Warning! Spoilers ahead for the Young Sheldon season 6 premiere.
Young Sheldon season 6 offers an explanation as to why the Coopers didn't attend Sheldon's (Jim Parsons) Nobel Prize in Physics win ceremony in The Big Bang Theory finale. The small screen return picks up after the Young Sheldon season 5 cliffhanger finale that left Georgie (Montana Jordan) and Meemaw (Annie Potts) in prison. As George (Lance Barber) scrambles to get them out of jail, however, Sheldon (Iain Armitage) and Missy (Raegan Revord) discuss the string of difficulties that their family has been dealing with lately. Inadvertently, their conversation offers an insight as to why Sheldon's family didn't join him in Sweden when he and his wife, Amy (Mayim Bialik) won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
The Big Bang Theory finale is largely regarded as a truly fitting and cathartic end to the beloved comedy show. Despite an uneven last season, CBS was still able to give the Pasadena gang an emotionally satisfying send-off. That being said, it isn't without flaws. One of the biggest questions in the outing revolves around Sheldon's family not attending his Nobel Prize awarding ceremony. While he didn't forget to thank them during his acceptance speech, it was still odd that Mary, Missy, and George weren't there when Sheldon achieved his life-long dream.
More than three years after The Big Bang Theory ended with 12 seasons, the Young Sheldon season 6 premiere explains why the Coopers didn't attend Sheldon's Nobel Prize ceremony. In Young Sheldon season 6, episode 1, Missy despondently declares that they're now "white trash" given the current state of their family. Instead of easing his sister's concerns after Missy supported the rest of the Coopers in their darkest moments in season 5, Sheldon opted to separate himself from the Coopers. Sheldon states, "speak for yourself. I'm in college on a full ride, but I wish you all luck," before leaving to further drive his point. This offers insight into how Sheldon sees himself in relation to his family, in that it suggests he doesn't think they helped in his professional success because he was essentially sending himself to school. It also hints that he internally separated himself from his family woes to a degree, knowing his intellect provided him a way out. This perception could be the reason why Sheldon didn’t push for his family to be there during his Nobel Prize ceremony, and why they didn't push to come - as Sheldon's academic life was made separate from his family life from an early point.
Why Sheldon’s Family Wasn’t Really In The Big Bang Theory Family
After the Cooper family appeared on The Big Bang Theory separately for years, they all finally gathered together for Sheldon and Amy's wedding in The Big Bang Theory finale for season 11. Unfortunately, that's also the last time they were on the show. They were referenced in the sitcom's final season, but that's the extent of their involvement. It's uncertain if there was ever a plan to bring them in for The Big Bang Theory finale, but if there was, perhaps CBS couldn't get them all together in time for filming. In terms of storytelling, however, it actually made sense that they weren't in the pivotal scene as it was meant to highlight Sheldon’s friends as his family, at least in the sitcom. An appearance from Mary, Missy, and Georgie would have taken away from this idea and would have worsened The Big Bang Theory’s tendency to focus on Sheldon when it was supposed to be an ensemble series.
Learning more about Sheldon's childhood in Young Sheldon, however, it seems sad that his family wasn't able to see him achieve his lifelong dream in The Big Bang Theory finale. At the very least, Mary should have been there, considering how much of her life has been devoted to raising the socially-inept genius. Hopefully, CBS can find a way to retroactively rectify this storytelling problem via older Sheldon's narration on Young Sheldon.
Young Sheldon season 6 airs Thursdays on CBS.