Summary
AlthoughThe Connersseason 7 might end the story of the show’s central family happily, this may result inRoseanne’s spinoff letting go of a vital element of the original show’s spirit.The Connershas a large cast of charactersand all of them have more than earned a happy ending. Over the sitcom’s six seasons, the Conner family has struggled with unemployment, unplanned pregnancies, canceled engagements, addiction, failing businesses, poverty, and crushing debt. This list doesn’t even mention the death of their mother,Roseanne’s original titular heroine Roseanne, who died of an offscreen overdose in the show’s pilot episode.
Now,The Connersseason 7will end the family’s story with a truncated final season. This outing promises to give a satisfying send-off to all three generations of the family, but this is easier said than done. Darlene’s son Mark began working with a group of email scammers to save for his University of Chicago fees in season 6’s finale, while her daughter Harris promised to take over the family restaurant The Lunchbox a few episodes earlier. These stories alone could fill an entire season ofThe Conners, but there are many more characters in the sitcom.
The Conners Season 7’s Ending May Ignore Roseanne’s Realistic Spirit
Roseanne And The Conners Never Shied Away From Difficult Realities
The Connersseason 7 needs to wrap up the character arcs of Jackie, Dan, Becky, Darlene, Ben, Tyler, Neville, and Louise, and that is without even considering Mark, Harris, Beverly-Rose, or the show’s missingRoseannecharacter, DJ. It would be a challenge for any comedy series to provide this many characters with satisfying arcs, but the entire family deserves a sweet send-off. This could easily be facilitated if they were to run into some money, which would seemingly solve many of their woes. The Conners have struggled to make ends meet throughout the spinoff’s six seasons, so a happy ending arguably requires this.
The Connerscan’t make the family rich without betrayingRoseanne’s original ethos.
The only problem is thatThe Connerscan’t make the family rich without betrayingRoseanne’s original ethos. Years beforeBob’s BurgersandMalcolm in the Middle,Roseannewas notable for its unsentimental portrayal of the real-life experiences faced by working-class American families. Like both of those later shows,Roseannehad plenty of moments of pure silliness and flights of fantasy. However, the sitcom always took the central family’s blue-collar struggle seriously, until one dreadful decision changed that.Roseanne’s most hated episodescame in the final season, wherein the relatable central family became spoiled millionaires overnight thanks to a plot contrivance.
Roseanne’s Original Ending Ignored The Show’s Working-Class Roots
Roseanne Season 9 Earned Terrible Reviews And Fan Feedback
InRoseanneseason 9, episode 2, “Millions From Heaven,”Roseanne and her family won $108 million from the lottery. This instantly derailed the original show’s final season asRoseanne’s stakes became unrecognizable. For almost a decade, viewers had tuned in to see the Conners go through all manner of interesting adventures while also just about getting by financially. Threats of eviction and foreclosure were commonplace throughout the show’s early seasons, alongside jokes about unpaid taxes and expensive healthcare. Now, the family was suddenly flush with cash and anything resembling a realistic working-class problem would never be relevant to them again.
Roseanne’s infamous lottery win didn’t even end up making life easier for the main characters.
AlthoughThe Connersseason 7 will be shorterthanRoseanneseason 9, it is unlikely to repeat this disastrous mistake for the sake of giving the main characters a happy ending. After all,Roseanne’s infamous lottery win didn’t even end up making life easier for the main characters. Throughout season 9, Dan cheated on Roseanne, the couple broke up, and many of the show’s most reliable supporting characters disappeared from the family’s life. The sloppy storytelling ofRoseanneseason 9 meant that the family didn’t even get to enjoy their newfound riches, since they came with new, more outlandish problems.
The Conners Season 7 Set Up A Better Ending For Roseanne’s Heroes
Ben’s Insurance Payout Established A Realistic Windfall
Fortunately,The Connersseason 7 is already improving onRoseanneseason 9 and may even be able to give the main characters a happy ending without betraying the show’s message.The Connershas always been about a working-class family trying to make ends meetand season 7 doesn’t need to make the Conners rich to ensure their futures are a bit brighter. Ben’s family hardware store burned down near the end of season 6. While this was hardly an unambiguously positive development like the family’s unlikely season 9 lottery win, it did provide Ben with a valuable chance to reflect.
Ben questioned how much he wanted to reopen the store and whether he should take its fire as a message. The insurance payout allowed him to buyHardwareMagazine and let Dan to pay off his mortgage, meaning he could retire in peace. Now, Ben and Darlene could start working in jobs that they enjoy as Ben relaunches the magazine, a realistic but optimistic twist that is both welcome and overdue.The Connersseason 7’s shorter runmay cut this story short but, unless Mark’s crimes drain the family’s funds, there is still likely to be light at the end of the tunnel.
The Conners Season 7 Can (Hopefully) End A Roseanne Trend
The Conners’ Final Outing Proves The Heroes Can Succeed
Without winning $108 million by chance, as they did in season 9’s ludicrous twist,The Connerscould get a happy ending that fitsRoseanne’s tone in season 7. Since income inequality remains a major issue in middle America, it will be hard for the sitcom to make the Lanford family’s good fortune feel rooted in reality. However, Ben runningHardwareMagazine was reasonably well foreshadowed since he ran a publication when he and Darlene first met. Darlene working with her now-husband also makes sense since she only took a job as a cafeteria worker to help pay Mark’s fees.
The family has its best shot at a prosperous ending in a long time.
Since Mark transferred schools, Darlene is now free to work forHardwareMagazine. Admittedly,Mark’s darkThe Connersseason 7 storylinecould swallow up the family’s resources if he is caught working for scammers. However, it still seems as if the family has its best shot at a prosperous ending in a long time. As such,The Connersseason 7 could keepRoseanne’s spirit alive by depicting one lucky family cementing their future thanks to a series of fortunate events and a few smart decisions. This givesThe Connersa happy ending that doesn’t betrayRoseanne’s original story.
