Be careful what you text and what chain you’re on. In the April 5 episode of The Conners, Louise accidentally sent a text to the family group chat where she basically called Becky a bad mom. Louise’s words deeply offended Becky and made her question everything about being a mom. HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with Lecy Goranson about what upset Becky the most about the text.
“I think it was the fact that she was in a mindset that she was doing all this great stuff for her daughter,” Lecy said. “I think that she feels guilty that’s she’s so busy. Her reality this season has been trying to balance all of these things: school, work, and being a mother. She was saying, I finally get to see the Easter bunny with Beverly Rose, I’m treating her, and I feel like a real mom. She was kind of unconscious that she was so proud of herself and then, boom, Louise comes in with you’re a bad parent. I think it was the timing of it, which I think happens. The timing was so bad and so painful for her that it was just like, you’re saying you’re this great parent, but the perception is you’re not at all, that you don’t spend time with your kid, and you’re overcompensating. I think that was really painful for her.”
Lecy also noted that those cruel words coming from anyone else in the family likely wouldn’t have had the same effect. “Louise is someone Becky really admires and looks up to,” Lecy said. “I think she likes her with her dad. Coming from Darlene, it would have been Tuesday, coming from Louise it was just very jarring. Even though she’s studying psychology, I think when you’re caught in a complex, you’re less likely to think about where the other person is coming from.”
Becky and Louise do have a heart-to-heart in the fallout of the texting drama. Becky asks Louise if she resents her. Lecy explained why Becky asked that question and if she really meant it.
“I just think she couldn’t shake it. I think because it hurt so much, and it was her Achilles heel, calling her a bad mom,” the actress said. “I think the point is we say things that are kind of flip, kind of catchy, and kind of mean. The kind of stuff we said as girls in junior high school sometimes we get catty like this as adults and it still hurts. I don’t think we really think it through because we feel that we have privacy.”
Becky forgives Louise after their honest talk. Louise tells Becky that she didn’t really mean what she said. Lecy told HollywoodLife that Becky and Louise are in a “good” place now. “I think what came up about parenting is still with her,” Lecy admitted. “I think that’s something that isn’t really going to shake off so quickly, but I think that Louise is really sincere. I think she really felt bad. As one of my therapists used to say: you know when someone’s apology lands and when it doesn’t. I think Louise was sincere, and she explained that she had a hard childhood and in a way she was jealous. I think we think no matter what age we are that maybe we can’t still regress and want to be taken care of like a child, but those feelings are always with us.”
As for what lies ahead, Lecy teased that “there might be a little matchmaking going on, a little romance going on with Becky when she least expects it.” The Conners airs Wednesdays on ABC.