The Conners Season 6’s Saddest Story Revived A Forgotten Plot

• Becky’s addiction struggles resurfaced in The Conners season 6, with her internship at a rehab clinic leading to personal turmoil.
• Despite the dark themes, The Conners handles the Conner family’s challenges with humor and resilience.
• Becky’s relationship with Tyler deepened as they navigated her past addiction issues together, showing promise for their future.

Although The Conners season 6 isn’t the sitcom’s darkest outing, the Roseanne spinoff did revive one of its saddest storylines in episode 11. The Conners has a big cast of characters and they have faced more than their fair share of trauma over the decades. Since Roseanne started its original run back in 1989, the Conner family has struggled with poverty, unexpected pregnancies, addiction, domestic abuse, alcoholism, unemployment, and injury. Even the show’s name change came about because of an offscreen tragedy, with Roseanne’s original eponymous heroine being killed off after the show’s season 10 revival in 2018.

While The Conners season 7 might see the family’s fortunes turn around, the tragic circumstances that they have faced don’t make the series dour or bleak. If anything, the tribulations that the Conners have confronted prove just how much the blue-collar family can handle challenges with a battle-hardened sense of humor. The Conners season 6 addressed a real-life Roseanne tragedy when Becky finally explained the death of her first husband to her daughter, but later in the same scene, the series was mining laughs out of Darlene’s attempts to lighten the mood. Becky’s subsequent season 6 storyline repeated this.

The Conners Season 6 Episode 11 Addressed Becky’s Addiction Issues

Interning At A Rehab Clinic Led Becky To Some Dark Places

Although it hasn’t been mentioned in a few seasons, Becky’s recovery from addiction was one of the hardest things The Conners heroine ever went through. Despite how heavy this topic is, season 6, episode 11, “Fire and Vice,” found a way to bring up the theme that didn’t feel forced or exploitative. As part of her Psychology course, Becky began interning at a rehab center where she encountered patients who were deep in the throes of addiction. Against the advice of her family and her boyfriend Tyler, Becky started to blur professional boundaries by giving these patients her phone number.

While The Conners’ Darlene has been the more downbeat and introspective of the two sisters since Roseanne’s early days, Becky found herself becoming increasingly depressed, erratic, and angry as she spent more time at the rehab center. This led to a fight with Tyler wherein she insisted that he wanted her to ignore addicts whiile he warned her that she was getting too heavily involved in their lives. Eventually, Becky was forced to confront her personal history when a patient stole her truck while she tried to guilt trip Louise and Jackie into letting the recovering addict stay with them.

Becky’s History Of Addiction In The Conners Explained

Becky Sobered Up In Season 1 But Relapsed In Season 3

Becky’s behavior seemed strange, but it makes sense for viewers who recall her long history with addiction. Becky’s drinking problem was first addressed as early as The Conners season 1, episode 2, “Tangled Up In Blue,” when Dan learned about Becky’s issues with alcohol. This problem went on to define her character arc throughout much of seasons 1 and 2, as Becky gave up drinking and had a child, Beverly-Rose. Becky feared that her drinking would affect her ability to breastfeed but was fortunately okay, although her addiction issues didn’t end there.

In season 3, Becky relapsed and hid her drinking from her family for numerous episodes. While Roseanne’s 2017 revival had its fair share of dark storylines, this was one of the show’s heaviest character arcs. Jackie confronted Becky when she attempted to drive drunk and Becky was sent to rehab, but she left early after insisting that her problem wasn’t serious. Becky gave up drinking for good in season 3, episode 19, “Jeopardé, Sobrieté, and Infidelité,” and it was her recovery that influenced her decision to study psychology. In the years since, she has remained sober.

The Conners Season 6 Improved Becky’s Story With This Twist

Becky Deepened Her Relationship With Her Love Interest Tyler

While Becky didn’t go back to drinking in “Fire and Vice,” she did imperil an important bond with her unstable behavior. Becky’s relationship with Tyler is her most promising romantic relationship in years, as Sean Astin’s kindly pilot quickly became part of the titular family in season 6. While Ben and Darlene’s messy The Conners history has been through tougher patches than Tyler and Becky, it was still worrying to see Becky tell Tyler to leave while she insisted that he was uncaring and she was morally superior. Fortunately, the pair eventually saw eye to eye.

Jackie sat Becky down after her truck was stolen and confronted her about overstretching her relationship with the clinic’s patients. She then left Tyler and Becky to discuss the traumatic elements of working with recovering addicts, allowing the couple to strengthen their bond by proving that Tyler was ready to support Becky through even the darkest times. Becky and Tyler’s relationship has the potential to last now that he has seen the Roseanne heroine struggle, proving The Conners season 6 was right to unexpectedly revive this dark storyline.