Stand-up comedian Leanne Morgan was really put on the map when her comedy special was released on  Netflix, giving audiences humor that is as comforting and down-to-earth as chatting with your friend over Jello salads during brunch. It’s a kind of comedy that lends beautifully to the sitcom world, so it is fitting that she would collaborate with sitcom master Chuck Lorre to release Leanne, a 16-episode Netflix series where Morgan makes her debut performance as a lead. She is hilarious and charming in the limelight, playing an older woman who is navigating a divorce from her husband of 33 years and learning to re-write her story.

As heartwarming as Leanne’s character and storyline are in the show, there’s actually another character we end up looking forward to seeing on the screen. Leanne’s sister, Carol (Kristen Johnston), is the black sheep of the family: the one with two divorces, a raucous attitude, and a preference for the bar over church. And we love her for all her messiness (and eventually, vulnerability). While we are certainly rooting for Leanne, it is Carol who has all our attention.

Kristen Johnston’s Carol Is a Breath of Fresh Air in Netflix’s ‘Leanne’

Image via Netflix

Leanne first sets up a traditional, cookie-cutter lifestyle around the titular character, as she ticks off the long marriage, two children (one happily married and the other a “work in progress”), a wealthy RV business, and a white-picket fence. So, when Leanne finds out Bill (Ryan Stiles) is cheating on her with another younger woman, one of the things she has to confront is the sudden upheaval of her American Dream life. Much of the conflict is around this idealistic mold, like the idea of forgiving to preserve the nuclear family unit or conflating her weight with her self-worth. Leanne’s story is steeped in tradition and Carol is a breath of who-gives-a-cr*p type of fresh air.

Carol provides a point of contrast to Leanne’s Southern belle lifestyle that is deeply needed and appreciated. Tonally, her scenes are simply a reprieve to the turmoil in Leanne’s scenes, as Carol handles her sister’s predicament with empathy and a healthy dose of tough love. Her sarcastic and witty dialogue is a breather to some of the wild things family members or neighborhood sleuths say to Leanne, and her animated facial expressions always earn a chuckle. Among the rigid structures that Leanne explores, Carol is the unpredictable respite we eagerly look forward to.

Kristen Johnston and Leanne Morgan Are the Perfect Sister Duo in the Netflix Sitcom

Image via Netflix

Carol being opposite to her sister isn’t only a refreshing break from the traditional aspects of the sitcom, but is also the basis of why their relationship is so compelling. While the major theme of Leanne is finding a second wind at a stage in life where women are generally dismissed, it also explores sisterhood, with Carol and Leanne becoming an amazing duo.Johnston and Morgan’s on-screen chemistry is hilarious and endearing, as they strike the balance between bickering and unconditional love that sisters often have. It is also interesting to see their roles reverse, with the “successful” and “responsible” older sister Leanne being taken care of by the “reckless” and “lost cause” younger sister Carol.

Carol’s characterization also makes her the perfect companion to help Leanne in her journey of self-discovery again. Leanne faces the dissolution of her family unit and traditional lifestyle, and needs that non-traditional counterpart to navigate this. This is especially evident next to her parents’ comments about turning a blind eye to Bill’s indiscretions or her neighbor’s gossipy judgment of her situation. Carol’s life experiences off the beaten path are invaluable in their sisterhood, especially as she agrees to wear a ventilator to simulate Bill while they sleep or drags Leanne out to bars so she can learn to let loose. It’s hard not to fall in love with her unorthodox (yet somehow most grounded) methods of helping Leanne.

‘Leanne’ Gives Kristen Johnston’s Carol a Compelling and Relatable Character Arc

Despite her rowdy attitude, Carol also has one of the most compelling and heartfelt arcs in the season, one that also likely resonates with a wider audience. Leanne’s storyline is an important one and specifically caters to older women who are forced to re-start their lives again, advocating for a message of “it’s never too late to re-write your story.” It significantly sheds light on a generally overlooked issue and is definitely empowering, but Carol’s storyline has a universality to it that makes Leanne enjoyable for a broader demographic. She’s the black sheep of the family who feels underappreciated and unloved, yearning for acceptance beneath her tough exterior. Most people can relate to that at some level.

The storytelling around Carol’s arc is also relatable and has a lived-in feel. Leanne’s storyline, while filled with nuance, is relatively linear in its concept of moving forward and achieving each milestone as it comes. In contrast, Carol’s is as wonderfully and realistically messy as she is; she progresses and relapses at every stage of the show, sometimes becoming more open to Leanne’s proclamations of love, then shutting down after moving out or receiving three thousand pennies instead of a fine china set from her father. Even her romance storyline of falling for a seemingly perfect man — one her father finally approves of, then finding out he is wanted by the FBI — is both hilarious and gut-wrenching. She goes back and forth between feeling betrayed and clinging onto hope that he still loves her, searching for the validation she never received from her family.

When Carol finally comes around to the realization that she can be accepted and loved by her family if she lets them (well, and after they realize how they have been treating her), it’s a painfully simple yet profound moment that contrasts all the chaos from before. She surprises us with a vulnerability we thought she was immune to. After all, who doesn’t love cracking open the seemingly unflappable character? Leanne may be the beating heart of the show, but Carol is the skeletal framework that holds everything up, protects her sister in hilarious ways, and surprises us with how emotionally fragile she can actually be when not appreciated properly.