You'll have to give me a minute, y'all. Young Sheldon's finale was even more heartbreaking than I expected.
Young Sheldon Season 7 Episode 13 focused so intently on George's funeral that it felt like mourning an actual relative who had passed away suddenly, while Young Sheldon Season 7 Episode 14 wrapped things up perfectly with a peek into the present.
These final two episodes dealt with heavier subject matter than you'd expect from the series finale of a mostly lighthearted comedy, but the ending made it worth it.
The Grief Made Sheldon's Character Clearer
In those first painful moments, after learning his father was dead, we got more insight into Sheldon's mind than ever before.
These scenes could have easily relied on tired TV tropes, but they avoided that trap and were refreshingly original because they were entirely from Sheldon's point of view.
He didn't know how to express his grief over his father's death and his guilt that he hadn't said a word when George left the house for the last time, and he didn't communicate his thought process effectively.
Missy: What are you doing?
Sheldon: Thinking about Star Trek.
Missy: What is wrong with you? Our dad just died!
That was why Missy thought he was thinking about nonsense instead of caring about their father's death.
It had never been more clear to me than those moments that Sheldon is autistic, even though it has never been said directly, and his different way of thinking and communicating was getting in the way of bonding with Missy over their shared grief.
Similarly, throughout the funeral, he seemed to try to make sense of everyone else's behavior.
At the beginning of the episode, the adult Sheldon pointed out that he was flummoxed by how people were expressing grief, and that seemed to be what was going on as he listened to all of the eulogies.
A good deal of the first half of the finale was spent inside Sheldon's head as he imagined over and over what he wished he'd said to George the last time he saw him.
The repeated flashback got slightly annoying, but there was a point to it -- he was going over that last encounter and was weighed down by regret.
The Adult Sheldon Made More Sense
I'd predicted that Jim Parsons was returning to reveal that Sheldon was writing his autobiography, but I hadn't expected Sheldon and Amy to have a storyline.
I'd always preferred the young Sheldon to his adult counterpart, but the grown-up Sheldon's return was enjoyable.
Sheldon's mannerisms, rigidity, and opinions were similar to how he had been as a child as if he had gotten frozen in time when his father died, or maybe because his family didn't know how to help him change when he was younger.
He also realized how much his family had tried their best for him, which was something he never had expressed before.
The best you could say about his feelings about his family on The Big Bang Theory was that he was mostly indifferent.
Looking back over his life seemed to have helped him see things differently.
I especially loved his reflections on his feelings about his father as he recalled the funeral.
Adult Sheldon (VO): I focused for a long time on my father's shortcomings. But now that I'm his age with children of my own, I understand he was just a person doing the best he could. I couldn't say it at his funeral, but I can say it now: I loved my father and I will miss him forever.
The scenes between him and Amy also confirmed that he had married the right woman for him, who knew how to handle it when he got stubborn and didn't understand why he needed to do things he didn't like.
And then there were the last five minutes, when the older Sheldon felt like a modern version of John Boy Walton, recalling how his mother eventually sold the house and finally expressing what they all had lost.
Sheldon's story has always been one of hating change and not understanding the world he'd been born into any more than his family understood him.
The juxtaposition of old and new Sheldons was the perfect ending, as the adult Sheldon recalled the house being sold, and the young one decided he wanted to remember it forever.
The Baptism Story Tied Everything Together
The finale's second half revolved around Mary wanting the twins to get baptized, with a side story about the adult Sheldon not wanting to go to his son's hockey game.
That story demonstrated how everyone was falling apart after George's death, but it also proved that Sheldon was not as selfish as he often comes off.
Amy was surprised and touched that Sheldon got baptized to help his mom feel better.
Sheldon's decision was tied back to an early episode when, as a little boy, he decided to go to church because he "believed in Mom."
In the end, Sheldon finally understood that going to his son's hockey game was similar to getting baptized for his mom's sake. T
he young Sheldon and Missy demonstrated that they did love each other despite their rivalry when Missy asked Sheldon if he would remember her.
Missy Got a Heavy Story
I feared Missy would be left hanging as Young Sheldon wrapped up.
There was no resolution to her story -- she was angry about her father's death, and that was that.
We know from The Big Bang Theory that Missy had relationship problems as an adult, but we don't know what the rest of her teenage years were like.
Still, we can guess because she was becoming rebellious before the tornado, was extremely close to George, and was mad at the world after his death.
The series was Young Sheldon, not Young Missy, so we'd unlikely get more about Missy than we did. In these last few episodes, Raegan Ravord did great work with some heavy material.
Missy is always an afterthought, and that reflects the way the family was so focused on Sheldon's brilliance and quirkiness that she felt invisible.
However, that doesn't mean I didn't want to know more about her as the series wrapped up.
Despite The Painful Loss, There Were Still A Lot of Funny Moments
Young Sheldon was first and foremost a comedy, and it's always risky when comedies tackle dark subject matter, especially at the end of the series when they need to make a final impression.
Fortunately, Young Sheldon balanced all the sadness with its trademark humor.
I especially liked the parts surrounding Dale wanting to sit in George's chair.
That relatable moment turned funny when Sheldon told him to get out of his spot for no reason, and I couldn't stop laughing at Meemaw's explanation that she sent Dale home because he was scared to sit down anywhere.
During the second half, most of the humor came from the adult Sheldon and Amy, while the main storyline was more dramatic than comedic, though Sheldon's bringing his laptop to church led to a hilarious scene.
Your turn, Young Sheldon fanatics.
What did you think of the series finale? What parts were most memorable for you?
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Young Sheldon Season 7 streams on Paramount+. Previous seasons are aviable on Netflix.