Warning: Spoilers ahead for Young Sheldon season 6, episode 10.
While The Big Bang Theory spinoff, Young Sheldon has never been all that clear about Meemaw’s love life, it was still a surprise to see the show nonchalantly confirm that Sheldon’s grandmother was once again seeing Dale. Meemaw has a strange character trajectory from Young Sheldon to The Big Bang Theory. During her appearances in The Big Bang Theory, the character is essentially an older version of Sheldon’s mother Mary Cooper, with all the stern attitude, obstinacy, and religious piety that implies.
However, in Young Sheldon, Meemaw is a drinking, smoking, gambling hell-raiser who could not have less in common with her daughter. While Young Sheldon could change The Big Bang Theory’s canon, it seems more likely for now that the spinoff will instead explain how Meemaw gradually became the less rebellious version of herself seen in The Big Bang Theory. The show has already taken one step in this direction, as Young Sheldon season 6 saw Meemaw reignite a romance with Dale that she felt was dampening her rebellious flame in season 5 of The Big Bang Theory spinoff.
Young Sheldon Season 6 Reunited Dale and Meemaw
While Dale and Meemaw briefly broke up in Young Sheldon season 5, this did not last long. In Young Sheldon season 6, the pair were involved in a plot to get gambling machines across state lines and Dale clearly wanted to rekindle their romance after this risky rendezvous. Since Young Sheldon season 6 focused on George and Mary’s story after that outing, it was something of a surprise to see that Dale stayed the night in Meemaw’s house during Young Sheldon season 6, episode 10, “Pancake Sunday and Textbook Flirting.” Dale appeared to realize that his presence might surprise Mary, but The Big Bang Theory spinoff didn’t address what a shock it was to the audience.
While Dale did admit to Georgie that he wanted to reconcile with Meemaw in Young Sheldon season 6, episode 1, “Four Hundred Cartons of Undeclared Cigarettes and a Niblingo,” he didn’t do much to achieve this goal after that conversation. Admittedly, the pair were involved in the gambling machine plot together, but Young Sheldon never confirmed whether this led to their reconciliation after that storyline wrapped up. While Young Sheldon season 6 revealed some tragic The Big Bang Theory backstory, the spinoff didn’t establish that Dale and Meemaw got back together, making their reunion in episode 10 an unexpected turn of events.
Young Sheldon Never Stuck To Meemaw’s Breakup
While it was surprising to see Meemaw and Dale spending the night together in "Pancake Sunday and Textbook Flirting," this was also not a major shock. After all, Young Sheldon season 6 never really committed to the pair’s breakup, with Dale conceding that he wanted a reconciliation as early as the season premiere. What was surprising was the decision to leave this reunion offscreen, an approach that made the storyline feel more unexpected. While Dale’s sensible side has always worked well with Meemaw’s rebellious streak in Young Sheldon, The Big Bang Theory spinoff could have given viewers a little more warning when it came to reuniting the pair.