Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Young Sheldon season 6Sheldon and Missy’s relationship was barely even mentioned in The Big Bang Theory, and Young Sheldon season 6 proves that this was a wasted opportunity. Since the sitcom spinoff debuted, Young Sheldon has devoted much more attention, screen time, and story focus to Sheldon’s family than its predecessor did. To an extent, this change was inevitable. After all, the Cooper family are the lead characters of Young Sheldon, whereas Sheldon’s group of friends were the core characters of The Big Bang Theory.
However, as Young Sheldon’s version of Georgie’s story proves, sometimes the sitcom spinoff goes above and beyond when it comes to fleshing out characters who were barely touched on in The Big Bang Theory. In The Big Bang Theory, Georgie only appeared a small handful of times and his only interactions with Sheldon revolved around Georgie’s anger over their mother showing favoritism toward Sheldon. In Young Sheldon, Georgie’s story is much more complex as he attempts to do right by Mandy (his pregnant ex-girlfriend), while also trying to make his parents proud. However, even Georgie’s development pales in comparison to Missy’s story.
How The Big Bang Theory Wasted Missy
In The Big Bang Theory, Missy’s relationship with Sheldon was only painted in the broadest of strokes and, outside of a bit of comical bickering, the pair share almost no onscreen interactions. However, in one of Young Sheldon’s many The Big Bang Theory inconsistencies, the spinoff depicts Sheldon and Missy sharing a far closer relationship than viewers might have anticipated during their childhood. Particularly in Young Sheldon season 6, Missy develops into a compelling character in her own right while also functioning as a foil to the more academically gifted, but significantly less socially adroit, Sheldon. This image of Missy makes it clear how much the earlier show wasted her character.
Missy only appeared a handful of times in The Big Bang Theory, and, when she did show up, Sheldon showed almost no interest in her life. This resulted in The Big Bang Theory viewers learning little about her, with Sheldon dismissing her as a “mouth-breathing idiot” in one particularly pithy aside. Young Sheldon showed Meemaw’s influence on Sheldon, thus justifying The Big Bang Theory character’s idolization of his grandmother. However, Young Sheldon also depicted Missy as Sheldon’s confidante and close friend, as well as an independent and interesting character in her own right. As such, The Big Bang Theory’s failure to follow through on this becomes all the more glaring.
How Young Sheldon Fleshed Out Missy’s Character
By making Missy a main character, Young Sheldon season 6 proved that the character was a funny, likable presence in her own right, as well as a pivotal part of Sheldon’s upbringing. Stories like Missy attempting to hide a disastrous dye job from her family or dumping a boy who only wanted her for access to Meemaw counter-balance darker season 6 plots like Young Sheldon season 6’s dark George Sr story. These plots also prove that Missy was experiencing a more normal (if often cringe-inducing) adolescence while living with Sheldon, who was already attending college by 12. This sets up an intriguing contrast that The Big Bang Theory never explored.
Young Sheldon Makes Missy’s TBBT Treatment Worse
It was already not ideal that The Big Bang Theory effectively ignored Missy, but seeing how fun her and Sheldon’s interactions were proves that Missy’s potential was wasted by her underutilization in the earlier show. Sheldon was fond of his sister in their childhood and, if Young Sheldon’s narration implies that he is the one telling the story of the sitcom, it is clear that he continued to care about her into his adulthood judging by his recollections of their youth. Young Sheldon made George and Mary’s story brutally sad by revealing that Sheldon’s father was a kinder man than he remembered, a mistake the spinoff repeated with Missy.
The fact that Sheldon recalls and retells so many stories about Missy’s misspent youth proves that he thought a lot of her as an adult, and the amount of times that his younger self confides in her or comes to her for advice proves that he valued her throughout their shared childhood. Missy’s plot lines in Young Sheldon season 6 make it easy to see why Sheldon has fond memories of growing up with his sister, which makes it tough to work out why he thinks so little of her in The Big Bang Theory. While The Big Bang Theory could have kept Missy and Sheldon’s sweet Young Sheldon dynamic alive, the earlier hit wasted this opportunity.
New episodes of Young Sheldon air Thursdays on CBS