The Ending Of Mom Finally Explained
Even as CBS' "Mom" lost one of its biggest stars, the show still pulled off a season finale viewers can be satisfied with. Here's how the characters came through their darkest times.
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00:00Even as CBS' Mom lost one of its biggest stars, the show still pulled off a season finale
00:05viewers can be satisfied with. Here's how the characters came through their darkest
00:08times.
00:10As a heartwarming sitcom that never gets cheesy, Mom is a rare beast. This isn't an easy trick
00:15for a show that often features multiple A.A. meetings per episode. A big part of what keeps
00:19the humor of Mom from being hackneyed is the way it honors the recovery process. Mom understands
00:24the careful balance of hope, grit, and focus necessary to staying sober.
00:29As it turns out, substance abuse is a matter close to the heart of the show's creative
00:32team. Cast member Kristen Johnston has reflected on her own history with addiction, as per
00:37Today, and producer Chuck Lorre has made it clear how important he believes the show's
00:41message is in our modern world. Lorre told Variety,
00:44"...women helping women recover from this seemingly hopeless disease of alcohol and
00:47drug addiction provided this extraordinary ensemble of great actresses. In loving each
00:52other and supporting each other, they survive not as individuals. The me is overridden by
00:56the we."
00:57That we encompasses the stacked ensemble cast of Mom, including Mimi Kennedy, Jamie Presley,
01:02Beth Hall, and William Fickner. Every episode uses hope and humor to navigate the lives
01:07of women in recovery, and the final season is no different. The show draws to a close
01:11by admitting the struggle is very real, but so are the friends made along the way.
01:16While she isn't physically present in Season 8 of Mom, Christy still has a relationship
01:20with Bonnie throughout it. Bonnie even fondly jokes about Christy in the moving finale.
01:25Viewers get a sense that Christy and Bonnie are on good terms even though Christy is busy
01:29at Georgetown Law. While this casual camaraderie might seem typical for a sitcom, it's downright
01:34miraculous for the plunkets.
01:36I don't like you, but we eat eight meals a week together.
01:39Most of the show's humor comes from Christy and Bonnie butting heads. The mother-daughter
01:43duo are an odd couple. Christy constantly searches for approval and a steady path, while
01:47Bonnie blazes a self-serving trail through any and all situations. But Christy's meekness
01:52can easily shift to rage against Bonnie, just like Bonnie's air of confidence can be
01:56rattled by the slightest judgment from her daughter. These leading ladies are a comedy
02:00dream team as well as a vivid portrait of living and forgiving in recovery.
02:05No matter how much progress either mom makes, they can always remind each other of the consequences
02:09of their chaotic pasts. This keeps them on their toes and in check when they aren't screaming
02:13at each other or smuggling maple syrup across the Canadian border, anyway. But when Christy
02:18takes the next step in her healing journey all the way to law school, she leaves Bonnie
02:21to assume her own new role — den mother.
02:25Though Mom initially focuses on Christy, it ends as an ensemble show led by Bonnie. While
02:29Bonnie loves the attention that comes with being the AA gang's de facto leader, she doesn't
02:33always love the responsibility it requires. This is evidenced when she lies her way into
02:37booking business for her and Tammy, bullies Marjorie into attending a slumber party and
02:42unintentionally makes everyone confront something traumatic from their past, and mocks new spawn
02:46C, Rod — played by Steve Valentine — for not remembering a passionate weekend they
02:51spent together during his rock star days.
02:53You don't forget me, I forget you.
02:55But the ending of Mom shows Bonnie is the glue holding her band of ladies together,
03:00and a dauntless crusader. Season 8 sees her get a sleazy strip club owner to take down
03:04a 20-year-old billboard of Christy, spur her ADHD therapist into asking out an old crush,
03:09and throw out her roast of Marjorie in favor of a heartfelt speech. When Bonnie isn't terrifying
03:15Adam and the gals with her wrath, she's helping them stay on track and grow.
03:20Allison Janney is one of the finest actors of our time. Known for her work on The West
03:24Wing, I, Tonya, and 10 Things I Hate About You, she won two Emmys for her performance
03:28on Mom. Janney can pull off heart-wrenching moments of vulnerability and slapstick silliness,
03:33and on Mom, both are often required in lightning-quick scenes.
03:37It's only appropriate, then, that her finale co-star is another powerhouse performer, Melanie
03:41Linsky. The Mom finale features the Yellow Jacket star as Shannon. Shannon is brand new
03:46to recovery and mistrustful of Bonnie's shiny, happy A.A. gang, who are in particularly smiley
03:51form at the start of the episode. When Bonnie clocks that Shannon definitely isn't feeling
03:56it, she chases after her through the rain, ruining her new suede shoes in the process.
04:00This sacrifice isn't typical of the old Bonnie, but we get the sense that it might be what
04:04the new and improved version is all about. Bonnie ultimately convinces Shannon to get
04:09coffee with the gang.
04:10What is it with you people and coffee?
04:12It's the only drug we have left, so we abuse it.
04:15These evenly-matched actresses set a strong and poetic tone for the end of the series,
04:20and create a final showdown between a stand-in mother and daughter.
04:24And life possibly changing in five, four, three…
04:27Don't do that, boys.
04:28Roger that.
04:29Bonnie sees a lot of herself in Shannon, especially her bad attitude and sense of being marked
04:33for failure. While we've seen Bonnie try to play the hero before, this time she manages
04:37to put her ego aside and calmly tell Shannon she can call anytime she's tempted to use.
04:42Just like the old Bonnie, Shannon is convinced she doesn't need or deserve real help, and
04:46brushes the offer off.
04:48But later, she comes begging for aid, just as Bonnie, stressed by news of Adam's cancer
04:52diagnosis, struggles to give it. Bonnie is rattled, and becomes even more so when Jill
04:56reveals she and Andy are getting married right away and want Bonnie to attend.
05:00And then Shannon's mom chases Shannon through a window. When Bonnie can't get ahold of Shannon,
05:05a pit forms in her stomach. Has Shannon met the same fate as Jodi? Chaos reigns, the exact
05:10kind that would have driven the old Bonnie to drink. We've seen old Bonnie relapse before,
05:15but this time she doesn't. Instead, she works hard to support Shannon and Adam.
05:20Bonnie ends up pulling some strings to get the brawling Jolene and Shannon contained
05:24at Jill and Andy's courthouse wedding, and their first mother-daughter A.A. meeting.
05:28When Bonnie addresses the room with her moving final share, we see an echo of her and Christy
05:33and Shannon and Jolie. This makes it clear how far she's come.
05:37While the A.A. meetings of Mom see their fair share of guest stars, Marjorie is on the show
05:41from Episode 1. Mimi Kennedy portrays the eccentric hippie with a nuanced mix of tenderness
05:46and tenacity. Marjorie is more than her love of cats and velour tracksuits. She's struggled
05:51with addiction, feelings of failure, and motherhood. But with Bonnie and the gang by her side,
05:56she gets a second chance.
05:57Mom celebrates Marjorie's long road to reconnection with her son in the Season 8 episode, A Community
06:02Hero and a Wide Turn. Marjorie is nominated for a Leadership Award, and soon discovers
06:06her formerly estranged son nominated her. They share a touching full-circle moment,
06:11which is made even more satisfying by the fact that Marjorie misses the awards ceremony
06:15to provide support to a pregnant Jill.
06:17Mom also delivers another poignant moment between Marjorie and sponsy Bonnie in the
06:21series finale, My Kind of People and The Big To Do. While Bonnie often makes cracks about
06:26Marjorie in the same breath as asking her for help, in the finale, she's as straightforward
06:30as we've ever seen her. She reaches out in a time of need, and Marjorie advises Bonnie
06:34that all she can do is the next right action, leaving the audience with a powerful final
06:39message.
06:41Comedy legend Kristen Johnston plays Tammy, Bonnie's friend and business partner. At first
06:45blush, you'd never guess Tammy held up a restaurant on Cops Eat Free Night back when she was using.
06:51Tammy starts her journey on Mom, searching for a family that won't fracture. Her own
06:54father murdered her mother, leaving Tammy to bounce around the foster care system.
06:59She spent some formative years with Bonnie and a few years in prison, but by Season 8
07:03of Mom, she's a far cry from the person she once was. She has made amends with the steakhouse
07:07owner and even has a sweet and handsome limo driver boyfriend. Tammy's story arc sees her
07:12learn how to find hope and joy without substances and finally find a family worthy of her.
07:17Johnston is familiar with the recovery process. She wrote a memoir about her experience called
07:22Guts, the Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster. She told the New York
07:27Post,
07:28"[I love being sober and the recovery community. It has given me such great gifts, and I count
07:32this job on Mom as one of them. I really do."
07:35No character provides as much extra comic relief on Mom as the unspeakably rich Jill,
07:40played by Jamie Presley. Jill's vanity and materialism are matched only by her desire
07:44to prettify her own pain and her longing to escape her haunted past. Jill blames her perfectionism
07:50for her bad luck and love, but in the finale season of Mom, she gets more than she bargained
07:54for in that arena. Jill finally allows herself genuine joy in the series finale. She's lived
07:59a lifetime masking her pain over her mother's death, her trouble conceiving a child, her
08:04bittersweet fostering experience, and her divorce. But while she often struggles with
08:08going with the flow of life rather than trying to control every inch of it, the finale of
08:12Mom sees her accept herself and her life as a joyful mess. She marries Andy in a courthouse
08:17while visibly pregnant, as two grown women brawl behind her, and she couldn't be happier.
08:23Wendy, played by Beth Paul, is perhaps the greatest enigma on Mom, and not all of her
08:27mysteries are unraveled by the series finale. Wendy's emotionality and randomness are stronger
08:32than any other characters on the show, earning her many puzzled looks from the gang across
08:36the A.A. meeting room. While it isn't always apparent what's on Wendy's mind, her final
08:40season story arc sees her get out from under the shadow of her friends and into her own
08:44light.
08:45That's right, I'm funny."
08:46Weeping Wendy has learned to regulate her emotions significantly by the time the series
08:51ends. Often the show's most sidelined character, Wendy has learned how to stand on her own
08:55two feet by the finale, and help others learn to find the same footing. Instead of working
09:00herself to death at the hospital and using substances to push through, Wendy closes the
09:04series as a rock-steady leader of the program.
09:07While we're used to seeing Wendy in the background of group shots, our final image of her is
09:10a woman who stands tall behind the A.A. podium. She asks both the room and the audience,
09:15Who else would like to share?"
09:18Adam lived life on the wild side, until he lost the use of his legs. As Bonnie's new
09:22husband, he lives on a different wild side. Adam is the straight man to Bonnie's scheming
09:26clown and a charming, challenging, stabilizing force. For all of Bonnie's lioness qualities,
09:31her relationship with Adam spotlights her tender underbelly.
09:35When Bonnie confronts her fear of abandonment, deep-seated insecurities, and potential for
09:39growth, it's often because of Adam's encouragement, or because Bonnie is in the midst of a panic
09:43spiral about his safety. William Fickner's pitch-perfect comic timing and dry-as-a-bone
09:48delivery always sets Bonnie to rights. But when Adam and Bonnie learn of his cancer diagnosis
09:52in the finale, Adam is suddenly the one in need of a stabilizing force.
09:56Bonnie, however, shakily steps up to support Adam in this climactic moment. She's a rock-door
10:01husband at the doctor's office, and a blunt-force object against his doctor's poor fish tank,
10:05cleaning standards. When she insists they'll get through this together, the otherwise numb
10:09Adam is truly comforted. And she's going to make sure the team takes whatever the next
10:13right step is over and over again.
10:16The ending of Mom mirrors its beginning and re-ups the show's thesis statement. Recovery
10:20is possible even if relapse is probable. Mom proposes that those who desire redemption
10:25and rebirth through recovery deserve it and can earn it if they work for it. They don't
10:30have to do it alone, either. Mom finds recovery within supportive and loving communities.
10:35Bonnie delivers a powerful share in the finale, addressing her friends and the group's dysfunctional
10:39new mother-daughter duo. She admits that despite the reasons she could have a drink,
10:43she doesn't. Why? She offers,
10:45"...I kinda like me. I kinda love me."
10:51It's a moving distillation of growth and acceptance, and we see it across the show's beloved ensemble.
10:56Though the finale leaves unanswered questions, we know Bonnie's going to be okay, as long
10:59as she keeps working for it, with help from her friends.