Young Sheldon Fans Give A Thumbs Down To Sheldon's Character Evolution
Inaugural seasons of "Young Sheldon" are primarily about (you guessed it), the young version of Sheldon Cooper (Iain Armitage) as the child genius navigates his upbringing in small-town Texas. From his boycott of bread to his attempt to build a nuclear reactor, there's no question that Sheldon is the star of those early episodes.
But as the show progresses into Season 6 and beyond, the rest of the Cooper clan is becoming more central to the plot, and Sheldon less so. There's Georgie's (Montana Jordan) proposal to Mandy McAllister (Emily Osment), and George's (Lance Barber) concerning relationship with Brenda Sparks (Melissa Peterman). Many fans are upset over Sheldon's character evolution ... or lack thereof.
On Reddit, u/kandiekake said, "Does anyone miss Sheldon as a character? He's just a side character or quirky comedic relief now. I get that he's meant to become TBBT Sheldon, but that doesn't mean he can't be granted some moments of levity and humanity until then. He's a caricature, not a child prodigy struggling with life." U/AirlineCharacter1702 agreed and said, "I think I miss him having a normal storyline, like you described. More drama. Life wasn't easy for him at all according to TBBT. That would have made him more relatable. Writers don't do justice for the character at all."
On the other hand, a number of viewers are enjoying the lack of Sheldon storylines in recent seasons.
Many Young Sheldon fans are fine with Sheldon's lack of character evolution
As the focus of "Young Sheldon" shifts away from its titular character, many viewers are completely fine with Sheldon's lack of development. This frees up screen time for the other Coopers. Many are particularly enjoying the noticeable change in Montana Jordan's character of Georgie, who has drastically matured while holding fast to his "goofball" persona.
Others feel there's not much more writers can do to evolve Sheldon, which is why he's taking a backseat in later seasons. U/ConrrHD said, " ... there's 12 seasons of Sheldon being a main character [on 'The Big Bang Theory']. With no real development possible in his character he's definitely in the right spot at the moment."
U/United_Efficiency330 agreed that there's only so much evolution possible for the future theoretical physicist: "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."
It seems there's only one way for Sheldon to regain his status as the lead: If he catches his father cheating, just as adult Sheldon (Jim Parsons) recalls in "The Big Bang Theory." This would give him a major storyline, though the manner in which he handles it could truly make or break how he's perceived by anti-Sheldon viewers.