Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Conners season 7, episode 3, “Applications, Accusations and a Man-Bag.”

Not only does Mark’s The Conners season 7 storyline was never going to end well, but the character seemed like he could avoid serious trouble at first. Desperate to save up enough money to pay the University of Chicago’s tuition fees, Mark began working with a group of hackers in the season 6 finale. The job was lucrative but also sketchy, and season 7’s premiere soon revealed his work was outright illegal.

Thanks to The Conners season 7 episode 1 forgot Harris, Mark’s sister, the next outing ignored Mark’s subplot. However, this storyline returned dramatically in season 7, episode 3, “Applications, Accusations and a Man-Bag,” when Darlene found out the truth about Mark’s employment and gave him an ultimatum.

Mark Blamed Darlene For David Leaving Her In The Conners (But He Was Only Half-Correct)

Mark Misrepresented His Mother’s Relationship With David During A Fight

Darlene told Mark that he could either quit his job or move out of her house and, rather than seeing this as a reason to find a new, safer job, Mark reacted as if she was throwing him out. Quitting before he had saved up enough money to afford the University of Chicago’s tuition fees wasn’t an option as far as he was concerned, so Mark bitterly told his mother Darlene that she was driving him away just as she drove away his sister Harris and his father David.

David was a presence in the lives of his children, but he was so unreliable and inconsistent that Darlene eventually demanded him to either commit to the family or leave.

Anyone familiar with the story of The Conners and Roseanne knows that this is technically true to an extent, but it is a one-sided reading of the family dynamic that places an inordinate amount of blame on Darlene. Mark’s father David left him and Harris long before Roseanne’s death started The Conners, but he returned sporadically in seasons 1 and 2 of the spinoff. David was a presence in the lives of his children, but he was so unreliable and inconsistent that Darlene eventually demanded him to either commit to the family or leave.

In their tense final couple’s therapy session, David finally got Darlene to it that she resented what an unreliable flake he was, and the couple bitterly parted ways for good. Thus, David’s off-screen role in “Applications, Accusations and a Man-Bag,” was fittingly tragic, but not as good as an actual cameo from actor Johnny Galecki’s character could have been. Before The Conners season 7 began, the show’s creators told TVLine that original Roseanne star and sitcom mainstay Galecki would not be reprising his role as David in the spinoff's final outing.

David's Presence In His Kids' Life Means Mark Would Have A Better Understanding Of His Parents' Dynamic

Mark’s The Conners Season 7 Episode 3 Makes David’s Absence Disappointing

Viewers should not get their hopes up for a comeback from Roseanne’s David Healy since it has already been confirmed that he will not return. However, it would have been a perfectly fitting, full-circle narrative moment if Mark left Darlene’s home to live with David. In of plot, it is clear the spinoff would have benefited from his return, but Galecki is semi-retired and the many new characters in The Conners season 7 needed the screen time his comeback would have required.

Darlene expected both Mark and David to act more responsibly and, decades apart, both left her as a result.

Mark was trying to hurt his mother when he claimed she had driven David away. However, the comment was brutally effective because there was some twisted truth to the claim. Darlene expected both Mark and David to act more responsibly and, decades apart, both left her as a result. David was an unreliable parent but, because his children barely saw him, Mark continues to be oblivious to his character flaws and identifies with him at times of conflict.

Why David Hasn't Returned In The Conners Season 7 Episode 3

Galecki’s Comeback Would Be Perfectly Timed In The Conners Season 7 Episode 4

Galecki played Darlene’s love interest in Roseanne and the early seasons of The Conners and, despite his commitments to The Big Bang Theory, the star had a major role in the spinoff at first. It was genuinely hard to tell if Darlene would end up with David or Ben for a long time, but the spinoff brought this storyline to a close after his exit. After Jackie and Becky’s The Conners storylines became the spinoff’s main focus in seasons 4 and 5, the season 5 finale “Grad Finale” saw Mark give up on his father for good.

Mark was excited when David promised to attend his high school graduation in that episode, and crestfallen when David pulled out at the last minute. Mark then said that Ben was more of a father to him than David. As such, it is somewhat surprising that “Applications, Accusations and a Man-Bag” mentioned David Healy at all when The Conners seemed to have already ended the story of Roseanne’s Darlene love interest for good two seasons earlier.

Source: TVLine

Enjoy ScreenRant's primetime coverage? Click below to sign up for our weekly Network TV newsletter (make sure to check "Network TV" in your preferences) and get the inside scoop from actors and showrunners on your favorite series.

SIGN UP NOW!