Spoilers ahead for Young Sheldon Season 7, Episode 4, “Ants on a Log and a Cheating Winker.” Read at your own risk!
With Young Sheldon in its final season on the 2024 TV schedule, it was only just a matter of time before the series included its last connections to The Big Bang Theory. While the prequel has gone on its own path with some of the references to its predecessor, the latest episode finally nodded to a major and memorable TBBT moment that made Sheldon who he is.
In Season 7, Episode 4, “Ants on a Log and a Cheating Winker,” Sheldon and Mary finally came back from their summer in Germany, and it’s been an adjustment for Sheldon following the tornado. However, his room being taken over by Georgie, Mandy, and the baby is not all that he needs to worry about, or so he thinks. The end of the episode saw Mary putting on an outfit she got in Germany and doing a little bit of role-playing with George. What Sheldon saw next changed him.
Not knowing what was going on and needing something, Sheldon knocked on his parents’ door once and opened it. It definitely wasn’t what he expected, as he saw his dad with a German lady that he likely didn’t know was his mother. Sheldon went straight for the front door as his older self narrated, “I never talked to my parents about what I saw that day. But from then on, I added extra knocks so people could get their pants on.”
Fans of The Big Bang Theory know that whenever Sheldon knocks on someone’s door, he always does it three times. Even if someone opened the door before the third knock, he still made sure to knock to complete his cycle. On an episode of the CBS sitcom, Sheldon explained why he knocks three times, although his story was a little different than what happened on this show. On Big Bang, he was home on Spring Break and his mother was at Bible study. He heard sounds coming from his parents’ room, and when he opened the door, he saw his dad with another woman.
Sheldon did say that he locked eyes with his dad and ran to his room, and again, that was different from Young Sheldon. While it didn’t happen exactly as it did on TBBT, fans did finally see the moment that made Sheldon knock three times. More references to the previous series are likely on the way, and not just because Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik will be appearing in the series finale.
The prequel will very likely be showing George Sr.’s death, as this is around the time it will happen, even if some details are different. There are still 10 more episodes left before the hour-long series finale in May, which gives the show plenty of time to include more references to The Big Bang Theory, no matter how big or small. Fans will just have to tune in on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS to see what happens in these final episodes of Young Sheldon.
