Young Sheldon viewers cried after the emotional finale, which saw Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik reprise their roles as The Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper and Amy Fowler to reunite for the first time in five years.
After seven seasons, the beloved CBS prequel ended with two heartbreaking episodes Thursday night.
The penultimate installment, titled Funeral, began with the open-casket funeral of George Cooper Sr after his sudden death following a heart attack at work.
In another gut punch, young Sheldon, played by Iain Armitage, decided he didn’t want to say goodbye to his father before the funeral and was wracked with guilt.
Young Sheldon viewers were left in tears after the emotional finale of the CBS series.
Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik reprized their Big Bang Theory characters, Sheldon Cooper and Amy Fowler, for the first time in five years.
The final chapter, Memoirs, in which the 14-year-old found out he was going to CalTech, also jumped to the future to reveal that Amy and Sheldon had two sons, Leonard and a daughter.
The final moment showed Sheldon arriving on campus, with a man asking him, ‘Did you lose?’
‘No. “I am exactly where I am supposed to be,” she responded as she concluded the series, which launched in September 2017.
Fans expressed their grief as the series aired, with many claiming the devastating scenes had made them cry.
“My face is literally drenched in tears watching this ending of Young Sheldon lmao,” one viewer wrote on X. “I didn’t expect this to be so heartbreaking.”
Another posted: ‘Young Sheldon Ending’. I am totally heartbroken. “Seeing Sheldon and Amy once again is very sad.”
A third said: “Young Sheldon’s ending was beautiful, I’m crying.”
A fourth added: “It’s not the ending of Young Sheldon that makes me shed so many tears.”
Sheldon’s young fans did not repress their pain after the end of the series and flooded social media while sobbing.
‘The ending of Young Sheldon was everything it needed to be and more!’ a fifth wrote. ‘There were many tears, but I enjoyed every moment of the two episodes that aired.
‘I’ll miss the cast being on that show more than people will know. Thank you for the memories and a show of pure comfort for me.’
Viewers last saw Amy and Sheldon together in the finale of The Big Bang Theory, which aired for 12 seasons on CBS from September 2007 to May 2019.
In one of the scenes that aired Thursday, Amy told Sheldon that she needed to get ready for her son’s hockey game.
“Oh, I’m not going to do that,” Sheldon said as he showed Amy his first laptop from 1994.
‘Fantastic. What do you mean you won’t go? Amy responded.
‘Children on skates hitting a rubber disc with a stick. Why would I want to see that?’ Sheldon said.
“Because Leonard is your son, and he’s one of those kids,” Amy snapped, revealing that they named their son after Sheldon’s best friend and roommate, Leonard Leakey Hofstadter, played by Johnny Galecki in The Big Bang. Theory.
The finale revealed that Sheldon and Amy have two children, a son Leonard and a daughter.
In the last episode, Amy tells Sheldon that her daughter wants to take acting classes.
‘That’s why I wanted to wait until cloning was possible. Because the old fashioned way got us a hockey player,” Sheldon said.
The show then momentarily flashed back to Sheldon’s mother, Mary Cooper (Zoe Perry), just weeks after her husband’s death, telling Sheldon and Missy (Raegan Revord) that they had to get baptized.
“Sheldon, I know you’re not a sports fan, but it would mean a lot to Leonard to have his dad in the stands supporting him,” Amy said.
“He knows I love him despite his silly and embarrassing hobby,” Sheldon replied.
Amy then told Sheldon to go upstairs and take a shower.
Back in Texas, Missy at the last minute abandoned the baptism, but Sheldon soldiered on with yellow rubber boots, a life jacket, snorkel, and mask.
“Oh my gosh,” Amy said as she read her memoir. —You never told me you were baptized.
“I told you we should have never let Penny babysit,” Sheldon said, referring to his aspiring actress neighbor Penny, played by Kaley Cuoco on The Big Bang Theory.
‘Yeah. And for my troubles I got a pretty nasty ear infection,” Sheldon added.
“And you did it just to please your mother,” Amy pointed out.
‘She may not have understood me or the things I cared about, but she did everything she could for me. My dad did it too,” Sheldon said.
“It must have been great to have parents who supported you despite all your differences,” Amy noted.
‘Yeah. Looking back, that was the greatest gift,” Sheldon said.
‘Hey, the smartest man in the world. He brought you to the water. “Take a damn sip,” Amy said.
At this point, Sheldon realizes that Amy was drawing a parallel and agreed to go to her son’s hockey game.
“And by the way, her daughter wants to take acting classes,” Amy added.
Young Sheldon cast members Iain Armitage as Sheldon, Annie Potts as Meemaw, Craig T. Nelson as Coach Ballard, Raegan Revord as Missy, Lance Barber as George Sr., Emily Osment as Mandy, Montana Jordan as Georgie, Zoe Perry like mary
Mayim, Kunal Nayyar, Melissa Rauch, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco and Jim are shown as the cast of The Big Bang Theory posing together in 2014 in Los Angeles.
“I told you we should have never let Penny babysit,” Sheldon joked, referencing his aspiring actress neighbor Penny, who was played by Kaley Cuoco on The Big Bang Theory.
The episode then showed young Sheldon in his family’s home after his mother sold it.
Executive producer Steve Holland explained why Big Bang Theory stars Mayim and Jim ended up being such big players in the grand finale.
Speaking to Variety, he said: “We decided we wanted to use them as more than just a cameo at the end, because we thought it could also be something that more people expected and could catch them off guard.”
‘Even though they know they’re in the episode, but then you see them straight out in the open. I think we found a really good balance for that.
‘Maybe some people were expecting to see them, but is there a way to do it and maybe surprise people a little? So it’s very nice to hear that.”
Young Sheldon recently found a new audience on Netflix and quickly became a hit on the streaming service.
CBS ordered a spin-off titled Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage that focuses on Young Sheldon characters.
It will focus on Sheldon’s brother Georgie, played by Montana Jordan, and his wife Mandy, played by Emily Osment.
Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage is expected to be released later this year or early 2025.
