The Big Bang Theory’s Weirdest Christmas Episode Made Young Sheldon’s Entire Missy Story Much Sadder

While The Big Bang Theory’s Missy story was never entirely upbeat, Young Sheldon made its saddest twist way worse. By Young Sheldon’s finale, Sheldon’s sister Missy had become just as important a character in the spinoff as her twin brother. Missy might not have been a child prodigy like Sheldon, but she was a bright, funny, and engaging character in her own right. Unfortunately, Missy’s adult self rarely interacted with The Big Bang Theory’s cast of characters, and when she did, the original show’s rare updates on her personal life were less than hopeful.

The Big Bang Theory revealed that Missy’s personal life fell apart off-screen as the series continued and, upon a re-watch, this makes Young Sheldon’s depiction of her childhood and early adolescence far sadder. Although Missy didn’t feature in The Big Bang Theory’s finale, she did crop up on occasion throughout the series. The first time she was seen on-screen was in season 1, episode 15, “The Pork Chop Indeterminacy,” when Raj, Howard, and Leonard all attempted to woo her. Sheldon then tried to intervene in her love life, only to be sharply reprimanded.

The Big Bang Theory Revealed Missy’s Husband Was In A Motorbike Crash

The Father Of Missy’s Baby Was In A Horrible Accident Before Her Delivery

and Missy clearly came to an understanding after “The Pork Chop Indeterminacy,” since Sheldon travels to Texas to help with her pregnancy a few seasons later. In season 7, episode 11, “The Cooper Extraction,” The Big Bang Theory revealed that Missy’s partner was in a “Horrible” motorcycle accident while she was heavily pregnant, a devastating circumstance that the series never investigated any further. This was mostly used as an excuse to get Sheldon out of California, so the gang could imagine their lives without him in a loose parody of It’s A Wonderful Life.

Fortunately, Jim Parsons’s Sheldon still appeared in most of the episode’s daydream segments, meaning the actor didn’t lose his impressive streak of never missing an episode of The Big Bang Theory. Sadly, Missy didn’t appear on-screen and her role in the episode was limited to a few background yells as she delivered her baby. Although The Big Bang Theory’s earlier Christmas episode fleshed out Raj’s character arc, Missy didn’t receive the same treatment in “The Cooper Extraction.” Instead, her presence in the episode was just used to set up its daydream segments.

Missy Eventually Left Her Big Bang Theory Love Interest

Season 11’s Finale Revealed Missy Left Her Husband

Although his recovery is never mentioned, Missy left her husband after the birth of her first child in The Big Bang Theory. This was revealed in season 11’s finale, “The Bow Tie Asymmetry,” when Missy mentioned that she was delighted to be divorced but less overjoyed to be pregnant once again. This implied that her off-screen life was in turmoil, but did not explore how this impacted her character. The Big Bang Theory made Young Sheldon sadder when the show revealed that Sheldon’s father never cheated on Mary, but the original show’s treatment of Missy was equally dark.

Missy’s life appeared to be in serious disarray throughout her later appearances on The Big Bang Theory, whether it was due to her husband’s terribly timed accident or the couple’s terribly timed divorce. Since the reasons for this divorce were never explored, it is tough to tell whether Missy is better off alone. Similarly, since the horrible motorbike accident that Missy’s husband was involved in is never mentioned again, viewers can’t tell whether her baby’s father had even recovered before the couple separated. This makes her mysterious fate even sadder.

Young Sheldon Changes How You See Missy’s Dark Future In The Big Bang Theory

Young Sheldon Proved Missy Once Had A Bright Future

Throughout Young Sheldon, Missy is smart, well-liked, kind, and friendly. None of her future misfortunes seemed to be on the cards for her in her youth. Like a lot of The Big Bang Theory’s gags, her husband’s accident and their eventual breakup were played for laughs but were genuinely quite sad upon a re-watch. Much like The Big Bang Theory’s Thanksgiving episode proved Sheldon really did value his late father despite insulting George Sr.’s memory regularly, Young Sheldon proved that Missy and Sheldon once shared a close connection in their youth.

This link makes it hard to laugh off the news that the father of Missy’s child has been in a terrible accident in “The Cooper Extraction,” and the episode’s setup seems bizarrely dark in retrospect. Sheldon could have visited his sister in Texas without this storyline necessitating a motorcycle accident for his brother-in-law, but The Big Bang Theory didn’t take the fate of Missy and her family seriously in season 7. This became an even bigger issue in The Big Bang Theory’s season 11 finale, as the show ended up giving Young Sheldon’s heroine a relentlessly downbeat ending without much thought.