Young Sheldon’s George Sr Death Leaves A Major Big Bang Theory Plot Hole Unresolved

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Young Sheldon season 7, episode 12.

Summary George Sr's death still has one unsolved mystery in Young Sheldon despite his tragic heart attack in season 7.

The Big Bang Theory referenced George Sr's death as "SBL" in an acronym that Young Sheldon does not explain.

Young Sheldon planted clues to George Sr's cause of death early on, excusing this unresolved Big Bang Theory mystery.

Although Young Sheldon’s highly hyped George Sr. death finally happened, The Big Bang Theory’s spinoff still hasn’t explained a major plot hole from the earlier show’s reference to the event. Young Sheldon has always struggled with the canon of The Big Bang Theory as the spinoff told the story of Sheldon’s family, the Coopers. Most of Young Sheldon’s cast of characters first appeared in The Big Bang Theory as older versions of themselves, but they were all different from their spinoff incarnations. Mary was less bitter and judgmental, while Meemaw was less carefree and rebellious in the original show.

Mary’s changing outlook could be attributed to the early, sudden death of her husband George Sr, while Meemaw’s character change after Young Sheldon could be a result of her criminal trial humbling her. However, not all of the inconsistencies between the two shows are so easily excused. Young Sheldon jumped through hoops to justify George Sr cheating on Mary before a season 7 episode eventually revealed this was just a misunderstanding on Sheldon’s part. Similarly, the only time that The Big Bang Theory referenced George Sr.’s passing, the earlier hit sitcom made the character's cause of death more confusing.

Young Sheldon Never Explained The Big Bang Theory's Alternate George Sr Death Cause

The Tragic Event Was Credited To The Mysterious Acronym “SBL”

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In season 7, episode 12, “A New Home and a Traditional Texas Torture,” Young Sheldon’s Cooper family gathered for a family photo only to learn some terrible news. George Sr died off-screen in this Young Sheldon episode, an event the show had been building up to since its first season. Back in season 1, George Sr survived a heart attack, before another more serious heart attack killed him at work in this moving season 7 outing. However, in the events of this episode, Young Sheldon never explained why The Big Bang Theory referred to George Sr’s death as “SBL.”

In season 4, episode 2 "The Cruciferous Vegetable Amplification,” Sheldon began to fret about his health and created a family tree to determine any genetically inherited ailments. There, George Sr’s cause of death is listed as “SBL.” Leonard asked what “KBB” stood for and learned that Sheldon’s uncle was “Killed by badgers,” so viewers can reasonably assume the phrase is an acronym. The problem is that there is no medical condition related to heart disease with this acronym. “Small bowel lymphoma” and “Sclerotic bone lesions” are the two most commonly used medical acronyms of “SBL,” making Sheldon’s chart even more incomprehensible.

Young Sheldon Set Up George Sr’s Cause Of Death Years Earlier

Season 1 Featured Sheldon’s Father Suffering A Heart Attack

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While some of Young Sheldon season 7’s darkest jokes hinted at the cause of George Sr’s death, the spinoff gave viewers the first major clue to his demise much earlier. As early as season 1, episode 3, “Poker, Faith, and Eggs,” George Sr suffered a heart attack that proved his heart health was seriously compromised. Although the spinoff never explained what exactly Sheldon meant when he referred to “SBL,” the show did do a lot to foreshadow its biggest death. As such, Young Sheldon’s tragic George Sr death worked despite ignoring The Big Bang Theory’s acronym mystery.

Young Sheldon season 7 airs every Thursday, 8pm ET on CBS.