While Katey Sagal’s Louise was a good addition to the cast of The Conners, her first season 6 appearance proves that Roseanne’s spinoff doesn’t know how to use the character. Katey Sagal is a sitcom legend. From 8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenager Daughter to Futurama, the actor has starred in numerous iconic TV comedies. As such, it was exciting news when she was cast as Dan’s new love interest in The Conners. Roseanne’s sudden off-screen death left a major gap in the show’s cast and, while Sagal’s Louise wasn’t a Roseanne replacement, she was a compelling presence.
An outspoken rock musician, Louise was nothing like Dan’s late wife. She shared Roseanne’s quick temper and sharp tongue, but she had no interest in caring for his adult children and often fought with them for Dan’s attention. However, while The Conners season 7 may change this, the spinoff lost its hold on Louise’s character as she became a series regular. Outside of fights about Dan prioritizing his family, Louise had very little to do in seasons 4 and 5. She spent much of season 5 on the road with her band, only to retire from performing when she returned.
Louise’s The Conners Season 6 Episode 4 Plot Was Out of Character
John Goodman’s Dan and Katey Sagal’s Louise look concerned in The Conners season 5
Although it seemed like her retirement would prompt a new chapter for the character, Sagal’s Louise hasn’t had much to do in The Conners season 6. She worked at the Lunchbox in the season premiere and was present when Jackie decided to give Harris control of the restaurant, but she barely played a role in this storyline. While Mark was absent from The Conners season 6’s first three episodes, he at least received a full storyline of his own in episode 4, “Shrinks Don’t Talk and Kids Don’t Sing.” In contrast, Louise’s episode 4 B-story betrayed her character completely.
When she began teaching music lessons at Beverly-Rose’s school, Louise accepted the school board’s refusal to play ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” since it seemingly referenced drag queens. Louise was a professional rock musician for years, so it was hard to imagine her acquiescing to the school board’s homophobic censorship guidelines without a fight. She eventually changed her tune by the end of the episode, but the conflict didn’t ring true in the first place. Mark and Becky shamed Louise into standing up for the students, but Dan’s rebellious love interest would never have gone along with this reactionary policy in the first place.
The Conners Season 6 Still Struggles With Louise’s Role
Katey Sagal as Louise and John Goodman as Dan in The Conners season 6
While the entire cast of characters in The Conners have battled authority figures for years, Louise is arguably even more of a rebel than the show’s original heroine, Roseanne. Despite this, her role in the spinoff has been muted in recent seasons. The revelation that she is running for the school board at the end of the episode should give her character purpose going forward, but the series has historically failed to find a role for her beyond Dan’s love interest. While The Conners season 6 can fix this, it will only succeed if Roseanne’s spinoff gets Louise’s character right.
