Top 10 Most Shocking Young Sheldon Moments

While looking for a flashlight, Sheldon finds a letter from Caltech in his mom’s nightstand. With some, erm, help from Missy, he learns that the university wants to enroll him. It’s quite appalling that Mary would keep such a big secret from her son. Yes, he can be persistent when he sets his sights on something, but doesn’t he have a right to know? Worse still, Mary doesn’t even include George in the matter, and she has been hiding more than one letter! We understand that sending her baby away ignited her mama bear instincts, but we’re with George on this. No wonder Sheldon felt closer to his dad at this moment.

Anyone who watched “Big Bang” knows that Sheldon Cooper is a staunch atheist and has no respect for an MIT education. That’s why we were astonished to learn he’d been baptized—and even more so that he once considered enrolling in MIT! Sheldon initially has a tough time narrowing down grad schools but eventually whittles it down to Caltech or MIT. However, one look at the snowstorm outside Boston’s airport, and they’re off to sunny California. This was still a huge shock to “TBBT” fans, who spent 12 seasons listening to Sheldon disparage the university and its alumni. After all those years of taunting, what would Howard have said if he knew the truth!?

As Mary once told George, “Wake up; no marriage is a bed of roses.” While this is certainly true, this particular “bed of roses” has a lot of thorns. After a stressful day at work, Mary comes home to even more chaos, leading to a fight with George. Unfortunately, when Georgie comes home, he accidentally reignites their argument and gets stuck in the crossfire. No one wants to get caught between their parents arguing, and this one’s particularly nasty. Mary berates George for not pulling enough weight at home. He fires back, airing out all his grievances about how his life’s turned out. Then he drops the harshest truth that Mary couldn’t care less about his feelings before storming out.

In season two, Mary learns that she and George are expecting another child. George is completely caught off guard, but he steps up to ensure their growing family will be taken care of. With the financial worries eased, he can finally get excited over the new arrival. However, just as he prepares to share his news with Mary, she drops a devastating revelation of her own. We felt like we were right there with George, soaking in the shock. Considering Sheldon never mentioned a third sibling in “Big Bang,” we had to assume that something like this might have happened. Even so, our hearts shattered into a million pieces for the couple.

We were as stunned as the rest of the Coopers when Georgie and his Meemaw got arrested at the Mexican border. But that was nothing compared to the time the cops caught Connie trying to evade arrest when they came snooping around her business. Yes, she had been running an illegal gambling room, but Officer Rutledge had promised to look the other way in exchange for a share of the profits. Nevertheless, he’s the one who blabs! Connie ends up on house arrest and loses her entire livelihood. Fortunately for her, barring one weekend, when the judge is out of town, she manages to avoid jail time. Luckily, Connie Tucker is one tough cookie.

Airing in tandem with “The Big Bang Theory” finale, where Sheldon and Amy receive their Nobel Prize, this “Young Sheldon” episode takes a more somber tone. In it, Dr. Sturgis, triggered by the upcoming Nobel announcements, experiences an episode of emotional distress. Connie initially learns about his past mental health challenges from Dr. Linkletter and later finds him on the roof doing Tai Chi. Only in his grief, he starts to imagine neutrinos and the like floating around him. We were as thrown as Connie to see him so upset, and we definitely felt for him. We really hope that knowing he was right about Sheldon brings him some comfort in the future.

The season six finale had us on the edge of our seats as a Tornado tore through Medford. Georgie and Mandy seek shelter with her parents, Pastor Jeff joins Connie and others in the gambling room, and Missy and George take cover on the roadside. We were relieved when the storm lightened up, and everyone was okay. However, as Connie and Dale drove down the road to check out the damage, they were in for a major shock. Yes, it’s just things, and luckily, no one was home, but seeing your home totally destroyed is undoubtedly a devastating blow. Even more so for Connie, who realizes her hidden stash of cash is among the ruins.

In season 10 of “TBBT,” Sheldon reveals the origins of his three knocks to Penny. While it was a shocking revelation at the time, it just didn’t sound like the George we’d come to know and love on “Young Sheldon.” Still, George’s relationship with his neighbor, Brenda Sparks, seemed to be building in that direction. So, we waited to see how this would all play out. What we didn’t expect was for the writers to reinterpret the whole thing. Instead of George straying, they hit us with a major plot twist, spinning it all as a colossal misunderstanding on Sheldon’s part. We definitely didn’t see it coming, but kudos to the writers for their creative retconning skills!

Unfortunately, there’s one “Big Bang” storyline they couldn’t write their way out of: George’s fate. We knew it was coming, so the first two times George suffered heart attacks in the series set our pulse racing. Sadly, the third time turns out to be fatal. Mary spends most of the subsequent episode processing her loss and taking care of preparations for the funeral but mostly keeping her emotions at bay. However, when she gets up to speak in front of the mourners, everything she’d been holding back comes spilling out, and it’s heart-wrenching. We’re so used to seeing Mary so in control, so seeing her break down this way makes us hurt inside, too.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Mary and Audrey Baptize CeCe, “Baptists, Catholics and an Attempted Drowning”
PSA: Making Decisions for Someone Else’s Child Behind Their Back—Not Cool!

Sheldon Falls Behind His Classmates, “A Roulette Wheel and a Piano Playing Dog”
We Never Thought We’d See the Day that Sheldon Lee Cooper Would Be Dubbed Class Dummkopf!

Georgie Proposes to Mandy, “A German Folk Song and an Actual Adult”
Who Wouldn’t Be Taken Aback by a Spontaneous Proposal!?

Darlene Cheats on Coach Wayne Wilkins, “An Ugly Car, an Affair and Some Kickass Football”
But They Seemed So Happy, So in Love!

Sheldon Taunts Paige, “Bible Camp and a Chariot of Love”
It’s Not That We’re Condoning Violence or Anything, but He Kinda Had This One Coming

Georgie and Mandy first meet at the laundromat and hit it off right away. Only one problem: they’ve both lied about their age. Fudging a few years is one thing, but claiming to be over 18 when you’re not is like opening Pandora’s box. Of course, she’s horrified to learn the truth and kicks him out. When he tries to apologize again, she hits him with some life-altering news. This isn’t the first time Georgie’s dealt with a pregnancy scare, but he’s so stunned that he immediately goes into denial. He can ask Mandy to take all the pregnancy tests he wants, but it still doesn’t change the reality: They’re going to be parents.

Which “Young Sheldon” moment was so shocking that you're still trying to pick your jaw up off the floor? Let us know in the comments.