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26 Years Later, ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’s Most Controversial Episode Deserves a Second Look
Ray Barone is a jerk. That’s not a criticism of Everybody Loves Raymond or how Ray Romano plays the character. The show is hilarious, and Romano is a gifted performer, but Ray Barone is written to be a dolt of a selfish husband who messes up week after week, angering his wife, Debra (Patricia Heaton), and making viewers laugh. He gets away with it, both with his family and us, because he tries to be better, even if he falls short.
Sometimes, Everybody Loves Raymond will switch things up and make Debra the one in the wrong, yet even then, rather than trying to understand, Ray often thinks only of himself or seeks to win. Such is the case with one of the sitcom’s funniest and most controversial episodes, “Bad Moon Rising”. In it, Ray is terrified of Debra’s PMS mood swings. Rewatching the episode so many years after its Season 4 debut in 2000 is a strange experience. The laughs are still there, and so is a level of uncomfortability that wouldn’t work today.
Patricia Heaton Won an Emmy for ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’s “Bad Moon Rising”
“Bad Moon Rising” centers on Deb is the throes of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Women being on their periods have often been used as a source of drama or even comedy in movies and TV. You’ve seen the examples, where a woman is reduced to a raging, terrifying monster one week a month. “Bad Moon Rising” is no different, yet what can’t be debated is how masterfully talented Patricia Heaton is. She gives it her all, resulting in an Emmy win for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
The episode begins with Ray telling his friends, dad, Frank (Peter Boyle), and brother, Robert (Brad Garrett), to be quiet because Deb’s “not feeling good hormonally.” The man looks half scared to death, and we quickly see why. When she comes downstairs, Deb gives him crap for the messes he makes. Ray blames it all on “mood swings.” In the men’s minds, the solution is easy: give her medication. Later, Ray annoys Deb by surprising her with takeout for dinner when she’s already started cooking. Instead of Ray apologizing, it’s Deb who does. Ray, in his own way, tries to help by showing his wife the bottle of PMS pills he bought. It’s an insensitive move, one that’s even his adoring mother can’t accept when she quickly slaps Ray for acting like his father.
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Because Ray is so good at making things worse, when Deb goes out for a night away with Amy (Monica Horan), she comes back to Ray, accusing Debra of using her “lady’s days” to yell at him. At his wits’ end, he plays secret tapes he made of Debra’s mood swings to prove his point. This only causes Deb to cry and lash out at the man who’d rather tape record her than try to help make her life better. Having had enough, she rages with examples of all the stupid things Ray has done over the years. Ray falls to the ground and ends up backed into a corner, scared and shouting that he doesn’t know what to do.
Debra Barone Now Looks Like a Weakly Written Stereotype of a Struggling Woman
In 2000, it may have been funny to watch this bickering couple, and now it still can be if you’re familiar with Everybody Loves Raymond. The audience knows this is a lighthearted series and everything will be okay. But if you’re a new viewer, this is the last episode to start with. Take out the studio laughter, and it’s actually a pretty dark drama. It’s also one that falls short with Debra despite how talented Patricia Heaton is. It settles on low-hanging fruit, sticking to stereotypes. “Bad Moon Rising” plays this part for laughs when Amy calls. After a short talk, Deb is now in a good mood, her rage completely forgotten.
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Then, once more, it’s Deb who apologizes for her attitude. She doesn’t mean to treat Ray this way. It’s like she’s saying PMS means she can’t help it. In this world, every woman on their period gets mood swings, and it can’t be controlled. The episode title (written by two men, Romano and Phil Rosenthal) says it all: a woman with PMS is like a werewolf. Now, a sitcom with 30 minutes to work with can’t get into the intricacies of a woman’s feelings when her body is going through so much. That’s not what an audience is tuning in for. In 2000, the episode was progressive for even taking a look at women’s issues. Still, today, it’s not enough simply to have it be a plot point. Deb Barone is too smart and three-dimensional a character to be reduced to a trope.
Ray Barone’s Mistakes Keep “Bad Moon Rising” Watchable
What keeps “Bad Moon Rising” from going off the rails and being completely offensive is that it’s not making Deb the bad guy because they make Ray’s insensitivity worse. This is shown both through Ray’s actions and Deb’s attempts at communication. His wife is spot on when she tells him he’s insensitive. Those aren’t the words of a mood swing. It’s the truth.
Romano and Rosenthal wisely acknowledge that Ray is part of the problem, which is a great start. The failure is in limiting Deb to one note. Even when Deb tells Ray she loves him, she has to cry uncontrollably. At the end of “Bad Moon Rising,” Deb is calmly asking Ray to be better. He can’t hear her, though. Instead, he offers his wife pills, and the writing requires her to knock them out of his hand rather than simply saying no. It’s not about Ray growing or understanding that he has to be better. It only reinforces the generalization of PMS and tells men they’ll never understand. They just have to get through it.