Why Young Sheldon’s Mary Cooper Is the Worst Part of the Show

Summary:

• Mary Cooper is one of the main characters on Young Sheldon.
• Beloved on TBBT, her personality is nothing to write home about on Young Sheldon.
• Her character gets a lot of criticism from fans.

We all love Mary Cooper in The Big Bang Theory. The woman has unwavering beliefs, she’s unrelenting and does not take crap from anybody, first and foremost her son who’s always used to getting his way. She’s easily one of the coolest recurring characters on the show.

The Mary Cooper from Young Sheldon is a bit different from her older counterpart, with no years or experience behind her back as she struggles to navigate the religious turmoil of family life in Texas. A lot of fans believe that Mary is one of the worst things to happen to the Coopers, and she might be behind her family’s multiple issues. Let’s dive into that.

She’s hypocritical in her religious beliefs. Mary is certainly a lot to take in, especially for an unprepared viewer (probably someone who doesn’t live in an overly religious state).

She’s got a bit of a holier-than-thou attitude at times and thinks herself self-righteous, even though she’s okay with bending the rules when she’s concerned. (Remember Missy’s lotto ticket?) A devoted Christian, Mary gets angry easily, snapping at and holding grudges against her family members.

She coddles Sheldon and ignores her other children. That’s the #1 reason why her character gets hated on so much: yes, the show is about Sheldon and his background story, but the main cast has wormed their way into our hearts, and we care about their stories as much as we care about Sheldon’s. So seeing Mary favor Sheldon over Missy and Georgie, always taking his side, feels wrong somehow.

She’s selfish and holds her family back. Her husband had a chance of getting his dream job; yes, they would have had to move, but it would’ve meant better opportunities and a better life overall, something that was not on the cards for the Cooper family if they’d stayed (which they did).

We all knew they wouldn’t move, of course, but still, seeing Mary get her way just because she was used to their little life in Texas? Didn’t sit right with us.

It's like the Jim & Pam storyline on The Office, but we saw Pam coming to her senses in the final episodes; Mary didn’t.

Mary’s no saint; she’s a very fleshed-out character, real and far from the person she becomes down the road. She might need to get priorities straight for her family, though!