Married… With Children Character Review: Marcy D’Arcy

The schedule for the Character Review posts will be changing to Friday (or Saturday at the latest from now on).

*Warning: This post contains spoilers about the characters from the television show Married… With Children. Read at your own risk if you have not watched the show. There is something to be said about a well-written, human character. They leap off the page and speak to us as if they were right in front of us, as flesh and blood human beings, instead of fictional creations.

When we are newlyweds, it appears that nothing will spoil the bubble of perfection that we are in. But life has a way of interfering and reminding us that imperfection is just around the corner. When the audience first meets Marcy Rhoades (Amanda Bearse), she and her husband Steve (David Garrison) are newlyweds and the image of suburban perfection. Then they meet their new neighbors: Al and Peg Bundy (Ed O’Neill and Katey Sagal).

Marcy becomes besties with Peg, but she clashes with Al because she believes that he is a misogynistic pig. The insults she hurls at him come back at her tenfold. While this is happening, Steve comes under Al’s spell. This lasts until Marcy and Steve go their separate ways. Her new husband, Jefferson D’Arcy (Ted McGinley) is younger, very into himself, and not above using his wife for her paycheck. As her first husband did, Jefferson sinks to a new low when he is around Al.

To sum it up: As much as we may wish and yearn for perfection, the reality is that it will never happen. That means that we have to accept reality, warts and all. In her unique way, Marcy both accepts this reality and fights against it. It is that push and pull that makes her stand out in this satire of the family sitcom.

Which is why she is a memorable character.

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