Young Sheldon's Paige Cheapens Sheldon & Amy's Sweetest TBBT Moment
Even the most beloved of prequels have an inherent flaw: It's nearly impossible to stay true to the original characters.
These characters are already given an entire character arc, then the prequels add more depth that isn't necessarily important.
In some cases, it outright alters the backstory already given. That's what just happened in Young Sheldon, the prequel to The Big Bang Theory.
Paige Swanson first appeared in the Season 2 episode A Rival Prodigy and Sir Isaac Newton – the eponymous child genius who enters as a rival to Sheldon.
She ends up attending the same university as Sheldon, East Texas Tech, and finds it hard to make friends.
In season 6, episode 13, she takes Sheldon to a party. Sheldon and his sister Missy take Paige back to his dorm room. She stays the night and sleeps in Sheldon's bed.
Paige's sleepover completely undermines a critical moment in The Big Bang Theory.
In S8.E8 – The Prom Equivalency – Sheldon finally told Amy that he loves her after fearing the pressure to commit. Even then, he refused to allow Amy, the woman he loves, to sleep on his bed.
Yet Paige, a rival-turned-semi-friend, is allowed to stay the night? It doesn't seem in character and showed the issue with prequels.
Sheldon already had an important romantic moment with Amy, one that was meant to show that he can, in fact, fall in love.
The audience of Young Sheldon already knows that he'll end up with Amy, but the showrunners still wanted to include a romantic interest.
TBBT implies that Amy was the first – and only – woman he could feel that deeply for. The simple gracious act of allowing Paige to sleep on his bed cheapens that arc in the original series.
If it were just that moment, with Sheldon simply being a kind (albeit awkward) host, it would be one thing. But throughout Paige's character arc, Young Sheldon has continuously undermined Sheldon's characterization.
Earlier in the series, Sheldon realized that he had a crush on Paige. It never fully developed, just because Paige didn't return the feelings.
Wasn't Amy supposedly the first person Sheldon had those types of feelings toward? Isn't that retroactively changing his characterization?
Despite the flaws that come with being a prequel, Young Sheldon has still been a fan-favorite show with solid ratings throughout its six seasons.
Paige is an interesting character and a welcome member of the cast, even if her mere existence raises a lot of characterization issues.
Season 6 of Young Sheldon will return on CBS March 30, with the first five seasons available on HBO Max.