Roseanne saw two more fan-favorite characters return during the revival series newest episode.
As Roseanne (Barr) found herself afraid to approach her new Muslim next door neighbors, the series welcomed back Dan’s best friend Chuckie (James Pickens Jr.) and his wife Anne-Marie Mitchell (Adilah Barnes).
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Anne-Marie is there to tell Roseanne to stop sticking to stereotypes when it comes to her neighbors.
“What proof do you have Roseanne?” Anne-Marie says of Roseanne’s idea her new neighbors are terrorists.
“Anytime something bad happens it was somebody who lives next door to somebody.”
“You figured it out, terrorists are always neighbors,” Jackie says. “All we have to do is arrest everybody.”
“I’m telling you, this is what people from Iraq and Talibakistan do, they hide in neighborhoods like Lanford. Don’t you watch the news?” Roseanne says.
“You don’t mean the news, you mean Fox News,” Jackie says. “And there is no Taliba… oh, whatever. Jump in here Anne-Marie.”
“Oh, because I’m Black I’m the expert on racism?”
Oh jeez, I’m sorry. I’m willing to learn from my mistakes.”
“Well in that case if you give me the 50 percent off for the cream cheese we’ll call it even,” Anne-Marie says as the couponing club continues.
In the other room, Chuck and Dan are preparing their pitch for a new job their going for. Later, when the pair have lunch with the prospective client at the Mexican restaurant where Becky works, they find out the bad news someone else outbid their offer for the work.
“Beat my bid? They must be going non-union,” Dan says before he realizes what’s going on. “Oh Al, you’re not hiring illegals?”
“Uh, Dan,” Chuck says. “Please say undocumented workers until our tamales get out here.”
Chuck and Anne Marie were key supporting characters during Roseanne’s original run. Chuckie is one of Dan’s poker playing buddies and also works with him at his garage. Chuckie played a big part in Roseanne’s pivotal episode “White Men Can’t Kiss” in season 7.
Dan confronts his own racial biases after D.J. (Michael Fishman) refuses to kiss a black castmate for a high school play. He asks Chuck for his opinion on the subject.
Chuck questions his friends by asking, “Why did you ask me, because I was Black?”, when Dan, embarrassed, responds, “Well, uh Yes…” Chuck then responds “So, if I say it’s O.K., all other Black people must think it’s O.K.?”
The conversation encourages Dan to confront D.J. about the situation, who then agrees to kiss the girl in the play. The kiss proved to be a pivotal moment for the Conner family, as the revival revealed that D.J. wound up marrying Geena and the couple had a girl named Mary (Jayden Rey).
Anne-Marie also has a long history with the Conners, being friends with Roseanne and Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) since high school. The two reconnected after Becky was suspended from high school for flipping the bird in a school photo.
The women usually hang out at Roseanne’s and gossip about the people around them. Tonight the conversation revolved around Roseanne’s new neighbors.
No details have surfaced as to how many episode Pickens Jr. and Barnes will be in for the revival, but they can always come back when it returns for season two.
Roseanne airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
