Becky’s relationship with Professor Davis could potentially have stayed secret a little longer on The Conners, but season 4 is making it clearer and clearer that the duo are doomed. Becky has not had an easy time of it on The Conners. While her sister Darlene’s fights with her son Mark and daughter Harris prove that single parenthood is never a walk in the park for the family, Becky being forced to juggle adult learning, single parenthood, and a job with Jackie gives her one of the most impressively chaotic lives on The Conners.
This issue is not helped by Becky’s love life, which in The Conners season 4 saw her start to date her teacher, Professor Davis. Although the duo has chemistry there are obvious ethical issues with their relationship, something that has forced Becky and her new beau to keep their rendezvouses clandestine in case of being caught and reported. However, one of the sitcom’s subplots has swiftly made it clear that the pair will not be able to operate like this much longer.
While The Conners season 4 mentioned the ethical problem of Becky dating her teacher in the episode where he was introduced, fans could be forgiven for assuming it would take more than one episode for this plotline to become an issue for the duo. However, when Becky’s classmates walked into her and Professor Davis exiting the same car in “Sex, Lies and House Hunting” (season 4, episode 13), they were not only immediately convinced that Becky and Professor Davis are dating, but were also unabashed about telling them this and threatening to report the professor. When they later interrogated Becky despite her attending a singles event with them, her classmates were still not shy about their suspicions and Becky and the professor, and once more reiterated their threat to report both of them. This confrontation suggests that there is very little long-term hope for the couple.
Since Becky and Professor Davis live in a very small community, it is only a matter of time before they are caught out. The Conners season 4 has relied on Darlene and Harris’s disputes for much of its dramatic conflict, as well as Darlene’s rocky breakup with Ben. However judging by this episode’s events, it can’t be long before Becky becomes the heroine whose love life is causing drama. The speed with which Becky’s classmates deduced the fact that they were dating and the ease with which Professor Davis shrugged off the risk of them getting caught make it almost inevitable that this will occur in the near future.
If Becky does have to bid adieu to Professor Davis, the odds are good that this will have a knock-on effect on her adult education course. It wouldn’t be the first time that her love life has resulted in some unexpected tragedy for the titular family as, before The Conners season 4 set her up with Davis, the father of Becky’s daughter was deported by ICE in an earlier season. How The Conners season 4 wraps up the comparatively low-stakes Professor Davis story remains to be seen, but it appears that the sitcom romance can only end badly judging by the story so far.
