Young Sheldon S6: Sheldon Has Taken The Backseat & Fans Are Okay With It
If you've been feeling a profound Sheldon-related absence throughout "Young Sheldon" Season 6, you're not alone. Despite being the titular character for whom the "Big Bang Theory" prequel series was first developed around, fans have noticed that the latest season has opted to shift more of its focus to the rest of the boy genius' family and friends, such as George and Mandy. Sidelining a main character in favor of building out the supporting cast doesn't usually get received warmly by a show's fanbase, but many "Young Sheldon" viewers have found that they're surprisingly okay with Sheldon taking a backseat to the action.
In a thread on the r/YoungSheldon subreddit, fans were relatively uniform in their support of "Young Sheldon" focusing on plot threads unrelated to the protagonist. "Sheldon was never my favorite character so I'm glad that we are getting to see the others more," u/imsosleepyyyyyy commented. Some fans even feel like relegating Sheldon to a side character is the logical progression for the series. As u/JazzFan619 put it: "There are far more stories to tell and serves as an opportunity to develop the characters that had a part in influencing Sheldon's growth. If not, then this whole thing could have just been a 2 hour TV movie of Sheldon that we know from TBBT."
Absence may make the heart grow fonder for Sheldon
Not only are "Young Sheldon" fans okay with Sheldon appearing less in his own show, but a little more time apart from the character may be just what the doctor ordered. As it turns out, some "Young Sheldon" viewers have been finding teenage Sheldon quite insufferable recently. "He's way too one dimensional of a character," u/United_Efficiency330 commented. "We get it, he's very smart. We get it, he's obnoxious all the time. We get it, he has no friends. One can only put up with that for so long."
In fact, shifting the focus off of Sheldon for a while has made some fans come around on the character more than they had in the time prior. "The family faces bigger issues. I'm happy with the change," u/LQjones wrote. "Sheldon has been a more enjoyable character this year."
Nonetheless, a couple of watchers are still rooting for Sheldon to return to the forefront in future seasons of "Young Sheldon" with the same level of quality in his storylines that other characters have recently been enjoying. "It is pretty odd that the title character isn't even there most of the time," u/sunfl0werfields noted. "We know how Sheldon turns out, sure, but I think they could do so much more with the Sheldon they have now than make him purely a joke."