While The Conners season 5 finale looked like it was going to bring back David Healy, there are numerous reasons that Johnny Galecki’s Roseanne character shouldn’t return to the sitcom spinoff. Like most sitcom spinoffs, The Conners has a hard time bringing back fan-favorite characters from its predecessor Roseanne. Some viewers are delighted to see Chuckie Mitchell appear on The Conners since the two shows feel more closely related when familiar faces like this pop up from time to time. However, viewers are reminded that The Conners abruptly killed off Roseanne herself whenever the show references characters from its earlier incarnation.
This could be one of the reasons that The Conners season 5 finale opted not to bring back Johnny Galecki’s David Healy. Back in the first nine seasons of Roseanne, David was the well-meaning but weak-willed boyfriend of Sara Gilbert’s sardonic Darlene. However, 2017’s Roseanne revival revealed that he and Darlene broke up after having two children together, Harris and Mark. The Conners season 5 finale teased David returning for Mark’s high school graduation but didn’t follow through on this promise. While the showrunners left it open for Galecki to return if his schedule permits, now it would not make sense for David to show up in the spinoff.
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The Conners Season 5 Finale Proved Mark Doesn’t Need David
Mark and Ben talk in The Conners season 5 finale
In The Conners season 5, episode 22, “Grad Finale,” Mark made an impassioned speech where he said that he viewed Ben as his father, not David. As such, there will be a limited role for David to play if he returns in The Conners season 6. Darlene spent years trying to make a relationship with David work, but his flightiness and indecision eventually crippled any hopes of the pair’s marriage working out. As such, his connection to Mark was the only link that made David a part of the Conner clan. Harris doesn’t speak with her father, and Mark’s lack of interest in the relationship seemingly shuts that door for good.
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The Conners David Return Could Hurt Ben and Darlene
Ben and Darlene in The Conners
During their courtship, Ben and Darlene hit a rough patch when David returned. In The Conners season 2, Darlene cheated on Ben with David, a decision that eventually led to their temporary breakup. Although this breakup didn’t last too long, Ben did cite this incident as a reason that he was rejecting Darlene’s original proposal in The Conners season 3. As such, the last thing that Ben and Darlene need is another visit from the Roseanne character. Ben and Darlene already spent The Conners season 5 struggling to adjust to married life, and the return of Darlene’s ex-husband wouldn’t make this any easier.
Now that The Conners season 5 sent Mark to college, David has one less reason to visit the family. Moreover, the impact of his affair with Darlene only makes his comeback a worse idea. Ben and Darlene could be brought closer together by facing David as a happy couple, but the pair had a hard time voicing their feelings for each other throughout The Conners season 5. Until they are in a more stable place (which may never happen, given their personalities), Ben and Darlene don’t need the added trouble of crossing paths with David again.
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The Conners Can’t Keep Bringing Back Roseanne Characters
Roseanne and Darlene from The Conners
As the disappointing, highly hyped return of Bobo in The Conners season 5 proved, bringing back Roseanne characters isn’t a guaranteed recipe for success in the spinoff. While some Roseanne alumni can be a welcome addition to the spinoff’s cast, these characters are usually ones who have unfinished business with major cast members. For example, Jackie confronting her abusive mother Bev in The Conners season 5 was cathartic viewing, and the revelation that Bev was suffering from dementia was undeniably poignant. However, David is more like Bobo than Bev, since he has no unfinished storyline to wrap up and no reason to return as a result.
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The Conners Can’t Help Harris Via David
Harris Season 4 Conners Realizes Aldo
Harris needs direction in The Conners season 6. After breaking up with Aldo at the end of The Conners season 4, Emma Kenney’s character spent most of The Conners season 5 without much to do. Her miscarriage plot line proved that Harris was an intriguing character and an independent woman under her veneer of slackerdom. However, her future still looks fuzzy and unclear. That said, her father David is unlikely to be the one to give her any clarity on this front. Harris has always been a strong young woman and David is a pushover, meaning he wouldn’t inspire her to set a new goal or find another path in life.
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The Conners Season 6 Must Focus On Becky
Becky Darlene and Jackie shocked in The Conners
Sean Astin’s Tyler was a promising love interest for Becky in The Conners season 5, episode 20, “What’s So Funny About Peas, Love, and Understanding?” This burgeoning relationship deserves more screen time in The Conners season 6, but David’s return would jeopardize the likelihood of this happening. It would be better for the spinoff to pursue Becky’s love life than for The Conners to put Ben and Darlene’s happiness in peril via David’s return. After all, Becky has spent years looking for love to no avail, and Ben and Darlene have enough issues already. As such, if The Conners season 6 can afford a major guest star, the correct option is clear.
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The Conners David Return Makes Darlene Worse
Darlene and David looking in The Conners
The biggest reason to keep David away from The Conners season 6 is the character’s impact on Darlene. Not only did Darlene almost lose her now-husband Ben by having an affair with David, but her relationship with David also was never healthy in the first place. In his last appearance on The Conners, David admitted during therapy that he always felt Darlene didn’t treat him like an equal, and he was not necessarily wrong. The last thing that either of them needs is to fall back into that toxic dynamic, even if this isn’t via a romantic relationship this time. The Conners heroine Darlene needs to accept that she and Roseanne’s David were never meant to be.
