‘The Conners’: Darlene ‘Pregnancy’ Twist Plays out Unexpectedly

Ahead of Wednesday night’s episode of The Conners, the show revealed via a promotional clip that Darlene (Sara Gilbert) was expecting a baby with her boyfriend Ben (Jay R. Ferguson). Fans finally got to see how this pregnancy news played out on the latest episode of the series. But unfortunately, Darlene was told by her doctor that she actually received a false positive when she took her pregnancy test.

At the beginning of the episode, Darlene could be seen excitedly telling both Ben and Becky (Lecy Goranson) that she was pregnant. She later had a chat with her doctor over video about her pregnancy, but he shared some heartbreaking news instead. The doctor said that Darlene must have had a false positive when she took her pregnancy test, as she is not pregnant. He even told her that she was peri-menopause and that she will not be able to have more children in the future. Darlene later had to break the news to Ben, who offered his support but did admit that he was heartbroken to hear that the pair will not be having a baby together.

Darlene has been going through a series of major changes and difficult times during the latest season of The Conners. She made a big career move towards the beginning of the season. In the Season 3 premiere, the Conner family discussed the fact that Wellman Plastics, the location where the late Roseanne (Roseanne Barr) and Jackie (Laurie Metcalf), worked on the original Roseanne, was re-opening. Jackie even reminisced about the times that she spent with her former supervisor, Booker, who was played by George Clooney. The Conners even included a flashback to a scene from the original Roseanne in which Jackie and Booker could be seen flirting as they played a round of bowling. In the present, Jackie even said about Booker, “Man, I shoulda hit that until I broke it.” By the end of the premiere, both Darlene and Becky had secured jobs at Wellman Plastics.

As viewers are well aware, all of these exciting life changes for Darlene and the rest of the family are taking place amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. In an interview with Newsweek, published in late October, Gilbert, who also executive produces The Conners, opened up about why the show is uniquely qualified to showcase what life is like during this unprecedented time in the nation’s history. “The Conners are well equipped for a pandemic because they are overall very isolated and self-contained. And they’re constantly in crisis,” Gilbert said. “So it’s not like we’re ever really thriving and have tons of money and tons of resources. I feel like from their perspective, they’re like, okay, this is the next hurdle we have to get through and this life, and they just take it more in stride.”