SUMMARY
- Young Sheldon must address the major event of Sheldon's father's death, which is an important canon storyline that the spinoff needs to work around.
- The absence of Paige in The Big Bang Theory is more disconcerting than George Sr's death, as her role in Sheldon's life remains unclear and her story seems to end in tragedy.
- Young Sheldon season 7 has the opportunity to save Paige's plot by revealing that she has succeeded in her academic career, providing a light-hearted twist and adding humor to the storyline.
While Young Sheldon season 7 might struggle to work around George Sr’s death, this is not the biggest canon problem that The Big Bang Theory’s spinoff faces heading into its next outing. Like most sitcom spinoffs, Young Sheldon tends to play fast and loose with the canon of its predecessor.
In some instances, Young Sheldon can provide fitting backstories for many of its title character’s most memorable foibles from The Big Bang Theory. However, Young Sheldon will just as frequently disregard huge events from the earlier hit’s version of Sheldon’s backstory solely because these don’t fit with the show’s tone or plot.
While Young Sheldon season 7 will have many character arcs and storylines that won’t be impacted by The Big Bang Theory’s canon, there is one major event that the spinoff must address soon. According to The Big Bang Theory’s version of events, Sheldon walked in on his father, George Sr, having an affair before his father died of a sudden heart attack.
Since George Sr died when Sheldon was around thirteen, and the character is already thirteen in Young Sheldon, it is only a matter of time before The Big Bang Theory’s dark George death occurs in its spinoff. That said, George Sr's Young Sheldon isn't the show's only major canon problem.
Young Sheldon Season 7 Must Justify Paige’s TBBT Absence
While the death of Sheldon’s father seems like the biggest canon storyline that Young Sheldon will need to work around in season 7, there is another plot that is even more pivotal to the spinoff’s success.
The Coopers have only gotten more involved in Paige’s life over the years, making Sheldon’s failure to mention her in The Big Bang Theory increasingly weird. While viewers know that Georgie and Mandy’s Young Sheldon relationship is doomed thanks to the earlier show’s canon, the fact that The Big Bang Theory doesn’t talk about Paige at all is much more disconcerting. This makes her role in his life impossible to ascertain.
Early on, it seemed as though Paige might be a formative love interest for Sheldon when he realized he had a crush on his academic rival. Later, she seemed destined to be an early enemy of his as Sheldon developed his infamous competitive streak.
Later still, she became a tragic figure in seasons 5 and 6. Paige discovered that Sheldon had a social life in college despite his age and ran away from home, realizing she was more of an outcast than she had thought due to her status as a child prodigy. Since then, things only went downhill.
Like many of the sitcoms that influenced Young Sheldon, The Big Bang Theory’s spinoff isn’t afraid of handling darker storylines than its predecessor. In season 6, Paige returned to college but began partying and drinking before eventually escaping from her stultifying home life and embarking on a joyride with Sheldon’s twin sister, Missy.
This joyride saw the pair travel through multiple states before they were returned home safely, prompting Paige’s mother to demand that she never talk to the Coopers again. Her plot has gradually gotten darker, so it seems increasingly likely that Sheldon never mentioned her because her story doesn’t end well.
Even a character as socially awkward as Sheldon knows not to speak ill of the dead, which means that his refusal to mention Paige throughout The Big Bang Theory could make viewers assume the worst for the character.
In the few times that viewers have seen her recently, Paige was drunk at a high school party while still very much underage and joyriding across the country without any apparent fear or hesitation. While Young Sheldon referenced Thelma and Louise in this storyline, the spinoff made a point of noting that Missy hadn’t seen the R-rated movie’s surprisingly tragic, deadly ending.
Paige’s Absence Hurts Young Sheldon Worse Than George Sr’s Death
\George Sr’s death can be pushed off by a few years since viewers still know it has to eventually happen, whereas Sheldon never mentioning Paige makes it seem like her Young Sheldon storyline will end in tragedy.
George Sr’s death is effectively set in stone for numerous reasons, the most obvious being that he never appeared in The Big Bang Theory, and both Sheldon and Mary described the circumstances surrounding his death. In contrast, the dearth of information about Paige’s life after Young Sheldon means viewers have no way of knowing what happened to her unless the series explicitly addresses this question.
While Young Sheldon’s plots sometimes sideline Sheldon in favor of his family members, he is still the show’s hero. As such, the spinoff can’t simply ignore the existence of his childhood friend and adolescent acquaintance. This is especially true since Paige was present for so many formative moments in Sheldon’s life.
Until viewers learn otherwise, the reasoning behind The Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon not bringing up Paige seems inherently tragic. The spinoff can counteract this by offering another, funnier reason for Sheldon to never mention Paige.
If it was professional rivalry and not her dire personal circumstances that led Sheldon to end his contact with her, this entire plot could be wrapped up in a much more hopeful manner than many viewers anticipate from the spinoff.
Young Sheldon Season 7 Can Still Save Paige’s Plot
\If Young Sheldon season 7 were to reveal that Paige got her academic career back on track, then it would make sense for Sheldon never to mention her since he hates all of his perceived rivals.
This is the sort of light-hearted humorous twist that could make Paige’s Young Sheldon storyline work since it wouldn’t be surprising if Sheldon took Paige’s return to the field as a personal insult while everyone else was relieved for her. Young Sheldon could lean into the arrogance of the show’s hero by revealing Paige’s future successes but doing so through the eyes of an irritable Sheldon narrating her achievements.
This twist would ensure that Paige’s story didn’t end in a saccharine, excessively sentimental way since Sheldon’s running commentary on her life story would no doubt add laughs to this twist.
That said, the fact that Sheldon and Paige’s egos led them to lose contact over the years means this plot would still carry with it a certain bittersweet sadness, However, without revealing a relatively upbeat ending for Young Sheldon’s Paige, The Big Bang Theory spinoff is inadvertently implying that the character’s story ended badly after her friendship with the Cooper twins came to an end.
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