Paige’s Young Sheldon Season 7 Return Can Finally Explain Why She Wasn’t In Big Bang Theory

Paige’s Young Sheldon season 7 return can finally answer her biggest The Big Bang Theory mystery — why she never appeared in the nerd-centric sitcom. Young Sheldon has recruited countless great guests throughout its run — from Jason Alexander to Wendy Malick. That being said, the spinoff’s best and most memorable one is McKenna Grace as Paige Swanson. Like Sheldon, Paige is a child prodigy, who may actually be better than the Cooper’s boy genius. Aside from her intellect, she’s also well-adjusted and sociable. Unfortunately, life hasn’t been as kind to her as it has been to Sheldon.

While Mary and George’s marriage isn’t perfect, at least they remain committed to making sure that Sheldon is well taken after. Paige, on the other hand, hasn’t been as fortunate. After her parents’ split, she started acting out, blaming herself for their separation. Despite not being a series regular, Young Sheldon has done a great job highlighting just how miserable she has been. While there are no indications that she will be redeemed, at least another appearance in the offshoot allows it to address why she was never referenced, let alone appear in The Big Bang Theory.

Young Sheldon Season 7 Image Hints Paige Will Return

McKenna Grace could reprise Paige for the final time.

Because Young Sheldon will end on a shortened final season, the writers need to be discerning about the narratives that they need to spend time on. There are several lingering storylines in the prequel — proof that it could have continued to be on the air for longer if it was willing to fully deviate from The Big Bang Theory canon. Since Paige isn’t a Cooper, Young Sheldon can actually get away with not bringing her back again. However, considering how gripping her arc has been, it seems like CBS has been compelled to bring her back.

A series of set images shared by Missy actor, Reagan Revord, suggests that Paige will be back in Young Sheldon before it officially bows out. With no context given for the photo, it’s difficult to say what her next guest appearance will be about, but because she was last seen being arrested after an attempt at a daring joyride to Florida with Missy, it will be interesting to see how she has been since then. George and Mary punished their daughter for her dangerous antics. It’s curious if the Swansons also penalized her as well.

Young Sheldon Season 7 Is The Last Opportunity To Explain Paige’s TBBT Absence

Young Sheldon has the opportunity to resolve a big The Big Bang Theory mystery.

Aside from seeing how Paige has been since she was last in Young Sheldon, her upcoming season 7 appearance will answer a much bigger question. Considering how much she has been in the spinoff and Sheldon’s penchant for talking about his childhood in Texas, it’s odd that the socially-inept genius never talked about her. In fact, neither Sheldon nor the rest of his family who visited Pasadena ever even mentioned the existence of Paige. At the very least, Mary should have talked about her at least once during her many cameos, considering Paige’s ties to her twins.

Paige’s Young Sheldon season 7 appearance can finally offer answers to this particular mystery, depending on how the spinoff wants to leave the character. There are a couple of potential explanations for The Big Bang Theory’s ignorance of Paige. For starters, her arc may have ended in a tragedy, and considering how dark her story has been thus far, it’s something that Sheldon and her family blocked from their memory. There’s actually precedent to this, with Sheldon never bringing up George’s cheating scandal until The Big Bang Theory season 10, and even then, he only shared it with Penny.

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It’s also possible that she is able to get her life back together, rekindling her rivalry with Sheldon. Considering how much he hates being diminished to a second placer, he decided to hide the existence of another child prodigy in Texas during his childhood to his friends. Given how many times it seems like Sheldon lied about the life he lived in Texas to Leonard and the rest of his Pasadena friend group in The Big Bang Theory, it isn’t outside the realm of possibility that he also omitted Paige from his childhood history.

Why Paige Was Never Really In The Big Bang Theory

Paige was introduced during The Big Bang Theory’s final year.

For what it’s worth, Paige isn’t the only Young Sheldon character ignored by The Big Bang Theory. Considering Sheldon’s eidetic memory, it’s difficult to believe that he simply forgot about them after living in California for decades. If anything, it’s also one of the reasons why accepting so many plot inconsistencies in the prequel. Most of these absences, however, including Paige’s, can be chalked up to the fact that they still didn’t exist during the majority of The Big Bang Theory‘s run. That’s the reason why, despite Mandy fronting a spinoff soon, she was never referenced in the nerd-centric sitcom.

Paige was introduced in Young Sheldon season 2, which coincided with the final year of The Big Bang Theory. The main show was able to incorporate Tam, Sheldon’s first best friend into its storytelling, but it was only because he was already an established character during the prequel’s debut year. By the time Paige debuted, CBS’ long-running sitcom was already towards its tail end, and it had to prioritize its own storytelling rather than establish stronger ties with Young Sheldon.

Will Paige Return In Young Sheldon’s Georgie and Mandy Spinoff?

The Coopers’ story will continue after Sheldon moves.

Sheldon’s story in Texas may be ending, but the Coopers’ arc will continue via the upcoming Young Sheldon spinoff about Georgie and Mandy. Paige can return via the new offshoot, especially if Missy will also be involved. That being said, without Sheldon in the picture, it really won’t resolve the mystery of why she never paid him a visit in Pasadena, not to mention why the socially inept genius seemingly wiped her existence from his memory.

Per the canon, Sheldon was oblivious to what was happening back at home when he moved to California. It was one of the biggest reasons why he wasn’t aware of all the sacrifices that his oldest brother made after Young Sheldon. If Sheldon didn’t know what was going down in his home, then it was more than likely that he wouldn’t get any updates about Paige’s situation. In any case, the Coopers had more than problems that they needed to deal with by then, they wouldn’t have had the ability to deal with other people’s problems.