Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Conners season 7, episode 3, “Applications, Accusations and a Man-Bag.”
AlthoughThe Connersseason 7 still has three episodes left, I’m unfortunately convinced thatRoseanne’s spinoff will let down one of its most important characters in this final outing.The Conners’ large cast of charactersmakes ending the sitcom franchise a daunting prospect. The series owes Dan, Louise, Darlene, Ben, Mark, Harris, Jackie, Neville, Becky, Tyler, Beverly, and Beverly-Rose a proper sendoff, and that is only accounting for members of the eponymous family and their partners. Ideally, Dan’s best friend Chuck Mitchell should appear again, as well as Natalie West’s Crystal.
As such, the fact that there are only three episodes left in the spinoff’s final outing is a major red flag, as are the manynew characters ofThe Connersseason 7. Some of these characters justify their presence, like Jane Lynch’s laidback lawyer Jean. Jean helps the Conner family mount a case against the pharmaceutical manufacturers who made the drugs that killed Roseanne, so she has a major role to play in the family’s financial fate in the upcoming finale.
The Conners Season 7 Barely Focuses On Harris Running The Lunchbox
Harris’s Management Struggles Haven’t Been Mentioned As Of Episode 3
However, characters like Seth Green’s Chad and Zoe Perry’s sardonic police officer feel like they belong in an earlier season that had more screen time to explore side stories. What makes this more troubling is the fact thatThe Connersseason 7 has almost entirely forgotten one of season 6’s most compelling unfinished plots. WhileBecky’sThe Connersseason 7 storylinesaw her finally address her unresolved guilt over Roseanne’s overdose, episode 3, “Applications, Accusations and a Man-Bag,” barely even mentioned Emma Kenney’s Harris.
Morris Chestnut offered Harris a chance to take over managing the Lanford Lunchbox since she had a lot of promising ideas for revitalizing the ailing eatery.
Darlene’s daughter spent years searching for a purpose throughout the early seasons ofThe Conners, but she finally alighted on a promising career path in season 6, episode 1, “The Publisher Cops Show Pilot.” When aKitchen Nightmares-style series visited the Lanford Lunchbox, Jackie finally admitted that her heart wasn’t in the business anymore. The show’s host, Nick Offerman’s celebrity chef, Morris Chestnut, offered Harris a chance to take over managing the restaurant since she had a lot of promising ideas for revitalizing the ailing eatery.
At first, this seemed like a perfect role for Harris, who had spent years running from her family’s legacy. She had a chance to embrace being a Conner, butThe Connersseason 7 episode dropping Harris entirelydidn’t bode well for this storyline. Throughout season 6, the spinoff constantly hinted at interesting avenues for this plot but never followed any of them. In episode 9, “Manifesting, Marriage Testing and Cheeseballs,” Harris suffered a sudden panic attack due to the pressure of running a restaurant alone. Later that episode, she received an adult ADHD diagnosis, but this was soon forgotten.
How The Lunch Box Is Tied To The Roseanne Franchise’s Legacy
Harris’s The Conners Season 7 Story Could Have Redeemed Roseanne’s Legacy
When Jackie lets the restaurant go inThe Connersseason 6 premiere and urges Harris to make something of it, she calls the location an “Albatross around the neck” of the family.The Lunchbox has been part of the Conner family’s story for generations, with Roseanne and Jackie working there for years before they bought a stake in the restaurant near the end of the show’s original run. The sisters co-owned the restaurant with their mother, Beverly, and the late, great Martin Mull’s recurringRoseannecharacter, Leon Carp. However, when the Lunchbox came back inThe Conners, Leon was never mentioned.
Ames McNamara
Mark Conner-Healy
Instead, Jackie discovered Beverly still owned her stake in the location, which had fallen into disrepair. She pleaded and demanded with Beverly and Darlene, eventually reopening the restaurant with their blessing. WhileJackie and Roseanne’s shared storywas always sad, it was sweet to see the surviving sister try and make their shared business a success so many years later. Similarly, Harris and Roseanne’s troubled relationship could have turned Darlene’s daughter taking over the restaurant into a sweet twist, but the emotional implications of this have been under-explored in season 7.
By Ignoring Harris, The Conners Is Not Giving The Lunch Box The Focus It Deserves
The Restaurant Was A Locus Of The Eponymous Family’s Ambitions Over The Decades
Over the decades,The Lunchbox became a symbol of the Conner family’s resiliencein their relentless attempts to work their way out of financial hardship. However,The Connersseason 7’s Harris plot could also have made up for Roseanne’s mistreatment of Darlene’s daughter inRoseanne’s season 10 revival. As noted byYouTubecreator Jose, Roseanne was radically opposed to the inhumane practice of physically disciplining children in season 6, episode 11, “The Driver’s Seat,” wherein she tearfully apologized to her son DJ after hitting him.
In contrast, season 10, episode 3, “Roseanne Gets the Chair” infamously saw Roseanne dunk a teenage Harris’s head in a sink full of dirty dishes. This gag was intended to be treated as a harmless joke as Harris was portrayed as an insufferable character, but it read more as a disappointing betrayal of Roseanne’s original characterization. WhileRoseanne’s death shapedThe Conners, season 7’s inability to highlight Harris’s growth proves thatRoseanne’s spinoff never truly embraced the next generation of the family.
Emma Kenney’s The Conners Season 7’s Filming Schedule Doesn’t Bode Well For Harris’s Story
Kenney Finished Shooting The Conners Season 7 Back in October 2024
In October 2024, Harris’s actor Emma Kenney shared an Instagram post celebrating her final day shooting the sitcom. This implies that she wasn’t around for the entire production, which doesn’t bode well for her plot. After all, she has already appeared in episode 2, “Fame, Flying Fists, and Cold Feet,” and there are only three episodes left, meaning it is hard to imagine Harris' personal journey towards embracing her spiteful grandmother’s old restaurant getting any meaningful exploration.
When Harris was first introduced, she was little more than a walking justification for Roseanne to embrace retrograde parenting practices and share tired, stereotypical complaints about Gen Z. In later seasons, she developed a personality of her own, and, even thoughJackie’sThe Connersarcand Dan’s growth consistently received more screen time and focus, she began to feel like a more rounded, fully realized character.
Kenney’s character was primed to become a fitting successor to Roseanne and Darlene, a smart, sensitive, but stubborn and sharp young woman whose ambition and intelligence were matched only by her sardonic nature and temper.
By the time she took over the Lunchbox in season 6, Kenney’s character was primed to become a fitting successor to Roseanne and Darlene, a smart, sensitive, but stubborn and sharp young woman whose ambition and intelligence were matched only by her sardonic nature and temper. However,The Connersseason 7 has instead relegated her to the background. In the process,The Connersseason 7 is letting down not only Harris but also aRoseannelocation that was once the heart of the original series.
