The Conners Review: Cheating, Revelations and a Box of Doll Heads

After years of speculation, we finally get to the real scoop on the Becky/Mark relationship. The Conners Season 3 Episode 18, “Cheating, Revelations and a Box of Doll Heads,” uses Becky’s recovery to address something that has weighed on our minds for a very long time.

Ever since the days of the original Roseanne, the relationship between Mark and Becky has seemed a bit unhealthy. Now, we finally find out not only how he died, but how that death caused the start of Becky’s excessive drinking.

While it’s not surprising that a loss could cause an alcohol problem, the real revelation behind it is how she truly felt about him. Becky’s always been either tight-lipped about Mark or singing his praises. 

Therefore, it comes as quite a shock when she breaks down during family therapy saying he ruined her life. This is a step toward some real recovery for her. 

Holding in all that she felt about Mark and her squandered future hasn’t been beneficial for her so far. Maybe now Becky can get back on track.

Even if she can’t get back that future she should have had, maybe now she can accept that she is a bright woman with a brilliant head on her shoulders. It’s a shame that our suspicions about Mark’s behavior toward her have been correct all these years.

She deserved to go to college and become the doctor she wanted to be. Dan is correct to say that he was a selfish man for even considering taking that away from her.

Which is another major revelation to us all. Dan has never been as outspoken about things as Roseanne once was, but he’s never been afraid to stand up to his children when he feels they are making a bad decision. 

So why did he stay silent about Mark for so long? Did he feel he was protecting his daughter more by keeping quiet?

Either way, it’s great that the two of them are now airing out their feelings to each other. The relationship between Becky and Dan has always been starkly different than that between Darlene and Dan. It’s been more gentle and subtle.

Unfortunately, without us noticing, that relationship has been slowly fading away. The Conners does a great job of subtly pointing out to us that we’ve been missing out on it without even realizing it. 

Now that Mark’s legacy, or lack thereof, has been brought back to the surface, Becky can start to take her recovery seriously and make major strides toward sobriety. It’s all anyone can ask for from her and I’m happy to see her family standing behind her 100%.

With Becky’s journey to sobriety well on its way, I’d be interested to see The Conners turn focus to Darlene once again. Her stability seems to be in check during “Cheating, Revelations and a Box of Doll Heads,” but maybe that’s because she is focused on others.

Darlene has been nothing if not the strong mama bear type when it comes to her kids. This time, Mark is being denied opportunities to get into a prestigious high school.

Watching her try to give Mark every advantage he deserves is fantastic to see. Darlene truly is her mother’s daughter in all the best ways. 

Honestly, Mark getting into a prestigious program parallels with his uncle’s life in the best ways possible. If Mark Heeley is the epitome of a controlling, selfish person then Mark Heeley-Conner is the epitome of a sweet, selfless human.

They may share a name, but the two Marks are on opposite ends of the spectrum of behavior. His uncle was a lazy, unmotivated slacker and young Mark loses sleep for a week in order to learn math concepts he missed due to remote learning. 

“Cheating, Revelations and a Box of Doll Heads,” is the perfect time to bring up both of these subject matters because they parallel each other in many different ways. It shows just how much The Conners works to either redeem characters or re-invent the legacy of a name. 

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The Conners airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on ABC.

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