Heartbreaking Theory Explains Why Young Sheldon Keeps Breaking TBBT Canon

Ever since CBS announced Young Sheldon, fans of The Big Bang Theory have been anticipating with dread the infamous storyline from the original show to unfold before their eyes: 13-year-old Sheldon catching his dad cheating on his mom with another woman. According to the older Sheldon, this occurred during spring break.

Naturally, fans expected to see this pivotal moment in Season 6. However, to everyone's surprise, spring break has come and gone, and George has not cheated on his wife.

Recently, the show's executive producer Steve Holland confirmed that fans shouldn't expect this storyline this season, and it's still unclear to the creative team whether they'll even decide to feature it next year. While fans are relieved that perhaps Sheldon's father won't destroy his family after all, they are still curious as to why the show's producers decided to deviate so far from the original series, essentially disregarding the official canon.

One fan theory suggests that Young Sheldon's frequent deviations from the original show are quite heartbreaking, proposing that the spinoff is essentially a fantasy of the older Sheldon, who remembers his younger years in a unique way that makes happy moments seem happier and bad moments not so bad. In this case, Sheldon has numerous regrets about his childhood and is desperate to fix it, if only in his own memories.

Others have suggested that since the older Sheldon narrates the spinoff, he is essentially telling the story of his youth, similar to how Ted Mosby narrates his reminiscences about his youth to his kids in How I Met Your Mother. And just like in that sitcom, Young Sheldon features an unreliable narrator who's constantly forgetting things or sharing false memories.

While fans appreciate this theory for its cleverness and realism, they still don't want the show to end with such a revelation, arguing that it would ruin the feel-good atmosphere of the series and cement it as one of the saddest comedies in television history.

Young Sheldon Season 6 Episode 19 will arrive on CBS on 4 May 2023.