‘Young Sheldon’ delivers a long-awaited shock as the CBS show nears its finish

By Brian Lowry, CNN

(CNN) — Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers about the May 9 episode of “Young Sheldon.”

Anyone who watched “The Big Bang Theory” with any regularity over its 12 seasons knew what was coming as its prequel “Young Sheldon” comes to a close, but the knock at the door that ended the most recent episode still felt like a gut punch.

As the young Sheldon Cooper (Iain Armitage) prepared to head off to college, he and his family learned that his father (Lance Barber) has died of a heart attack, the aftermath of which will be addressed in the two-part series finale on May 16.

The moment seemed particularly cruel, inasmuch as the father, George Sr., had just been offered a long-sought opportunity to move up from coaching high school football into the college ranks, receiving an offer from Rice in Houston.

“We always knew that there were a couple big moments that happened in Sheldon’s life, his father passes away and he goes to Caltech,” executive producer Steve Holland told CNN, adding that the decision was made to have that happen now – as opposed to during the final two episodes – so the characters could deal with its aftermath in the finale.

According to Holland, series co-creator Chuck Lorre suggested that schedule of events, saying that after seven seasons of comedy (allowing for the occasional poignant moment), “Maybe we don’t want to leave the audience wallowing in grief at the end.”

The elder Sheldon (Jim Parsons) had referenced his father’s death, and when it happened, during “The Big Bang Theory,” although with the benefit of hindsight he wasn’t always the most reliable narrator regarding his father and his perceived shortcomings – at least, based on how they played out in the second series.

Although “Young Sheldon” is wrapping up, CBS viewers haven’t seen the last of the Coopers: the network has ordered another spinoff, featuring the characters of Georgie (Montana Jordan) and Mandy (Emily Osment) for the 2024-25 TV season – “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” – which merely adds to the needle-threading act performed by the producers.

Still, any concerns about setting up what comes next didn’t play into the “Young Sheldon” ending, Holland said, noting, “We were really just focused on ending this show as strong as we could.”

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