Young Sheldon EP and Star Raegan Revord Mull Missy and Mary’s Prequel Fates and Futures on Big Bang Theory
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When Young Sheldon heads to Caltech, he leaves behind a mother and twin sister in mourning.
Neither Mary nor Missy are in a particularly great place in 1994, when the Big Bang Theory prequel wraps its seven-season run. Mary has thrown herself into her religion (as foretold by Big Bang) and is largely ignoring her children’s needs. Missy, meanwhile, is angry at the universe for taking her father.
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Now that Georgie, Mandy and CeeCee live across town with Mandy’s parents, and Meemaw lives with Dale, Mary and Missy have the Cooper residence — which, at one point this season, housed seven people — all to themselves, until Mary sells the house at an unspecified point in the future.
Fans of The Big Bang Theory know that Mary and Missy turn out OK… but what about all those Young Sheldon fans who have never seen Big Bang — a reasonably large and growing faction of the audience as new generations discover the series on streaming?
“It’s interesting because we definitely have seen — especially since the show went to Netflix — a younger audience has found it that I don’t think is that familiar with Big Bang,” executive producer Steve Holland tells TVLine. “We were trying to use these last episodes to start [Zoe Perry] on a road towards the Mary [we know] in Big Bang Theory, who we know is even more religious than Mary [in Young Sheldon]. This was the beginning of that path.
“To me, it doesn’t feel like a dark place to leave her. It feels real,” the EP says. “She’s still grieving the death of George and she has turned to religion. She says ‘Jesus is helping me through it,’ and I don’t think that that’s a depressing place to leave her. We don’t leave her bouncing back from the death of [her husband], but that also just didn’t feel real to us.”
Holland argues the same is true for Missy. “We know from Big Bang that she goes off the rails a little bit in the wake of George’s death, so it’s hinting at that future for Missy but also trying not to leave her in such a dark place that it’s just depressing,” he says. “She’s obviously angry, and she’s grieving, and that also felt real, but we didn’t want to leave her in a really grim place at the end of this show” — hence Missy’s final interaction with Sheldon before he leaves to start his new life in Pasadena, Calif.
Even still, portrayer Raegan Revord says she feels bad for her character as Young Sheldon comes to an end. “It breaks my heart,” the 16-year-old tells TVLine. “She just doesn’t have it easy. Her whole life, she was kind of ignored because of her [twin] brother, and the one person who paid her attention died. She’s left with a grieving mom who probably [isn’t] there for her the way that she should have been because they’re all dealing with [George’s death] in their own way. Mary very much leans into her religion… and in Big Bang, Missy’s a waitress, she’s got all these kids [and] she’s the least successful Cooper kid.”
Whether it happens between the events of Young Sheldon and Big Bang, or after the events of Big Bang, Revord hopes that Missy “finds some peace and happiness.” Could that come in the form of a storyline on CBS’ forthcoming spinoff, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage?
“I think, you know, we’ve always talked about this new show as this world getting to continue,” Holland says of the Montana Jordan and Emily Osment-led continuation. “It’s important for us that it create its own identity and it isn’t just Young Sheldon Season 8 — part of the move to multi-cam is for it to have its own identity — but at the same time, these people are family, and they live in the same town, and it is always our hope that this is a world where they’re going to pop up, and that these stories will get to continue in some fashion.”
Young Sheldon Finale: What We Learn About Life After The Big Bang Theory
Review Mary and Missy Cooper’s Big Bang Theory futures below, then leave a comment and let us know if you’d like to see Zoe Perry and Raegan Revord reprise their roles on Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.
Mary Cooper’s Big Bang Timeline
Season 1, Episode 4: Laurie Metcalf makes her first of 14 appearances as Mary Cooper. She develops an attraction to Sheldon’s new boss, Dr. Eric Gablehauser.
Season 3, Episode 1: Sheldon pays Mary a visit in Texas.
Season 4, Episode 3: Mary returns to Pasadena, helps Sheldon and Amy work through their first fight using reverse psychology.
Season 5, Episode 6: Mary returns to Pasadena. Sheldon competes with his friends for her attention.
Season 7, Episode 18: Sheldon pays Mary a surprise visit and finds her mid-coitus with her boyfriend, fellow church parishioner Ron, who she meet at her prayer meeting.
Season 8, Episode 23: Mary returns to Pasadena and meets Leonard’s mother Beverly for the first time.
Season 9, Episode 24: Mary returns to Pasadena for Leonard and Penny’s wedding and has a fling with Leonard’s father Albert.
Season 10, Episode 12: Sheldon and Amy visit Mary in Texas and tell her that they’re living together. Mary gives them her blessing.
Season 11, Episode 1: Sheldon calls Mary and tells her that he and Amy are engaged. She’s happy, but not surprised, as she’d been praying for them.
Season 11, Episode 24: Laurie Metcalf makes her 14th (and final) appearance as Mary Cooper. At Sheldon and Amy’s wedding, mother and son acknowledge how much they miss George Sr.
Missy Cooper’s Big Bang Timeline
Season 1, Episode 1: Sheldon mentions a sister who hostesses at Fuddruckers.
Season 1, Episode 15: Courtney Henggeler makes her first of two appearances as Missy Cooper.
Season 7, Episode 11: Missy gives birth to a baby in Texas. Sheldon flies in to assist as Missy’s unnamed husband recovers from a motorcycle accident.
Season 11, Episode 23: Georgie mentions that Mary was a mess after George Sr. died and Missy was just a “dumb teenager.”
Season 11, Episode 24: Courtney Henggeler makes her second (and final) appearance. Missy, now separated from her husband, is pregnant with their second child.
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