‘The Conners’ Addresses Political Unrest in New Episode

The Conners got political in its latest episode, which saw Jackie helping Mark out with a homework assignment.

At the beginning of the new installment, Mark (Ames McNamara) announces he’s working on a project about the election where he will poll strangers about the midterm elections.

“We’re learning about democracy,” Mark says.

“Oh, it’s a class on ancient history, eh?” Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) says, who has previously been established on the show as a liberal.

He tries to get his mother, Darlene (Sara Gilbert) to go with him to the mall for his polling but she says she has to work. Jackie, however, volunteers with no problem to help him.

“I’d love to help,” Jackie says. “I think it’s great that you are hungry to learn about how democracy is supposed to work. Cause it’s up to you young people… to snatch it back from special interests and breathe new life to this noble experiment that we call America.”

At the mall, Jackie explains to Mark he has to remain impartial while asking the questions to have an effective poll, though she has most of the trouble with that concept.

Mark asks a woman if she is a registered Republican or Democrat and Jackie scares her when she screams “Blue Wave 2020!”

“Sorry, I just felt a rush of hope and it got away from me,” Jackie admits after Mark asks her to chill out.

The next person Mark asks is a registered Republican, holding a large pretzel. He asks the man some questions, and he admits he did not vote for higher property taxes for funding of the arts.

Jackie interrupts with facts that arts reduce crimes in some communities.

“Nice bait, but I’m not taking it. I work hard to pay my property taxes, and there are a lot more important things to spend money on than the city spending my taxes on a giant mural of a crying polar bear underneath a beach umbrella,” he says.

“So, you have never wasted money, you and your giant pretzel,” Jackie says, before the man and her get into a screaming match, referencing Obamacare, Benghazi, the Wall and Fake news.

Mark confronts Jackie for messing up the poll and she says she has to work better, but when a man with a “Make America Great Again” walks by she loses it again.

As the family settles in for church, Jackie wonders when they’ll go back out to poll more people. Mark says that he changed his project and wrote a paper on the subject.

“It’s about how people don’t listen. They just yell at each other, and if we don’t stop listening and being nicer, we’ll never get along,” Mark says.

“I know. Those people at the mall were complete jerks,” Jackie says, unaware she was the inspiration.

The Conners airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.