Missing Conners Season 7 Roseanne Character Creates a Major Ending Issue
One of Roseanne's key characters has to be brought back in The Conners season 7 years after the show quietly cut off this major supporting actor. The family sitcom must explain the absence of one significant character since Roseanne's spinoff's last outing will be The Conners season 7. Over the years, The Conners has jettisoned many Roseanne's original running-through characters. Given the Conners' sizable cast of characters, it is not surprising that the show does not feel compelled to resurrect every supporting actor from the original series. Still, it's startling to find major players like Tom Arnold's Arnie Thomas or Martin Mull's legendary Roseanne character Leon Carp omitted from the spinoff.
Season Seven Conners Unable to overlook Roseanne's DJ
The Conners season 5 quietly dropped Roseanne's DJ by stating he had moved out of Lanford for a new job, even though he was never formally killed off. After seasons three and four of the spinoff battled to give DJ as much screen time as his sisters, Becky and Darlene, this realization dawned. One of the main characters in this era of the show is Becky, whose drinking issue and the birth of Beverly-Rose define her. Darlene's character arc during this period concentrated on her love triangle with David and Ben as well as the exploits of her children, Mark and Harris.
Mark's The Conners season 7 narrative could prove to be central to the spinoff's whole ending, thus it is reasonable to say that the Roseanne follow-up required to commit this screen time to Darlene's children in previous episodes. Still one of the three original Conner children, DJ was also quite important for Roseanne's original run. DJ has to come back at least once before The Conners closes for good since he was not killed off and his daughter Mary stayed a supporting character for a whole season after he vanished. Sadly, this could turn out difficult.
DJ's Role in The Conners Never Really Worked
It was clear from Roseanne's original run how DJ fit the family. While Darlene and Becky were precocious teenagers, DJ, younger than his sisters, was a rebellious but decent young man. But the show ran out of ideas for the adult version of DJ when Roseanne started The Conners. Becky's impulsiveness defines her; her natural sweetness fights against her recklessness. Darlene, on the other hand, was defined by her sardonic, bitter sense of humor; many disappointments helped to deepen the negative attitude of the character in the decades since Roseanne's story concluded.
DJ's stories suffered since his adult self lacked a significant character arc in The Conners. Although Jackie's Lunchbox storyline was flawed, it at least provided Roseanne's grieving sister with activities. DJ, on the other hand, was often just present; his daughter Mary and his wife Geena had better subplots since they were more active, vibrant characters. It was not surprising when The Conners decided to drop Mary and Geena since their stories lacked the drama of Becky, Darlene, Mark, and Harris even then. Returning DJ is therefore challenging.
Conners Season 7 Returning DJ Complicates Its Story
The Conners season 7 finds it difficult to justify DJ's comeback, but what makes this more difficult is the fact that returning DJ also inevitably means returning Mary and Geena. For a show with a sizable family to follow and only few episodes to finish its unresolved narratives, that would be a lot of extra characters. The Conners season 7 should center on Mark's email scam job, Harris's takeover of The Lunchbox, Darlene's search for better work, Louise's new school board post, Becky's Psychology course, and Ben's takeover of Hardware magazine.
Two of the most beloved characters on the show, Dan and Jackie, are not even mentioned in this run-through Given that Dan and Jackie are two of the most well-known characters who have been around since Roseanne's first run, they will also demand plenty of story attention. After season 6 brought back the recurring character, the Conners season 7 must wrap Crystal's subplot too. As such, it is difficult to see where the sitcom would find the screen time or story focus to center on both DJ and his family in its last outing. Fortunately, one can overcome this by means of another approach.
One fix might solve the DJ issue for Conners Season 7.
Should The Conners season 7 bring back DJ only for the series finale, the show may be able to reincorporate him without upsetting the balance of its several subplots. Though the Conners season 7 has a lot of stories to tell, the show's ending still must honor Roseanne's legacy and its original heroes. For the series finale alone, maybe to attend a significant family event, DJ and his family should come back. The show has foreshadowed the death of Bev or Crystal, both of which would be excellent grounds to force DJ and company back-off.
This comeback could show that Geena, Mary, and DJ are all in good health without straying the course of season 7. There is no need to reincorporate three more supporting stars from the premiere onward since The Conners has enough plots to worry about on the last run of the show. Rather, the kind of events that bring families back in real life—like funerals—should help to enable the Roseanne character comebacks in The Conners season 7. Although The Conners could never make the Roseanne character's narrative work, this would give DJ a moving farewell proving he is still part of the family.