Punky Brewster Revival finally reveals what happened to the mother who abandoned her (spoilers)

Peacock’s “Punky Brewster” revival answered a question that has bothered fans of the original series for 33 years: What happened to the precocious boy’s mother?

The original series revolved around a 7-year-old orphan who was found crouching in an apartment building in Chicago with her dog Brandon after her mother abandoned her in a supermarket parking lot. She ended up moving in with her adoptive father Henry – who lived in the building she was hiding in – made friends and lived a relatively happy life, but her mother’s whereabouts or the reason for leaving her daughter alone were never revealed on the race show. four seasons.

Fortunately, this is a situation that the series restarted – which follows a Punky now grown up raising her own children in that very apartment – decided to explore. While Soleil’s character Moon Frye received an unexpected phone call from his long-lost mother, Susan (played by Sharon Lawrence) at the season premiere, the two don’t come face to face until the end.

Susan meets Izzy, the adopted daughter that Brewster took under her protection, at an 80s-themed neighborhood party during the penultimate episode. At the event, Izzy is dressed exactly like little Punky, dangling the character’s characteristic braids, sunscreens and sleeveless vest. “Wow, you look like someone I used to know,” said Susan to the young woman, who passed it on to a suspicious Punky.

The two finally decided to meet at a cafe, but Susan seemed to give up before entering. Suspecting it was his mother, Punky followed, only to end up attending an AA meeting during which Susan revealed that she had been sober for five years and also filled in some blanks.

“I have never been five years before, which is why I finally feel strong enough to make peace with the person who most deserves an apology, my daughter, who I abandoned,” she explained to the rest of the group. “She was seven and in 15 minutes, we will meet again for the first time since then. God, I’m scared. But I’m here to support you because I want to be so strong for her.”

The two discussed the past even more when they actually sat down together, with Punky saying that she forgot her mother’s appearance – as it became “more and more a blur” with each passing year.

“I know there is no excuse for what I did,” said Susan, before Punky asked her to still try to give him one.

‘I know you think I was taking care of you, but the truth is, it was you who took care of me, “said Susan to her daughter.” I was out of control, I was exhausted, I didn’t care about myself, but I cared about you and I couldn’t risk you not doing that, too. “

“So you just left me?” asked Punky, at which Susan shook her head. “I’m not asking you to forgive me,” she said to her daughter, who said, “Great … because I forgave you a long time ago.”

The two then began to cry, before realizing that they had matching sun tattoos. Punky then gave his mother a letter that she wrote after giving birth to her first child – in which she tried to imagine what it was like for her mother to let her child go. In the note, she also said how grateful she was to have met Henry and her best friend Cherie and how her life ended.

“It’s about how grateful I am. I have a good life and I’m fine,” she said to Susan, who replied, “I’m so glad you had a good life, whether I’m in it or not.”

Punky asked if she wanted to be a part of her life, before Susan asked if this was something her daughter would want. “I don’t need a mother, I had one, his name was Henry,” she replied, “but I need a friend.”

The season ended with Punky telling her best friend that she was looking forward to getting to know Susan better – with Cherie making it clear that she was not going to “make things easy for that woman” for what she did.

The first season of “Punky Brewster” is now airing on Peacock.