After the negative reception season 9 had received, this episode undid all the plot progressions since the Conners winning the lottery by claiming it was all a fictionalization.
This polarized many critics, and it remains one of the most controversial finales of all time, even after the revival season which effectively reversed all of the ill-received aspects.
The beginning of season nine saw the Conners win the lottery, which changed the dynamic of the show by increasing their socio-economic level.
This finale "ripped out the rug from under viewers" by showing that the entire plot of the ninth season was in fact a dream that Roseanne Conner had concocted in her new career as a writer.
[3] The Independent thought that the "middling" finale did not do justice to the show, writing "This was less a farewell than a Viking funeral, and it was worth trying to remember, even as you stared in slack-jawed astonishment at the burning boats, how much the series had deserved a good send-off.