Mom: Every Main Character's Ending, Ranked

Summary Mom shifted focus from Christy and Bonnie's familial issues to friendships, introducing new characters like Marjorie, Jill, and Wendy.

Unexpected cancelation by CBS led to Mom's rushed finale, giving some characters fulfilling endings but leaving others with unsatisfactory conclusions.

Bonnie's significant character development resulted in becoming a sponsor and working hard towards self-improvement, focusing more on others than herself.

Mom initially shows Christy and Bonnie Plunkett's journeys as they try to stay sober and turn their lives around and the ending answered questions like, "who does Christy end up with in Mom?" Things were not easy between the rocky relationship between Christy and her mom or with her complicated dynamic with Violet, Roscoe, Baxter, and Candace. However, somewhere along the way, Mom stopped focusing on Bonnie (Allison Janney) and Christy (Anna Faris) with their familial issues at the forefront and broadened the spectrum to introduce Marjorie, Jill, and Wendy, three other recovering people with alcoholism who join their meetings.

Mom became about friendship and chosen family, with Adam and Tammy eventually joining the close-knit group. Running for eight seasons, the show had to come up with a finale due to an unexpected cancelation by CBS, meaning it had to find a way to wrap up everyone's stories on short notice. Mom worked to give its main characters an ending that would fulfill their character arcs and the audience's expectations. While they succeeded in some ways, other characters had an unnecessary storyline or were left without a solid conclusion.

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7 Wendy Harris

Wendy Gets No Satisfying Ending On Mom

Wendy has been a main member of the group for years yet she got the least amount of central storylines and character development out of all the women. While Wendy does have funny dialogue, she seems to exist mostly to be pushed around by the rest of the group. Wendy tends to bounce between passive and trying to make her voice heard, but that doesn't last very long. The only thing that makes her stand out is that she is overly emotional, often called "Weeping Wendy" by Bonnie.

Even though she was bumped to main cast member status in season 3, in the series finale, Wendy doesn't even get an ending dedicated to her. There is not anything that provides information about whether she will be moving forward. Instead, Wendy stays relatively the same with the bonus of having the show's final line. This line comes when she is standing at the podium at the end of the episode and asks the people at the meeting, "Who else wants to share?"

6 Adam Janikowski

Adam Ends Up With Cancer In The End

Adam Janikowski is Bonnie Plunkett's husband on Mom, and he became a recurring character starting in season 3. He and Bonnie meet in the season 3 episode, "Cornflakes and the Hair of Three Men." He is a bartender and former stuntman whose relationship with Bonnie played out from the moment he first appeared in the series. This makes his eventual fate on Mom distressing and tragic.

Something does happen with Adam in the finale, but, unfortunately, it's bad news. As it turns out, years of smoking caught up with him, leaving him sick in the early stages of cancer. While it appears the doctors caught it early enough to save Adam, it is still a sad conclusion to his story. In fact, the storyline comes across as being less about Adam and more about Bonnie's reaction to the news about his illness. Adam was involved in the show too long for his final storyline to be used as a plot device for someone else.

5 Tammy Diffendorf

Tammy Owns A Construction Business With Bonnie

Tammy Differndorf was a late addition to the cast of the Chuck Lorre show, joining in season 5. She had a long history with Bonnie, who got her kicked out of their foster house when Bonnie stole a wallet and planted it in Tammy's bag. That led to Tammy leading a life of crime until she was arrested for robbing an Outback Steakhouse and spent time in prison. When she got out, she reconnected with Bonnie and stayed with them for a while before moving in with Marjorie.

Mom repeatedly recites Tammy's development in the final episode, constantly mentioning her business with Bonnie and her new relationship. Tammy has tried to make amends for her past actions and walk a more truthful path. Tammy even had a brief reunion with the judge who sentenced her to prison and happily told him that she had gotten her life together in addition to getting out. In the season finale, Tammy mentions she co-owns a successful construction business with Bonnie and is dating a "funny and supportive" man.

4 Marjorie Armstrong

Marjorie Reconciled With Her Son

Marjorie is the women's sponsor and the smartest person in the support group. She was a cast member since the start of the show, starting as a recurring member in season 1 before moving up to the main cast in season 2. She is also someone who has an off-and-on relationship with Bonnie, but they still work hard to help Bonnie's recovery. She was also estranged from her son, Jerry, throughout much of the series until she contracted cancer and he finally reached out to reconnect with her.

Marjorie had a wonderful ending. Having made up with her son, getting a chance to babysit her granddaughter, and receiving an award that her son had nominated her, Marjorie's award even triggers unexpected emotions in Bonnie, having her reveal how grateful she is to Marjorie for how much she has done to help over the years. In the end, Marjorie is there for Bonnie to hear about Adam's cancer diagnosis and is a calm presence where the group needs one.

3 Christy Plunkett

Christy Went To Georgetown Law School On A Full Scholarship

Christy Plunkett was one of Anna Faris' best roles, and her choice to leave Mom before the eighth season left Christy's future uncertain. When Mom started, Christy and Bonnie were the main characters and it was their mother-and-daughter relationship that carried the show's early storylines. However, when Faris wanted to leave the series, it removed the daughter from a series called Mom, and it seemed the show wouldn't last much longer. It only lasted one more season, but it went out on a high note.

Luckily, the show's creators found a way to write Christy off in a way that showed she is still in a good place and following her dreams at law school. Becoming a lawyer had been a longtime dream for Christy as she strove through school to reach her goals — enrolling in law school, eventually gaining jobs and internships, and finally becoming a lawyer. While Christy's choice to move away happens off-screen, it is still an essential decision for her and something that allows her ending to be worthy of all she worked for.

2 Jill Kendall

Jill Gets Married & Ends Up Pregnant

Jill showed up in season 2 and Christy sponsored her when she joined the sponsor group. Played by Jaime Pressly, Jill took a long time to win anyone over because she was rude and insensitive to the plights of others. However, when people learned she came from a high society background and had insecurities about herself, leading to her addiction issues, her new friends helped her move past her trauma and start to work on healing herself. In season 4, Jill suffers a miscarriage and then ends up becoming a foster mother to a teenager, Emily.

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Jill's struggles for a long time involved getting sober, dealing with the fallout from her divorce, and wishing to have children. By the series finale, Jill is happily sober and has strong friendships with Christy, Bonnie, Marjorie, Tammy, and Wendy. She reunites with Andy on the romantic front, and the two even get married in the final episode. But, before that, they learn they are expecting a baby. Jill had wished for these things for a long time, and it was a great and exciting way for her to receive everything she wanted before the final credits rolled.

1 Bonnie Plunkett

Allison Janney's Bonnie Plunkett had the biggest character development out of everyone. Bonnie has commented several times on the crazy things she has done while drunk, high, or as a way to try and get drunk and high. Bonnie's relationship with Christy was back and forth for years before the two got on good footing. The two are stronger than ever by Christy's final episodes, and even after she leaves, Bonnie still speaks to her on the phone.

Bonnie's relationship with Adam was a big step for her as well. When it comes to sobriety, Bonnie has had her struggles but ultimately proved that she wanted to be sober and worked to do so. She has even become a sponsor to others and looked out for another mother-daughter duo. The Mom series finale constantly refers to the major character development Bonnie has been through, as she has not been worried about herself in the occurring activities but is concerned for others. She even spent time in therapy to work on herself.