5 Reasons The Conners Season 6's Biggest Tragedy Outdoes Roseanne's Death

While The Conners season 6 may not pull off a crushing tragedy, the show has the opportunity to stage a bigger dramatic moment than Roseanne killing off its heroine. The Conners began with the sort of tragic moment that would bring most sitcoms to a standstill. After 2017’s successful Roseanne revival brought back the iconic ‘90s sitcom heroine Roseanne Conner, actor Roseanne Barr’s racist tweets led to her dismissal. Roseanne season 11 was retooled into The Conners as Roseanne was killed off via an offscreen overdose. This came as a shock to viewers, and it took The Conners a long time to recover its comedic tone over the coming seasons.

However, despite The Conners season 5’s excessive Roseanne cameos, the spinoff did largely manage to recapture the balance of warmth and cynicism that made the original ‘90s sitcom so enduringly popular. As such, it came as something of a surprise when executive producer Bruce Helford said it was a possibility that season 6 would be the show’s final outing. However, The Conners season 5 did set up a potential tragedy that would provide a perfect series finale for the show. While Roseanne originally ended with a shocking character death that viewers despised, The Conners season 6 could wrap up with the poignant passing of a well-known supporting character.

5 The Conners Season 6 Killing Bev Is Almost Inevitable

The death of Estelle Parsons’ Bev would bring The Conners to a meaningful end in a way that Roseanne’s death didn’t. Since Bev is suffering from advanced dementia and has been for some time, her fate has been sufficiently foreshadowed by The Conners season 5. Unlike Dan’s shocking death in Roseanne’s original finale, this would not feel like an out-of-nowhere plot twist designed solely to surprise viewers. Similarly, unlike Roseanne’s sudden demise, the development also wouldn’t feel like the show’s creators attempting to write their way around an awkward real-life incident.

Instead, this twist would feel earned, and its tragedy would be more compelling as a result of this. Bev is a full generation older than both Dan and Roseanne, meaning her death isn’t as jarring or unexpected as theirs were. Moreover, she is not all that close with her grandchildren or great-grandchildren, so characters like Darlene, Harris, and Becky would not be as devastated by her death as they were by Roseanne’s sudden passing. This means Bev’s death would be moving, but wouldn’t ruin the tone of the series.

4 The Conners Season 6 Doesn’t Need To Kill Off Bev

Anyone even remotely familiar with Roseanne Barr’s racism controversy knew that the actor’s character would get killed off after her tweets, whereas Bev’s death in The Conners season 6 would not be a reaction to real-life events. This means that The Conners season 6 could make the supporting character’s death more meaningful for viewers since it would not feel like an unfortunate necessity, but rather a valid creative choice. Bev has been around since the beginning of Roseanne and has never had an easy time of it. As such, allowing the character to face death with dignity would be a final kindness for Bev after her years of struggling.

3 Bev Is Roseanne’s Saddest Character

While Bev’s potential death in The Conners would admittedly be tragic, it would also come as something of a relief for the character. Bev had a hard life, but she also made life harder for those around her. She sheltered her children from their father’s physical abuse in their childhood, only to then be resented by them because of the emotional abuse that she doled out years later. She never reconciled with Roseanne before her death and only made peace with Jackie because of her dementia in The Conners season 5. Thus, her death would be a chance for The Conners season 6 to redeem one of its thorniest figures.

The Conners season 5, episode 8, “Of Missing Minds and Fries,” already made a good start on this front by depicting Bev’s reconciliation with Jackie after her dementia was discovered. While she was impaired, Bev was also much sweeter to her surviving daughter and her demeanor even led Jackie to forgive her mother for her flaws. Instead of focusing on further guest stars like The Conners season 5, season 6 should pick up where this plot left off and center Jackie’s relationship with her mother in her final days. This way, Roseanne’s saddest character could finally find the peace that eluded her throughout her hard life.

RELATED: It’s Time For The Conners To Say Goodbye To This Roseanne Star

2 Bev’s Death Brings The Conners To An End

The Conners season 6 can’t kill off Jackie when she’s only just found happiness with Neville, and the spinoff can’t very well kill off Dan again after Roseanne season 9 already did so and the revival retconned this. Therefore, Bev is the only one whose death can wrap up The Conners in a meaningful way. If The Conners season 6 is the last outing of the long-running sitcom, the show can make up for the disappointing ending of Roseanne’s original run. Dropping Roseanne Barr saved The Conners, but the spinoff still needs to find a fitting ending for its sprawling multi-generational family story and Bev’s death fits the bill.

1 The Conners Season 6 Can Make Bev’s Death Matter

The Conners season 6 can make Bev’s death a pivotal moment in the show’s history if the spinoff ends after this event. If the series keeps going, there will be even less connection to the original Roseanne cast, and it will likely feel less emotionally resonant as a result. Since The Conners season 5 already dropped Michael Fishman’s DJ Conner, the show runs the risk of feeling like a facsimile of its old self by season 7. However, if The Conners season 6 is the end of the series, the sitcom can go out on a high note by giving a fitting farewell to one of its best characters.

Roseanne’s death never really resonated in The Conners since the show couldn’t focus on her absence too much. The writers were painted into a corner as focusing on Roseanne’s death too much sapped the show of humor, but mentioning it too rarely made the characters seem callous. Since Bev’s death would near nowhere near as sudden or unexpected, the event wouldn’t face the same scrutiny. Meanwhile, Bev’s will could provide the eponymous family with some modicum of financial security after decades of striving. Where Roseanne’s death just left The Conners devastated but forced to go on, Bev’s demise could see Roseanne‘s heroes saddened but finally left in a less precarious position.