Why This One Finale Moment in Young Sheldon Still Bothers Me After a Year

Although Young Sheldon’s ending was a lot of fun, I still can’t get my head around one part of The Big Bang Theory spinoff’s series finale. The Big Bang Theory’s ending was great, but the series finale was far from perfect. Sheldon’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech was a poignant, funny, and fitting end to the show, but Penny’s last-second revelation of her pregnancy highlighted just how much The Big Bang Theory’s focus shifted to Sheldon in its later seasons.

As noted at the time by Vulture’s Kathryn VanArendonk, Penny’s decision not to have children was a rare, interesting subversion of sitcom norms. It was a daring decision for the series to make and one that felt representative to a lot of viewers, so it was striking and disappointing when the series finale suddenly revealed she was pregnant without ever explaining why she and Leonard changed their life plans. This underlined just how much The Big Bang Theory truly was Sheldon’s show by the time its finale aired, as evidenced by the very title of its first spinoff.

Sheldon Is A Selfish Father In Young Sheldon’s Finale

Amy Pulls Sheldon Away from His Memoir For His Son’s Big Game

If The Big Bang Theory gradually shifted its focus to Sheldon’s character arc more and more with each passing season, Young Sheldon took the opposite approach. Ironically, given its title, Sheldon was arguably the least important Cooper family member for much of Young Sheldon season 7. The very existence of Young Sheldon’s spinoff Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage proves that Sheldon’s older brother Georgie captured the hearts of viewers, while Meemaw, Missy, and Mary’s major roles in that latter show evidence their persistent popularity among the audience.

The focus of Young Sheldon season 7 moved back to the show’s title character only in its final episodes, most notably episode 13, “Funeral,” and episode 14, “Memoir.” The former was a genuinely poignant outing that saw Sheldon’s mind come to terms with the devastating death of his father, while the latter flashed forward to introduce Sheldon’s older self. The show’s narrator was revealed as he finished the first draft of his memoirs, only for his love interest from The Big Bang Theory to enter the scene and chide him for almost missing his child’s big game.

Eventually, after endless arguing, Sheldon agrees to attend his son’s hockey game in Young Sheldon’s finale. However, this never sat right with me. Sheldon’s disinterest in his children doesn’t gel in Young Sheldon’s series finale, although it may have played better in the laugh track-backed milieu of Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage or The Big Bang Theory. The disinterested dad being forced to support his children by a stern wife was a classic sitcom setup, but it flew in the face of all viewers who learned about Sheldon’s journey in the original show’s final seasons.

Sheldon Overcame His Self-Obsession In The Big Bang Theory’s Finale

Sheldon Learned to Prioritize Others Throughout The Original Show

The primary thrust of Sheldon’s character arc from The Big Bang Theory was that he finally learned to think about people other than himself, so it was jarring to see him disregard the needs of his children in Young Sheldon’s flash-forward. It would have been one thing if the episode saw him dismiss the needs of an acquaintance or a colleague, but Sheldon specifically noted that he couldn’t have achieved everything in his career without his family, his friends, and Amy during his acceptance speech.

Although The Big Bang Theory had problems of its own, that didn’t stop the show calling out a famous TV character well before they were retired.

Thus, it was disarming and disappointing to see how short-lived this redemptive arc was, as Sheldon dismissed his children’s interests as a waste of time in the Young Sheldon finale. The obvious irony was that Sheldon had spent untold time writing his memoirs, obsessing over the minutiae of his own childhood, but couldn’t recognize the importance of a formative childhood event for his son. Again, though, this gag would have worked better if Sheldon hadn’t grown out of such self-centered thinking in the original show’s ending.

Sheldon Ignoring His Children Doesn’t Even Fit His Big Bang Theory Character

Sheldon Prioritizing His Children Wouldn’t Be Entirely Selfless

Perhaps The Big Bang Theory’s upcoming spinoff will reveal that Sheldon’s moment of clarity during his acceptance speech was just a momentary change, and he immediately reverted to his worst self afterward. However, even with this explanation at hand, Sheldon effectively ignoring his children in Young Sheldon’s finale makes no sense. In season 10, episode 8, “The Brain Bowl Incubation,” a gene experiment led Sheldon to believe that he and Amy had uniquely impressive DNA that was bound to create uber-intelligent offspring.

Sheldon became obsessed with procreation since he thought his children would be super-geniuses, meaning he had an entirely self-interested reason to care about their development. Thus, Sheldon focusing on his children’s upbringing would at least be partially self-interested in Young Sheldon’s finale, which makes it even more egregious for him to ignore his son’s big game. The Big Bang Theory’s potential sequel show may find a way to justify this, but I fear that a disappointingly banal reason could explain the issue.

Young Sheldon’s Ending Undermined The Big Bang Theory’s Finale

Sheldon’s Character Devolution Made Young Sheldon’s Ending Less Optimistic

When it was first announced that Young Sheldon’s finale would bring back Sheldon and Amy, this inevitably put the show’s creators into an almost impossible bind. If Sheldon truly did learn his lesson from the series finale, he would be an entirely different person by Young Sheldon’s ending. Less self-involved and more supportive of his friends, family, and coworkers, this version of Sheldon ran the risk of feeling unrecognizable for fans who fell in love with the crabby, self-obsessed protagonist.

Alternatively, Sheldon could revert to his old self in the cameo, an approach that would be nostalgic and fun but inevitably made it feel like he never actually learned anything in The Big Bang Theory. While The Big Bang Theory’s other cast reunions on other shows like Night Court got around this issue by getting the stars to play new characters altogether, Young Sheldon’s ending was left in a catch-22.

Young Sheldon’s finale undid Sheldon’s character development to make his return funny, but this inevitably made it feel like his character devolved between shows. The humbled version of the main character seen in The Big Bang Theory’s ending was replaced by a thoughtless father and husband in Young Sheldon’s series finale, and it was tough not to feel like this was a betrayal of the show’s hero.