Young Sheldon Season 7’s TBBT Setup Makes 1 Sad Truth About Sheldon Undeniable

Warning! SPOILERS about Young Sheldon season 7, episode 9 ahead.

Summary

• Sheldon’s role in Young Sheldon has shifted, with Season 7, Episode 9 highlighting his growing out of the show.
• The Coopers’ reactions to Sheldon’s achievement suggest his move to grad school cannot be put off anymore.
• Young Sheldon’s focus has shifted to the Coopers, mirroring The Big Bang Theory’s transition to focus on Sheldon, and making Young Sheldon’s end necessary.

Young Sheldon’s latest seasons included Sheldon less and less in its central storylines, but season 7, episode 9 pushing Sheldon’s story to the front managed to highlight a heartbreaking truth about his role in the series. Created to offer insight into the childhood that morphed Sheldon Cooper into the socially inept genius he was in The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon’s way of telling Sheldon and the Coopers’ stories changed through the years. The change consistently made Sheldon less present in the main storylines of the later seasons, while his parents and siblings’ problems and developments took center stage.

This became clearer in Young Sheldon season 7, with each episode barely featuring Sheldon, and if one did, he would be on campus and away from the biggest stories affecting the Coopers. Although this works story-wise, as the final season is close to ending and Sheldon’s move to California for grad school is set to tie in Young Sheldon with The Big Bang Theory, it separates Sheldon from the Coopers before his move. However, Young Sheldon season 7, episode 9 bringing back the focus on Sheldon does the opposite, highlighting a sad realization about Sheldon’s different role in the series.

Young Sheldon Season 7 Just Showed How Sheldon Has Grown Out Of His Own Show

East Texas Tech & The Coopers’ Reaction Showed How Out Of Place Sheldon Is In Medford

While Young Sheldon season 7, episode 9 pushed Sheldon back at the center of the show, it also evidently highlighted how the title character has also sadly grown out of it. Getting published in the International Physics Review was such a big deal that Ivy Leagues from all over the country started courting Sheldon and the Coopers to get him to choose them, and a great source of pride for Sheldon, as his genius was finally recognized by one of the top scientific periodicals. However, Sheldon’s family seemed more thrilled by Missy’s A than his notably bigger achievement.

Mary, George and Connie’s reaction to Sheldon’s achievement contributes to Sheldon’s new mocking role in Young Sheldon, as the Coopers couldn’t fully grasp the greatness of Sheldon’s accomplishment, thus not being as enthusiastic about his news at first. While the Ivy League colleges’ interest changed their perspective, it was still about Sheldon getting the best deal rather than fully getting what his publication truly meant. Dr. Sturgis and Dr. Linkletter’s reactions weren’t better, as they understood more what it meant getting published that early, but still didn’t get Sheldon’s point in the paper, nor did they grasp his Tesseract reference.

Sheldon’s big success in Young Sheldon season 7, episode 9 thus sadly highlighted how necessary his move to grad school has become, as he couldn’t find what he longed for in Medford anymore. While Sheldon always wanted to study at the best schools, earlier Young Sheldon seasons also showed him unable to separate from the Coopers. Now, not only is Sheldon often away from them, but his successes aren’t fully understood by the Coopers and his scientific mentors don’t get his side that appreciates comics, essentially making Sheldon fish out of water both in Medford and at East Texas Tech.

Georgie & Mandy’s Spinoff Proves The Right Choice Based On Young Sheldon’s Change Of Focus

Sheldon Being Overshadowed By The Coopers Repeats TBBT’s Protagonist Change

While Young Sheldon always aimed to be focused on the young genius, the Coopers’ storylines became more interesting than his over the years. Young Sheldon’s change in focus weirdly mirrored The Big Bang Theory’s – the parent series was originally about the entire friends group, before focusing on Sheldon’s developments and achievements more. With Young Sheldon’s premise being fulfilled, ending it so that Georgie and Mandy’s Young Sheldon spinoff can better continue the characters’ stories proves the right choice. This way, they wouldn’t have to justify or mock Sheldon’s absence, focusing on the stories that made Young Sheldon’s latest seasons great.

Young Sheldon

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