Spoilers ahead for the season finales of Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory.
Young Sheldon ended its first season on an exciting note, although more so for The Big Bang Theory than for Young Sheldon itself. The Big Bang Theory prequel spinoff dropped a bombshell about Sheldon's future life that was a very big deal, especially since it followed the Big Bang Theory's episode all about Sheldon and Amy's wedding. At the end of the Young Sheldon Season 1 finale, Adult Sheldon revealed via Jim Parsons voiceover that Sheldon would expand his family in a significant way at some point. Here's what viewers heard from Adult Sheldon after he drew up a contract for his Meemaw and her friend:
I would go on to draw up such contracts throughout my life, with my roommates, with my wife, even with my own children.
That's right! At least two children are on the way for Sheldon and presumably Amy, given their wedding just before the Season 1 finale of Young Sheldon went off with only minimal hitches (and one Mark Hamill). Interestingly, The Big Bang Theory actually dropped some hints that some kids could be in the works for the happy couple. Sheldon told Amy that they'd have to agree on whether they'd raise their kids to prefer the Enlightenment or Renaissance period of history. He also referred to coming back in time to warn about a kid who has gone off the rails in the future, but even in hindsight, that comes across as more of a joke than a clue that some babies are on the way for Sheldon and Amy.
The idea of Sheldon as a dad naturally raises the question of what went down between Sheldon and his dad that Sheldon hasn't been the most complimentary toward him on The Big Bang Theory. Young Sheldon co-creator Steven Molaro weighed in to TV Guide on the change in Sheldon's perspective in the spinoff, saying this:
I think that some of these stories adult Sheldon is telling us through young Sheldon are reflections on 'now that I have my own children, maybe I'm seeing that world through my Dad's eyes more clearly than I had.' Those thoughts had been on my mind for awhile, and I think that's what led to that final line of the season.
Like How I Met Your Mother before it, Young Sheldon is shaped by the story the narrator wants to tell, and so what viewers see on Young Sheldon doesn't necessarily reflect how Sheldon feels at the point when he's telling his story. Whenever Sheldon is doing these narrations, he already has kids and he can relate to his dad's struggles in a way that he couldn't back before he was a parent. We can only hope that the similarities between How I Met Your Mother and Young Sheldon more or less end here. Television doesn't need another finale like that of How I Met Your Mother.
The good news is that both Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory were renewed, so they'll be back in the fall. The bad news for fans is that the upcoming Season 12 of The Big Bang Theory is almost certainly the last. For what you can watch while we wait for Sheldon to return to the airwaves, take a look at our summer TV premiere guide and our 2018 Netflix schedule.
