After seven seasons, Young Sheldon is hoping to go out with a [big] bang with its two-part series finale.
The Cooper family is reeling after the death of George Cooper Sr. (Lance Barber). Sheldon (Iain Armitage) is preparing for his send-off to grad school. And Jim Parsons will return on-screen as adult Sheldon Cooper for the first time since The Big Bang Theory ended.
Warning: Spoilers for Young Sheldon Season 7 and finale ahead
Recap
The Young Sheldon series finale begins with the Cooper family dealing with George's death. Everyone deals with grief differently — several former Young Sheldon cast members made cameo appearances including Reba McEntire.
As the family plans for George's funeral, Sheldon begins replaying the final morning with his father. This continues throughout the episode.
“I have been and always will be your friend,” he tells his father in an alternate reality of George's final moments with his family. Another outcome he replays in his head is telling his father that he loves him. His father shares the sentiment.
It divides the Cooper family — Missy (Raegan Revord) is mad at the world. Even Dale (Craig T. Nelson) tries to cheer her up to no avail. Georgie (Montana Jordan) attempts to step up to the plate as the man of the house, much to his sister's chagrin. Sheldon attempts to run from the pain and sorrow.
At least Meemaw (Annie Potts) found a way to cope. She drank and smoked some weed while grieving.
Most notably, Mary is taking it hard. Instead of her usual dresses, she is seen sporting a ponytail and sweater as she grieves. She struggles to write her speech for his funeral.
She tells Meemaw how she's “mad” at George for leaving her. Meemaw then reveals that Dale has helped her with the loss of her husband (who was Mary's father).
The funeral
At the funeral, everyone comes to wish the Coopers well. This includes Hubert Givens (Brian Stepanek) and Brenda Sparks (Melissa Peterman), who are both single are seem bound to get together.
Missy takes one last glance at her father while his casket is open. She then has flashbacks to their early memories, including the father and daughter date that they went on.
Georgie promises his father that everything will be okay and delivers a heartfelt speech.
“You really didn't want to take that family portrait, huh?” Mary jokes as she visits his casket one last time.
As she delivers her speech, Mary breaks down. Meemaw relieves her and brightens the mood with her funny speech — joking about his love of beer and brisket (really emphasizing his love of brisket).
Sheldon closed out the speeches, revealing that he regrets not saying anything to his father when he left for the final time. Or so we thought.
“So many times I didn't notice my father, I hope he knew how much I loved him,” Sheldon said in this alternate reality.
Adult Sheldon (voiced by Jim Parsons) further elaborated. As he is reaching his father's age, his appreciation for him has grown. That closes out the first part of the Young Sheldon series finale.
The Big Bang Theory returns
Young Sheldon's true final episode opens with a montage of the series' best moments. It catches viewers up all the way through George's funeral and hits all of the highlights.
The finale begins 27 days after George's funeral. Mary is now going to church three times a week and Sheldon and Missy are forced to go with her.
Adult Sheldon then talks about how he goes out of his way to please others. That's when the flash-forward occurs and Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik, who played Sheldon and Amy on The Big Bang Theory, respectively, make their way on screen. Sheldon then shows Amy his first laptop. He is attempting to avoid his son's hockey game.
Hitting the Bible
At this point, Mary is disengaging from the world. But, as Meemaw puts it, she's hitting the Bible, not the bottle. The Cooper's dinners are awkward, especially when Sheldon brings up the fact that George still has a placemat set up at the head of the table.
This is when Mary drops a bombshell. She wants her kids to get baptized to “save their souls.” When Sheldon and Missy reject the idea, it further sends Mary into a spiral. As she prays in her garden at night, Georgie tries to lighten the mood (to no avail). He calls Meemaw to express his concern over her.
Mandy (Emily Osment) tries to take Missy out to get her mind off of everything. However, their conversation dies as Missy has an outburst.
Back at home, Sheldon begins packing up his room as the Young Sheldon theme is played on an acoustic guitar. He packs up his trains and everything else that's important to him.
Mary comes in as he is packing. She is about to head to George's grave and attempts to convince her youngest son to get baptized one last time.
The Young Sheldon finale once again cuts to the present day. Amy is wondering why Sheldon hasn't showered for their son's hockey game (he gives in and showers).
While Mary is at George's grave, Meemaw visits her. She brings a bottle of alcohol with her, to which Mary replies, “They don't drink in Heaven!” This prompts Meemaw to open the bottle and take a swig.
Ending Explained
The grave visit has an impact on Meemaw. She went to speak sense into Mary, but she left more devastated seeing her daughter falling apart.
Missy shares a moment with Sheldon as he is finishing packing everything up. She reflects on the days when they shared the room. Meemaw interjects and convinces them to get baptized.
On the day of the baptism, Missy runs out. Sheldon, however, calls back to the early episodes and goes through with it because he believes in his mother — which was a “huge get” for Pastor Jeff (Matt Hobby). He shows up to the baptism with a scuba outfit and life vest.
As Amy reads this part of the story, she realizes Sheldon does do things for others.
Mary sells the house. An adult Sheldon walks through the Cooper residence and sits in his spot one last time before visiting the family dinner table. He is interrupted by Missy, and Armitage's younger version of the character takes over again. She asks if he's gonna forget her, which he replies is “impossible.”
The finale ends with Sheldon arriving at Caltech. “I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be,” Sheldon tells someone asking if he's lost. As he walks onto the campus, the episode ends.
Also, a teaser trailer for Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage. It largely rehashes past scenes from Young Sheldon before Jordan and Osment discuss the prequel series. Unlike Young Sheldon, it will be a multi-cam sitcom like The Big Bang Theory.
Review
Young Sheldon's series finale starts like a strong cup of coffee. It's an emotional send-off for the show. Chuck Lorre, Steven Molaro, and Steve Holland did an admirable depicting the Cooper family's grief while also maintaining the show's signature humor.
There were a lot of stories to wrap up in the finale, and Young Sheldon did a good job tackling it all. Both episodes really hone in on the impact of George's death on the Cooper family.
Zoe Perry is the MVP of the Young Sheldon series finale. On the surface, Mary has always seemed like a simplistic character thanks to her being a housewife. But over the seven seasons, layers of the onion have been peeled.
The finale is no exception. All of the Coopers deal with the grief differently, but she takes it the hardest given that her husband is the one who died. She's angry, sad, and depressed — three of the hardest emotions to navigate, especially as a devout Christian.
An uneven amount of screentime
If there was one complaint with the Young Sheldon finale, it's that not everyone got their time to shine. Sheldon has slowly become a background character in his own series — perhaps explaining why CBS green-lit a spin-ff (Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage) — and that doesn't change in the finale.
The way that Sheldon grieves in the first part of the finale is the best character development Armitage's iteration of the character has had in years. But he takes a massive back seat in the second part of the finale.
The McAllister is also MIA for most of the finale outside of George's funeral. I thought that they were going to show more of Audrey (Rachel Bay Jones) and Jim (Will Sasso).
But the episode just ends. Sheldon walks through his childhood home one last time and after his brief interaction with Missy, the episode ends with him walking onto Caltech's campus. I know that Young Sheldon has always been a sitcom, but after such an emotional finale, this felt like a somewhat safe ending.
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