The Conners dropped one of Roseanne's best friends from the show's cast even though they already appeared in numerous episodes of the spinoff.

Summary

• The Conners had to drastically reshape its story after Roseanne Barr's firing, resulting in the disappearance of some recurring characters.
• Crystal, a significant character in both Roseanne and the revival, mysteriously vanished in The Conners, despite her potential for interesting story arcs.
• Crystal's disappearance is unusual and leaves fans wondering why she returned briefly only to be dropped again, as if she no longer exists in The Conners' world.

Even though many of Roseanne’s recurring stars cropped up throughout The Conners, the spinoff dropped at least one intriguing figure with no explanation. The Conners had a hard time continuing the story of 2017’s Roseanne revival. When Roseanne season 10 aired, the show was able to revisit the Conner family without changing much about their usual dynamic. However, when series star Roseanne Barr was fired due to racist tweets, The Conners needed to kill her off and radically reshape the sitcom’s story by focusing on her grieving family. Inevitably, this meant that some of Roseanne’s supporting stars were jettisoned.

AsThe Conners season 6 release date approaches, it is pretty clear that the show did an admirable job of continuing Roseanne's story without Roseanne. However, there were casualties in this process. Not only have Roseanne characters like Leon Carp and Anne-Marie Mitchell not yet appeared in The Conners, but the spinoff also gave characters like Chuckie and Bev smaller roles. This problem was epitomized in season 1 of The Conners, when the spinoff inexplicably dropped a recurring Roseanne character without explanation even though she played a significant role in both the show's original run and the season 10 revival.

Crystal Appeared In Roseanne and The Conners But Still Vanished

Natalie West’s Crystal Anderson appeared throughout Roseanne's original run, with the well-meaning but spineless character providing a contrast to the show’s headstrong heroine. Much like Roseanne later clashed with Harris, she butted heads with her good friend Crystal when the character repeatedly fell for grifters or refused to stand up for herself. Crystal was last seen retiring from the casino in season 1, episode 6, “One Flew Over the Conners’ Nest,” but she never appeared in the spinoff again. This was particularly strange because the death of Roseanne seemed like the sort of major event that would have reshaped Crystal’s worldview.

Crystal could have taken Roseanne’s sudden death and her retirement as an opportunity to be more like her old friend or reacted the opposite way and become more sheltered than before. However, The Conners didn’t give her a chance to do either, even though the spinoff did bring her back for two appearances. Most minor Roseanne characters don’t appear on The Conners or, alternatively, play about as big a role on the new show as they did on the original sitcom. However, Crystal is unique in appearing once or twice before seemingly vanishing just as her character’s arc was getting interesting.

Why Crystal’s Conners Disappearance Is So Unusual

In her final appearance, Crystal announced she was retiring. This seemed destined to set up a new story for her, only for Crystal to disappear right after her next life stage was established. This makes it hard to work out why West’s character returned at all since she could have been replaced by another casino co-worker without this switch impacting Darlene's subplot in this outing. Although The Conners season 6 brings back another guest star according to its earliest teaser trailer, fans would be unwise to wait for Crystal’s return with bated breath. Inexplicably, it seems this Roseanne star has ceased to exist in the world of The Conners.

The Conners

Release Date

October 16, 2018

Cast

John Goodman , Sara Gilbert , Macaulay Callard , Laurie Metcalf , Lecy Goranson , Michael Fishman , Emma Kenney , Ames McNamara , Jayden Rey , Maya Lynne Robinson , Jay R. Ferguson