10 Young Sheldon Storylines That Never Paid Off

There were always bound to be storylines that slipped through the cracks when "Young Sheldon" wrapped up in 2024. In spite of careful preparations made by the show's producers to both launch "Georgie and Mary's First Marriage" and tie up every loose end and mysterious timeline detail in "Young Sheldon," there would be things left behind. With seven seasons and the fact that the show needed to center on the death of George Cooper Sr. (Lance Barber), not a lot of room was left for errors to be made. 

Is it any wonder that little details faded into the background? But to fans of the show, these weren't small things of that could be ignored. These storylines remain unsolved, nagging at fans years after the show wrapped, leaving viewers wondering what might have been. It's no wonder that they still ask questions about certain events, and it's no big mystery why, either.

Among the unsolved plot threads are several characters who go missing, an infamous storyline that shapes who Sheldon Cooper (Iain Armitage) becomes, yet goes nowhere, and a whole lot of forks in the road that were never taken. There are even jobs accepted by several characters that then simply vanish into the haze. While this list only contains a few examples, the possibilities are endless. Want to learn more? Here are 10 storylines that remain unresolved from "Young Sheldon."

This is the big one: Sheldon spends his entire life assuming that his father cheated on his mother, but he never finds out that his assumption was false. Remember that infamous knocking pattern he applies to every single closed door he encounters on "The Big Bang Theory"? That's because of his father's affair. The knocks are intended to give the person on the other side of the door time to put their pants on.

While the show teases that possibility by having a depressed George Sr. (Lance Barber) get closer to Brenda Sparks (Melissa Peterman, who may look familiar to you), the twosome never become a romantic item in spite of their shared temptation. Ultimately, the scene that so haunted Sheldon as both a child and an adult turned out not to be a moment of infidelity at all. The blonde he thought he saw George Sr. have an affair with was in fact his mother, Mary (Zoe Perry), dressed up in a bodice-highlighting dress and blond wig that she got in Germany.

It's pretty clear that the writers made this change because they liked this new version of George Sr., who is a much nicer guy than the drunken jerk Sheldon makes him out to be in "The Big Bang Theory." They struggled to make him jibe with the long-held facts of Sheldon's character, and this was the easiest way out. But the falsehood continues to influence his feelings about George Sr. decades later. People George never met while he was alive think he's a cheater — all because Sheldon never learns the truth. Talk about a story with far-reaching consequences. A genuine shame that it never gets resolved.

Bobbie Sparks (Ella Allan and Mia Allan) distinguished herself among the kids in the Cooper family's neighborhood. Not only did she regularly bully Sheldon per Season 1's "Jiu-Jitsu, Bubble Wrap, and Yoo-hoo," she also freaked him out so much that he decided to try out physical violence. That's something he tries to avoid, since it's beneath his intellectual prowess. 

Nonetheless, he tried to master the martial arts to get her off his back. But Bobbie not only survived Sheldon's onslaught, he wound up injuring himself trying. His only option is to sic his much-tougher twin, Missy (Raegan Revord), on Bobbie. Unfortunately for Sheldon, Missy and Bobbie become fast friends. They even end up having a tea party, which Sheldon witnesses with horror. In the end, he learns to at least tolerate Bobbie, while Missy has a new bestie. Temporarily, anyway.

That's the only time fans ever got to see Bobbie, who disappears from the show even though her brother, Billy (Wyatt McClure), and her mom and dad become series standards. She simply never shows up, though Billy mentions her once in passing. True to form, she apparently stabbed him with a fork — but otherwise, that's one gone girl. One could assume that when her folks divorce, her father takes her in the custody agreement and she moves out of Texas. The show never confirms this.

Remember when Missy started working at King Kong Comics? Her job starts during Season 6 of the series, in "Future Worf and the Margarita of the South Pacific," when she walks into the shop and asks Nigel (Jason Rogel) if she can help him organize things there. We see her working at the place one more time, in "A Tougher Nut and a Note on File" during the same season, but she never shows up to take care of things again during Season 7.

Missy's foray into commerce isn't just a dropped plotline that never gets resolved, it also fails to make functional sense. She and Sheldon are roughly 12 to 13 years of age when Season 6 rolls around; that makes Missy more than a little bit too young to be working in a comic book shop, sometimes alone and unsupervised. One can excuse it by saying she was hired on impulse by an independent contractor who thinks she's mature enough to work late without problems, but it still makes no sense — which might be why the show dropped the plotline for the next set of episodes.

"The Big Bang Theory" always hung Sheldon's characterization on simple hooks — he is bad with people, horrible at reading social cues, and generally awful at understanding others. But this isn't a truism in "Young Sheldon." Besides his friendship with Tam, which is acknowledged by "The Big Bang Theory," he develops a circle of friends with whom he plays "Dungeons and Dragons." They appear in "Demons, Sunday School, and Prime Numbers." The circle includes Tam and Billy Sparks. The latter maintains a more extensive presence on the show than Bobbie, but still leaves before the show ends.

While this is a hobby that will highlight Sheldon's social life in "The Big Bang Theory," these friends from his youthful social circle disappear before he graduates college, leaving audiences to wonder what happened. Did Sheldon push them away, in his Sheldon-like manner? Was there a fight? Or did he simply outgrow this particular group of friends? Audiences will never know. 

Yet this Sheldon also goes to parties (more than once!) where he proves popular, even though he's an outsider. While he's still undeniably Sheldon  — and one would never call the guy a party animal — that's still different from the way he's portrayed in "Big Bang." Just chalk it all up to being one more dumb thing we all notice in "Young Sheldon" but ignore anyway.

George Cooper Jr.'s (Montana Jordan) first crush was Veronica (Isabel May), a wild child who receives tutoring help from Sheldon. While Veronica seems to be a bad girl, she later joins the Cooper family's faith and asks to be saved after encountering an exhibit in the "heck house" Mary sets up one Halloween. 

She ends up in Mary's Bible study group, where Georgie expresses an interest in her. Veronica is torn between her new loyalty to God and her feelings for Georgie. Though she claims to be okay with him dating other girls, it's clear she's not happy or comfortable with the situation. Fans see Veronica one more time when Georgie, now dating Jana (Ava Allan), is waited on by Veronica while out on a date. Mutual anger and jealousy bloom. Sadly, nothing is resolved and fans are left wondering what actually happened to Veronica on "Young Sheldon."

Veronica simply disappears after she sees Georgie and Jana together, even though "An Academic Crime and a More Romantic Taco Bell" leaves the door open for her. She and Georgie never even address their feelings for one another, leaving behind a question mark. It's an unfinished story thread that begs to be continued, although there is, at least, room for a theory that she was the first wife of George Jr.

Dr. Sturgis (Wallace Shawn) becomes an important early mentor to young Sheldon, and even dates Sheldon's Meemaw (Annie Potts) for a while. The pair share many adventures as Sheldon, meanwhile, grows into the scientist he's always wanted to be. But while the good doctor is a huge part of his life, he begins to fade out of Sheldon's world over the last couple of seasons. 

While he and Dr. Linkletter (Ed Begley Jr.) both appear during the series finale at George Sr.'s funeral, they don't have much to do during Season 7. While it's quite natural for Sheldon to move on academically — and Meemaw, of course, finds love with Dale (Craig T. Nelson) — there's so much potential that went unexplored in Sturgis' storyline. Imagine an older Sheldon encountering him, or Sturgis becoming a part of Sheldon's Caltech world.

In the case of Dr. Sturgis it's actually frustrating, since he does not appear on "The Big Bang Theory" and the adult Sheldon never mentions him. He may have died, which means Sheldon's emotions might be even more complicated with time and distance. Audiences will never know either way, unless that plot thread is picked up in some future sequel.

Dr. Linkletter also manages to fade out of Sheldon's life without so much as a whimper — and when one considers how frank he was about most things in Sheldon's sphere of existence, that is a pretty big shocker. Even more so than his rival, Dr. Sturgis, Dr. Linkletter's competitive nature suggests he'd never allow himself become a stranger to Sheldon, but this is exactly what happens during the course of "Young Sheldon."

Without Dr. Linkletter, Sheldon would never get his crucial position in Heidelberg University's summer research program, and he would never manage to become the physicist he is. But Sheldon never mentions him in "The Big Bang Theory," and we never find out what happens to him, besides bringing him up briefly in a version of his Nobel Peace Prize speech. While Dr. Sturgis' disappearance is more disturbing to the ecosystem of "Young Sheldon" at large, Linkletter's leave-taking is just as bad for the show. It leaves Sheldon without mentorship in those last crucial seasons. 

Paige Swanson (Mckenna Grace) is introduced to "Young Sheldon" as a female foil for Sheldon. A girl genius whom he often rivals, their relationship slowly turns into friendship, then culminates in a possible, unfulfilled crush for Sheldon in "A Second Prodigy and the Hottest Tips for Pouty Lips." That's where he nearly kisses Paige, only to have her draw a mustache on him. 

Paige's character arc is a lot like Missy's; affected by her parent's divorce, she goes from golden girl to rebel, then struggles while attending college. There, she dreams of dropping out and running away to a far-away state. She and Missy strike up a friendship mainly built out of their mutual desire to escape their circumstances, and they briefly run away together. 

But Paige's rivalry with Sheldon never grows into anything interesting, and her friendship with Missy fades away by the end of the show. She might have become Sheldon's first girlfriend, or a cautionary tale for Missy, but we never learn more about who she becomes and where she goes. Page deserved better from the narrative, and "Young Sheldon" never gave it to her — regardless of the satisfaction series producer Steve Holland showed with the petered-off parallel story. At least Grace herself does have good reason for not returning: She was lining up roles at the time, including in "Ghostbusters: Afterlife."

At one point in time, Sheldon studied things that weren't physics or other scientific disciplines. Remember when Melanie Lynskey played Dora Ericson, his philosophy teacher? We also meet Professor Boucher (Lance Reddick), who teaches civil engineering, and Professor Willard (Doug Morency), who teaches geology. This is a refreshing change from dealing with a barrage of scientific calculations and thoughts about physics. Unfortunately, Sheldon's other classes slide out of the series over time. He does go to Bible study and Sunday school at his mother's behest, but we don't get to see another side of him very often.

That's a shame because Boucher and Ericson, in particular, introduce new aspects and ideas into Sheldon's life. They help expand his worldview and make him think and grow. That the stories these teachers bring to the show eventually go ignored is annoying. 

Imagine Sheldon also having to deal with an English professor, or cope with someone who teaches history. Sadly, these larger aspects of education never get explored or even talked about that much. We know that the central focus of the show has to stay on Sheldon and his quest for a foothold in the physics world, but it wouldn't hurt to broaden his experiences.

The question of George's affair was partially resolved by the show, but still left gaps. Brenda and George Sr. develop a close friendship, come dangerously close to an affair, and end up pulling back. Brenda and Mary fight over the near-miss, with Mary also experiencing an attraction to Pastor Rob (Dan Byrd), which she does not pursue. The two women salvage a friendship out of the emotional mess, and are on good enough terms that Brenda comes to George's funeral after he dies.

And yet this story calls for more resolution, especially when it comes to that friendship between George and Brenda. They had bonded over her saving his life during his first heart attack. He found it easier to spend time with her for a while because of that, and the show never addresses the emotional fallout. There's psychological importance in that undercurrent, but it never gets followed up on. The sitcom makes it more about the possibility of George's infidelity. 

Meanwhile, that friendship awkwardly fades away, leaving room for the showdown that had been brewing between the ladies, but nothing else. Ultimately, there was no reason for Brenda to get divorced. Removing half of her family just to tease an affair that never happens is a waste of the audience's time. It may have been convenient, but in the end, it was another trailed-off story about a woman, given no agency or clear purpose, and it's a problem that makes up five of our 10 examples.