In Young Sheldon’s finale, Mandy and Georgie are happily married and starting to set up a life for themselves with their baby CeCe. In The Big Bang Theory season 11, episode 23, “The Sibling Realignment,” an older, more bitter Georgie spoke of an “Ex-wife” in passing. Thus, the spinoff had to bridge the gap between these two divergent depictions.
In Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage season 1, many Young Sheldon characters returned to play a role in continuing Georgie and Mandy’s story. Meemaw’s new gambling scheme proved that she never learned much from her arrest in Young Sheldon season 7 for running an illegal betting room. Meanwhile, Mary’s increased religiosity made her harder to get along with.
Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage Star Raegan Revord Said Sheldon’s Return Wouldn’t Add Up
The Star Noted That Sheldon’s Feud With Georgie Dates Lines Up With The Sitcom’s Events
Similarly, Georgie’s rebellious sister Missy continued to clash with her mother, Mary, subtly setting up Missy’s chaotic life trajectory throughout The Big Bang Theory. The one lead character who wasn’t present was Young Sheldon’s titular star, and it was easy to see why. Sheldon was Young Sheldon’s lead and, by The Big Bang Theory’s finale, that show’s protagonist, too.
As such, it made sense not to foreground Sheldon while viewers were getting invested in Georgie and Mandy’s story. That said, there is also an in-universe plot justification for Sheldon’s absence. In “The Sibling Realignment,” Sheldon reveals he and his older brother have been locked in a multi-decade feud for years, and they don’t speak as a result.
It is not clear when Sheldon and Georgie became estranged, but their reactions to their father’s death is the cause of their discord. Speaking to People, Missy’s actor Raegan Revord noted that Sheldon’s return in Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage season 2 wouldn’t really add up as a result.
Per Revord, “That would be so much fun, but I feel like if, because they’re sticking to the Big Bang Theory lore and everything, because the whole thing in The Big Bang Theory is Georgie and Sheldon don’t talk, because they kind of have a rift between them after George dies.”
Revord went on to say, “If they’re sticking to that, I feel like it wouldn’t make sense for Sheldon to come back,” and the actor is right to note this inconsistency. As fun as Sheldon’s return might be, it wouldn’t really make sense since Sheldon and Georgie need some distance to establish their mutual disdain for each other.
Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage Could Still Bring Sheldon Back (But It Shouldn’t)
Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage Season 2 Doesn’t Need Sheldon’s Return Anymore
That said, as Revord notes, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage and Young Sheldon have found loopholes for all sorts of continuity snarls before. However, there’s no need for the show to accommodate Sheldon’s return with so many storylines on the go and Connor already taking Sheldon’s place as the show’s resident lovable oddball.
Connor’s presence, alongside the show’s attempts to make Georgie and Mandy a compelling pair of protagonists, means Sheldon’s presence would be a distraction at this point in the series. There are already plenty of characters for viewers to keep up with, and they need screen time more than a character who has already starred in two separate sitcoms of his own.
One Sheldon Cameo Would Make Sense In Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage Season 2
Bringing Back Sheldon Like Season 1’s George Sr. Cameo Would Add Up
However, season 1, episode 12, “Typhoid Georgie,” already hinted at the ways that Georgie’s workaholic mindset can twist and contort his ideas of his family members sometimes. In “Typhoid Georgie,” Georgie had a fever dream where he envisioned his late father George Sr. telling him to ignore his illness and get back to work.
It was a meaner, less thoughtful vision of George Sr. than viewers were used to, and one that didn’t gel with Young Sheldon’s more sympathetic father figure. However, this made sense in-universe, since it wasn’t the real George Sr., but rather a hallucination created by Georgie’s unconscious.
Similarly, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage season 2’s Sheldon return could justify the cameo with Georgie dreaming/ imagining/ hallucinating his own distorted version of Sheldon. This way, this imagined version could look down on/ disparage Georgie, thus explaining how Georgie became so distant from his brother.
It runs the risk of feeling pretty heartbreaking, but, if Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage season 2 depicts Sheldon as a figment of Georgie’s imagination who disparages his brother or mocks him, this might explain how Georgie ended up resenting his little brother. In “The Sibling Realignment,” it is clear that both brothers love each other, but they think they’re mutually hated.
