Young Sheldon Makes Paige’s Big Bang Theory Absence Much Darker

Warning! SPOILERS for Young Sheldon‘s 100th episode.

McKenna Grace’s Paige Swanson returned for Young Sheldon‘s 100th episode and it made her absence on The Big Bang Theory much darker. Sheldon’s (Iain Armitage) fellow child prodigy makes another appearance on the sitcom, and this time she needs help from the socially-inept genius. With her return, fans learn that things aren’t going well with Paige, setting up a more tragic explanation why she never appeared on The Big Bang Theory. 

The 100th episode of Young Sheldon titled “A Solo Peanut, a Social Butterfly and the Truth” had three different plotlines. Specifically, Sheldon’s narrative, like most of his recent ones, was mostly set in school, as Paige visits East Texas Tech for a special talk with her fellows from the University of Texas. While she’s still charmingly arrogant, it’s clear that she isn’t happy with her life. Things take a turn for the worse when she learns that Sheldon is actually coping well in college that he even has his own set of friends. 

Because of Paige’s frustrations about not feeling that she belongs, she decides to drop out of school and run away from home. She asks Sheldon if she can use his dorm in the meantime, and he surprisingly agrees, seeing how distraught she is. Ultimately, Paige also leaves, and for a while Sheldon, Missy (Raegan Revord), and Mary (Zoe Perry) were worried about her. Luckily, she turns up eventually to reunite with her mom, but that doesn’t solve her internal issues — even adult Sheldon’s (Jim Parsons) narration acknowledges that. If she doesn’t get the help that she needs, Paige might continue to rebel and go down a dark path that she might never recover from. Instead of being insecure that he might not actually be that special in terms of intellect given her existence, Sheldon’s decision to not bring up Paige on The Big Bang Theory could be because he views her story as a tragedy, and perhaps a cautionary tale as well. After all, despite their tumultuous relationship, he clearly still cares for her as seen on Young Sheldon season 5, episode 17. 

Whether or not Young Sheldon brings back Paige again in the future is unknown. The last time she appeared, there was also no indication that she was making another appearance. The decision lies on the writers as dictated by where the sitcom’s storytelling goes moving forward. As fans have pointed out, The Big Bang Theory spin-off’s storylines have become increasingly more mature in the last several months. This is due to the kids growing up, which means that their life experiences are also starting to change. Georgie (Montana Jordan), in particular, was met with an unexpected responsibility after it was revealed that he got his girlfriend, Mandy (Emily Osment), pregnant. In case Paige returns, it isn’t outside the realm of possibility that the show further leans into her potential dark storyline. 

CBS’ Young Sheldon is confirmed to run until at least season 7. Considering how popular it is, coupled with the fact that everyone involved is willing to continue working on the show, chances are that it will get a renewal again. This means that fans can expect that it will tackle more sensitive and mature topics, including mental health. Especially since Sheldon was often labeled as crazy on The Big Bang Theory — even if they were mostly played for laughs. 

Young Sheldon season 5 airs Thursdays on CBS.

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