Here’s How Mom Wrote Off Star Anna Faris In The Season 8 Premiere

CBS’ “Mom” had the daunting task of writing off one of the show’s major stars without her involvement in its Season 8 premiere on Thursday night.

Anna Faris announced she would not be returning to the show between seasons earlier this year, something which the sitcom addressed right off the bat in its opener last night.

The episode began with Bonnie (Allison Janney) and husband Adam (William Fichtner) driving back home from the airport, after they had dropped off Christy (Faris) to fly to DC for college. Bonnie later revealed Christy got a free ride to Georgetown Law School.

“How you doing over there?” Adam asked his wife, who said she was, “good, really good. Is it weird that I’m good?”

“Every mom dreams of the day when they drop their 42-year-old daughter off at the airport to go to school and I did it all by myself. Not the dropping off, but the raising,” she then told him. “I mean, I wasn’t there the whole time, but I was definitely there for the beginning. In and out during the middle, and rock solid from age 37 on … you know, the formative years.”

“A lot of parents would be in a puddle of tears right now … not me, because I’m focused on what she’s gonna get, not what I’m gonna lose, which is the most beautiful little girl a mother could have,” she then said, before breaking down in a puddle of tears herself.

Though Adam tried to keep a straight face, all it took was a reminder of a recent Father’s Day card from Christy to bring on the waterworks for him too. As they both admitted they already missed her terribly, they decided to turn around “and watch the plane take off.”

Bonnie addressed her daughter’s new life at an AA meeting later in the episode, which took place “a month since Adam and I became empty nesters.”

“We are loving it,” she told the group. “We learn something new about each other every day and we learn a lot about Christy, too. Apparently, she was the one vacuuming the living room.”

“And another thing we learned about her: she doesn’t understand time zones. She’s smart enough to get a scholarship to law school but she can’t grasp the fact that her 7AM is my 4AM and is constantly waking me up because she can’t subtract me,” she added. “My fault, I should have taken her to kindergarten once in a while.”

Faris didn’t appear at all throughout the episode, but her character was heard from via a phone call to Bonnie. Viewers did not hear her voice though and only saw Bonnie’s reactions to everything.

“The past seven years on Mom have been some of the most fulfilling and rewarding of my career,” Faris said back in September when she announced her exit. “I’m so thankful to [creator Chuck Lorre], the writers, and my amazing castmates for creating a truly wonderful work experience.”

Explaining her decision to leave, Faris said she’s hoping “to pursue new opportunities” outside of the series. “While my journey as Christy has come to an end … I’ll be watching next season and rooting for my TV family,” she added.