Mom Recap: The Fate of Anna Faris’ Christy Revealed in Season 8 Premiere
Mom‘s Season 8 premiere did not waste any time explaining why Anna Faris‘ Christy Plunkett is no longer in the picture.
It was previously reported that Faris would step away from her starring role on the hit CBS sitcom to pursue other opportunities. At the time, Faris released a statement which in part read, “The past seven years on Mom have been some of the most fulfilling and rewarding of my career. I’m so thankful to Chuck [Lorre], the writers, and my amazing castmates for creating a truly wonderful work experience.”
At the start of Thursday’s season opener, Bonnie and Adam were driving back from the airport, where they had just left Christy. That’s when Bonnie revealed the good news: her aspiring-attorney daughter was off to Washington D.C., having gotten a full ride to a top-ranked Jesuit law school.
“Every mom dreams of the day when they drop their 42-year-old daughter off at the airport to go to school,” she said. “Georgetown Law School on a full scholarship? Phew! A lot of parents would be in a puddle of tears right now.”
As to be expected, Bonnie brought the waterworks in a matter of seconds. And as soon as she reminded Adam of the sweet Father’s Day card that his stepdaughter got for him last year, he, too, bawled his eyes out.
Mom co-creator Gemma Baker previously told TVLine that Faris’ departure would not impede Christy’s happy ending. “One of the beautiful things about recovery is that quite often people’s lives get bigger and better than they could have imagined,” she said. “And that will be Christy’s experience. We are pretty sure that our audience, many of whom have been rooting for Christy since the pilot, will be happy for her and satisfied by her new path.”
While Christy did not make a final appearance in the episode, she did get in touch with her mother via telephone to check in during Tammy’s birthday sleepover (we, of course, only heard Bonnie’s side of the call).
During the party, childhood games revealed adult problems. For starters, Marjorie told her friends that she needs to have a stent placed in her heart. While angioplasty isn’t as serious as, say, a heart transplant, Christy’s former sponsor was gravely concerned that she wouldn’t live long enough to see her granddaughter grow up.
Meanwhile, birthday girl Tammy had to decide whether or not to accept a call from her estranged father, who is currently serving an extended sentence for the murder of Tammy’s mom. She ultimately took his call, but kept it short. During the conversation, she found out that Dad has also adopted a sober lifestyle.
As for Jill, she initially boasted about her very active sex life with Andy, then disclosed her fear that she and Andy have very little else in common. (Ruh-roh!) And while the series has opted to sidestep the coronavirus pandemic entirely, the women took a moment to stress the invaluable work done by nurses when first-responder Wendy expressed guilt over a recent patient’s demise.
Were you satisfied with how Mom handled Christy’s off-screen departure? And what did you think of the Season 8 premiere overall? Weigh in via the following polls, then drop a comment with your full review.
I’m not surprised that they sent Christy to the east coast. It makes sense and covers why she doesn’t just drop in now and then. That’s what I was expecting.
Kudos to posters that correctly predicted this resolution. I thought they would go with the new job route.
I thought they would say that Christy graduated and got a job. But having her move far away for school better explains her not visiting.
I don’t know if it was just the way that Bonnie and Marjorie were at each other’s throats more than usual, but they definitely felt like something was missing with Anna Faris gone. Christy was never my favorite, but with her gone it seems like her impact might be felt more.
Will take time to adjust,but they did a great job,love their lines ,go ok d kaughter
I felt the same way Christy was never my fave but her presence was missing it just didn’t feel right
Agreed
Nah!
Absolutely!! She was my favourite
The girls did a great job and interesting new lines,great acting
Great job girls!!!!!!!!!
Excellent show.
I actually had tears when Tammy talked to her Dad and when they were burning their fears.
The Christy send off was to typical I would have expected a bit more after all she and the girls went through they would have been better off replacing Anna and keeping Christy’s character around the send off was boring.
It wasn’t much they could do other then school or a new job since she took off so abruptly any the storyline would have required Christy’s presence
Agree😇😇 It’s not going to be the same…
Well said!! Was a shock to see her go. Replacing her won’t work for me!!🍻
Mom is not the same without Christy on the show. We have refused to watch the new season of Mom. Christy was my family favorite on Mom. Don’t for Bonnie. Will continue watching the reruns on Fox!!
What if the ladies gave her party then sent her off. Like most shows do.
They’d have loved to do something. Anna didn’t want to come back to shoot the send off. It sort of limited their options.
I think it was very sellfish of Anna Faria to suddenly decide to leave the show on such short notice. It left thecwtitets in a bind.
That is pretty selfish of you! Ever think she had some sort of family emergency or health issue that is none of anyone’s biz? She is a person, subject to everything that happens to people. Maybe YOU need to be a little less selfish when it comes to fictional characters and YOUR entertainment.
She could of had a personal issue amd yes, sometimes we do have to think of ourselves first. But I know I always feel guilt in my job and I would of certainly of felt major guilt and questioned if I was being selfish as a frontrunner on a show. Her leaving could he the shows demise and it did happen so suddenly that I’m sure it left many scrambling.
Well considering Anna Faris stated she was released from her contract because she wanted to pursue new career opportunities yes you can say she was selfish.
Considering she was in a very very public contract negotiations before last season that they NEVER would have agreed to if she was only willing to sign on for 1 season intead of 2 you can say shes selfish and also likely negotiated in bad faith.
Well said. After seven years playing the same character she probably got tired of it. Plus, she already made $millions between salary and the residuals. But why she couldn’t return for the first one or two shows to support the transition is a selfish act.
Judging by how her recent movie bombed, let’s see if she makes a couple appearances in later episodes, or becomes the next actress without a career to enjoy a doing Christmas Hallmark movies.
But they get paid for those Hallmark movies. They don’t do them for free and they are still acting so 🤷♂️
Yeah…bad acting! Hallmark movies suck!
I really like the Hallmark movies because they are family friendly -I cringe at half naked bodies, bloody murders, sexual content and bad language of the mainstream movies. But as much as I do like Hallmark, I am tiring of all their Christmas ones that they continue to show after the holidays. I sometimes cringe watching MOM but I do feel they give a good message.
Perfectly said ‼️‼️ Love this show , I believe the righters will keep it going well !! Thank You all for the growth of sobriety that is shown 🌷 I will always watch this show it’s one of my favorites ♥️
Well she gave them 7 years of her prime. She wanted to do movies again. Glad she followed her heart. I’m watching tons of reruns on FXX & NIK
I thought pretty much the same, law school.
I have watched this from day 1.
Show is great as are all the actors. Thank you for not killing Christy off.
At first I didn’t care for the Tammy character. But after they explained her back story, I loved her. I didn’t really miss Christy tonight. I’m hoping for more stories involving Tammy and more on Wendy too.
I will miss the dynamic of Christy and Bonnie in recovery together.
I didn’t really miss Christy but I do wish Anna Faris could have done at least this first episode to give her character a proper send off like America Ferrara is doing on Superstore.
I didn’t miss her at all, I like Anna Faris but I never liked Christy and I don’t feel like the episode was missing anything with her gone. The other actors did a fantastic job, it was a good premiere ep.
Like all sitcoms, when a main character departs, the chemistry is gone and all we see is what’s left for a while then it goes away!
This was a Poochi level send off.
Faris left the writers in the lurch, but her ending likely took them about two minutes before moving on to the next scene. Even her supposed phone call to close the episode was embarrassingly lazy and weak.
Such an uninspired resolution, and you can say that by the large number of people who predicted that exact fate in various comment sections.
I enjoyed the closing phone call from Christy since it reinforced Bonnie’s share story during the meeting that her daughter was smart enough to get a full scholarship into a prestigious law school but couldn’t grasp the concept of time zones (7:30 am east coast = 4:30 am west coast).
Would have been really nice for them to have a party for her before she left … I think she’s most of the show , even though the others are great, I don’t know how it will be without her.
The show is already so much better without whiney, annoying Christy!
Something that has bothered me about Christy’s character, especially given her background as a child with her alcoholic mother, is how she had no interaction/relationship with her children. I realize that the show went in a different direction than it was originally scripted, and kids were written off in place of the 12-step women/friends, which was the smart move as they were much more entertaining. BUT! I think given this opportunity, they should have had Christy move to another state to reunite with her children/be actively involved in their lives. It didn’t make sense that she wasn’t, given what she went through with a disconnected mother, and the fact she is sober.
They reality of the characters is what’s hard for you to grasp
First of all I just don’t get it! The kids disappeared now the mom disappears. Wasn’t the show supposed to be about Christy and her kids? I won’t be watching anymore.
The show hasn’t been about Christy as a mom for various seasons now.
I thought the show was excellent tonight. The cast is such a great ensemble that I didn’t miss Christie at all. The show has become much more then one person. The writing is as good as ever.
Keep Andy. The rich girl, poor guy scenario could be fun.
It was a good way for her to exit, and the strength of the ensemble has made this show still great in recent seasons … but I wish Anna Farris could have been in one last episode to say farewell.
I will miss her
Yeah…I’ve been saying she’d get into a real law school since Anna announced she was leaving. Georgetown is appropriate. Here is a fun fact: there is a place in Georgetown/Foggy Bottom that has AA meetings 24/7.
AA meetings are just about everywhere.
Is not quite the same without Christy