After seven seasons and a brutal cancellation, The Conners has finally come to an end on ABC.
The series premiered in 2018 as a spinoff for Roseanne Barr‘s long running sitcom, Roseanne, but it was swiftly canceled after just nine episodes when Barr shared a racist social media post against Valerie Jarrett, a Black woman who worked in the Obama administration.
But The Conners somehow managed to continue without its star comedian after her character was abruptly written off the show and died from an opioid overdose. Now, The Conners has bid farewell to their matriarch one last time with a touching storyline.
The Conners series finale, which aired Wednesday April 23, showed John Goodman‘s Dan going toe-to-toe in court with the pharmaceutical company responsible for her overdose. The trial pushes Dan to his breaking point as he fights against the company lawyers’ attempts to blame him and Roseanne for her sudden death. The company later offers him a measly payout of $700 after he berated the company for putting “a gun to her head” by giving her the pills.
Later in the episode, the Conners visit Roseanne’s grave to say goodbye one last time, offering themselves and the audience some closure for a character who was a staple in comedy from 1988 to 1997. And in true Conner fashion, the family can’t help but crack a couple of jokes during the somber moment.
The Conners are expecting a huge payout from the company, but upon learning the check is written for $700, Dan jokes, “Well, we always wondered how much a Conner’s life was worth, and now we know.”
Harris (Emma Kenney) also tells her grandmother, “I own your restaurant now. The food’s finally good.”
Later, as a storm begins when Dan is left at her gravestone by himself, he warns her not to strike his new wife Louise (Katey Sagal) with lightning. Nonetheless, he leaves Roseanne with his blessing.
“Well, Rose, we always said that if the kids were still alive at the end of the day, we did our job. I think we did better than that,” he says. “I still can’t believe you’re not here. I know you wanted good things for me, too, and that probably didn’t include Louise, but if you meet anyone wherever you are, I’m cool with it.”
Barr has spoken out against the show after her controversial death. She admitted that she “can’t bear” to watch it continue without her and took her character’s storyline as a personal affront.
“When they killed my character off, that was a message to me, knowing that I’m mentally ill or have mental health issues, that they did want me to commit suicide,” she said in a 2023 interview.
The Conners series finale is streaming now on Hulu.
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