Following the season 5 finale of CBS' hit spinoff series Young Sheldon, it's clear that many changes are in the cards for the Cooper family. Sheldon is dealing with puberty and impending adulthood, George no longer coaches the high school football team, Georgie and Meemaw get arrested in Mexico, and the future of the whole family appears to be up in the air.
One of the great things about the season finales on Young Sheldon is the way in which they continually explore Sheldon's coming-of-age while also depicting the larger familial drama, raising the stakes of nearly every main character arc. Despite becoming a bit serious and more mature, Young Sheldon continues to end each season with honesty, humor, and heartfelt pathos.
Season 1: 7.6
The inaugural season finale of Young Sheldon largely concerned Meemaw's (Annie Potts) love triangle between Dr. John Sturgis (Wallace Shawn) and Ira (Richard Kind). After realizing that dating both of them won't work, she breaks up with Ira, who attempts to win her back by gifting her with furniture. However, when John confronts Ira over the cheap ploy, Sheldon (Iain Armitage) steps in and hilariously drafts a relationship agreement to legally iron out their romance. Sheldon was nine at the time, reinforcing his precocious brilliance.
Despite earning well over 900 IMDb votes, only two users commented on the finale, with the overarching sentiment being that the episode was funny and entertaining enough and established a good connection between The Big Bang Theory, even if the show wasn't as fully-formed as its predecessor. Thankfully, the finales improved over time.
Season 5: 7.6
The fifth and most recent season finale of Young Sheldon took a much more serious and adult turn than seasons past, which makes sense for a show about the increasing difficulties of growing up. The episode begins with George (Lance Barber) quitting his job when learning Coach Watkins has been offered his position. Frustrated, Mary (Zoe Perry) starts working with Brenda (Melissa Peterman) at the bowling alley, where George decides to sell cigarettes in the gaming room to earn extra cash for Georgie's (Montana Jordan) baby. Georgie and Meemaw get arrested at the border. Fans did not expect to see such mature themes during the finale, particularly how it hints at divorce and even death.
The downbeat adult issues are balanced by Sheldon's awkward humor when he gets a pimple on his face and panics that puberty is on the brink. The best part of the episode comes at the very end when Sheldon buys his first Flash graphic T-shirt that became so iconic on The Big Bang Theory. Of the IMDb commenters on the finale, half of them feel the episode was way too dark and far too inconsistent with the other finales. The other half praised the adult nature of the finale as it explores serious and deep real-life issues in an authentic yet entertaining way, marking profound changes in the Cooper family that will change their dynamic forever.
Season 4: 7.9
The season 4 finale of Young Sheldon was hailed by IMDb voters for being wildly unpredictable, especially relating to George and Brenda's potential romance that shocked viewers to the core. However, much of the episode revolves around Missy's (Raegan Revord) heartbreak over her school crush Marcus, which leads to a fight between her and Sheldon when he shows insensitivity. Luckily, Meemaw convinces Sheldon that he must always look after his little sister, proving the Coopers genuinely do love each other.
After George confronts Sheldon for being mean, Mary comes home in a foul mood and grounds Missy for destroying Sheldon's Professor Proton poster. The finale lays the rocky foundation for Mary and George's tumultuous marriage, foreshadowing events fans of The Big Bang Theory would come to recognize, particularly how Sheldon walks in on one of his father's sexual affairs. The most touching part of the episode comes when Sheldon makes amends with Missy, who admits Marcus broke her heart by holding hands with a 7th-grader. The five IMDb reviews for the finale all score the episode 10/10, with most admitting that they did not see the revelation about George and Brenda coming whatsoever.
Season 3: 8.2
Eliciting responses such as "Counting the days until the next season," "Season 4, where are you?" and "Best TV series on the air" by IMDb voters, the season 3 finale of Young Sheldon is definitely among the greatest. The storyline involves Mary hiding correspondence from universities Sheldon may want to attend in the future, including a letter from Caltech. Sheldon becomes irate with his mom's duplicity, as does George when he finds out she's been withholding information.
One of the most touching moments of the finale comes when George has a heart-to-heart with Sheldon and expresses that studying so far away from his family at a young age isn't the best idea. To compromise, George helps Sheldon film a video presentation to become employed by Dr. Sturgis, solidifying their father-son bond. The sentiment among IMDb commenters is that the season 3 finale demonstrates that the show continues to improve, evoking laughter and tears in equal measure while pushing the overall narrative forward. Praise for the cast is also noted, especially Raegan Revord and Craig T. Nelson's arc as Coach Dale Ballard.
Season 2: 8.6
With over 1,300 IMDb votes, the season 2 finale of the successful TV spinoff is by far the most beloved. Underscoring Sheldon's sense of loneliness, isolation, and prospect of never making friends, the episode revolves around the super-smart child TV genius inviting the whole school to listen to the live announcement of the Nobel Prize winner in Physics. Despite going above and beyond to transmit the announcement via radio, Sheldon is crushed when no one shows up or even cares to hear the announcement. The heartfelt emotion elicited in the finale made several fans literally burst into tears.
Of the seven IMDb reviews for the finale, almost all of them admitted to crying while watching the touching tribute to The Big Bang Theory when young versions of the characters appear, creating an emotional throughline between both shows that feels honest, nostalgic, and even hopeful for the future of Sheldon and his family. Somehow, the season 2 finale managed to become a paragon for how to tie in a TV spinoff show while also breeding fan anticipation for future episodes.