Even though her actor Estelle Parsons can’t do much filming for The Conners, the show's season 4 finale may bring back Jackie’s mother Beverly, judging by a tease in the penultimate episode. As a rule, The Conners is careful about which Roseanne alumni return to the sitcom spinoff. Although some high-profile Roseanne guest stars like Christopher Lloyd’s Lou appeared on The Conners season 4, the series can’t bring back every supporting star from the earlier hit for fear of feeling like “Roseanne without Roseanne.”
Not only that, but in some cases, it’s not practical for Roseanne stars to appear on The Conners. For example, David Healy rarely shows up on the spinoff thanks to actor Johnny Galecki’s busy schedule, and Roseanne and Jackie’s mother Beverly doesn’t make many appearances in recent seasons as it is difficult for her actor Estelle Parsons to accommodate the travel required for her to appear on The Conners. Despite this, The Conners seemed to set up a season 4 finale cameo from Beverly.
Although The Conners season 4 forgot Jackie’s romance with Neville for a long stretch, the sitcom made up for this when Neville proposed to Jackie at the beginning of “Three Ring Circus.” While she has not technically left The Conners and, indeed, appeared via a Zoom link at one point in season 3, Beverly has been absent throughout season 4 due to a combination of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic prohibiting her actor’s travel options and Estelle Parsons’ advanced age. However, despite these factors, judging by the "Three Ring Circus"’s final scene, Beverly might be making a comeback in The Conners season 4 finale - as Neville telling Dan that he wanted to invite Beverly to his wedding with Jackie smacked of a cameo setup.
However, Dan was still right to warn him against the plan, as Jackie and Bev’s relationship is unusually bitter even for the dysfunctional Conners clan. While Mark’s season 4 absence from The Conners was hard for the sitcom to disguise, so far, The Conners has masterfully covered up Beverly’s absence. Beverly’s general misanthropy provides a believable reason for none of her family to want to visit her, and Mark’s brief phone call with her in an earlier episode was a clever reminder that she is still alive and around, but she wasn’t likely to be back any time soon.
However, Neville’s desire to invite Beverly seemed destined to undo this effective cover-up. The creators of The Conners may have managed to accommodate Beverly’s presence in the season 4 finale, whether via Zoom or in-person, and, if this is the case, the cameo could make up for the character’s absence from Louise and Dan’s wedding earlier in the season. Since the triple wedding will see Ben and Darlene reunited, Jackie and Neville, and (ostensibly) Harris and Aldo get married, Beverly’s presence as a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother would be very fitting. Given the circumstances, it would be fair if Beverly was unable to appear in The Conners season 4 finale—although this would make the preceding episode’s tease an unfortunate misdirect.