The Golden Girls (TV Series) Second Motherhood (1986) User Reviews

Second Motherhood (#1.19)

[ComedyFan2010 · 7/10 · 10 January 2014]

Blanche is dating a wealthy guy Richard who proposed to her. but then she finds out that he has small children and doesn't know if she can be a mother again. Besides that he doesn't seem to have much time to spend with them. Dorothy and Rose are installing a new toilet and the plumber doesn't think they can do it because they are women.

A pretty interesting storyline for Blanche. Loved the guy's jet and yes, I can totally understand why she didn't want to be mother again, she should enjoy her life.

Really liked the toilet story. Sophie cracked me up with her comment on being happy at having a toilet in the living room as well as the oil comment at the end. And I am glad they showed that women can do it, good message in the 80's.

Romance for Blanche.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 18 November 2022]

Blanche falls for a wealthy widower, Richard, a father of two who entertains her on board his private jet.

Quite a lovely episode I thought, another cracker from this first series, again it's one which shows a degree of variety, it was funny, it was sweet, it was so nice to see Blanche centre stage, she hasn't been the main focus too many times, and as always she was magnificent.

Favourite scenes had to be between Blanche and Richard, the scene with the chair was very funny, the best buy was when she failed to make her exit.

The scenes with the plumber were hilarious, and even though he tried to set women's lib back a hundred years, he was still amusing. He put the final nail in his own coffin when he explained that it was man's work installing a toilet.

It won't be long before I crack on with Series 2, Series 1 has been a joy.

8/10.

"Plumber!" "May I see some identification?"

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 22 January 2020]

So says Dorothy in one of the funniest brief exchanges of dialog in "Golden Girls" history. But that line is quickly diminished by Sophia's entrance upon discovering that there is a toilet in front of the television set, and the continued use of bathroom humor adds a lightness to an episode dealing with the misogynistic claim by plumber Alan Blumenfeld that women do not make good plumbers. This of course sets Dorothy off with her assertion that women can do more than just clean toilets. Of course, they can't even move it from where lazy Lou (Blumfeld) spitefully left it, but somehow they will manage. In the meantime, Blanche finds herself involved with the extremely wealthy Kevin McCarthy, an older widower with two young children. When he proposes, Blanche is concerned that he only wants a mother for his children and she must decide between marrying a rich man who won't have time for her or his children and continuing her upper middle class existence.

While it is obvious that even Rose and Dorothy together couldn't move the toilet to the bathroom themselves (get a dolly, girls!), it's an obnoxious piece of writing that has Lou insisting that they play moving men. Having already slammed the door in one plumber's face, Dorothy would certainly have made a complaint to the better business bureau of Lou's horrible customer service and not allow Lou back in under any circumstances. Even no-nonsense Sophia, who doesn't put up with any kind of disrespect, wouldn't allow that, but the writers here overlook that. The huge bathroom that the girls (other than Blanche who has her own private bathroom) use may be glamorous, but it's far too large for the one story house and seems out of place. At least Lou gets one funny line in regards to Siamese twins living there with two toilets side by side. The episode shows that when women have the drive, they can get anything done, and that Blanche at least has some scruples when it comes to the men she intends to marry.

Doesn't Ring True for Blanche

[trosevear · 3/10 · 15 October 2022]

I know this is a first season episode, but of all the men Blanche dates and dumps, this is the least likely of them all by far. This is exactly the kind of man shallow Blanche would be with. No way would she say no to a man who has the kind of money to have his own airplane. All the talk of Blanche saying being a mother was wonderful at the time, but not wanting to be a mother again doesn't ring true with the countless subsequent episodes where it's made very clear that she never really wanted to be a mother to the point where none of her adult kids want much to do with her. And let's face it, with the kind of money this guy Richard has, his kids would be raised by nannies or shipped off to boarding school. He doesn't need Blanche to raise them. And let's also face it that someone like this guy would probably want a woman half of Blanche's age. Just not a very believable story overall.

The B story with the toilet, however, is almost flawless with some of the greatest and most memorable lines of the entire series.