Young Sheldon Season 7’s Biggest TBBT Retcon Fixes All Its Plot Holes
Young Sheldon season 7 officially makes its biggest The Big Bang Theory, effectively fixing all of its previous plot holes. After years of build-up, Young Sheldon finally tackles Sheldon’s infamous story about catching his dad having an affair in The Big Bang Theory. While explaining to Penny the origins of his three-knock rule, Sheldon revealed that he accidentally walked in on George having inappropriate relations with another woman while Mary was out attending bible study. The anecdote became a tricky plot in Young Sheldon, considering its contradicting depiction of George. Somehow, the writers still found a way to do it.
Briefly, it didn’t seem like Young Sheldon was going to tackle the plot anymore. Based on the timeline, George’s cheating scandal was supposed to happen towards the end of season 6. Between that and George’s renewed marriage with Mary, ignoring it altogether felt like the right move. In any case, Young Sheldon has had a history of deviating from The Big Bang Theory canon for its own storytelling’s benefit. That being said, aside from clearing George’s name from Sheldon’s cheating allegations, showing the incident also helps Young Sheldon’s cause as it effectively explains all of its plot inconsistencies.
George’s Cheating Scandal Proves Sheldon Isn’t A Reliable Narrator
Don’t believe everything that Sheldon says.
In Young Sheldon season 7, episode 4, “Ants on a Log and a Cheating Winker,” Sheldon catches his dad in a compromising position, just as he claimed in The Big Bang Theory. However, what he fails to realize is that George isn’t with another woman, he is with Mary, who is dressed in traditional German costume — a nod to her recent trip to Germany with the boy genius. This re-contextualizes Sheldon’s story about the incident, but it maintains the integrity of his three-knock rule origins. Most importantly, this proves that Sheldon is not a reliable narrator, intentional or not.
Sheldon’s recollection of events cannot be treated as hard truths because sometimes, even he doesn’t know the whole picture.
Sheldon’s tendency to lie or not tell the whole truth has been well-documented in Young Sheldon. He claimed to be an anomaly as a child genius, but the prequel has proven time and again that it isn’t the case, debunking The Big Bang Theory’s premise. However, George’s cheating scandal incident shows that despite his eidetic memory, Sheldon’s recollection of events cannot be treated as hard truths because sometimes, even he doesn’t know the whole picture. This explains all the discrepancies between his stories in The Big Bang Theory and what actually happens in Young Sheldon.
Which Version Of Sheldon’s Childhood Is The Truth? Young Sheldon Or TBBT’s?
Sheldon remembered his childhood inaccurately in The Big Bang Theory.
In terms of storytelling, many of Sheldon’s childhood anecdotes in The Big Bang Theory were done for comedic purposes. By then, the writers didn’t know yet that the Coopers’ story would be played out on the screen via a prequel. This is the reason why so many of Sheldon’s stories sounded too silly or unlikely, that there is just no way that its spinoff can translate it properly. Considering this, it’s safe to say that the events of Young Sheldon are the more accurate version of Sheldon’s life in Texas before he moved to Pasadena, California, and met his friends.
Jim Parsons’ adult Sheldon, who provides the narration in Young Sheldon, admits that he may have been too harsh when remembering his childhood, especially when it comes to his father. In The Big Bang Theory, the socially-inept genius barely had anything good to say about George, and it didn’t help that Mary also badmouthed her late husband constantly. The cheating scandal incident sealed the Cooper patriarch’s image as a bad father. In Young Sheldon, however, Sheldon from the future has admitted that he didn’t realize how great George was as a dad and regrets not telling him more about it.
How George’s TBBT Cheating Scandal Retcon Impacts The Rest Of Young Sheldon
There’s 1 unintended drawback to George’s cheating scandal clarification.
Young Sheldon will end despite enjoying immense popularity because of the canon. So far, there are only 10 episodes left to tackle all remaining narrative loose ends while also setting up Georgie and Mandy’s spinoff. Young Sheldon retconning the cheating story may be good for his image, but it sets up George’s death to be more heartbreaking. Knowing that he isn’t unfaithful and that he is happy in his marriage to Mary makes George’s unexpected death worse for the family. Hopefully, Young Sheldon can make the most out of George’s remaining time by having him spend it with his family.
