An extended member of the Conner family just returned after a six-year absence.
Season 6, Episode 5 of the Roseanne spinoff welcomed back legacy cast member Natalie West as Roseanne and Dan’s longtime friend (and Dan’s eventual stepmother) Crystal Anderson, who was last seen midway through The Conners‘ inaugural 2018 run. But before we get to what brought Crystal back after all these years, let’s recap where she’s been and what we already knew from previous episodes of Roseanne’s 2018 revival and its long-running offshoot.
West was a series regular in Roseanne Seasons 3 and 4, and recurred before and after. Crystal appeared in a total of 59 episodes across Roseanne‘s 10 seasons.
In Roseanne Season 3, Crystal got involved with Dan’s deadbeat dad Ed (played by the late Ned Beatty). They eventually married and had two children, Ed Jr. and Angela. Crystal also had a son, Lonnie, from a previous marriage.
When West reprised Crystal in a pair of Season 10 episodes, she made no mention of Ed Sr. or their children. What’s more, her ring finger was naked. Had she and Ed divorced?
She then returned in The Conners‘ October 2018 premiere to grieve Roseanne, along with Dan and the rest of the family. That was followed by an additional appearance later that season, at which point we learned that Crystal tired of retirement and returned to her service job at a local casino. That was the last we saw of her.
The following season, Dan found out — via the obituary page in the local paper — that Ed Sr. died. Father and son had not spoken in 20 years. Or so we were told.
Soon after, Dan reconnected with Ed Jr. (played by Noel Fisher). Jr. in passing mentioned a younger sister — that’d be Angela, who was just an infant in Roseanne Season 6 — but neither Dan nor Jr. acknowledged Crystal or Lonnie during that Season 2 arc.
That brings us to Crystal’s return in The Conners Season 6. In the episode, titled “When Sisters Collide and The Return of the Grifters,” Jackie’s husband Neville (played by recurring guest star Nat Faxon) found out that the money he loaned Dan at the end of Season 5 to hire a lawyer was not in fact used to fight a DUI.
We eventually learned that Dan used the money to pay for Crystal’s medical bills. She was staying with Dan for a couple of weeks, having just gotten out of the hospital.
“I used the $500 to buy her heart medicine,” Dan told Neville. “She was embarrassed to be taking a handout.
“When she was married to my dad, she noticed her ankles started swelling,” he explained. “My dad didn’t want to pay for a bunch of expensive tests, so he convinced her that all she needed was diuretics…. He was always trying to beat the system. He talked me into getting them from my doctor, and like a fool, I went along with it and she never got tested.”
Later, she was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. “She just found out about a year ago, and I carry some of the blame for that,” he said.
But… when exactly did Crystal get sick? Was it more than 20 years ago? Because last we heard, Dan and Ed Sr. weren’t on speaking terms before his death. And if Crystal was Ed Sr.’s widow, as Dan put it, wouldn’t she have told her stepson about his father’s death, versus letting him find out about it in the obituaries? And why couldn’t Ed Jr., Lonnie or Angela help provide for their ailing mother?
Yeah, the math isn’t mathing.
What did you think of Crystal’s return in The Conners Season 6, Episode 5? Were you thrown by the obvious continuity errors? Let us know in Comments.
I’m glad to see her back as she kind of disappeared. It would be interesting to see Jerry up show but mostly they should let DJ be on some episodes again
I wish they would bring back Sandra Bernhardt as Nancy for a few episodes, she used to be Jackie and Roseanne’s friend and business partner at the Llanford Lunchbox!
She should’ve showed up when Dan’s father died.
My guess is that Crystal and Ed divorced long before he died. She had a history of multiple marriages. And he had a history of not being dedicated to his family. Dan was against that marriage and it would make sense that he became estranged from his father when the two divorced.
Crystal was married ONCE before but her husband (Lonnie) died while building a bridge (and according to the show may still be in the bridge as Crystal loses it when Roseanna forgot to take an alternate route when she was driving Crystal and drove over the bridge. Crystal always added some great comedy to the original show from her love of Pink Squirrels to her reaction from the ladies taunting her with My Baby Does the Hanky Panky.
While Dan’s father was absentee for the most point, it was shown that his father could not deal with Dan’s mother’s mental illness,
It was Booker who drove over the bridge with Crystal. Roseanne and Dan took Crystal to the bridge so that she could talk to her late husband.
It was Jackie who drove her over the bridge as they were late for work and had to take is.
Sonny was her late husband. Lonnie was her son.
Wrong. Crystal was married THREE TIMES prior to marrying Ed: to Travis, to Rusty, and then to Sonny (Lonnie’s father).
It was Jackie who drove her over the bridge on their own to work. Booker didn’t believe the story and asked her about it thinking it was a joke. Crystal started crying and ran into the bathroom.
Yes. I just did a rewatched the original Roseanne seasons from 1-9. He finally tells Dan the truth about his mother’s mental illness and Crystal tells Roseanne that this Dad used to tell Dan that his mother was away visiting relatives when she was actually institutionalized several times as he was growing up.
So excited to see Crystal back. She should be a full time cast member again.
I still bugs me that they wrote out both kids…I would have been satisfied if they said both had died in an accident…done..no need to cast. Jackie pregnancy was a big deal in the show ( she was pregnant in real life .. with Sheldon’s mom lol) Anyways.
Actually, she had a son while Roseanne was on. She has Zoe Perry in 83.
Yes and Zoe played in 2 episodes the younger version of Jackie.
1983 was 5 years before “Roseanne” premiered.
Honestly I don’t mind Jerry not existing. They barely used D.J no sense bringing him Jerry back. However Andy, Jackie’s son should have never been written out. They could still write him back in if they wanted too. I would have a back story that he cut Jackie out of his life and wants nothing to do with her. She reaches out to him to fix the relationship. It would be a relationship similar to Jackie and Bev.
They didn’t even need to write Jerry off. They said it in the first episode of the revival: he lives in Alaska. Plenty of families have members who live across the country, so they’re hardly seen. The same could be said of Lonnie and Angela. Why writers feel the need to just sweep characters under the rug like this is ridiculous.
The Connors is just making it up as they go at this point.
That’s how fiction works, yes.
As opposed to real life. It’s called Fiction, it was never advertised as autobiographical. Yikes.
Sheldon’s mom was pregnant with Sheldon’s mom!
I always loved Crystal, hope she stays on !!!!
It was Booker who drove over the bridge with Crystal. Roseanne and Dan took Crystal to the bridge so that she could talk to her late husband.
Yes! Crystal is an important cast member and a great connection to the original series, Roseanne.
This show hasn’t been funny or enjoyable since Roseanne Barr left.
Clearly you’re in the minority given how many seasons it’s had.
they make the same comment every episode… they’re like obsessed or something
Crystal was always one of my favorite characters! Hope to see her more often this season as Natalie West is a wonderful character actress.
saw the comments here… crystal will not join the show nd be a regular. the show is already too crowded… fans complain we dont see enough mark and harris and louise and becky and neville etc… we dont need crystal regularly taking up space. but it’s great to get an update and bring her back. she was always a great sidedish to the show
Nice to see crystal again. I hope they bring Leon and Nancy back one day.
I’ve been watching re-runs of this show on CW and The Conners holds up well just like the original show. I hope they get picked up for one more season.
I actually did not like Crystal in the original Roseanne series nor did I like seeing her for a few episodes in the reboot and I’m really not looking forward to seeing her again in The Conners
Glad I read this article. I wondered how the show dealt with the death of the actor who portrayed Dan’s father.
Yes! And hope we will find out what is what with all those lost kids and family!
They are all MAGA wearing republicans so you’ll never see them again. lol 😂
Long running shows need a sort of binder with bullet points about all the characters who are in the universe so writers have something to reference and they don’t end up retconning someone on accident just because they never watched episodes before they got hired.
I am so glad that I stopped watching The Connors after a few episodes. What a mess!
I was very happy to see Crystal! She was a member of the family, after all, and was always an interesting character. It’s nice to have some O.G. characters pop in occasionally. I really want to see Martin Mull as Leon at least once, and it would be nice for Bonnie and/or Nancy to accompany him. Of course, Fred would be awesome to see, if he didn’t get retconned. Booker would be so much fun to see as well…
Crystal’s return in The Conners Season 6, notably in “When Sisters Collide and The Return of the Grifters,” deepens character dynamics. Dan’s choice to allocate funds for Crystal’s medical bills instead of his legal fees illustrates familial bonds and altruism. This narrative touch enhances themes of compassion and sacrifice, enriching the series’ storyline and character development.
The math ain’t been right fir a long long time –
Didn’t Dan die of a heart attack nearly 20 years ago?!?!
Can something good happen to those characters? It seems like all they do is suffer, get sick and be poor. I love the original Roseanne but it’s depressing watching it knowing they’ll continue to fail in life even 30 years later.
We stopped watching this series. It became The Darlene Show. It focused too much on her.