Louise’s promising school board campaign in The Conners season 6 was forgotten, lacking screen time and character development.
Katey Sagal’s character, Louise, never got a chance to shine in the show despite her potential and her actor’s sitcom veteran status.
The Conners season 7 has the opportunity to salvage Louise’s storyline by focusing on her school board position and internal struggles.
Although The Conners season 6 seemed set to provide one supporting character with a solid storyline of her own, Roseanne’s spinoff ultimately forgot about this plot before the outing’s finale. The Conners has a large cast of characters, so it is inevitable that not everyone gets a storyline for themselves in every episode. Mark didn’t even appear in the first three episodes of season 6, but his character arc proved central to the last five episodes of the series. Now, The Conners season 7 is set to focus on his journey while other characters take a backseat.
Some supporting stars haven’t enjoyed the spotlight in some time as the show focuses on their co-stars for seasons at a time. Although he played a substantial role in Roseanne’s original run, Michael Fishman’s DJ was cut from The Conners before season 5 began since he hadn’t had a substantial subplot of his own in a long time. While Mark’s story in The Conners season 6 finale means he is unlikely to suffer the same fate, Dan’s second wife has not been quite so lucky. Katey Sagal’s Louise had a promising season 6 story, but this plot went nowhere.
Upon learning that Beverly-Rose’s school was banning songs for fear of offending parents, Becky began protesting this censorship in season 6, episode 4, “Shrinks Don’t Talk and Kids Don’t Sing.” Initially, Louise didn’t feel compelled to join Mark and Becky’s protest even though she was a volunteer music teacher at the school. Eventually, Louise had a change of heart and decided to not only protest the decision but also run for the school board. Louise’s school board campaign could have been a tense subplot, but it was barely mentioned again between her initial announcement and the season 6 finale.
Viewers could be forgiven for missing Louise’s season 6 subplot entirely since, outside a few cursory mentions and one subplot involving Jackie, the entire campaign took place off-screen.
By The Conners season 6 finale, Louise had won her campaign and been elected to the school board. Viewers could be forgiven for missing this subplot entirely since, outside a few cursory mentions and one subplot involving Jackie, the entire campaign took place off-screen. Since school boards across America are currently embroiled in a political battle over LGBTQ+ rights and education, Louise’s plot could have been a timely, relevant storyline that addressed a real-life issue. Instead, the entire plot was background noise except for episode 10, “Campaign U-Turn and a Hard Write,” which had an even bigger problem.
As a child-free person, Louise was understandably afraid that she wouldnt win over parents.
In that episode, Jackie’s retirement led her to demand a role as Louise’s campaign manager. Being Jackie, she immediately overstepped her boundaries and started smearing Louise’s opponent. Although Jackie’s subplot was funny, it didn’t result in much character growth for Louise. Louise almost became The Conners’ Roseanne replacement when she realized that she would need to make herself seem like more of a family woman to appeal to voters. As a child-free person, Louise was understandably afraid that she wouldn’t win over parents. Unfortunately, nothing ever came from this fear since the subplot was abandoned in the following episodes.
When Louise did get some screen time, it was because Jackie wanted to be her campaign manager and because Becky wanted her to join the protest in the first place. Louise’s season 6 story was never her own, with all the subplots related to her campaign sidelining the character herself. Sagal is a sitcom veteran who has starred in classic shows like Married… With Children, 8 Simple Rules, and Futurama, so it was frustrating to see her talents wasted in plots that barely even required Louise’s presence. Sadly, The Conners never found a meaningful role for Dan’s second wife.
Now that Louise has won her school board campaign, she can finally have a role outside the family that gives her character purpose. The Conners season 7 will end the series, but there is still plenty of time for Louise to make more of an impression on viewers. The responsibilities of her school board position could soon get to Louise, or she may find politics a great fit for her. Her retirement means that she has more time than ever to focus on the school board, but this could clash with her shifts at The Lunchbox.
This may lead to fights with Harris, who took over the restaurant and hopes to reinvent the struggling establishment. Harris’s desire to make The Lunchbox work could make Louise’s school board responsibilities a problem, which would allow season 7 to flesh out Louise’s internal life while incorporating other characters into her story. Much like The Conners had to drop Roseanne to save the show’s overarching story, the spinoff now needs to prioritize Louise to ensure she is more than Dan’s love interest. The Conners season 7 can pull this off, but Roseanne’s spinoff needs to switch its focus soon.
