The Conners started as a revival of the famous family comedy Roseanne from the 1990s. To bring things full circle, it’s changing a part of a Roseanne character’s personality.
It was sad when the main character, Rosanne, died of an opioid accident, but she’s not the only character from The Conners who won’t be in the comedy reboot. Bev, Jackie and Roseanne’s mother, will die in season 6 of The Conners.
After being away for two years, the Roseanne spinoff brought back Estelle Parsons as Bev, Jackie’s (Laurie Metcalf) mother. However, the old woman who asked where Roseanne was years after she had died seemed to be suffering from dementia.
Read on to find out why The Conners had to make Jackie and Bev’s friendship better than it was on Roseanne. On The Conners, we also talk about whether Bev’s death is coming up and what might happen after she dies.
Why Bev And Jackie Had To Mend Their Relationship On The Conners
It was clear that Jackie and Roseanne had a rough time with their mother, Bev, on Roseanne. Even though Bev wasn’t violent like their father, she did hurt their feelings. Roseanne was strict and did a good job, but Jackie had a harder time with their mother. Bev and Jackie’s problems continued into their relationship as adults.
In the fifth season of The Conners, it comes out that Bev quietly stood up for her kids against their abusive father. This made Jackie change how she felt about her mother. Jackie finds out more about Bev’s health history and learns that her mother took beatings from their father to keep her girls from seeing him. Also, Bev sent Roseanne and Jackie to live with Nana Mary to keep them safe, not because they thought she wasn’t a good mom.
The Conners ‘ executive producer, Dave Caplan explained, “I think when you pass through some of the big storms in your life, you start to think about unfinished business. For Jackie, the unfinished business is approval from Bev, and getting some kind of closure.”
The show’s makers did say that they were nervous about revisiting Jackie and Bev’s troubled relationship and dealing with the dementia plot. We were wondering, ‘Will Jackie look like a mean girl if she talks to a woman she thinks has dementia?’ However, the characters’ bond has been so strong for so long that Jackie was able to really dive into it.
Jackie can start to forgive her mother because Bev has dementia. Bev even gives her the hug she’s always wanted, but only because she doesn’t know who she is.
“People as they get older start to look back on their lives and sit with their regrets, and think about things that they could have done differently. There’s something about the later part of your life that gives you that perspective. So we did discuss whether it was too painful for Bev to really deal with, or if it was really the onset of dementia.”
Related: Topher Grace Opens Up: Revealing His Key Criticism of That ’70s Show’s First Episodes
Are the Conners Getting Ready for Bev to Die?
It was discovered in season 5 of The Conners that Bev has dementia. This made Jackie put aside her anger and take care of her mother.
“I don’t know if she can ever make peace with that. I think she is accepting that she is going to be her mother’s caretaker.”
It’s harder for Jackie to take on her new role because Bev has never been a supportive mother. She often pits her girls against each other.
According to Dave Caplain, there is a great scene where Jackie realizes that she will never get what she wants from her mother and decides that she still needs to take care of her. All of this happens without any conversation, and it’s extremely powerful.
Bev wants to fix her friendship with Jackie, so she asks her to spend the day in Chicago in “Moms and Rats,” the third episode of season 6 of The Conners. While they’re together, Bev tells them she wants to go on a “grand adventure” because she doesn’t want to die slowly in her apartment by herself. Like many of the other main characters on Roseanne and its spin-off show, many of her fans think she will die outside of the show.
Betsy tells her daughter, “You’ve never done anything wrong except try to please an unreasonable old woman.” “Fantastic today… Your face should be the last thing I saw before I left on my big adventure.
After the fact, Jackie’s family is worried that she let her 96-year-old mother travel alone, but Jackie reassures them that she is keeping an eye on Bev’s phone. For now, this means that The Conners can honor her life and remember their difficult matriarch’s death.
Related: Baywatch Reboot Coming to Fox: Get Ready to Hit the Beach!
What Will Happen To The Conners After Bev’s Death?
On The Conners, Jackie will be the last person living in the Harris family after Roseanne and Jackie’s mom, Bev, dies. After her mother and sister died, Jackie is one of the few Roseanne characters who shows up in the spin-off.
Estelle Parsons couldn’t be in seasons 3 and 4 of The Conners because of COVID-19 travel restrictions. Her long-awaited return helped Jackie deal with the terrible things that happened to her as a kid. In “Of Missing Minds and Missing Fries,” from season 5, Jackie finally talks to Bev about how she has been abusing her for years. When she finds out how sick Bev is, she knows she needs to take care of her. Even though it ends in tragedy, Jackie finally gets the closure she needs with her mother. It was a good finish for both of them.
Bev’s death may bring back other characters from Roseanne, ending events that have already been told. Leon Carp, the Restaurant Lunchbox’s overbearing boss, may look like he’s saying goodbye to Bev. In Roseanne’s first season, Bev gives Leon her share of The Lunchbox with anger. Bev still quietly owns the restaurant’s lease, Becky and Jackie find out in season 2 of The Conners. Even though Bev gives it to Darlene, Darlene gives it to Jackie, who fixes up the run-down building.
Showrunner for The Conners Bruce Helford said, “It’s a possibility” that season 6 could be the last one for the spinoff. It might be fair for the show to end with Bev’s death so that the characters can move on.
