George’s Death Was Tragic — But This Young Sheldon Loss Hit Even Harder

Young Sheldon was created as a spinoff of The Big Bang Theory, and the CBS comedy has done really well in its seven-season run. However, Young Sheldon is a bit different from its predecessor. The sense of humor is different, and the stories don’t always line up. For one, the Coopers are much nicer than Sheldon described them on TBBT, which explains why George Cooper’s affair was retconned as Sheldon’s misunderstanding the situation. There are also a few odd and insulting plot holes that the series brushes off.

With that said, Young Sheldon started to up the drama in its sixth season, as its story closes in with TBBT canon. George and Mary’s relationship was falling apart as they developed feelings for other people. Also, Connie was taking big risks with her gambling room and Georgie got a girl pregnant who was twice his age. Season 6, Episode 13, “A Frat Party, a Sleepover and the Mother of All Blisters” took another step in that direction. Child prodigy Paige Swanson showed back up, and fans were worried that they figured out the tragic reason why she was never mentioned on TBBT.

Updated on May 15, 2024 by Katie Doll: With Young Sheldon gearing up for an epic and emotional series finale, there are still a lot of unanswered questions, including Paige’s absencee from The Big Bang Theory. As fans speculate her fate, it’s hard to imagine a sitcom ending on such a dark, dramatic note. This article has been updated to further speculate on what may happen to Paige before all is said and done, as well as to meet with CBR’s most current standards for formatting.

Sheldon Found Paige Drinking at a College Party

Coach Wilkins actor Doc Farrow shares an image from the set for the filming of the emotional final episode.

“A Frat Party, a Sleepover and the Mother of All Blisters” was an episode full of lies and introduced another tragedy on Young Sheldon. Things started when Sheldon tried to stop his dormmates from making too much noise. When they opened the door, Sheldon was shocked to see Paige inside. He tried to stop her from reveling, but she was soon off to another party. Sheldon followed her, but he was even more surprised to see Missy there. She had lied to her parents about being at a sleepover. Together, they saved Paige from going home with a random boy and decided to keep the whole thing a secret.

Viewers were surprised to see how far Paige had fallen. She was introduced in Season 2 as another child prodigy and a fellow student in one of Sheldon’s college classes. She started out as a happy kid with a little bit of a rebellious side, who encouraged Sheldon to break into a closed museum exhibit. But then, her parents got divorced because of disagreements about how they would raise Paige.

• Paige’s behavior spins out of control when she’s caught drinking and sneaking into college fraternity parties.
• The absence of a support system at home enabled Paige to go as far to committing crimes, such as stealing George Cooper’s truck.

She blamed herself for the divorce at the rough time of becoming a teenager. She became quiet, shoplifted and even punched Sheldon in the face at church. Eventually, she dropped out of college and started living at home again. So, seeing her drinking and smoking at a college party was the last thing that fans expected.

Paige’s worst moment was actually her last appearance on the series when she met up with Missy, whom she always had a closer bond with than Sheldon. At the time, Missy was also going through a rebellious phase when her parents became preoccupied with not only Sheldon, but with Georgie, as he was expecting a baby. Missy and Paige stole George’s truck to head to Florida for a new life. They were eventually caught by a sheriff’s deputy, and were picked up by their parents.

Paige’s Death Would Explain Her TBBT Absence

Montana Jordan and Emily Osment won’t be the only Young Sheldon cast members to return for the spinoff series, Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage.

If Paige’s drinking and grand theft auto weren’t bad enough, fans were even more surprised to find out why. She wasn’t trying to be cool. She was “actively trying to kill brain cells so that she could escape from real life,” or at least that’s how Sheldon put it. It showed that she had no emotional support from anyone, and a lot of fans on Reddit have started to expect the worst. User mtm4440 wrote, “I’m really worried for Paige in the future episodes. Each guest appearance has shown her progressively getting worse.” The user is right. Paige has been getting worse with every appearance, and Young Sheldon may be building to her heartbreaking death.

• Paige’s spiral led fans to believe that she was going to die in the coming episodes.
• Since Sheldon never mentions Paige on The Big Bang Theory, fans had a right to believe that Paige would be the first death before George.

While having Paige possibly die in a tragic way seems dark for the series, things (like Georgie’s relationship with Mandy) have been getting more tragic. So, it’s not outside the realm of possibility. It’s odd that TBBT never mentioned her because growing up with another child prodigy seems noteworthy. But if Paige’s death traumatized Sheldon, it would explain why he never talked about her. Obviously, no one wants to see Paige die in Young Sheldon, but unless the series starts clearing some plot holes, it will never be able to line up with TBBT canon. So, fans should hold their breath and expect the worst for Paige.

George Cooper Has Died, but Paige Is Still Nowhere in Sight

Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage co-creator and executive producer shares the inspiration behind the upcoming Young Sheldon spinoff.

Paige’s last appearance on Young Sheldon was Season 6, Episode 16, “A Stolen Truck and Going on the Lam,” and hasn’t really been spoken about since. The lack of acknowledgment could be for many reasons. For one, Mckenna Grace has become a successful actor, recently with Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, who’s no longer known for portraying younger versions of older characters.

Another reason could be that Young Sheldon simply doesn’t have a storyline for Paige anymore. She was meant to be the antithesis of Sheldon: a child prodigy who failed to live up to expectations because of the enormous pressure on her shoulder. That storyline has been told several times in different ways throughout the series, so there’s no real need for it. The final season also had to wrap up many stories pertaining to the Cooper family, including Sheldon’s enrollment at Caltech, Georgie and Mandy’s marriage and George’s death in Season 7, Episode 12. There was simply no room for Paige.

• As Young Sheldon draws to a close, viewers can sigh in relief that Paige didn’t die on the series.
• That being said, Young Sheldon had a lot of ground to cover in the final season, so Paige was seemingly written out of the series.
• With so much time between Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory, it’s up in the air what Paige got up to during that length of time.

But there’s still time for Paige to make another appearance. Sheldon’s former friend Tam makes a guest appearance as Sheldon walks down memory lane at his old high school. Since George’s funeral will take place during the finale, Paige could be in attendance to support her old friends. Despite all the theories about Paige’s death though, there’s a high possibility it won’t happen on Young Sheldon. Two deaths in the span of three episodes is far too much for a series labeled as a sitcom. But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. There’s a large gap of time between Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory, and that opens several doors for Paige to go down a darker path or pick herself back up and get back into the world of science.