The Conners Ends on an Emotional Note: How the Family Honored Roseanne in the Series Finale

After seven seasons, The Conners said goodbye with an emotional tribute to the family’s late matriarch, Roseanne (Roseanne Barr).

The two-part finale of the ABC sitcom concluded on April 23 with Dan Conner (John Goodman) preparing for his deposition for the lawsuit involving the manufacturer of the drugs that led to Roseanne’s accidental opioid overdose, which was revealed in the premiere episode of The Conners.

He admitted, “The only thing I’m really nervous about is what happens when their lawyer starts to bad mouth Roseanne. I’ve got a long history of punching people in the mouth for that.”

At the deposition, Dan was pressed by the attorneys about Roseanne’s addictive personality, history of overeating and drug use before they suggested that Dan didn’t “want to take responsibility for what happened.”

The patriarch was outraged by the allegation and angrily responded, “If you’re saying what I think you’re saying, that might be the last thing you say, you son of a bitch. I told her she could overdose.”

After the lawyers argued that it couldn’t be the company’s fault since Roseanne knew she was doing something “potentially deadly,” Dan had enough and fought back, saying, “It was the fault of the company. She kept taking those pills because she didn’t tell her that they would change how her brain worked and turn her into an addict. You don’t care how many families you’ve destroyed, the only thing you care about is money.”

“But even if I took every penny you had, it wouldn’t be enough, because you took the love of my life and you killed her, the same as you put a gun to her head,” he continued. “The only difference is you handed her the gun and told her it wasn’t loaded.”

Later, Dan was elated when he found out that the drug company was sending him a check after the deposition, deciding the family should meet at the cemetery and open it together.

Dan was ready to celebrate the family’s sudden good fortune at the cemetery, saying, “This is a great day for the family. Sometimes people like us think you don’t get a silver lining, but if you keep on pushing, sometimes you do.”

However, he was in for a surprise when he opened the envelope and found a letter from the lawyer, in which they denied responsibility for Rosanne’s death and offered him a $700 check as “a tribute to your unwavering commitment to your beloved wife.”

“We always wondered how much a Conner’s life is worth. Now, we know,” he said before the family broke down in laughter and he decided to put the money to “good use” and order food to the house.

Before leaving the cemetery, Becky Conner (Lecy Goranson) spoke to her mom at her gravestone, saying, “Hey, Mom, I’m still sober. Can you believe it? And my psychology degree is really paying off. I got an incredible job. Oh, and I met a great guy, a little needy, but great.”

Darlene Conner (Sara Gilbert) told her late mother that she was doing “what I thought you would do for the family,” adding “It’s not fair that you were here for the hard part and you didn’t get to see that. Things turned out okay… Hey, for us, not for regular people.”

Jackie Harris (Laurie Metcalf) then showed off her police uniform to younger sister after getting back into the force. “I’m really happy now. I know you didn’t think that that was possible, but I figured it out. Oh, and by the way, I have no idea where our mother is. I miss you,” she said.

Finally, it was Dan’s turn to speak to his late wife, sharing, “Well, Rose, we always said if kids were still alive at the end of the day, we did our job. I think we get better than that… I still can’t believe you’re not here.”

“I know you want a good thing for me too, and probably didn’t include Louise (Katey Sagal), but if you meet anybody, wherever you are, I’m cool with it,” he said.

When Dan arrived back at the house, he took the loss of the lawsuit in stride, telling the family, “Going through all this reminds me that no matter how much crap life throws at us, all we got to do is look around, because if we hang together, nothing could stop us.” They all toasted to his words.

After each family member emotionally said goodbye, Dan sat on the sofa as flashbacks played of the family over the years. Then, with a small smile, he said “goodnight” before walking away.