And that’s a wrap.
After 112 episodes on air, ABC’s The Conners said goodbye to the viewers and Roseanne Barr for good. And they did it by going to Roseanne’s grave.
Titled “The Truck Stops Here,” the show’s final episode wraps up the Conner family’s storylines, giving viewers as much closure as possible. Jackie (Laure Metcalf) becomes a cop. Becky (Lecy Goranson) is sober. Harris (Emma Kenney) gets an apartment and leaves the family home. Meanwhile, Darlene (Sara Gilbert) finds a new job. And Dan (John Goodman) finally gives his deposition in the family’s lawsuit against the pharmaceutical company that manufactures the opioids that caused his late wife, Roseanne (Barr), to accidentally overdose.
Despite Dan’s preparation, the deposition doesn’t go quite to plan. In the meeting, the company’s attorney claims that Roseanne had an “addictive personality” and implies Dan should have done more to prevent her overdose—a line of questioning that does not sit well with the Conner patriarch.
“If you’re saying what I think you’re saying, that might be the last thing you say, you son of a b—-. I told her she could overdose,” Dan says, furious.
He then goes on to point out that the company never informed people about the drug’s addictive quality, arguing that her death is a consequence of their negligence.
“Even if I took every penny you had, it wouldn’t be enough, because you took the love of my life and you killed her, the same as you put a gun to her head,” he says. “The only difference is you handed her the gun and told her it wasn’t loaded.”
Viewers learned about Roseanne’s death in the show’s very first episode. Initially, The Conners was a revival of Roseanne, a sitcom about a working-class family living in Illinois, which aired on the network from 1988 to 1997. However, it got canceled after the network fired the show’s star, Roseanne Barr, following a racist tweet she posted on X. Then the network decided to order a spinoff, and that’s how The Conners came to be.
In an interview with Deadline, executive producers Bruce Rasmussen, Dave Caplan, and Bruce Helford said the show’s final episode was always going to have a tribute to Barr.
“There were mentions all along. We never shied away from that. The family loved their matriarch. For the finale, we felt it was right to honor the character and honor Roseanne herself, who birthed the show. It was important to make that part of the end,” Helford explained.
The tribute comes in the form of a scene where the family gathers around Roseanne’s gravestone to open the envelope with what they believe is going to be a huge settlement check from the pharmaceutical company. Unfortunately, the check is only $700—not quite the big payout they expected. The check also came with a letter in which the company informs Dan that the money is a “tribute to his unwavering commitment” to his late wife.
Disappointed, the family decides to put the money to good use by ordering food to the house. Before they leave the cemetery, they each take a turn telling Roseanne how they are doing.
“Hey, Mom, I’m still sober. Can you believe it?” Becky says proudly.
Darlene told her mom she was doing “what I thought you would do for the family.” Meanwhile, Jackie informs her little sister that she has finally become a cop.
“I’m really happy now,” she shares.
At the end of the episode, the Conners family gathers around the show’s iconic beaten-down couch for the last time. Then, Dan delivers one final speech, for old time’s sake.
“Going through all this reminds me that no matter how much c— life throws at us, all we gotta do is look around, because if we hang together, nothing can stop us.”
While the Conners didn’t get the big payout they hoped for, the show still lets us know they are doing just fine. After all, they will always have each other.
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