Young Sheldon finale has hidden homage to Big Bang Theory’s iconic characters

Throughout all the tears and final goodbyes during Young Sheldon’s series finale, one of its last nods to its parent show, The Big Bang Theory, hit the hardest.

Towards the end of the Young Sheldon finale, as audiences once again check in with an adult Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) and his wife Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik), we learn that the couple has two children together, a boy and a girl.

Both kids serve as yet another Big Bang Theory Easter egg. Their son is named Leonard, after Sheldon’s best friend and roommate Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki), and their daughter wants to take acting lessons to become an actress like Amy’s best friend and Leonard’s wife Penny (Kaley Cuoco).

The nod to both Leonard and Penny showcases how close both couples still are years after the original series ended in 2019.

As the finale of Young Sheldon revolved around the passing of Sheldon’s dad, George, some viewers believe another death may have occurred off-screen: Leonard Hofstadter himself.

ScreenRant theorized that Leonard may actually be dead, which is why neither Sheldon nor Amy mentioned their friend in any capacity.

Sheldon does reference Penny when it comes to their daughter. He tells Amy they shouldn’t have let Penny babysit their daughter and fill her head with ideas of acting.

But, they don’t mention anything about Leonard outside of his child namesake having a hockey game that Sheldon doesn’t want to attend.

It may be a dark ending for one of the Big Bang Theory’s biggest characters, but Leonard’s fate would fit with Young Sheldon’s finale theme of accepting that your loved ones will die and learning to move on while keeping their memory alive.

You can check our breakdown of Young Sheldon’s ending, details about Georgie and Mandy’s spinoff, and other binge-worthy TV shows to add to your list.