The Conners: What The Season 6 Finale 'Change' Could Mean For Darlene & Ben
For six seasons, the "Roseanne" sequel "The Conners" has explored the light and dark sides of the human condition in a way that can make you laugh out loud and suppress an emotional tear, sometimes simultaneously. Two of the characters who have had their share of rough patches over the years are Darlene Conner-Olinsky (Sara Gilbert) and Ben Olinsky (Jay R. Ferguson). One of the bigger hurdles the two face together is a Season 3 pregnancy scare, which culminates in "The Conners" Season 3, Episode 4 — "Birthdays, Babies, and Emotional Support Chickens." Now, this particular plot point might be making a comeback, thanks to a particular change that's coming in the Season 6 finale.
The plot synopsis of the season finale, "Less Money, More Problems," mentions that the episode sees Darlene trying to cope with news that will profoundly change her family unit. While this could mean anything from extra financial problems to other slice-of-life issues "The Conners" so often explores, the fact that the situation is specifically stated to affect Darlene's household seems to suggest that the show might revisit the pregnancy angle, which is one of the most dramatic event during her time with Ben — possibly with happier results this time around.
Darlene's Season 3 pregnancy news was an important moment for her and Ben
Darlene and Ben have proceeded from an underling-and-boss relationship to a full-on romance and eventually marriage over the seasons. However, when she finally tells him of the pregnancy news in "The Conners" Season 3, Episode 4, things become uncomfortable fast — but not because he's unhappy about the situation. Even though a baby would devastate the pair financially, both Ben and Darlene are pretty elated by the news, which makes it all the more tragic when they find out that the positive pregnancy result was a mistake and there's actually no way they can have children together.
During the events of Season 6, Darlene and Ben have gone through a lot more things, and are even in a slightly better place financially — at least, provided that Ben's decision to use his insurance money windfall to buy Hardware Magazine doesn't prove to be disastrous. At this stage of their lives, giving them a second shot at becoming parents would be a nice callback to their Season 3 arc and perhaps even offer them a genuine chance at a "happily ever after" scenario — as well as insert some extra drama in the show's endgame, given how difficult the pregnancy might turn out to be.
"The Conners" viewers have had interesting theories on how the series will end, but the Season 3 pregnancy arc seems to end so conclusively that bringing it back in the Season 6 finale would be big news for the show's final season. Granted, it might take a real miracle for Darlene and Ben to become parents at this point ... but would "The Conners" fans have any issues with the writing if the show chose to give the couple one?