Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Conners season 5, episode 18.

While Mark seems to have a drastically reduced role in The Conners season 5, the Roseanne spinoff may have cut back on the supporting star’s screen time for good reason. Oftentimes, sitcoms will draw focus away from one member of their ensemble cast by highlighting other members of their lineup. For example, in the Roseanne spinoff The Conners' season 4, the family sitcom focused on Becky, Darlene, and Dan for a few episodes so that Jackie’s actor Laurie Metcalf could film a role in Hacks season 2.

However, Mark’s storyline in The Conners season 5 (or, rather, the character’s lack of a storyline) is not quite so easy to explain. A glance at actor Ames McNamara’s IMDb page proves that the character’s frequent absences from The Conners season 5 are not caused by his actor taking time off the series to shoot another project. However, even though McNamara has no other movies or shows on the horizon, Darlene’s son has only appeared in 8 of The Conners season 5’s eighteen episodes so far. The Conners season 5, episode 17, "The Contra Hearings and The Midnight Gambler,” may have given away the secret reason for this.

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Mark’s Reduced Conners Season 5 Role Could Set Up His Next Arc

Mark and Ben talk in The Conners season 5 episode 3

The few times that Mark has appeared in The Conners season 5, his character has generally been up to no good. He got drunk with Darlene’s daughter Harris in The Conners season 5 premiere and lied to his mother (and manipulated Ben into backing him up) two episodes later. Mark then managed to lie low for a long stretch before the ending of "The Contra Hearings and The Midnight Gambler” saw him hide an academic failure from Darlene. Judging by these outings, it seems as if The Conners season 5 is preparing to give Mark a darker arc in its last episodes.

Mark had a pretty tough time of it in The Conners season 4. His first relationship ended in a breakup, he developed a reliance on off-label use of ADHD medication to keep his grades high, and he secretly sold admission essays to other students to save up a college fund. Like its predecessor Roseanne, The Conners avoided storylines that showed the most dramatic outcome of these rebellious teenage activities. However, this also meant that Mark never faced many major consequences for his antics and this could lead to the character taking even bigger risks in The Conners season 5’s last episodes.

Mark’s Conners Absence Could Be Good

Mark Harris and Darlene on The Conners

The Conners season 5 has gotten a chance to focus on Jackie, Becky, Darlene, and Harris in its first half, meaning there is room for the show to hone in on Mark’s quiet rebellion now. This, in turn, can let Darlene finally play the Roseanne-esque role of his strict but fair parent. While Harris’s season 5 pregnancy plot line allowed Darlene to channel some of Roseanne’s chaotic but protective parenting, the story was over so fast that viewers didn’t get to see Darlene struggle with this responsibility. Since Mark is the most strait-laced character in the Roseanne spinoff, The Conners season 5 should make his rebellion harder on Darlene.

More: The Conners Season 5 Subtly Acknowledges A Major Character Problem