Summary
It is hard to see howThe Connerswill avoid killing off oneRoseannestar after her surprise appearance in season 6 of the spinoff.The Connershas a strange relationship withRoseanne. The spinoff began afterRoseannestar Roseanne Barr was fired from the sitcom’s 2017 revival due to a racist Twitter rant.The Conners’ cast of charactersconsisted of Roseanne’s family who learned of her death via an offscreen opioid overdose in the pilot episode. Thus,The ConnersbecameRoseannesans Roseanne. While trying to drop the title character of a family sitcom seems foolhardy, the series succeeded.
AlthoughThe Connersseason 7will be the show’s final outing, this is not due to a lack of ratings success or critical acclaim. According to most reviewers and fans,The Connersis a fitting follow-up toRoseanne’s original run and its revival. One of the only areas where the series struggles to replicate its predecessor’s success is in itsRoseannecast cameos.The Connershas brought back many supporting stars fromRoseanne, but this can sometimes seem like desperate nostalgia bait. On the other hand, whenThe ConnersignoresRoseanne’s characters, it feels like an erasure of its history.
The Conners Season 6 Wasted A Promising Story For One Underrated Character
Although The Conners season 6 seemed set to offer one supporting star a solid subplot of their own, Roseanne spinoff failed to follow through.
Roseanne’s Crystal Needs To Return In The Conners Season 7
The Conners Season 6 Already Brought Back Dan’s Father’s Widow
As outlined above,The Connersis caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes toRoseanne’s supporting characters. The show occasionally brings back long-forgotten background characters like Bobo the Barfly for little reason, but will ignore pivotal supporting characters like Chuckie for seasons at a time. The latter fate befell Roseanne’s old friend Crystal after she married Dan’s father, Ed. Although Crystal put in a handful of appearances early inThe Connersseason 1, she was soon forgotten. That is, until her reappearance in season 6, episode 5, “When Sisters Collide and The Return of the Grifters.”
The Connersseason 7 must address Crystal’s health woes and her relationship with Dan before it ends
In the closing scenes of this outing,Crystal is revealed to be staying in Dan’s house while he paid for her heart medication. This one-off scene justified Dan’s secrecy about how he spent the money he borrowed from Neville, but it was otherwise pretty inexplicable. Some ofThe Conners’Roseannecharacter comebacksfelt forced in the past, but this was the strangest case of a supporting star walking into a scene only for the show to never reference them again. As such,The Connersseason 7 must address Crystal’s relationship with Dan and her health woes before it ends.
The Conners Has A Complicated History With Roseanne’s Crystal
The Spinoff Never Knew What To Do With Roseanne’s Old Friend
Crystal had a long history withRoseannesinceNatalie West’s quirky character was a dear friend to both Roseanne and Jackiefor decades. A self-proclaimed “Doormat,” Crystal could always be relied on to get herself into situations that made even Jackie seem reasonable and level-headed. When she resurfaced in the spinoff’s early seasons, Crystal was Darlene’s co-worker and retained her goofy persona in her few appearances. She never played a major role on the show, and it was not clear whetherThe Connerswould ever even acknowledge her marriage to Dan’s late father, Ed, until she returned unprompted in season 6.
Revealing that Dan was taking care of his father’s widow, who is also his late wife’s friend, was a weird twist
WhileThe Connersseason 6’s Harris storyseemed set to be its main focus, judging by the premiere, the season gradually began to focus on Dan and Jackie more and more as it continued. Neville and Dan’s fight wasn’t one that necessarily needed to be relitigated, but “When Sisters Collide and The Return of the Grifters” did provide the pair with a nice chance to bond. That said, revealing that Dan was taking care of his father’s widow, who is also his late wife’s friend, was a weird twist. This unexpected development made a tragic outcome seem overwhelmingly likely.
The Conners Season 7 Is Likely To Kill Off Crystal
Crystal was struggling to afford her health treatment when she stayed at Dan’s house, with Dan loaning her the $500 she needed to afford heart medication. This makes her death seem fairly likely inThe Connersseason 7 since the sitcom is almost certain to kill off a longstanding supporting character in its final outing.The Connershas never been shy about addressing the harsh realities of working-class life in America, with its storylines touching on unemployment, poverty, unplanned pregnancies, public shootings, college debt, addiction, and substandard healthcare access over the years. Crystal’s death would fit this pattern.
Bev’s Exit Makes Crystal’s The Conners Season 7 Death More Likely
Roseanne’s Mother Left The Spinoff In Season 6
What makes Crystal’s death even more likely is the surprising survival of anotherRoseannealumnus.The Connersseason 6 didn’t killRoseanne’s Bevoff, instead reversing her Alzheimer’s diagnosis and sending her to explore America for her remaining years. This upbeat twist was a welcome shock in a series that is often surprisingly unflinching for a family sitcom. However,Bev survivingThe Connersseason 6 makes Crystal’s death more likelysince the show’s final season is overdue a tragedy. It is hard to imagine Jackie or Dan dying, but it is equally hard to see the series ending happily.
BothRoseanneandThe Connerswere unafraid of touching on serious themes in their comedy, which is why storylines like Roseanne’s overdose succeeded
The Conners Season 7 Shouldn’t Kill Off Crystal
Roseanne’s Guest Star Hasn’t Played A Major Role In The Spinoff
The Connerscould simply give the title family a break and offer them an uncomplicated happy ending. This would be a welcome change of pace after all the trauma they have endured over the years, but it would also betray the show’s original appeal. BothRoseanneandThe Connerswere unafraid of touching on serious themes in their comedy, which is why storylines like Roseanne’s overdose succeeded. That said, Crystal’s death wouldn’t be able to replicate the emotional impact of that bombshell. If anything,Crystal’sThe Connersseason 7 death would feel weirdly unearned and darkafter her lengthy absence.
Crystal hasn’t been a major player inThe Connersfor some time, and her return in season 6 felt jarring as a result. If Crystal does die in season 7, this won’t be a tragedy to match Roseanne’s brutal, but not entirely unexpected, fate. Instead, it would feel like more of a cheap attempt to inject high-stakes drama into the series. Rather than reminding viewers of how hard it can be for people to access healthcare, the death would likely leave viewers wondering why Crystal returned.The Connerswaited too long to make thisRoseannecharacter’s death matter.
