FAT FAT FAT FAT FAT FAT!!
Directed by Mark K Samuels
Written by Cynthia Mort, Sid Youngers, & Eric Gilliland
Fights and Stuff is the 198th episode of Roseanne and the final episode of its 8th season.
After (barely) recovering from a heart attack, Dan is forced upon a strict diet by Roseanne. He tries cheating along the way, but Roseanne catches him. Afterwards, Dan ultimately rebels against his wife to fight for his right to eat foods that taste good again. This leads to a massive falling out between the two, as they viciously insult everything about each other, including their weight, their lack of decent income, differing parental styles, their children, their parents, throwing and destroying property along the way. It ends with the two wishing they had never married, and Roseanne storming out of the house, leaving Dan alone with the mess they created.
Tropes
- A House Divided: Roseanne and Dan start destroying things by tossing it onto the floor, throwing it at other things or flipping it over such as foods, tables, the television all because they couldn't agree on a diet routine for Dan.
- Control Freak: Dan accuses Roseanne of being this. Roseanne then lashes out Dan is simply Too Dumb to Live and cannot be trusted to maintain his health on his own with his binge-eating on sugary, sweet and salty foods.
- Diet Episode: For Dan, as karma for taking such poor care of his health and almost dying of a heart attack.
- Downer Ending: Roseanne and Dan's marriage comes to a record low. Their fight ends at Roseanne breaking the TV out of spite so that Dan can't watch anything, and she storms off proud of what she did.
- Everyone Has Standards: Played with: Even after everything that they opened up about during their fight, everything from Dan feeling their kids are failures to Roseanne pointing out how pathetic Dan is for not bothering to have any kind of relationship with his family, Dan cuts himself off before he can say he wished he never got married to Roseanne. The problem is that it's implied Roseanne knew he was going to say that, and shares the same feeling:Dan: Boy, I'll tell you, I wish I had never m- (stops)Roseanne: What? Say it.Dan: Nothin'...Roseanne: ...well, that makes two of us.
- For Want Of A Nail: Roseanne and Dan's fight all stems from Dan trying to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
- Going Cold Turkey: Dan is forced to give up every foods that he liked such as candies and meats.Dan: I want my food back, you know, real food: dead animals, brightly colored snacks, things on sticks.
- Hypocrite: Dan calls out Roseanne is fat too when she calls him fat.Dan: Well if that ain't the big fat pot calling the kennel black!
- Jerkass Ball: Roseanne pulls one by destroying the TV just to spite Dan and telling Dan to die.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed:
- Roseanne compares Dan to celebrities who have health problems like he does such as "Jerry Garcia without the music".
- When Roseanne defends how their kids turned out after Dan writes them off as failures, Dan snaps back that they're "not exactly the Kennedy kids". Roseanne's response?Roseanne: No, they're not, but their dad sure drinks like Uncle Teddy!
- Pre-emptive Declaration: After Dan calls Roseanne controlling, Roseanne (after grabbing a Godzilla toy) states all she does is try and get Dan to anything to "get up off of [his] ass and stop staring at that damned TV", before smashing said TV with said toy.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Dan and Roseanne hurl these at each other.
- Rule of Symbolism:
- Roseanne destroys Dan's TV with a Godzilla toy—fittingly, Godzilla represents destruction.
- The Grand Finale also reveals that the entire fight is this, as it represents Roseanne venting her unresolved anger after Dan dies of a heart attack—she's furious with him and herself for letting his health get so bad and not doing anything to stop it.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The note the episode ends on: Roseanne and Dan's fight ends with her completely giving up on him, and leaving to go stay at Jackie's.Roseanne: You can die if you want to, Dan, but you're gonna have to do it alone because I'm not gonna sit here and watch you. I'll be at Jackie's.
- Where Did We Go Wrong?: Dan bluntly tells Roseanne he thinks their kids are failures, and attributes part of this to Roseanne being My Beloved Smother in how she overruled him on everything they did with Becky, Darlene and D.J..
- You Are Fat: Roseanne tried strictly but calmly forcing Dan to diet, but he retaliates and makes himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Roseanne calls him fat. Dan calls her fat. They both scream "FAT FAT FAT!!!" at each other.
