leaves, his wife stays behind and reveals that ''she'' was the one messing with his belongings to get him to apologize (the boil was just a lucky coincidence).
108	* In "Older and Wiser," Sophia is caught having a late-night party with the residents at the nursing home where she's been working, and the director tries to break it up and send the residents back to bed. The wheelchair-bound Mr. Lewis reveals he can still speak, saying that it was the first time in twenty-five years he danced with anyone. When asked why he never spoke before, he replies that nobody was listening to him until Sophia came. Doubles as a SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment\|s}} when the nursing home director (who's been a {{Jerkass}} throughout the episode) protests that he would have listened; Mr. Lewis shuts him down with a blunt "I don't like ''you.''"
109	** The whole episode counts as one for Sophia: she's given the title of "Activities Director" at the nursing home, which is full of lethargic elderly people who don't do anything but watch TV in silence from morning to night. She brings joy and life back to the place, but the director gets angry--it turns out Dorothy got Sophia her (phony) job so she would have someone to look after her during the day. After a brief HeroicBSOD that makes her just as listless as the other seniors, Sophia pulls herself up and goes back to the center anyway to throw the party. Her outright refusal to let either her daughter or her age dictate what she can and can't do is awe-inspiring.
110	* "Once In St. Olaf" is one of those episodes where Sophia screws with Dorothy's head to get out of trouble. The entire episode, people are giving Dorothy grief thinking Sophia needed to go to the hospital because Dorothy made her move furniture. ("It was wicker!") Sophia spends most of her time on a gurney stuck in an elevator after the hospital staff loses track of her, and when the girls locate her at the end she tells Dorothy the real reason behind her injury - a stupid prank involving a friend's car. Dorothy tells Sophia she's just happy she found her, then tells Rose to push the button to bring them down to the morgue.
111	* Blanche's brother Clayton gets one for calling Blanche out on her homophobia when he announces that he's getting married to the man he's been seeing. While at a formal dinner, one of Blanche's acquaintances introduces herself to Clayton and Doug, and Blanche immediately screams "Fire!" just as Clayton is introducing his husband-to-be, a false alarm that nearly sends the room into a panic. Cue a mass of [[DeathGlare Death Glares]] from each one of the girls when they put two and two together, all of them disgusted with Blanche's insensitive actions before Clayton really lets her have it.
112	-->'''Clayton:''' Blanche, how could you do that? What did you mean when you said you accepted my being gay? That it was fine so long as I was celibate? So long as I didn't fall in love? Doug is a member of the family now, my family! And if you don't like it, ''you don't have to be a part of my family''.
113	** Thankfully, that ultimatum gets Blanche to come to her senses, especially when joined by some wise words from Sophia - as Sophia reminds her that Clayton and Doug simply want the same happiness any other couple would want. With this, Blanche finally comes around and reconciles with both men, giving them her full blessing.
114	** Also includes a funny moment at the end of Sophia's contribution:
115	--->'''Blanche:''' I think I see what you're saying.\
116	'''Sophia:''' I don't think you do. Blanche, will you marry me?\
117	''Blanche laughs''
118	* In "All Bets Are Off," Dorothy's gambling addiction rears its head again, and she soon finds herself both losing out on a vice-principal position and in deep debt. Rose enters the kitchen, and Dorothy, desperate to pay off her bookie, asks if she can borrow money. Rose happily hands her ATM card over to Dorothy, blithely chattering about how much she trusts her. Dorothy protests Rose's naivete, but she won't let up, telling Dorothy that she considers her a sister. Eventually, Dorothy outright ''yells'' that she's stealing money from Rose... and Rose quietly agrees. She saw through Dorothy's lies and hoped that abusing the trust of someone who genuinely loved her would make her conscience kick in. It works, and Dorothy goes back to Gamblers' Anonymous to start healing.
119	-->'''Dorothy''': Don't you see? ''I am stealing your money!''\
120	'''Rose''': I ''know'', Dorothy.\
121	''(beat)''\
122	'''Rose''': But I was hoping you'd have a hard time taking advantage of [[TrueCompanions somebody who cares about you as much as I do]].
123	** In the same episode, Sophia earns a Moment of Awesome when she won't get off Dorothy's back about the gambling problem. She admits that she feels guilty for letting Sal's life be ruined by a similar problem, outright calls the addiction a disease without mincing words, and absolutely refuses to let Dorothy run that risk for a second time (during her first struggle, Dorothy almost lost her house). It's that non-stop barrage, combined with Rose's gentle nature, that finally gets through to Dorothy.
124	* In "The Actor", the women telling off the lecherous actor who's been playing all of them--in the middle of their play. It's so effective that the audience thinks it's AllPartOfTheShow and heartily applauds, forcing them to bow in appreciation.
125	* In "To Catch a Neighbor," the girls learn that their new neighbors, the [=McDowells=], are jewel fences planning a major exchange soon. The two cops who tell them this set up shop in their home for a stakeout. When Mrs. [=McDowell=] shows up at the door to invite the women to dinner, Rose, Dorothy, and Blanche panic, and even the police are at a loss for words... and that's when Sophia enters and, without missing a beat, introduces the men as her son and grandson in town for a fishing trip. Even the officers are impressed by Sophia's quick thinking, which may have kept them from being discovered.
126	** Later, the cops ask the girls to place a transmitter in the [=McDowell=] home during the dinner party; Dorothy volunteers to be the plant. She manages to keep her cool and succeed, with the other girls not revealing anything either, and the bug ends up being the key to breaking the case and getting the [=McDowells=] behind bars. For a substitute teacher, a grief counselor, a museum worker, and a retired old woman, the group is [[NeverMessWithGranny undeniably badass]].
127	* In one episode, Miles wants his daughter Caroline to meet Rose, indicating that he's taking the relationship very seriously. Unfortunately, Caroline treats Rose ''very'' nastily, and Rose is too afraid of hurting Miles's feelings to bring anything up. That's when Blanche comes to the rescue: when the four are having lunch at the house, she politely but plainly asks Caroline to repeat some of the "problems" she's expressed to Rose, forcing her to reveal her true colors and have a serious discussion with Miles. It goes to show that while Blanche is [[ItsAllAboutMe somewhat selfish]], ''no one'' messes with her surrogate sisters. Double points because Blanche didn't just tell Miles herself, she phrased the question so Caroline had to explain herself to Miles.
128	* In "Long Day's Journey into Marinara", Sophia's sister Angela decides to move to Miami at Dorothy's insistence. Throughout the episode, Sophia is furious, as she feels that Angela is trying to "steal" her life and new boyfriend Tony. It all culminates when Sophia discovers that Angela has moved into Tony's apartment as a roommate (though she genuinely didn't know, when she answered the ad, that this was Sophia's boyfriend); Sophia marches over to his place to accuse him and Angela of fooling around. Tony assures her that that's not the case and tells Sophia that she's the only one for him... just as ''another'' woman (to whom Tony told the same thing) appears from the bedroom. (Sophia: "Oh, Tony... oh, Angela... oh, boy, who is that woman?") Despite spending the whole episode sniping each other and swapping insults, Angela ''immediately'' flies to Sophia's defense, and the two women start attacking Tony with their purses for his two-timing.
129	* In one episode, the girls reminisce on past "Get Rich Quick" schemes and recall a time where they tried their hand at professional catering. On the eve of a big wedding, the bride rushes over to reveal she is calling off her wedding, having discovered that her fiance slept with her best friend. The girls attempt to salvage the situation by [[CrossesTheLineTwice forcing the couple to talk things out with each other, not willing to lose all they've invested into the preparations]]. The rather foolish young bride settles her feud in all of ''ten seconds'' of conversation, and then reveals that the two of them are ''eloping'' to Las Vegas instead. Feigning happiness, Dorothy bestows her prized crystal vase as a wedding present, much to the surprise of the girls who remind her that they're about to lose a ton of money on the entire event. Before they can even finish, Dorothy makes a phone call:
130	-->'''Dorothy''': Hello, police? Yeah, I'd like to report a robbery!
131	* Even though she's TheDitz, Rose is a lot smarter than her friends are willing to admit. In one conversation, she begins casually dropping complex psychological terminology ("There's a cognitive dissonance between her actual and ideal self..."). Dorothy, Blanche, and Sophia all mock her, claiming she doesn't even know what those words mean, only for her to kindly and calmly shoot back that she regularly reads psychology journals and her uncle previously ''published'' a psychology journal (not to mention she works at a grief counseling center).
132	-->'''Blanche:''' I'm sorry, but I refuse to believe you've ever read a scientific journal.\
133	'''Rose:''' ''(cheerily)'' Believe whatever you want, see if I care. [[PrecisionFStrike Hypersexual bitch.]]
134	* The episode "The Case of the Libertine Belle" has the ladies all go to a Murder Mystery Weekend at a hotel thanks to Blanche setting it up as a museum activity in hopes of impressing the museum's Director of Acquisitions and land the job as his assistant, with Dorothy in particular being thrilled at going. Upon the murder mystery being set up, Dorothy demonstrates what a keen amateur sleuth she is when she solves it in minutes. But the awesomeness comes when Blanche's boss is found stabbed in her room, signaling her as a murderer and about to be arrested; Dorothy comes through big-time when she recalls certain details on things she both saw and heard, and deduces who the real murderer is, proving Blanche's innocence. Blanche's boss is actually alive, the whole thing being a second murder mystery, so nobody was hurt, but had the situation been real, Dorothy would have been the reason the real murderer would face justice and her actions would've saved Blanche from being falsely accused and arrested.
135	* In "Where's Charlie?", Sophia pretends to channel Rose's late husband Charlie for cheap laughs and a few quick bucks, but it nearly results in Rose's relationship with her boyfriend Miles being ruined. When Dorothy finds out what her mother has been doing, [[EveryoneHasStandards she doesn't find it funny at all]]. She [[CallingTheOldManOut calls out Sophia]] for her behavior, and intimidates her into telling Rose the truth.
136	-->'''Dorothy:''' You're a ''horrible'' little person.\
137	'''Sophia:''' Come on, like you never pretended to be possessed by somebody's dead husband for a couple of laughs.\
138	'''Dorothy:''' You know, you have really ruined Rose's relationship with Miles.\
139	'''Sophia:''' If you could have seen her face when I talked like Charlie. I almost wet myself! (''laughs'')\
140	'''Dorothy:''' Listen, you vindictive little sea monkey… you are going to tell Rose the truth.\
141	'''Sophia:''' Or?\
142	'''Dorothy:''' Remember [[BleakAbyssRetirementHome Shady Pines]]?\
143	'''Sophia:''' Yeah, it wasn't so bad.\
144	'''Dorothy:''' I hear they sold it to some Germans.\
145	'''Sophia:''' (''[[OhCrap quickly gets up from the table and exits the kitchen]]'') Rose? Rose, sweetheart? Rose?
146	* Rose calling everyone out for arguing about Dorothy's son marrying a much older black woman.
147	-->'''Rose:''' Stop it, all of you! What difference does it make if Lorraine's a little long in the tooth and Michael's a skinny white boy? Can't you see they love each other? We should be celebrating, not arguing whether or not it's right!
148	* In "Love Under the Big Top", a fisherman roughly manhandles Rose at a "Save the Dolphins" protest. Blanche, [[SouthernBelle of all people]], responds by punching him in the face. Do ''not'' mess with Blanche's friends.
149	* "Ebbtide's Revenge" revealed that Dorothy's sister-in-law Angela was probably the only person in their family who supported Phil's crossdressing. She not only brags about Phil's good taste, but she honored his final wishes to have him buried in a teddy he picked out himself and refuses to be cowed by Sophia's attitude problem. After all the unfortunate jokes the show made about Phil's habits, it goes to show he had a wife who stood by him and supported his passion.
150	** In the same episode, Rose gets one for drawing on her grief counseling experience to cut through Sophia's defenses and identify why she's been mad at Angela for decades, correctly intuiting that Sophia was ashamed of Phil's cross-dressing and blamed herself for what she considered a "problem". Rose then explains that Phil being different didn't make him any less of a person, and that Sophia shouldn't be upset for loving him.
151	** Dorothy gets a small one during Phil's eulogy, as she subtly [[CallingTheOldManOut shames Sophia]] and Angela for allowing their petty feud to cause a rift in the family that never fully healed.
152	* In the episode "Joust Between Friends", Blanche gets Dorothy a job at the museum she works at. Unfortunately, in one of Blanche's more intense ItsAllAboutMe moments, she gets very jealous and hostile toward Dorothy when the boss starts giving her more responsibilities and counting on her more than on Blanche. Things reach their head when their boss asks Dorothy to handle the preparations of an important banquet that Blanche wanted to work on; Dorothy refuses to show Blanche a set of papers about it, and an enraged Blanche quits. It turns out that the boss decided to make the banquet a tribute to all of Blanche's work, and Dorothy was only given the responsibility--and sworn to secrecy about it--because letting Blanche do it would ruin the surprise of her being the guest of honor. When Blanche comes into the house and insults Dorothy, Sophia is present, and for as much grief as she gives Dorothy, in this instance she goes into full MamaBear mode, getting genuinely furious and standing up for Dorothy by firmly and awesomely putting Blanche in her place:
153	-->'''Dorothy:''' Hi, Blanche.\
154	'''Blanche:''' Eat dirt and die, trash.\
155	'''Sophia:''' Just hold it right there, Blanche!\
156	'''Dorothy:''' Look, you stay out of this, Ma.\
157	'''Sophia:''' That banquet you're so mad about, they're throwing it in your honor!\
158	'''Blanche:''' What?\
159	'''Dorothy:''' Ma, I told you it was a secret.\
160	'''Sophia:''' [[ExactWords Your secret, not mine.]]\
161	'''Blanche:''' ''(shocked)'' Is this true?\
162	'''Dorothy:''' Yes, it is.\
163	'''Sophia:''' And now that you feel like the dirt you wanted my daughter to eat, I think I'll go into the kitchen and have a nice hard candy.
164	* In "Valentine's Day", the girls reminisce about various dates they've had in the past, including a Valentine's cruise they once planned to take with their steady boyfriends. While at the drugstore, Blanche suggests that they buy some condoms (itself an awesome moment, as it proves that she is an EthicalSlut who cares about safe sex), which eventually leads to a MegaphoneGag--the clerk does a price check on the condoms ''over the loudspeaker,'' explicitly pointing out the women buying them, and his coworker responds over the P.A. as well. As the crowd points and laughs at the girls, Blanche grabs the microphone and delivers an ''epic'' [[ShamingTheMob mob-shaming speech]] about how they're doing the right thing:
165	-->'''Blanche''': All right, just what in Hell are all of you staring at? Haven't you ever seen three vibrant, healthy, sexually active women before? Now, we are embarking on a little weekend cruise with some longtime gentlemen friends, and if we decide to be intimate, then we'll be prepared! We are ''not'' embarrassed, we're not uncomfortable, we are not humiliated. We're gonna walk out of here today with our heads held high, secure in the knowledge that what we have done is morally and socially responsible.

Context Awesome / TheGoldenGirls