Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Young Sheldon’ Season 7 On CBS, Where A Tornado And A Trip Overseas Shakes Up The Cooper Family In The Final Season

Young Sheldon was never designed to be the laugh riot that The Big Bang Theory was (at least as funny as we thought TBBT was). It was designed to be a funny but often touching family comedy about Sheldon Cooper’s years at home in Texas. In its first six seasons, it’s evolved to move away from just Sheldon being a kid trying to find his place to a full ensemble comedy. The show’s final season truly shows how far the show has come, given that Sheldon himself starts the season in Germany.

YOUNG SHELDON SEASON 7: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A recap of the season finale: Sheldon (Iain Armitage) goes to a summer program in Germany with his mom Mary (Zoe Perry); Missy (Raegan Revord) and her dad George Sr. (Lance Barber) reconcile as tornadoes touch down in their Texas town; Pastor Jeff (Matt Hobby) discovers that Meemaw (Annie Potts) has been operating an illegal gambling hall behind her laundromat; and Dale (Craig T. Nelson) and Meemaw find out that her house was obliterated by the tornadoes.

The Gist: “Later that night…” Mandy (Emily Osment) is playing with her and Georgie’s (Montana Jordan) baby daughter C.C. in the Coopers’ chaotic living room, surrounded by whatever of her stuff she was able to salvage from Meemaw’s place. George Sr. is on the phone with Mary, telling her about Meemaw losing everything. When Mary asks why he didn’t call sooner and he replied that the phones were down, Mary says, “That’s no excuse!” She wants to go back to Texas immediately, but Sheldon wants to stay in Germany, correctly surmising that being home isn’t going to help anything.

Meanwhile, Missy steps up and takes charge of the busy house. When she fixes her brother Georgie breakfast, he says she’s “just like mom,” which she finds insulting. When Mandy tells her she’s just like “a mom,” though, that’s just fine with Missy.

As Meemaw tries to collect the cash from her illegal casino, Dale tells her she can stay with him. When she calls her insurance company, she finds that she never got tornado insurance. When Dale jokes about that, Meemaw doesn’t find it funny and decides to stay in the very crowded Cooper house.

Meanwhile Pastor Jeff’s wife Robin (Mary Grill) finds over $1200 in their garden; Jeff knows it’s likely from Meemaw’s gambling den, but Robin thinks it’ll be karmic justice if they keep it. In fact, she buys a “huge” 27″ TV with the money. But the guilt over using the ill-gotten gains is too much for Pastor Jeff to take. Meanwhile, Georgie and Mandy find that the gambling hall is doing better than ever.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Young Sheldon seasons 1-6.

Our Take: If it feels like Young Sheldon is setting itself up to be less about Sheldon Cooper and more about his family in the show’s final season, you’re right. The show’s updated intro doesn’t just have Sheldon standing next to the bull, it’s the entire Cooper family, including Mandy and C.C. But that’s not such a bad thing, and it’s a smart move by showrunner Steve Molaro and executive producer Chuck Lorre.

Let’s face it: Sheldon is now 16, and Armitage himself is only a few months away from that milestone. Playing Sheldon Cooper and all of his peccadilloes is no longer adorable because the Sheldonisms are coming out of a young child; Armitage is almost as tall and has a deeper voice than Jim Parsons, who continues to contribute narration as present-day Sheldon.

There are signs that he’s maturing, but Sheldon is still Sheldon, and his time in Germany is going to be funny just because he likely will find some things that make him feel right at home and other things that will make him feel like, well, Sheldon Cooper. Mary’s place in this scenario is the more interesting story, as the church-going, superprotective mother in her won’t have anyone to protect. When she walks into a tavern and the only thing she has a choice to drink is beer, the result of a couple of brews is a Mary we’ve likely never seen, which is always fun to see this far into a show’s existence.

The one who’s going to mature is Missy. Yes, she’s still the rebellious Cooper twin, but her bonding with her dad during the storm, and the fact that she’s stepping up to keep the family in line is something we’ve also never seen before, but find that it’s a welcome change in her character.

We also love having Osment around as the somewhat more practical end of the Georgie-Mandy engagement; it’s obvious that the season will be one long setup for a probable spinoff featuring the couple, so it’ll be good to watch Mandy ground Georgie a bit as the season goes along.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: After her unlikely binge drinking, Mary is seen puking in the bathroom of the dorm where she and Sheldon are staying. For his part, Sheldon talks about “sympathetic vomiting,” then starts to puke, as well.

Sleeper Star: It’s good to see Craig T. Nelson back and being funny as Dale. His scene with Revord where Missy susses out that he’s come by to apologize to Meemaw was the best of the episode — especially when Missy coughed every time she took a sip of black coffee.

Most Pilot-y Line: “We have to go home,” Mary says to Sheldon. “Oh no… Who did Germany invade now?” replies Sheldon.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Young Sheldon has been evolving into an ensemble family comedy for its entire run, but in its final season that goal is fully realized. And, with Armitage way past his “cute kid” stage, it’s come just in time.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.