There's been a lot of takes on the Darlene storyline we were introduced to last week, in which – at the advice of a psychic, no less — Darlene begins to warm to the idea of religion.

The people crying character assassination are off base, IMO. Yes, Darlene is an established atheist and has been since the original series, but she's also been through so much over the past few years... her and David divorced, she had to move back in with her parents, she lost her writing job, Roseanne died, she's going through a break-up and there's the added stress of moving up in her career and the newfound panic attacks.

...that's.... a lot of shit for a middle aged woman to go through. She's depressed and is looking for answers, so to me it's not a major leap of logic.

That said, her motivation for going down this road is utterly ridiculous. This is likely going to be a season long arch, and it's all because a psychic recommends it in a throwaway scene?!?

To me that's the problem.

When this show hits, it hits hard. But when it misses, it's like it doesn't even come close. I really liked the second half of the last season, and was hoping that like with Roseanne, the series would hit its stride with S4. To say I'm disappointed would be a total understatement.