With Young Sheldon in Mind, There's Only One Reason Why TBBT Mary Hated George So Much

Summary

• Young Sheldon's George is a much nicer man than he was described on TBBT.
• His death must have affected Mary's perception and memories of him.
• The tragedy also affected Sheldon, which is why both he and Mary had unflattering opinions of George.

For years, ever since Young Sheldon premiered in 2017, viewers have been dreading the moment when, according to Sheldon on TBBT, George was supposed to cheat on Mary. However, the spin-off played that card differently, as it turned out that the woman Shelly's father was supposedly having an affair with was Mary herself, albeit dressed up for some role-playing.

Apparently, George was a nice man all along, and Sheldon, who walked in on them, must have misinterpreted what he saw. Anyway, his reason for being upset with his father on The Big Bang Theory is clear. But why is TBBT's Mary so hard on her late husband if he never actually did anything wrong? The answer to this question seems more complex than it first appears.

The Second Stage of Grief

It's probably no big secret that George died when Sheldon was about fourteen years old, which means that the tragedy will take place in Season 7. While there are many theories about how Young Sheldon will handle it, there's no denying that the sudden death of the family's father will have an immense impact on the rest of the Coopers.

Mary is bound to be the most affected by the tragedy, as she becomes the sole caretaker of the family with three teenage children and a newborn grandchild. Despite the fact that Georgie helps provide for the family and Mandy takes care of the baby herself, the Cooper mother must feel the heavy weight of responsibility on her shoulders, and it must make her angry at George for dying too soon and leaving her to deal with all these problems alone.

As a result, Mary will carry this unresolved, defensive anger with her for years to come, and it will cloud her judgment and affect her retrospective opinion of George, even if he wasn't half as bad a husband as she makes us believe on TBBT.

No Acceptance?

Mary's hatred for George is understandable. After his death, she will have to worry about raising the children, earning money, paying Sheldon's CalTech tuition, helping Meemaw rebuild her house, and so on and so forth. Eventually, she will come to believe that George didn't help her one bit when he was alive. And she's going to get even more upset with him.

And since on TBBT we only see her with Sheldon, and he's too traumatized by George's death to remember things clearly, Dr. Cooper never corrects her. And that's how the myth of George as a terrible father and husband came about. But that just wasn't the case.