Adolescent Sheldon Cooper isn't as young as he once was. Come Season 7,
it might be time for Young Sheldon's showrunners to hang up the towel.
As a spinoff from one of the most widely memed sitcoms of the 21st century, snide comments about
the existence of Young Sheldon have gotten older than the series star itself at this point. They're
also fairly unwarranted, as the is consistently one of the highest-rated network hits on TV.
However, the very title of Young Sheldon implies the series can't expand as endlessly as its parent
program, The Big Bang Theory, and in fact — when we look at the larger narrative — we're rapidly
approaching the point where he will finally age up, and not be considered young anymore. For
this reason, we believe the seventh season of the series should mark the end of the sitcom's run.
As regular viewers of the spinoff series will recall, adult Sheldon confirmed his
father's premature death through voice over at the end of Season 4, and it seems that the entire
show's trajectory is starting to evolve more toward that inevitable life event. While the
events were long passed in the time The Big Bang Theory takes place, this loss is going
to hit a lot harder now that viewers have spent 6 seasons getting to know Sheldon's father, George.
In fact, George is such a major character in the series it's quite possible his
death will be so devastating that the showrunners may need to call it quits
just to preserve the show's legacy. We've already caught a glimpse of the emotional
wait his character's health carries after his heart attack in season 1.
Geoge's physical well-being isn't the only aspect of his character the show is zeroing
in on. Throughout season 5, George also begins developing an interesting relationship with his
recently divorced neighbor, Brenda while conflict with his own wife brews under the surface.
"Who knew you were so handy?"
"Yeah, there's just things guys need to be good at."
"What else you good at?"
The simmering pot begins to bubble when Mary gets a new job at the local bar with Brenda, and she
learns that Brenda has a secret love interest. The tension built further when, in Season 6,
Sheldon's sister reveals that Brenda's son caught George and her alone together. With so much
foreshadowing toward this plotpoint, an official confirmation of the affair seems inevitable.
With all this tension built, and various other members of the family also experiencing
milestones throughout its run, Season 6 has taken many of the narrative turns of
a typical sitcom's penultimate season, which only solidifies the fact that it
would make perfect sense to round things out with one final season.
Another important factor to consider about the significance of George's passing and infidelity is
the effect it will inevitably have on Sheldon. It's possible that losing his father, or the
inevitable drama that will ensue in the Cooper household when George's affair gets out, may turn
out to be the catalyst for adult Sheldon's difficulties with emotional intelligence.
Childhood traumas like these would well-inform Sheldon's lack of trust and intimacy,
which he slowly overcomes with Amy throughout The Big Bang Theory. It also indicates the end
of a fairly complacent era for the famously complicated Cooper family.
What's more, we already have some insight into how Sheldon reacts to
these events. In the Season 11 episode of The Big Bang Theory,
"The Sibling Realignment," an adult Georgie confronts Sheldon for leaving home so soon
after their father's death. He rightfully calls him out for being selfish as their family was
in pieces after George's passing. Georgie had to step up and take care of his mother and sister,
on top of his own family, while Sheldon moved out to California for graduate school.
Once Sheldon leaves home, it will be almost impossible to consider
him a child. These life-changing events will make him seem older,
while also adding a few thousand miles between him and his family. After this,
it's hard to imagine how the show could continue past Season 7 without defying its basic premise.
Season 6 has also been a palate cleanser from Sheldon's know-it-all antics,
which usually hog the center spotlight. With Georgie's baby mama drama, fans have
even started calling for a spin-off. This is an intriguing idea to keep the series alive,
though it will definitely need to veer away from its "Young Sheldon" title.
A spin-off of a spin-off isn't an unheard-of concept, either, even if they are a bit rare.
In this form, we could still see Iain Armitage as the brilliant young grad student through
guest appearances, or even over the phone. This format has already been tested on the series,
with Jim Parsons reprising his role as adult Sheldon via narration.
The timing couldn't be better, either. With the family mourning the loss of
their patriarch and adjusting to life without Sheldon around,
the main focus could easily shift to Georgie and Mandy's new little one.
While we certainly don't want to say goodbye to George's character, the show's been hinting at
his fate since the jump, and it's finally time to throw the dart at the bullseye.