Young Sheldon Cast Tees Up ‘Powerful’ Series Finale, Set in Part at George’s Funeral
No one was dreading the death of Young Sheldon patriarch George Cooper more than Lance Barber‘s TV daughter, Raegan Revord.
“I held off on reading [the script for Episode 12],” she tells TVLine. “It was probably 10 pm, the night before we were going to start filming the episode,” that she finally read through the last scene. “I’ve been very fortunate that I haven’t had a major loss in my life, so losing this beloved character, and losing the show as well, was like two losses at once, and it was rough.
“We filmed the scene where we find out that George died in two parts,” Revord explains. “We filmed up to the knock, and that was fine. We were having a blast. Then we did rehearsal for the second half, and I was weeping; I could barely say my lines. In that scene, [Mary, Missy and Meemaw] get to the door. They’re not bawling, they’re just wary, and I’m at the door, full-on shaking, sobbing…. You can tell that you’re seeing real, raw emotion in that scene.”
For TV brother Iain Armitage, openly sobbing wasn’t an option. “The thing about Sheldon is, it’s less of an external [reaction],” he points out. “For other characters, maybe that stone facade is crumbling from the outside, in; for Sheldon, it’s from the inside, out.
“In one of the first takes we did, I sat down in the chair the way they wanted me to, and I started to let my face fall,” the 15-year-old recalls. “Not quite cry, but I kind of start to get emotional. [Series co-creator] Steven Molaro said, ‘Don’t even do that. It is 1,000 times more heartbreaking if we see that Sheldon can’t even begin to imagine processing or understanding that to the point where he simply won’t. His mind won’t try. It’s almost as if he’s just heard them talking about the weather.’ I really liked that interpretation.”
Thursday’s series finale (CBS, 8/7c) consists of two, half-hour episodes, the first of which takes place almost entirely at George’s funeral. Everyone is working through the five stages of grief, including Missy, who is more angry than anything else.
“Missy was such a daddy’s girl,” Revord laments. “As we saw throughout Episode 12, she was so excited to move to Houston and start over [after George received an offer to coach at the collegiate level], and I was really excited for Missy because she finally saw a way to get out of Sheldon’s shadow and shine for once, and then it’s all just kind of taken away. She’s mad, she’s resentful… and both of us have to live with the fact that the last thing Missy told her dad was that she would take the bus instead of riding to school with him.”
George’s widow Mary (played by Zoe Perry) is also faced with a new and unforeseen reality. Not only has she lost her husband, but she’s about to see Sheldon off to California, where he’s set to embark upon his Big Bang future at Caltech.
“I don’t know that [Mary] is coping well,” Perry tells TVLine. “It’s a real struggle. She is all of a sudden a single parent… and as we talked earlier about her early crisis of faith [in Season 2], she has two directions to go, and I think we know where Mary ends up on The Big Bang Theory, so you get an idea of where she’s headed.
“You see these fresh wounds,” she says of Thursday’s double-header. “I imagine there could be something cathartic [in that] for the audience because these remaining characters are going to be experiencing a great amount of grief simultaneously with [them]…. I know that, regardless of how people feel about [the finale], I’m just really proud of how everyone showed up and gave it their all. It’ll definitely be powerful.”
Young Sheldon’s series finale airs Thursday, May 16 at 8/7c on CBS (and streams next day on Paramount+).
The scene where they announced George’s death was done incredibly well. I’m confident that the funeral episode will be just as equally moving, with just a touch of the Cooper family humor to make it seem real.
Young Sheldon — in my book — is one of the top ten sitcoms of all time and without any question the best sitcom on TV today. Nothing else even compares.
I heard about the prior episode before I watched it and I still ended up crying.
I’ve got my box of tissues ready.
George was very good in his roles so was Mary I hated her.
I’m dreading it. George was my favorite character in that series. He was a great tv dad, maybe even my favorite. I’m going to miss him. I’m so glad I got to watch him, along with the rest of the Cooper clan and the amazing ensemble cast.
George was only 42. Seeing that on the headstone was enough to bring me to tears all over again. Lance Barber played him to perfection. I am really going to miss this show. Watching everyone grow and evolve has been a true treat!
The George and Missy father-daughter relationship was truly wonderful … from going back to where he taught her how to throw a baseball all the way to the sly look approval he sneaks to her after she’s cleaned her room and is reading the Bible to impress the real estate agent. So many poignant moments between the two of them, including the tornado episode.
One of the better parts of the series.
I am already crying over losing this show.
I have watched young Sheldon ever since the big bang series and am a loyal follower and will watch any spin off of the series , keep it going there are a lot of stories , MARY / MEMAW/ MISSEY GEORGY & WIFE /HER FAMILY and so Mutch more KEEP GOING WE AS A SOCITY NEED GOOD NEWS IN THIS DAY and AGE !
I love So Help Me Todd. I am bummed that it has been canceled.
Georgia didn’t show any emotion what’s up with that. Any normal kid would be crying at his dad’s funeral. Crazy emotional funeral – hard not to shed a tear..and it’s TV.
The funeral episode was excellent. The last one was very disappointing. They tried to tie everything together too fast.
The finale had me in tears. It felt like a personal loss! We all loved George.
Love the show. Confussed over George and the next door neighbor, the show did make it seem they had a affair, also the scene where they were at the hospital waiting on his grand daughter to be born, George and the woman next door were having a conversation and he said “Well you did cause me to have a heart attack and she had that grin on her face! But I have just read that George did not have any affair so I am somewhat confussed!!!!
Going to miss both of the shows wow I watch all the time even of its rerun,s still love this show sheldon and young sheldon ty for the great show,s