I thought it changed the complexity of their relationship. it wasn't just an old married couple that bickered all the time. The fact that at one point they came close to ending their marriage makes the current relationship kind of unappealing.
shareEh, that never really bothered me. I like to think that Frank and Marie got more comfortable with each other the older they got, and that they eventually came to terms with the fact that they're the only two people in the world who can stand each other.
My only problem with the idea of Frank and Marie nearly divorcing was how, later in the series, Marie constantly gave Lois and Warren grief about their divorce (that's probably just a continuity error, though).
Their near divorce never bothered me, either. But I think rather than a continuity issue, it was Marie's hypocrisy. She often criticizes other people for the same things she does. Just a couple examples:
- "Real cooks don't need recipes." Yet she has the hat box full of recipes.
- She often makes remarks about Deb parking the kids in front of the television, yet in that flashback to almost divorce episode, her boys are glued to the television at suppertime.
The biggest one "Good Girl". She gave heaps to Debra for not being a virgin when she met Ray and sang the virtues of Amy, because she was a "good girl". Only that Frank bursts out that he and Marie had to get married because Robert was on the way.
SkiesAreBlue
I think the good question would have been if they would have been better off if they had did, cause you talking about the episode where Ray throws them a 40 anniversary part for them, and finds out they his parents were separated for a while, while he had a broken arm, that Robert did know but Ray was just ever too busy to pay attention.
shareIt sort of explains how they tolerate each other now, since they have had the experience of being apart for a year.
They know what it is like apart, so they deal with each other's annoyances because together is better.
Gee Woodle, Space Kadoodle!