Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Young Sheldon season 7, episode 10.
Although Young Sheldon’s Meemaw always seemed very different from her earlier incarnation in The Big Bang Theory, a new character in the spinoff’s seventh season finally explains this discrepancy. Almost all of Young Sheldon’s cast of characters appeared in The Big Bang Theory, but most of them changed a lot between the two shows. Sheldon’s mother, Mary, became more judgmental and pious after Young Sheldon ended, while his well-meaning brother Georgie became more bitter and resentful. Much of this could be blamed on the death of Sheldon’s father, George Sr, but some character changes don’t have such a convenient explanation.
Ever since Young Sheldon‘s season 6 finale, the spinoff has been trying to justify the differences between Meemaw’s character in the spinoff and her earlier depiction in The Big Bang Theory. When she appeared in season 9, episode 14 of the earlier show, ”The Meemaw Materialization,” June Squibb’s taciturn grandmother was a stern, stoic presence. Throughout Young Sheldon’s first six seasons, Annie Potts’ feckless, daring Meemaw was nothing like that. Her free spirit diverged notably from her earlier canon appearance, so Young Sheldon season 7 explained Meemaw’s character change with a storyline about her arrest for illegal gambling.
When Meemaw was arrested in season 7, episode 7, “A Proper Wedding and Skeletons in the Closet,” this seemed as if it would be bad news. It looked like the spinoff’s Meemaw was going to become more tired and cynical thanks to her arrest, losing her joie de vivre and becoming listless after her home was already destroyed by a tornado. However, episode 10, “Community Service and the Key to a Happy Marriage,” introduced a new character who changed this fate. Octavia Spencer’s Rhonda made Meemaw’s character shift a good thing by taking a new perspective on her antics.
Rhonda wasn’t fooled by Meemaw’s innocent old lady act, and she also wasn’t charmed by her smooth talking. The firm Prohibition Officer made it clear that Meemaw’s Young Sheldon jokes wouldn’t convince Rhonda to shorten her sentence or overlook her community service entirely. Rhonda expected Meemaw to accept her sentence like everyone else and this infuriated Meemaw, who soon enlisted George Sr to try convincing Rhonda. When that failed, she got Sheldon to do her community service for her, and this illustrated an uncomfortable truth. It proved that Meemaw has needed someone like Rhonda in her life for some time now.
It seemed like it would take a tragedy to make the carefree, rebellious Meemaw so sedate in The Big Bang Theory. Instead, Rhonda forced Meemaw to see that her actions have consequences, so her resulting character shift was surprisingly positive. From getting Sheldon to do her community service to never thinking about how the gambling room impacted Georgie’s future employment prospects, Young Sheldon’s Meemaw has been a pretty selfish character. Community service, and specifically Rhonda’s unrelenting firmness, forced her to face that for the first time. Young Sheldon season 7 has ended many major subplots, but this sets up a new arc for Meemaw.
Meemaw’s less chaotic incarnation in The Big Bang Theory no longer seems like a sad shadow of her Young Sheldon self. Instead, this version of the character seems like a more mature and reflective Meemaw who has taken stock and counted her blessings. It is easy for viewers to assume that Georgie and Mary’s characters changed thanks to George Sr’s sudden death, but Meemaw isn’t that close to her son-in-law. As such, season 7 needed to find another compelling reason for her to become more stable and sensible. By introducing Rhonda, the spinoff pulled off this difficult achievement.
Meemaw didn’t become more reserved because she lost hope and abandoned her fun side. Rather, she learned to take responsibility and matured, allowing season 7 to put a positive spin on a seemingly bleak character change. Young Sheldon season 7’s George Sr death will make the show’s tone a lot darker as the series wraps up, so it was a smart move to ensure that Meemaw’s character shift wasn’t an equally sad story. Rhonda’s role in the supporting star’s arc made Sheldon’s grandmother feel more fully rounded by addressing her faults and giving her a path to improvement.
When Meemaw apologized to Mary for imperiling Georgie’s future, it felt like a sincere moment. Meemaw worked on her selfishness in Young Sheldon season 7, and, if this comes at the cost of her acting a little more self-serious in The Big Bang Theory, it is a small price to pay. Like every character in the spinoff, Meemaw was always destined to change between the two shows. Luckily, Young Sheldon handled The Big Bang Theory supporting star’s transformation well thanks to Spencer’s guest role.