Jackie Harris finally got the mother she always wanted — nay, deserved — only to lose her during Wednesday’s episode of The Conners.
It was previously revealed on a Season 5 episode of the Roseanne spinoff that Beverly, then 94, was battling Alzheimer’s disease. Jackie was then forced to put her resentment aside and tend to her ailing mom.
Later on, amid her search for a caregiver, Jackie learned via Bev’s medical history that Mom once took a beating from Al to shield her daughters from their physically abusive father. Afterward, Bev sent Roseanne and Jackie to stay with Nana Mary — not because she was an unfit parent, as Jackie had always assumed, but because she didn’t want her kids to find out that Al broke her arm.
Perhaps the Artist Formerly Known as “Craftmatic Adjustable Bev” had a heart, after all.
That brings us to Wednesday’s episode, where it was revealed that Bev took part in an experimental drug trial for dementia. It’d been two months, and it really seemed to slow her cognitive decline. She was experiencing moments of clarity and genuine reflection, and it got her thinking about how she’s treated her only living daughter.
“When a person gets to a certain age, they look back on their life and they take inventory of what they’ve done wrong,” Bev explained. “I so regret how poorly I’ve treated you. I want to make everything right.”
Photo by Eric McCandless/Disney
The following day, Bev and Jackie embarked on a trip to Chicago, where Jackie finally received the closure she so desperately needed. “I yelled at her, she cried. She yelled at me, I cried… I just feel like I’ve had 60 years of poison drained out of my body,” she said. “I’ve never felt this good.”
And Bev was determined to leave her with that feeling. She bought herself a train ticket to god knows where and said goodbye to Jackie.
“You’ve never done anything wrong but try to please an unreasonable old woman,” Bev assured her. “Today was the best day we’ve ever had… I wanted your face to be the last one I saw before I went on my grand adventure.”
Jackie didn’t want her to leave, but she had to let her go. “I’m not going to sit around in my apartment until I don’t know where I am. That’s why I gave you this day,” Bev said. “If I knew for sure I could remember to love you every day, I would never leave you.” The rest of the family would later express concern that Jackie let her 96-year-old mother embark on a “grand adventure,” but Jackie assured them that she was tracking Bev’s phone. Meanwhile, a source tells TVLine that the door remains open for Parsons to return in future episodes of The Conners… though that sure did feel like a proper sendoff.
