[bluesy harmonica music]
Oh, nice.
We finally got a chef.
I didn't know what you liked, so we have OJ with pulp,
without pulp, and just to be safe, some pulp.
How considerate is Tyler?
He got here first thing this morning to make us breakfast
and adorably overthink our juice choices.
It was also considerate last night
when he made us dinner in the same clothes
as the night before.
And now he's wearing slipper socks.
He's living here, Becky.
Look, we left the door wide open,
and all we did was study, I swear.
Oh, way to buckle under pressure, Sully.
Listen, Becky--
No, you listen.
I'm a grown woman, and I pay rent.
Even a poor, middle-aged college student
is entitled to some happiness.
You are so controlling and bitter.
I'm fine with it.
Nothing in our history could have
prepared me for that response.
Wow, man in uniform cooking for us?
All right.
Ooh, some pulp, hey.
I usually have to mix my own.
Don't faint, but Darlene is OK with Tyler staying over.
Hey, I've done it.
We took in David when he was a stray.
But if you want to carry on the Conner tradition,
you've got to have a couple of kids with them
and live in abject poverty.
OK, I'll quit my job and start
working on that poverty thing.
Then I'm just with a guy wearing slipper socks
and making eggs.
I am not going back to my 30s.
Hey, are you ready for an early 50th birthday present?
Oh. Not really.
New vitamins for 50-plus.
They are gummies but not so sticky
they'll pull your bridge out.
You really shouldn't have, and I mean it.
Hey, are you OK with your birthday?
Because I've been trying to talk to you
about it the last two weeks,
and you've been shutting me down.
I'm not shutting you down.
You just keep bringing it up, and I just
keep not talking about it.
But we talk about everything.
Why can't you talk about this?
Honestly, I don't know.
I don't feel like it?
Well, the fact that you don't want to talk about it
lets me know that you should be talking about it.
Can we please just let it go?
OK, look, if you don't want to talk to me,
how about you talk to one of your guy friends?
[scoffs] My guy friends are your dad.
Hey, Tyler's around your age.
Why don't you talk to him?
[scoffs] He's our cook.
Stop resisting.
Go talk to our manservant about your senior struggles.
Oh my God, that sounds awful.
Do I have to?
Yes.
And take your old man vitamins so you don't forget what
you're talking to him about.
[bluesy rock music]
♪ ♪
The Conners is recorded in front
of a live studio audience.
So, uh, when you have to wear that getup,
you feel like it's always Halloween?
I suppose it could be a costume if it wasn't my job.
So this is the first time we've been alone.
Yeah.
Yep.
Yeah, it is.
So what's going on?
Well, my wife thinks I need a male friend.
That's funny.
My mom says the same thing about me.
It's silly, right?
Yeah. We're grown men.
So how do we do it?
What? Be friends?
Yeah.
I could help you move some furniture or something.
When I see guys on TV, sometimes they're bowling.
I'm not a great bowler.
I've seen guys on TV at a bar drinking beers.
We could do that.
But just us?
No. No.
No, I would call Dan and Neville, you know,
just in case we can't keep up this rapid-fire back and forth
we've been crushing.
Well, OK, it's a date.
It's a guy date.
Eh.
A man hang.
Oh, let's stop naming it.
Got it.
Uh, after you.
Oh, no, that's OK.
I'll give you a minute, you know,
so it's not like this in the other room too.
♪ ♪
Can you believe how hard it is getting
the machine at mom's house?
And now Tyler's going to be there,
so it's going to be worse.
It could drive a guy to drink.
Drive a guy to drink.
Phrases from the '40s.
What do I win?
I was just trying to find a smooth segue
into asking you to buy alcohol for me and my friends?
You don't have a fake ID?
I bought one, but it's not going to work.
It says I'm Dr. Lester Wong.
Didn't you look at it first?
No, they charge you an extra 100 bucks to look,
and I'm not making Dr. Lester Wong kind of money.
OK, here's the deal.
I'll bring a bunch of booze down to your dorm room,
and when your friends are drunk,
you convince them to let me give them tattoos while I
still work at the parlor.
Fine.
But they're all computer science nerds,
so get ready to write, "I'm saving
myself for Princess Leia" on a lot of skinny, pale arms.
♪ ♪
[indistinct chatter]
What is going on with this place tonight?
It's like a zoo in here.
I don't know.
I haven't been in here forever, because I've
been so busy at the clinic.
You offer 5 bucks off on spaying and neutering,
and you are up to your elbows in tubes and testicles.
Sorry.
Hey, did you find out why it's so crowded tonight?
I found out why it's so crowded tonight.
It's Help Our Yelp night.
You give the bar a five-star review, you get a free beer.
The bartender called me an asswipe.
I wrote, "The staff is attentive and professional."
Well, here's to Ben for getting us all together.
Oh, well, hey, actually, you guys should thank Darlene,
because she thinks I need to talk
to you guys about something, but I can't hear a damn thing.
Talk-- talk to us about what?
It's kind of personal.
Oh, just say it.
We're not going to tell anybody.
Calamari's delicious!
All right, this is ridiculous.
I have my own little place where I hang out.
I guess we could go there, but it has to stay a secret.
Tell me where it is.
All my wives said I'm great at keeping secrets.
You never told us you had a secret spot, you dirty dog.
Where is it?
You'll see.
No, but seriously, you got to promise not
to tell any of our partners.
Oh, yeah.
And hey, that goes double for you, Tyler.
Why me?
Because you're in a new relationship,
so that makes you the weak link.
You think you're in "Love Actually,"
but you're only one argument away from "The Shining."
All right, losers, I got the magic stuff that'll make you
feel better about yourselves.
Thank you so much.
I'll see you this weekend back at the house?
Cool.
Wait, what are we supposed to mix the margaritas in?
Aren't you all, like, future scientists of America?
Actually, we're not scientists--
Stop, I'm so bored.
You just mix it in your mouth.
It's called an upside-down margarita.
How do we do that?
Do we have to take our Invisaligns out?
Just lay down on the bed.
I'm sorry.
I promise, after you do this, you can go.
It's OK.
I've never been in a college dorm before.
It'll be fun observing you and all your friends wasted
in your natural habitat.
All right, now get up, shake your head, and swallow.
That felt amazing.
I'm so drunk.
All right. Everybody line up.
Actually, I think we can take over from here.
Come on.
Let your hot sister stay, Dr. Wong.
I would, but she has a restaurant to run.
Those patty melts don't melt themselves.
Relax, dude. It's fine.
All right, now, everybody, tilt your head back.
It's time to water the nerd crops.
OK, never have I ever, um,
denied that I was related to this family.
Hmm.
Becky, this isn't fair.
You're not even getting drunk.
No.
I'm just burning a sober hole in my esophagus.
OK.
Never have I ever worn Louise's shoes to make
fun of the way she dances.
I thought I was alone.
[laughs] Why did we have to wait
for the guys to have guys' night before we
started having girls' night?
I don't know, but the last two weeks have been so great.
Ben's been coming home way more relaxed,
which is so good for him.
And then I get to throw it in his face
that I was right, which is so good for me.
OK.
So when we're done with this, why don't we surprise the guys
and go down to the Lobo?
Mm.
Hey, what about girls' night?
Never have I ever enjoyed a girls' night.
This is odd.
I just got a text from Ben saying that they're bowling.
But aren't they supposed to be at the Lobo?
Becky, didn't Tyler send you a picture earlier?
Yeah, he did.
Doesn't look like the Lobo.
Well, maybe it's the bathroom?
Well, maybe they took the picture
like that because they're trying to hide where they are.
Oh.
Well, it just got interesting, because Ben turned off
his location sharing.
Neville did too.
So did Tyler.
So men hiding their location from their partners?
They're at a strip club.
Tyler is not a strip club guy.
He lives with his mom.
He's always on the road.
Oh my God, he is a strip club guy.
You guys do what you want, but I am going to confront Ben.
All I require in a relationship is a little honesty.
I mean, if I can't trust Ben to keep his location
sharing on so that I can track him like an animal,
what do we have?
[bluesy harmonica music]
[bluesy guitar music]
You know, you've been here like ten nights in a row.
Don't you have anything else to do?
Yes, I do.
I just have to take this call, and then I'll go.
Hello?
Mark Healy?
Yes, he's right here.
It's for you.
It's someone named Señor Weed.
He says breathe in and let the dork out.
Hello?
Oh, oh, lo siento, señor.
Oh, I see.
You're looking for someone who's pathetic and sad,
because she doesn't have her own life?
Oh, do you want to take this now or call him back
from literally anywhere else?
What's your problem?
I'm just having fun hanging out with your friends
Derek and what's his face.
Hey, we have nicknames for each other now.
I'm going to call you mine.
You do that and the police are going
to be calling you missing.
You really need to go.
I don't want to hurt your feelings,
but these are my friends.
And they respect me too much to say that they
don't want you around.
Hey, Mark, sorry, buddy.
The toilet's clogged.
We need you to turn into super janitor man.
Harris, you can play for Mark until he gets back.
I don't think your friends want me to leave.
It doesn't matter.
I do.
This is my dorm room.
You don't even go here.
You don't belong here.
Thanks for making me feel so welcome.
Great.
You made your sister leave.
I was this close.
Oh, don't worry.
You're clearly on her radar, what's his face.
[bluesy harmonica music]
♪ ♪
Thanks so much for sharing this place with us, man.
You know, once you get used to the intense smell,
it is incredibly relaxing.
The power of animals.
That's why I "work late" two nights a week.
How come you never told Jackie?
Because then she'd want to come,
and we'd be sitting here.
And it'd be quiet and relaxed.
And then she'd want to know what I was thinking.
Oh, God.
Yeah.
She'd want to talk about life and feelings,
and are my night terrors about her?
Hmm.
Hey, Dan, any more texts from Louise?
No.
That picture with all our faces smashed together
did the trick.
Who was wearing the sandalwood?
That was kind of nice.
It was me.
You know, I was going to tell you guys
about what was bugging me the first time we came here.
But these last two weeks have been so great,
I haven't really felt the need to.
No one's been asking me, what's wrong?
What's bothering me?
[sighs]
But truth is, I have been feeling a little anxious
about turning 50, right?
But Darlene just won't let it go.
Yeah, 50's a tough one.
- Right? - Yeah.
But I wasn't ready to talk about it.
And you know who's just fine with that?
This young fella right here.
Can I tell Francis he's a good kitty?
Well, is Francis being a good kitty?
Yes.
Then yes, you can.
Good kitty.
[bluesy harmonica music]
We need to talk.
Oh, damn, it's only you.
From you, that's like a hug.
I'm sorry.
I'm kind of wound up.
Becky and I are waiting to ambush our men.
But actually, I do need to talk to you also.
Why are you hanging around Mark's dorm room?
Can't believe he tattled on me to Mommy.
I go because it's fun.
I like playing video games and drinking beer.
And my friends are all working and having babies.
And the only people you can find
to hang out with are a bunch of ramen-eating virgins?
Mark's friends are in the college party bubble.
And they won't be having babies anytime soon,
unless they can build a robot with a uterus
to have sex with them.
But I think the robot could do better.
Look, Harris, I know you're better than this.
You could go to a bar and have the exact same experience.
So why a college dorm?
I just want to see what I missed out on, OK?
I'm about to jump into the Lunch Box with both feet.
And once I do, I'm locked into adult life.
I just want to make sure I'm not
making a commitment too early.
What do you think?
Do you think I'm making the right choice?
Well, you've seen my life.
I have no idea.
It's not like I was 47 and suddenly
realized I was meant to scoop slop to a bunch of Gen Zers.
Look, just steer clear of your brother's dorm room, OK?
He's already embarrassed that I'm a lunch lady
and he's a janitor.
He does not need his older sister ripping bowls
and passing out in his room.
Well, I wouldn't feel too bad for him.
In his spare time, he's a 32-year-old Asian podiatrist.
The car just pulled up. They're here.
Do not peek out that window, and don't you dare give
Tyler a hug when he comes in.
We need to break them.
Where the hell have you been?
The Lobo.
Of course you were.
Darlene had me thinking the worst.
No. Leave it.
Look, we're not upset that you went to a strip club.
We're upset that you lied.
What?
We didn't go to a strip club.
Look, we can't tell you, but I promise you,
you wouldn't mind.
We're not talking to you.
It's OK, honey.
Tell us where the bad men took you.
Yeah, tell us, honey.
Oh, don't do it, man.
Hold on.
We were at Neville's clinic hanging with the sick animals.
Really?
Yeah.
Well, there's something about a strip club
that's less disturbing than that.
Look, it's Neville's secret.
Nights where he just sits quietly,
comforts the sick animals, and just has time to think.
And it is really nice.
But you still lied.
Darlene's right.
And we're going to punish you by taking a shower together.
You can't be mad.
I did what you asked.
I went and hung out with the guys.
No, that's not what I asked.
I asked you to open up and share all of your fears
about turning 50 and processing those feelings
into a healthier and more accepting
outlook and attitude.
Yeah.
It doesn't work for me like that.
But all the quiet time with the guys and a cute little goat
named Fernando really helped.
And look, you wanted me to feel better, I feel better.
Isn't that the point?
No.
You were supposed to feel better my way.
Hey, you grew up in a big, boisterous family,
where everyone just spewed out what
they were feeling at each other as they were feeling it.
Well, my mom always said, if you hold it in,
you get kidney stones.
And my dad, well, he held it in, and he got kidney stones.
So my reasoning is backed by science.
I can't do it that way.
My parents weren't available.
I spent most of my time up in my room
with my interior monologue just trying to figure
things out in my own time.
No, I get that.
We were too poor for me to have an interior monologue.
Becky and I had to share one.
Look, all I really care about is that you're OK
and that turning 50 isn't going to plunge you into some hole
that I can't pull you out of.
I'm good, OK?
I'm getting a handle on it.
I also kind of have to get used to the idea
that my husband would rather talk to some goat
than his own wife.
Well, I didn't talk.
I sang to it.
And it's not just any goat.
That's demeaning.
But you know what?
None of this would have ever happened
if you hadn't suggested that I go and spend
some time with Tyler.
Well, I like where this is going.
Mm.
Well, I hope you like where it's been, because I'm
not going any further.
You know, it does sound kind of peaceful and nice,
and I could use some time to think about things.
Maybe we could all go together.
It really does bug you when I've got my own thing,
doesn't it?
It really does.
[bluesy harmonica music]
♪ ♪
Wow.
Are you sure we won't get into trouble for this?
I got two glasses of chardonnay into Neville.
He's out till tomorrow.
OK.
So from what I got out of Ben, here's how it works.
No one says anything.
We just sit here with the animals,
and we get clarity on things that are bothering us.
There's Australian male strippers
at Chaps in Chaps tonight.
[child giggles]