Young Sheldon’s Season 7 Retcons Hurt The Big Bang Theory Spinoff’s Upcoming Death

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Young Sheldon season 7, episode 8.

Summary Young Sheldon's changes to TBBT canon make George Sr's death sadder due to altered character arcs and relationships.

Meemaw's character shift results in darker storytelling, affecting the show's tone before George Sr's death.

Missy's rebellious regression and Georgie's departure worsen the Cooper family dynamics, making George Sr's upcoming death harder to handle.

It is understandable that Young Sheldon season 7 has altered the story of The Big Bang Theory’s prequel, but the show’s biggest changes will all make George Sr’s upcoming death harder to handle. Like most sitcom spinoffs, Young Sheldon has an uneasy relationship with the canon of its predecessor, The Big Bang Theory. Sheldon’s family was the butt of a few occasional jokes in the original hit sitcom, whereas they are Young Sheldon’s entire cast of main characters. As such, it makes sense that Young Sheldon turned Sheldon's father into a sweet everyman instead of the philandering drunk Sheldon described.

Similarly, Young Sheldon changing The Big Bang Theory’s Meemaw into a free-spirited rebel allowed the show to have more fun with the character than her original, more sedate incarnation. However, the changes that the prequel made to the earlier show sometimes come at a cost to its established canon. Meemaw’s arrest in season 7, along with her home’s destruction in Young Sheldon’s season 6 finale, explains why she is so much less rebellious and carefree in The Big Bang Theory. This also makes her character arc pretty downbeat, thus proving that the original show’s canon can hurt its prequel.

Young Sheldon Retconning George Sr’s Cheating Makes His Death Sadder

George Sr’s Worst Canon Mistake Was Just A Misunderstanding

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Similarly, many of the understandable changes that Young Sheldon season 7 has made to the Cooper family’s backstory make George Sr’s upcoming death even sadder. George Sr will die before the end of Young Sheldon season 7 since The Big Bang Theory stated that Sheldon’s father passed away in his early teens. This event was always going to be heartbreaking since Young Sheldon’s version of George Sr was a sweet, caring father, not the thoughtless lout described in the original series. However, Georgie moving out, Missy’s continuing rebellion, and even Meemaw’s surprisingly dark story all make this harder to handle.

Young Sheldon season 7's revelation that George Sr never cheated and Shedlon just misunderstood some role-play between his parents makes George Sr even more sympathetic, thus making his upcoming death sadder. Admittedly, Young Sheldon retconned one Big Bang Theory tragedy by revealing why Sheldon never attended his sister’s wedding, but the same episode saw Meemaw get arrested when her illegal gambling room was raided. This left the newlywed Georgie without a job and meant that Meemaw was soon placed under house arrest, making the circumstances surrounding George Sr’s tragic death even bleaker than they originally seemed.

Young Sheldon Changing Meemaw’s Character Makes Her Story Darker

Meemaw Losing Her Business Darkened Young Sheldon’s Tone

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In season 7, episode 8, “An Ankle Monitor and a Big Plastic Crap House,” Meemaw discovered that she would not only lose the proceeds of her gambling room but also any access to her legitimate laundromat business while on trial. This means that the cash-strapped Meemaw has no way of rebuilding her home after it was destroyed by a tornado, while Georgie is now unemployed with a young baby to feed. Although Meemaw and Dale’s Young Sheldon relationship shone despite these dire events, there is no doubt that this is the most serious legal struggle Sheldon's grandmother has faced.

Meemaw’a arrest could have occurred back in season 6 when George Sr’s death was much further away.

This makes it all the more surprising that the event occurred shortly before George Sr’s death. George Sr's death is guaranteed to be the saddest moment in the show's history, so adding more sad details to the proceeding outings seems unnecessary. Meemaw’a arrest could have occurred back in season 6 when George Sr’s death was much further away. This would have given Sheldon and his siblings some relaxed time with their father before his death, whereas the show's final episodes will now most likely be focused on Meemaw’s legal quandary. George Sr and Sheldon’s conversation highlighted this problem.

Young Sheldon Undoing Missy’s Growth Hurt Her George Sr Relationship

Season 7 Treats Missy’s Teenage Rebellion As A Joke

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In “An Ankle Monitor and a Big Plastic Crap House,” George Sr impressed Sheldon by knowing who Vincent “The Chin” Gigante was, while Sheldon’s plan for Meemaw’s legal defense impressed his father. This scene was sweet, but their brief interaction was the only time that Sheldon spoke to his father in one of their final episodes together. Sheldon and George Sr's similarities ironically meant that the pair never really saw eye to eye, so it is devastating that their final days together are spent worrying about a court case. Missy’s rebellion is an even more obvious case of this problem rearing its head.

Throughout season 6, Missy's teenage rebellion was treated as a serious issue. Like the possibility of George Sr cheating on Mary with Brenda, this dark storyline provided the season’s drama quotient. However, in season 7, the promise she made George Sr to dial back her rebellion is forgotten, and her antics are treated as a joke again. There is nothing wrong with Sheldon’s sister having fun, but Young Sheldon season 7’s Missy spent her final episodes before her father's death hiding a secret boyfriend and sneaking out to buy beer instead of spending time with George Sr. This will make her loss even sadder.

Georgie and Mandy Leaving The Coopers Makes George Sr’s Death Worse

Georgie Moving Out Before His Father’s Death Is Tragic

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Finally, Georgie’s story seems like it is the least closely connected to George Sr’s fate, but season 7 also makes equally disappointing changes to his backstory. In The Big Bang Theory, Georgie tells Sheldon that he always resented their mother’s preferential treatment of his little brother, saying that he felt like he needed to raise Missy and Sheldon after George Sr's death. It is not yet clear how Young Sheldon's Georgie and Mandy spinoff will handle this plot, as Georgie's marriage will be the show’s main focus rather than his family life. However, one change already worsened his arc.

Georgie moves into Mandy’s family home in “An Ankle Monitor and a Big Plastic Crap House,” thus depriving him of time with George Sr before his father’s death. Building a portable toilet together gave Georgie a chance to work together on a project with George Sr, but Mandy’s unimpressed reaction resulted in Georgie leaving his family home blissfully unaware of his father’s impending fate. This means that Missy, Sheldon, and Georgie will all have been absent, busy rebelling, or distracted by Meemaw’s trial in the weeks before George Sr’s Young Sheldon death, making The Big Bang Theory’s spinoff’s story far sadder.

Episode Number Episode Title Air Date 1 "A Weiner Schnitzel and Underwear in a Tree" February 15 2 "A Roulette Wheel and a Piano Playing Dog" February 22 3 "A Strudel and a Hot American Boy Toy" February 29 4 "Ants on a Log and a Cheating Winker" March 7 5 "A Frankenstein's Monster and a Crazy Church Guy" March 14 6 "Baptists, Catholics, and an Attempted Drowning" April 4 7 "A Proper Wedding and Skeletons in the Closet" April 11