Although Louise Cathy Sagal was absent for a long time in season 4 of Conners, the character’s arc could have become even stronger thanks to this. When Louise first appeared on Conners, her role in the series wasn’t particularly clear. Created as a potential love interest for Dan back in the first season of Conners, she was soon demoted to friend status when Dan made it clear that he had not forgotten his late wife Roseanne.
However, the Conners soon revealed that Louise was not Roseanne’s replacement and, as Sagal’s character established her own identity, Louise’s romantic relationship with Dan improved. By the third season of Conners, the duo were dating, and by the fourth season they were married, only because of an untimely real accident that prevented Sagal from acting. However, the otherwise bumpy Season 4 largely managed to solve this problem by speeding up the development of Louise’s character and, as a result, making Conners more dramatic and convincing.
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Sitcom legend Sagal was hit by a car at the end of 2021, which led to a long break from filming while she was recovering. This led to Louise and Dan spending most of season 4 of “Conners” apart, which means that the expected shift in family dynamics was postponed because the newcomer never showed up after the wedding. However, shortly after returning, Louise proposed a plan to help Becky and Darlene move, proving that her active presence would shake up the family of the same name. Meanwhile, the plot of “Big Negotiations and Disappointed Expectations” (season 4, episode 17) brought Louise’s arc back on track even more with an explosive fight between Dan and Louise, which directly showed how much her presence changes the family.
All of this was somewhat unexpected, as Louise received a surprisingly muted return in the dramatic episode of filming “Trigger” (season 4, episode 15). However, distracting Louise from Jackie and Becky’s fight in this episode would be bad… timing, while suspending her character throughout this outing proved she could provide support when the Conners needed her. This made it even more effective when the idea of Becky and Darlene (or Dan and Louise) moving in forced the family to face the reality that Dan’s marriage was changing their dynamic.
While the filming episode showed that Louise was a caring addition to the family, the negotiations and unfulfilled expectations proved that she would not let Dan forget about her to help his adult children. While it might seem heartless, the fact that Louise quietly helped Darlene and Becky in an earlier episode by suggesting Dan build them a house proves that she really cares about them in this way, Sagal’s slow return to the Conners has given her character a more satisfying arch in which Louise can fend for herself. in a titled friendly family, at the same time proving that she cares about them.
