What is something from All in the Family that is really kind of dark, but gets ignored?
Mike didn’t seem to have any relationship at all with his own family - Mike essentially moves in with the Bunkers…and that’s it. You would figure that if he were an only child his parents would have doted on him; and if he had siblings then they would have some sort of relationship. Neither is the case.share
Mike was really kind of lazy - Yes, it is difficult to go to college, and even more so to get an advanced degree. However, Mike demonstrated almost zero drive whatsoever. He didn’t do odd jobs on the weekends or at night; he didn’t tutor kids to pick up a few bucks very often, and he didn’t have Archie try to get him on down at the plant. Basically, when Archie pointed out Mike’s laziness, he was just stating the truth.
Gloria and Edith didn’t seem to have much of a relationship - At a time when having one child was rare, it would have seemed that Edith and her only child would have been far closer than they were. The series never demonstrates has much depth beyond the fact that they live in the same house.
There was never any reason given for the Bunkers to only have one child - Although it may have been a difficult birth for Edith, that’s never explained. Nor is the fact that they may have wanted more. The matter is never broached which leads to thoughts that there may have been multiple reasons, all of them “dark” (miscarriages, stillbirths, STDs, etc.)
Archie was apparently physically abused when he was child - Archie and Mike have a very dramatic discussion about an event from Archie’s childhood and then it drifts into their respective opinions of parent’s infallibility. Archie relates an event that sounds like child abuse, Mike points out why it sounded wrong, and Archie angrily rebukes him. The matter is dropped and never returned to during the remainder of the series.