
Allison Janney as Bonnie, from the CBS series Mom
Allison Janney wraps eight seasons of Mom on May 13.
By Nate Millado
OK, so Bonnie Plunkett (Allison Janney) probably wouldn't win any "Mom of the Year" awards back in the day. "While other mothers were cooking dinner, you were cooking meth," Christy (Anna Faris) told her estranged mother in the pilot episode. But what a difference eight years makes! Bonnie has blossomed from an alcoholic deadbeat parent into the proud momma of a law school student. (Go Christy!) She's also the go-to shoulder-to-cry-on to her close-knit group of gal pals from AA: Marjorie (Mimi Kennedy), Wendy (Beth Hall), Jill (Jaime Pressly), and Tammy (Kristen Johnston).
To celebrate the beloved sitcom's series finale on May 13, Watch rounds up Bonnie's greatest Mom moments.
The series finale of Mom aired Thursday, May 13, at 9/8c on CBS. Stream full seasons on Paramount+.
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Bonnie Says What We're All Thinking
Allison Janey as Bonnie
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Admit it.
Bonnie And Christy's Heart-To-Hearts
Christy (Anna Faris) and Bonnie (Allison Janney) have a heart-to-heart conversation, on the second season finale of Mom.
Photo: Darren Michaels/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. © 2015 WBEI. All rights reserved.
We're so proud of Christy for making it to Georgetown Law—on a full ride, no less—but NGL, we do miss her mother-daughter couch confessionals with Bonnie! Like this heartwarming moment from the Season 2 episode "Fun Girl Stuff and Eternal Salvation." Christy blames Bonnie when son Roscoe decides to live with his dad. But even she knows that "the road to a happy life leads away from your mother."
Bonnie: "I know it's not saying much, but you're a better mother to your children than I ever was to you."
Christy: "You're right. It's not saying much."
Bonnie Doles Out Tough Love
Bonnie hugs Wendy
Given her colorful history, Bonnie's often a "Do as I say, not as I do" kinda friend. So in the episode "Illegal Eels and the Cantaloupe Man," Bonnie is none too pleased when the group discovers Wendy's dating a married man. Someone's bound to get hurt—and that someone ends up being Wendy, whose doctor beau spends Valentine's Day with his wife. The episode ends on an "aww" note, as Bonnie and hubby Adam (William Fichtner) invite the girls to crash their romantic dinner.
Bonnie And Marge's Love-Hate Relationship
Mimi Kennedy as Marjorie and Allison Janney as Bonnie
Photo: Robert Voets/CBS ©2020 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Bonnie and her AA sponsor, Marjorie, don't always see eye to eye. (Maybe it's because Marge is the group's voice of reason—and frankly, Bonnie wants to hear that!) Still, Bonnie has been there when Marjorie's needed her most—like when Marge lost her husband, was diagnosed with cancer, and reconnected with her estranged son.
That Time Bonnie Smothered, Er, Mothered Christy
Bonnie serves Christy soup in bed
Photo: Darren Michaels/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. © 2019 WBEI. All rights reserved.
In the Season 6 episode "Soup Town and a Little Blonde Mongoose," Christy gets a bad case of the flu. Bonnie is so consumed with an overwhelming urge to mother her that she bails on an Eagles concert with Adam. Perhaps Bonnie's making up for lost time?
Bonnie Has Your Back—And Kidney
Kathleen Turner as Cookie, Allison Janney as Bonnie, and Kristen Johnston as Tammy
Photo credit: Sonja Flemming/CBS ©2019 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
In "One Tiny Incision and a Coffin Dress," Bonnie exposes Tammy's long-lost Aunt Cookie (Kathleen Turner) for knowing she existed all along! Turns out, Cookie came back into her niece's life because she needed a kidney.
Bonnie's Always There To Give Advice
Bonnie and Jill have a chat on the kitchen floor
Photo: Robert Voets/©2020 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Granted, it's not always sound advice. After all, "Dr. Bonnie" encouraged Jill to express her feelings to Andy after they hit a rough patch. On the ride home from a couples' cookout at Jill's, Bonnie is patting herself on the back for putting the "lovebirds back on the same perch," when she gets a text from Jill: Andy wants to take a break. The results might not be perfect, but Bonnie means well.
Bonnie Pays It Forward
Bonnie tries to help teenage addict Jodi (Emily Osment) at an AA meeting.
Photo credit: Darren Michaels/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. © 2015 WBEI. All rights reserved.
Throughout Mom's eight-season run, Bonnie has aided other recovering addicts, including embezzling money manager Regina (Octavia Spencer), troubled AA sponsee Patty, and drug-addled teen Jodi.
Bonnie Goes To Great Lengths To Protect Her Daughter
Marjorie (Mimi Kennedy), Tammy (Kristen Johnston), Jill (Jaime Pressly), Wendy (Beth Hall), and Bonnie (Allison Janney) in Mom
Photo credit: CBS.
In the memorable Season 8 episode "Tiny Dancer and an Impromptu Picnic"—with a silly guest turn from Bob Odenkirk—Bonnie rounds up the gang to paint over a Mr. Naughties billboard of a barely covered Christy from her stripper days!
The series finale of Mom aired Thursday, May 13, at 9/8c on CBS. Stream full seasons on Paramount+.
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