George’s Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage Return Sets The Bar High For Sheldon’s Comeback

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage season 1, episode 12, “Typhoid Georgie.”

While Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage managed to pull off George Sr.’s unlikely return unexpectedly well, I fear that this only makes the inevitable comeback from  young hseldon’s title character even trickier. When  young sheldon finale aired, I figured that was the end of the character’s story. the big bang theory finale had already brought the story of his adult life to a fitting close, as he and Amy won the Nobel Prize while surrounded by their supportive friends. Young Sheldon’s ending revealed they also had children, meaning the couple’s happy ending seemed set in stone.

Moreover, since Young Sheldon’s spinoff was titled Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage ,I couldn’t see why the series would need Sheldon. Iain Armitage’s version of the character ended up at CalTech at the end of Young Sheldon and remained there until the beginning of The Big Bang Theory, and he and Georgie shared a strained relationship until The Big Bang Theory season 11, episode 23, “The Sibling Realignment.” Georgie’s story needed more screen time, but his relationship with Sheldon was fairly clear.

Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage Did A Great Job With George’s Return

Lance Barber’s Young Sheldon Character Appeared Again Despite His Death

However, from the pilot onward, I knew Sheldon needed to return in Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage. Not only did Zoe Perry reprise her role as Georgie and Sheldon’s mother Mary from Young Sheldon, but Meemaw and Missy also appeared in the spinoff. Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage can’t include all the rest of the original Cooper family and leave out Sheldon, and season 1, episode 12, “Typhoid Georgie,“ made this even more obvious. In this episode, a bed-bound Georgie had a fever dream where he was reunited with his late father, Lance Barber’s George Sr.

Although George Sr. didn’t come back from the dead in “Typhoid Georgie,” he did play a major role in the episode. This inadvertently made Sheldon’s absence from Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage way worse, since the spinoff brought his dead father back for a cameo before reuniting the two living brothers. The fact that George Sr.’s comeback struck a surprisingly deft balance of laughs and sentimentality only exacerbated this issue. It is clear that the spinoff knows how to reincorporate Young Sheldon characters, even dead ones, so Sheldon’s absence feels increasingly strange.

In the first of his fever dream appearances in “Typhoid Georgie,” George Sr. initially encouraged his son to return to work despite his illness, even briefly turning into a terrifying ghost to send him on his way. Later on, he took on board Georgie’s concerns about working himself to the bone and losing out on time with his family, a moment that was subtly tragic thanks to George Sr.’s untimely death. While… on occasion, this plot proved the spinoff can reintegrate him into the show and should.

George’s Creative Return Raises Expectations For Sheldon’s Eventual Cameo

Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage Fleshed Out George Sr. and Georgie’s Relationship

What was impressive about George Sr.’s cameo was not just the fact that Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage managed to bring Barber’s character back despite his death, but that Georgie’s interaction with George Sr. felt as meaningful as any of their conversations in Young Sheldon. In Young Sheldon season 7, episode 13, “Funeral,” Barber reprised his role immediately after George Sr.’s death in an outing where Sheldon repeatedly imagined different ways that his final conversation with his father could have panned out.

Similarly, in “Typhoid Georgie,” Georgie confronts his father about encouraging his son’s workaholic tendencies. Since Georgie never got to talk with his father about work/life balance during the years they shared together, it was only via a fever dream that he was able to achieve any closure. While the…. is technically the spinoff’s main focus, I’m now convinced that the show could make Georgie and Sheldon’s troubled relationship as compelling as his imagined reunion with his late father.

What Is The Best Way To Bring Sheldon Back In Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage

Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage Episode 12 Highlighted The Trouble With Sheldon’s Return

The main problem with the comeback is that Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage will have a hard time justifying Sheldon’s return. Georgie feared what his father thought of his sick days, so he envisioned a conversation with the late character where they could talk this through. However, The Big Bang Theory already clarified that Sheldon and his older brother won’t see eye to eye again for a long time. Due to the events of “The Sibling Realignment”, viewers know the duo remain at odds for years.

Thus, unlike Georgie and his imagined version of his late father, Sheldon and Georgie can’t settle their differences too soon. They can’t have a sweet reunion moment like Georgie and George Sr., which makes Sheldon’s comeback tougher to pull off. Sheldon could return for a major family holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas, and this could result in a fight that explains how the two grew further apart. However, as a sitcom, it might be hard for Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage to make this premise as funny as an episode of Young Sheldon.