Young Sheldon season 7's saddest moment was always going to be heartbreaking, but one episode of The Big Bang Theory already made this tragedy worse. Jim Parsons' Sheldon sits with Bob Newhart's Professor Proton dressed as Obi Wan in a swamp in The Big Bang Theory
SUMMARY
- Young Sheldon season 7 could explain inconsistencies in The Big Bang Theory's portrayal of Meemaw and George Sr.
- Sheldon's admission of admiration for his father in "The Proton Transmogrification" can fix the canon problem.
- George Sr.'s death could be a heartbreaking moment for Sheldon and justify The Big Bang Theory's treatment of him.
Although Young Sheldon has ignored some of The Big Bang Theory’s canon, season 7 of the spinoff will have a hard time getting around one of the earlier sitcom’s most poignant moments.
The Big Bang Theory’s spinoff Young Sheldon offers viewers an insight into the early life of Sheldon Cooper. However, although Sheldon’s fault self narrates the series, Young Sheldon has been known to change some elements of The Big Bang Theory’s established canon.
In The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon’s grandmother Meemaw was portrayed as a stern older version of his mother. In Young Sheldon, she is a carefree rebel who doesn’t resemble her daughter at all.
Although Young Sheldon season 7 is unlikely to completely alter Meemaw’s persona so that she aligns with her earlier incarnation, the spinoff’s final outing will need to address at least some of its inconsistencies. The Big Bang Theory referred to Sheldon’s father, George Sr, as an uncaring drunk whose extra-marital affairs Sheldon once walked in on.
In contrast, Young Sheldon has mostly portrayed George Sr. as a decent, if flawed, everyman. The spinoff’s seventh season needs to explain why Sheldon misrepresented his late father throughout the earlier show, as according to The Big Bang Theory’s canon, George Sr. is due to die soon.
Sheldon Admitted That He Admired George Sr. In TBBT
Fortunately, the earlier series might have already provided a map for Young Sheldon to explain Sheldon’s complicated relationship with his father’s legacy. In one of the show’s most tragic moments, season 7, episode 22, “The Proton Transmogrification,” Sheldon quietly admitted that he secretly did look up to his father after all.
After Professor Proton died, Sheldon noted that his grandfather and father both died before the Professor and referred to them collectively as men that he looked up to. The question of why The Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon spoke so callously about his father is one of Young Sheldon’s biggest canon problems, but this scene can fix that issue.
Outside of “The Proton Transmogrification,” Sheldon mostly only referred to his father as a drunken buffoon and a philanderer. However, in this episode, Sheldon let his guard down and conceded that the loss of his father was a formative pain for him.
This was a rare moment of emotional honesty from the aloof character, one that contradicted earlier comments where Sheldon dismissed his father as a waste of space. Thus, Young Sheldon season 7 could frame George Sr.’s death as a traumatic event that led Sheldon to bitterly hide his fondness towards his father in the decades that followed, which include The Big Bang Theory’s run.
This TBBT Moment Makes Young Sheldon Season 7’s George Sr Death Sadder
Ever since the spinoff made him an unexpectedly sweet figure, the death of George Sr. was always going to be a tragedy. However, Young Sheldon season 7 could make this more devastating by reminding viewers that Sheldon secretly saw his father as a role model.
His comments in “The Proton Transmogrification” make the event even more impactful, since they prove that, for all of his bluster, Sheldon cared about and missed his late father deep down. Since Young Sheldon will be dealing with the immediate impact of George Sr.’s death on a much younger version of Sheldon, this moment is likely to be even sadder.
“The Proton Transmogrification” revealing that The Big Bang Theory’s hero harbored a secret soft spot for his father was poignant. However, seeing the teenage hero of Young Sheldon contend with his father’s sudden death has the potential to be the character’s most moving moment.
Sheldon is famous for his reliance on rationality and logic over emotion, so it could be heartbreaking to see him contend with an event that no amount of clinical deduction can solve. Young Sheldon's best finale was crushing precisely because the episode saw Sheldon break down over his dearth of friends, but George Sr.’s death could be an even more moving insight into his inner life.
Young Sheldon Can Justify TBBT’s Treatment of George Sr
If Young Sheldon season 7 shows how much George Sr’s sudden death impacted Sheldon, the spinoff could justify The Big Bang Theory’s cruel asides about Sheldon’s father.
By revealing that Sheldon was hiding his real feelings over George Sr.’s death, Young Sheldon season 7 could prove that Sheldon’s bitter jibes about his father’s drinking and affairs were a coping mechanism for the emotionally stunted character.
This would also explain why Sheldon’s mother Mary was so bitter in The Big Bang Theory compared to her sweeter Young Sheldon incarnation.
To take this premise further, Young Sheldon season 7 could even lean on the fourth wall by having Sheldon’s adult self address this inconsistency in his narration. If the adult version of Sheldon admitted that he scorned his father to hide his hurt over his early death, this would effectively explain why The Big Bang Theory was so hard on the character.
This neat meta moment would also tie together Young Sheldon’s contradictory depiction of Sheldon by explaining that The Big Bang Theory’s version of the hero was working through some unacknowledged grief throughout the original show’s run.
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