A TV show with a long shelf life can wait years before paying something off. At the start of The Big Bang Theory, when Penny first moves into the apartment across from Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstader’s place, the elevator in the building doesn’t work. It’s a pain in the butt, as the characters have to walk up several flights of stairs every episode to get to their destination. However, they make the most of it, using all that time climbing to have hilarious or meaningful conversations. Those moments on the stairs become so important that the elevator remains broken until The Big Bang Theory‘s penultimate episode.
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That means that the show waits 278 episodes to finish a bit that it set up in the very first season. In most cases, that would be very impressive, but The Big Bang Theory takes things to another level by setting up a devastating storyline in Season 1 that takes over 400 episodes and a spinoff to complete. The whole thing centers around Sheldon, who can’t seem to get his story straight about one aspect of his life.
The Big Bang Theory Makes Sheldon’s Dad Out to Be the Worst
Despite not caring about other people’s lives, Sheldon sure loves to talk about his own. In Season 1, Episode 4, “The Luminous Fish Effect,” Sheldon loses his job at Caltech after an argument with his boss, and the only thing Leonard can think to do to help his friend is to bring his mother to California. Mary Cooper kicks her son into gear and gets him back to work, but her visit serves another important purpose, dropping the bombshell that Sheldon’s father, George Cooper Sr., is dead. As The Big Bang Theory progresses, the circumstances of George’s death come to light, with Sheldon explaining that his dad died from a heart attack right before he was about to head to college.
Losing someone that important would devastate anyone, but it hits Sheldon especially hard because he makes it clear he never got along with his father. The stories Sheldon tells about George make it seem as if the man was argumentative and prone to outbursts. By the end of The Big Bang Theory, though, Sheldon’s tune starts to change, which should come as no surprise because the character gets to be part of another story that shines a light on what life was really like in the Cooper household.
Young Sheldon Reveals the Truth About George Cooper Sr.
The Big Bang Theory spinoff Young Sheldon is about what its title suggests: a young version of the scientist. Of course, the titular character’s family plays a big role in the series, learning what it’s like to live with a genius. The one character who really has Sheldon’s back is George, who supports his son however he can, despite rarely understanding what he’s talking about. Their relationship grows and grows until Young Sheldon Season 7, when it’s time for Sheldon to head off to school. George helps his son pick the perfect place for him and even thinks about taking a job near the school. Unfortunately, that plan goes away when George passes away in Season 7, Episode 12, “A New Home and a Traditional Texas Torture.”
Not having his father around forces Sheldon to focus solely on his studies, leaving his family to pick up the pieces back in Texas. That’s why, when The Big Bang Theory kicks off, Sheldon doesn’t want much to do with his relatives. He’s still grieving, not understanding how the process the pain. Fortunately, after 400 episodes, he learns the error of his ways and gives his family, especially his father, all the credit they deserve in Young Sheldon‘s final episode.
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