The coronation of his dream in The Big Bang Theory’s series finale established Sheldon as the undisputed protagonist, with the first TBBT spinoff Young Sheldon doubling down by focusing even more obviously on Sheldon as a character, only during his childhood. Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage is the first spinoff to do things differently, highlighting the upsides of Sheldon’s absence.
Sheldon’s Absence Allows Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage To Focus On Other Relationships
The biggest dissonance in Young Sheldon’s later seasons had to do with the focus of the spinoff needing to be on Sheldon, while his storylines were the least interesting, with Georgie and Mandy’s pregnancy, Missy’s rebellion, and Mary or Connie’s storylines eclipsing his. The reason for Young Sheldon ending was the time having come for Sheldon to move to California.
Sheldon’s absence from Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage completely eliminates this problem. Building his life away from Texas sets the scene for where we see Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory, but it also lifts a major weight from those who stayed in Medford, as their storylines could now be the focus without having to share with Sheldon’s.
This simultaneously helps Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage to separate itself from Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon, and it puts a spotlight on Georgie and the McAllisters in a way that couldn’t be done before. In this context, the personal one-on-one relationships among them could flourish in First Marriage season 1 because there wasn’t Sheldon hogging the viewers’ attention.
Why Sheldon Still Needs To Return In Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage
Although First Marriage proved it could thrive even without the socially inept genius, Sheldon should still make a one-off appearance in the Young Sheldon spinoff. The Big Bang Theory season 11 after all established what needs to be set in motion so that Georgie and Sheldon can become estranged, and a Sheldon appearance could cement their growing distance.
Sheldon’s appearance could thus work as a connection between how we have last seen him in Young Sheldon and what we know he will become in The Big Bang Theory, effectively concluding his story. This makes his return needed in the grand scheme of things, as Sheldon appearing in Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage can close Sheldon’s TBBT paragraph definitively.
