‘The Conners’: Darlene Struggles in Season Premiere After Major David Cliffhanger

Darlene Conner has a choice to make on The Conners during Season 2, but it seems it will take her some time to decide between her love interests. The Season 1 finale established a serious love triangle between Darlene (Sara Gilbert), her boyfriend and boss Ben (Jay R. Ferguson) and her childhood sweetheart and baby daddy, David (Johnny Galecki). Tuesday’s all new premiere episode saw her struggling with juggling her complex love life, but it seems choosing between one or the other will take a while.

Spoilers ahead for The Conners Season 2 Premiere: “Preemies, Weed and Infidelity”

The episode revolved mostly around the premature birth of Becky’s baby girl, as Darlene opened up to Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) about struggling to decide between the two men in her life. She admitted to her aunt early in the episode that she had continued her relationship with Ben, but had also been seeing and “making out” with David in secret ever since his love confession.

Jackie advised her to cut the cord on one of the relationships, but Darlene was adamant of letting go of one of her suitors. Things took a complicated turn after Becky went to the hospital, when Darlene reunited with Ben at the office.

She sends him on an errand so he avoids hearing her talking with David on the phone and is almost caught. However, Ben adds a new layer to the drama when he asks Darlene to move in with him. With him living farther away from Lanford, Darlene has struggled with the commute, along with juggling her kids, so he suggests they blend their lives together even further. Darlene says she will think about, while internally freaking out as her relationship with David has also shown some improvement.

The relationship drama takes another toll on Darlene after she and Dan (John Goodman) find out Harris (Emma Kenney) has been selling weed cookies to her classmates. Darlene is outraged that her daughter is behaving this way and confronts her at the hospital, but Harris claps back saying the substance will be legal in Illinois in a few months, and Darlene has not been around to see what she’s been up to lately anyway.

Darlene is outraged and takes it out on Dan, blaming him for not being on top of Harris. Dan points out that he is not Harris’ child so it’s not his job, and he calls out Darlene for focusing more on her relationships than her children.

The episode ends with little resolution as Jackie finds Darlene leaving her room to get food for her and David. Darlene announces she will continue to pursue both relationships for the time being and see what happens.

Should Darlene pick Ben or David? The Conners airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.