Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Young Sheldon season 7, episode 14.
Summary
- Young Sheldon's series finale sets up events in The Big Bang Theory, showing Sheldon's growth as a parent and character.
- Sheldon's past influences his future, leading him to prioritize his children's interests over his own, like his parents did for him.
- Mary's intense religiosity in The Big Bang Theory is explained in Young Sheldon's series finale as a response to George Sr.'s death.
Although Young Sheldon’s season 7 ending saw the spinoff finally come to a close, the series finale set up the events of The Big Bang Theory perfectly while also offering a glimpse of Sheldon’s future. When Young Sheldon began in 2018, the show’s primary appeal was originally seeing what The Big Bang Theory’s quirky genius Sheldon was like as a child prodigy. Before long, Young Sheldon’s cast of characters won over viewers and the series started to focus on the entire Cooper clan. Over time, Meemaw, Missy, Mary, Georgie, and George Sr. all had character arcs of their own.
By Young Sheldon’s season 6 finale, Sheldon was practically a supporting character in his own show. Fortunately, Young Sheldon’s series finale “Memoir” changed that. The episode began like any other, with Sheldon’s narration detailing the events after his father’s funeral in the preceding outing. Then Sheldon’s love interest Amy interrupted him and the show cut to Sheldon’s future after The Big Bang Theory’s finale as he sat and wrote his memoirs. While he was busy writing about the death of his father, George Sr., Amy wanted him to attend their son Leonard’s hockey game. Sheldon initially refused this request.
What Young Sheldon’s Series Finale Revealed About Sheldon’s Life After The Big Bang Theory
Sheldon Almost Failed To Attend His Son Leonard’s Hockey Game
Throughout the remainder of “Memoir,” Young Sheldon cut between Sheldon’s future with Amy and his recollections of his adolescence as he finished his memoir. The most important scenes took place in the present, where Sheldon refused to go to Leonard’s hockey game since he didn’t think it was important. Sheldon protested that he had no interest in the game and claimed that his memoir was more important, but Amy appealed to his better nature. She noted that Sheldon’s parents made sacrifices for him and, when he admitted he only got baptized because of his mother’s religion, Sheldon realized she was right.
Sheldon put in some effort to meet his children halfway, much like his parents had decades earlier.
Like his parents, Sheldon struggled to prioritize the things his children cared about because of his own disinterest in them. Luckily, he outgrew this flaw and put in some effort to meet his children halfway, much like his parents had decades earlier. Amy revealed the error of Sheldon’s ways to him when she noted that his parents always accepted him the way he was. Reflecting on Young Sheldon’s George Sr. death led Sheldon to reconsider his own parenting although, hilariously, he was still reticent about his daughter taking up acting classes and complained this was due to Penny’s influence.
Why Sheldon Gets Baptized In Young Sheldon’s Series Finale
Sheldon Went Through With The Religious Rite For Mary
Despite his misgivings, Sheldon’s closeness with his mother led him to ignore his “Well-established atheism” and get baptized. Although Missy initially went along with this plan, Sheldon’s rebellious twin sister was so frustrated by Pastor Jeff’s condolences that she walked out of the ceremony before going through with it. Sheldon was baptized alone for his mother’s sake after Young Sheldon’s Meemaw admitted that she was worried by her daughter’s sudden reliance on her faith. Although Sheldon meant well, his willingness to get baptized may have made his mother’s reliance on religion even stronger, judging by The Big Bang Theory.
The Real Meaning Behind Sheldon & Missy’s Final Interaction
Sheldon’s Memory Of Missy Mirrors The Big Bang Theory’s Version Of Her
While Sheldon was walking through his childhood home one last time, he had a poignant final interaction with Missy. Missy asked whether Sheldon would remember her and he countered that he would unavoidably do so thanks to his eidetic memory. Missy then teased him about being stuck with her, cementing the relationship dynamic the pair shared throughout The Big Bang Theory and its spinoff. Whenever Sheldon tried to hide behind his advanced intelligence, his sister was always there to drag him back down to earth. In this exchange, viewers got further proof that the pair’s bond never changed as they grew up.