Despite Roseanne’s spinoff promising more for her in season 6, I was disappointed to see that The Conners let down its most underrated supporting star yet again in this outing. When I first started watching The Conners, I was impressed by the way that Roseanne’s spinoff juggled its large cast. The Conners’ cast of characters extends into double digits and, with Roseanne dead, the show has no obvious star to center its sitcom storylines around. Certain episodes prioritized Dan and Jackie, while others focused on Becky and Darlene. Meanwhile, DJ and Louise took precedence in the remaining outings.
However, the more I watched, the more I noticed an issue with The Conners. After The Conners moved on from Roseanne, the sitcom spinoff began to treat its younger heroes more like props than fully formed characters. Darlene’s children, Mark and Harris, should have gained more screen time and story focus after the death of their grandmother but, instead, they remained on the outskirts of the show’s fictional universe. The older generations of the Conner family garnered most of the show’s attention and, as a younger viewer, I couldn’t help but feel cheated by this approach’s obvious shortcomings.
Despite The Conners season 6 setting up a storyline about Harris taking over The Lunchbox in the season 6 premiere, her character arc was once again forgotten about as the show continued.
Roseanne’s spinoff is ostensibly meant to be a family comedy about working-class life in America, but The Conners seems more interested in older characters than the show’s young protagonists. Darlene’s son Mark didn’t even appear onscreen in the first three episodes of season 6, yet it was her older daughter, Harris, who bore the worst brunt of this lopsided approach to storytelling. Despite The Conners season 6 setting up a storyline about Harris taking over The Lunchbox in the season 6 premiere, her character arc was once again forgotten about as the show continued. I’ve noticed this pattern before.
Harris was treated as a disposable side character in seasons 4 and 5 too, and, as a younger viewer of the series, this is growing increasingly frustrating. While The Conners addressed Becky’s tragic past in numerous season 6 outings, Harris’s Lunchbox subplot wasn’t even mentioned again until episode 6, “Hanging in Dorms with Boys and The Secret Life of Men.” While episode 9, “Manifesting, Marriage Testing and Cheeseballs,” gave Harris a little more focus, she didn’t get a substantial storyline until season 6’s finale. Episode 6 was about Darlene, while episode 9’s story mostly centered on Becky and Jackie.
The reason I was so disappointed by Harris’s treatment in season 6 dates all the way back to 2017’s Roseanne revival. Roseanne season 10 set Harris up as an obnoxious Gen Z stereotype who felt significantly less believable, compelling, or relatable than her older costars. A cynical viewer might say that Harris’s entitlement and bratty behavior were so over-the-top and unrealistic that they seemed precision-engineered to delight viewers who think the worst about the youth of today. As a younger viewer, I couldn’t recognize anyone I knew in Roseanne’s Harris, but she did embody a lot of talking points.
Harris being a thoughtless, spoiled brat blatantly clashed with her mother’s sardonic, pragmatic parenting style. This didn’t seem to matter since it gave Roseanne opportunities to whine about ungrateful grandchildren. Roseanne’s original success came from the sitcom’s ability to hold a mirror to the struggles of American working-class family life, but 2017’s version of Roseanne was less worried about paying the bills and more concerned with how disrespectful her granddaughter acted. During the revival, I couldn’t see how Harris would ever become more than a walking embodiment of complaints about Gen Z, an unrealistic strawman who existed to be hated.
It is fine for Harris not to know what she wants to do with her life, and this could even feel relatable for viewers closer in age to her than Darlene and Dan. However, the show itself has proven it has no plan for her character arc.
In the years following Roseanne’s death, The Conners dramatically pulled back on Harris’s spoiled tendencies and her snotty attitude. However, The Conners never gave Harris a clear path for her character or a goal like Darlene’s dream of becoming a writer throughout Roseanne’s original run. It is fine for Harris not to know what she wants to do with her life, and this could even feel relatable for viewers closer in age to her than Darlene and Dan. However, the show itself has proven it has no plan for her character arc. This is a bigger problem for the series.
Since Harris has no purpose, I’ve watched her character growth stall repeatedly in recent seasons and gotten increasingly frustrated. Even her brother, who also receives limited screen time, has a clear path. The Conners season 6’s finale gave Mark a great subplot when he took a lucrative job with a group of email scammers. This role could pay for Mark’s college tuition, but it might also result in him facing jail time if he gets caught. In contrast, even though Harris has been through a canceled engagement, a miscarriage, and panic attacks, her character’s path still isn’t clear.
I know the show can take its younger characters seriously, since Roseanne ‘s original run gave Darlene a memorably moving character arc.
Since it is the show’s final season, The Conners season 7 can fix Harris’s character arc by giving her more screen time and focusing on her revitalization of The Lunchbox. However, this would mean the show finally giving her a clearer character arc and trajectory. The Conners season 6 wasted Louise’s story by ignoring her school board campaign, even though the series mentioned that she won the race in the end. I can picture season 7 repeating this mistake with Harris, revealing that she has turned around Jackie’s failing restaurant without showing the work that went into this.
Harris deserves to be more than a mere Gen Z stereotype and later seasons of The Conners have at least tried to do something different with her character. Without a clear plan for her development, this has amounted to a string of dramatic, often tragic storylines, but nothing particularly compelling or memorable. Fortunately, season 7 still has enough time to turn the tide on this issue. I know the show can take its younger characters seriously, since Roseanne’s original run gave Darlene a memorably moving character arc. Now, The Conners just needs to take its younger heroine as seriously as Roseanne’s title character.
