The Conners Season 7 Can't Afford To Continue Sidelining Mark After His Season 6 Role

While Mark was absent for much of The Conners season 6, the final outing of Roseanne’s spinoff won’t have the luxury of repeating this mistake. The Conners season 7 has a pretty difficult task ahead. According to TVLine, the “Six episode farewell event” will air in March 2025, almost a year after season 6 wrapped up in May 2024. Six episodes is scarcely enough time to even mention The Conners’ entire cast of characters, let alone give them all satisfying send-offs.

However, there are some characters that The Conners must focus on over others. Becky’s personal and professional life was a nightmare for much of the spinoff’s six-season run as she struggled with alcoholism, grief, and the threatened deportation of her baby’s father. As such, she needs to finally gain some stability and success in the final outing. Similarly, after spending years as an aimless slacker with no clear goal or direction, Darlene’s daughter Harris must embrace her new role as the manager of The Lunchbox and turn her life around.

Mark Only Appeared In 8 Out Of The Conners Season 6’s 14 Episodes

The Conners Season 6 Forgot Mark For Its First Three Episodes In A Row

If there is any character who is owed some more screen time and story focus in season 7, it is Darlene’s son, Mark. Darlene and Ben's The Conners season 7 story is set up to turn tragic, but Mark deserves more screen time than his mother and stepfather, considering how underused he was in season 6. Mark only appeared in eight of season 6’s 14 episodes, with The Conners forgetting him entirely for the first three consecutive episodes of the season.

The Conners Cast Member	Character
John Goodman	Dan Conner
Laurie Metcalf	Jackie Harris-Goldufski
Sara Gilbert	Darlene Conner-Olinsky
Lecy Goranson	Becky Conner-Healy
Katey Sagal	Louise Conner
Emma Kenney	Harris Conner-Healy
Ames McNamara	Mark Conner-Healy

Mark’s minimal role in The Conners season 6 made his comeback more compelling when viewers discovered that he wasn’t enjoying his time in college, but felt too guilty to tell Darlene. Aware that she had made a lot of sacrifices to help him afford a place, Mark tried to stick it out despite his misgivings. However, when his aunt Becky sent off his abandoned application to the more expensive University of Chicago and Mark was offered a place, this threw his life plans into disarray.

The Conners season 7’s limited screen time was guaranteed to be an issue, but Mark’s sidelining in recent years highlights just how big a problem it is.

Mark ended up taking a job with a sketchy company that ran email scams so he could afford to pay the University of Chicago’s fees. This entire plot was crammed into the penultimate episode and the finale, since season 6 had no time for Mark’s story earlier. The Conners season 7’s limited screen time was always guaranteed to be an issue for minor characters, but Mark’s persistent sidelining in recent years highlights just how big a problem it is.

The Conners Season 7 Needs To Devote Time For Mark's Arc

The Conners Season 6’s Finale Left Darlene’s Son In A Tricky Position

Surprisingly, The Conners season 6’s Mark absence lines up with earlier seasons since Ames McNamara’s character was always missing for a few episodes from each outing. Mark was absent for three episodes in a row in season 4 and four in a row in season 5, which was particularly noticeable in a show about a family. These earlier absences make it all the more important that Mark plays a major role in The Conners season 7.

John Goodman's Dan and Roseanne Barr's Roseanne looking annoyed sitting on a couch in Roseanne season 10

The Conners Season 7 Can’t End One Roseanne Storyline (But That’s Okay)

The Conners season 7 has no time to explain the mysterious inconsistent fate of a Roseanne family member, but the sitcom may get away with this.

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The Conners season 6’s uneven Mark plot highlights a problem the show can’t afford anymore. The Conners can’t simply forget about a major character for three episodes at a time when there are only six episodes left in the entire series. Since season 6’s finale left Mark working a job as a likely illegal email scammer to fund his college career, The Conners season 7 must finish this storyline soon after the show returns to the airwaves.

How The Conners Can Still Properly Tackle Mark's Story Despite Its Short Run

The Conners Season 7’s Truncated Screen Time Makes Sidelining Characters Harder

The Conners does have sufficient screen time to properly tackle Mark’s plot, but this means prioritizing him over other characters. Although the fate of Becky’s relationship with Tyler and Harris’s management of the Lunchbox are equally central to season 7, they don’t have the same urgency as Mark’s plot. Mark needs to leave his illegal job as soon as possible in The Conners season 7, since the longer he spends working there, the more likely he is to get into major legal trouble.

Mark can spend season 7 searching for new ways to pay his tuition fees.

Once he is no longer working an illegal job, Mark can spend season 7 searching for new ways to pay his tuition fees. This would be a satisfying end to Mark's The Conners season 7 story, since viewers don’t necessarily need everything to be tidily wrapped up by the grand finale. Mark doesn’t even have to start studying at the University of Chicago by the time the series wraps up. All Roseanne’s spinoff needs is to give him the tools to build a brighter future for himself after The Conners season 7's finale.

Source: TVLine

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