Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage has seen many Young Sheldon characters appear from time to time, giving us a glimpse, however briefly, of where they are and what they’re doing since we last saw them. Pastor Jeff (Matt Hobby), for example, has appeared twice now, the same as he always was, although his second appearance, in “Baby Fight,” showed that the relationship between him and Mary (Zoe Perry) has definitely become less friendly since George Sr.’s (Lance Barber) death. And a character like Tam (Ryan Phuong), who hasn’t appeared in Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, yet, did get a chance to reveal what he’d been up to in the years since Young Sheldon with an appearance on The Big Bang Theory‘s “The Tam Turbulence.”
In that episode, we learn that Sheldon (Jim Parsons) has not contacted Tam (Robert Wu) in over 20 years, and that he’s on Sheldon’s enemies list because he broke a promise to move to California with him to attend university, with Tam instead going to a college in Texas where he married a woman named Beth, has a son and another on the way. But there’s one recurring character whose life we know nothing about after the Young Sheldon timeline. No partial reveal that suggests what their present is, or what their future might hold, like Pastor Jeff, nor a much more detailed reveal, as with Tam on The Big Bang Theory. That character is McKenna Grace‘s Paige, and I need Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage to step up and give her story closure.
Paige’s ‘Young Sheldon’ Arc is Tragic
We first meet Paige Swanson in Season 2’s “A Rival Prodigy and Sir Isaac Neutron,” a fellow 10-year-old genius who is in one of Sheldon’s (Iain Armitage) classes with Dr. Sturgis (Wallace Shawn) at East Texas Tech. She’s an immediate rival, a bright and cheerful girl who gets under Sheldon’s skin by earning praise from Sturgis and — EGAD! — revealing that she’s smarter than he is. Sheldon is jealous and less than impressed when his parents invite her and her parents, Linda (Andrea Anders) and Barry (Josh Cooke), over to their home. The parents bond over what it’s like to raise a child prodigy, and discover that there are some striking similarities: Paige does the bookkeeping for Barry’s dental practice, while Sheldon does the family’s taxes, for one. However, the difficulties George and Mary struggle with when it comes to Sheldon don’t appear to be an issue for Paige’s parents, until a few beers loosen the lips to reveal that there are similarities on that front as well.
It wouldn’t take long until Paige appeared again in Sheldon’s life, this time at a museum where they are both attending a lecture on carbon dating (Season 2, Episode 7 “Carbon Dating and a Stuffed Raccoon”). It’s also the first time that we see the fundamental difference between the two. Paige is less cautious, talking Sheldon into wandering into a closed museum area when the lecture gets boring (or, more boring). And unlike Sheldon, Paige exhibits emotion, and finds in Sheldon a confidante that she can talk to about how her parents are likely to get a divorce, which she attributes to herself causing arguments between them. It’s a heartbreaking admission for a character that we assumed would act in much the same way as Sheldon. Only a few episodes later, Sheldon, Mary, and Missy (Raegan Revord) run into Paige and her mother at the mall, which is the beginning of the friendship between Paige and Missy that would factor into storylines in later episodes.
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Sheldon got lost in the series that bore his name.
Paige’s next appearance wouldn’t happen until “Body Glitter and a Mall Safety Kit,” the twelfth episode of Season 3. Paige had changed drastically since she was last seen on the show, ditching dresses for denim outfits, cutting her hair and dying a pink streak in it, and had developed a snarky, rebellious nature that expressed itself in shoplifting and an indifference to schoolwork. She spends the weekend with the Coopers, where she breaks down and talks to Sheldon about her devastation over her parents’ divorce, prompting Sheldon to learn to listen (and the first time we see Sheldon offer a hot beverage to someone in distress, a trait seen often in the parent show). Progressive appearances had Paige disclose that she wanted go to an out-of-state college, wanted to drop out of college, and, in her second-last appearance on the show (Season 6’s “A Frat Party, a Sleepover and the Mother of All Blisters”), she had dropped out of college, started drinking beer, and tried to hook up with an older guy. Our last encounter with Paige, in “A Stolen Truck and Going on the Lam,” had Paige call Missy to see if she wants to hang out. They meet at a diner, eat, and take off without paying the bill. They sleep in a truck and decide they’re going to travel to Florida to start a new life together, only for a sheriff deputy to pull them over in Louisiana, where George, Mary, and Linda pick up their girls.
‘Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage’ Has a Chance to Provide Closure Paige
Linda and Paige drive off, and it’s the last time we see Paige, or even hear anything about her. All that’s said at the end of the episode, through older Sheldon’s narration, is that, “This marked the beginning of what our family would come to call “Missy’s difficult period.” Despite my repeated assurances that I could solve the problem with a brain scan and some low-voltage electric shocks, I was never given the opportunity. Such a shame.” I wasn’t annoyed at the time, figuring that the recurring character would recur in the final season, only it never happened. Executive producer Steve Holland addressed Paige’s absence following the series finale, saying:
“When we got into this season, especially with it being a shortened season, we never thought that [Paige’s storyline] was an arc that needed more closing than it got. There was a parallel; she was a bit of a mirror image of Sheldon — a different way that Sheldon could have turned out — and I think we saw that play out,” Holland explained. “[By Season 6] she is not a huge part of Sheldon’s life; she’s more of Missy’s friend in the show than she is Sheldon’s friend.”
Excuse me? Never thought it was an arc that needed more closing than it got? News flash, tips: the arc never got a closing, at least the way I see it. The “closure” we got made it clear that Paige’s mom still doesn’t believe that their divorce has had any bearing on Paige’s behavior, meaning she’s too daft, oblivious, or doesn’t want to believe that they, as parents, have any part in Paige’s downward spiral. Saying something, anything, about where her life ended up would have at least some insight. Did she get her act together and go on to success, or did she go completely off the rails, trading in her bright future for a life knocked up in a trailer park? Older Sheldon could have added something in his narration, or, like Tam, an appearance on The Big Bang Theory to catch us up on what the engaging character has been doing (which reminds me — damn you, McKenna Grace, you just had to do your awesome acting thing and make us care about Paige).
So my only hope, barring an appearance on the upcoming spinoff series Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, is for Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage to give Paige’s arc a proper closing, in spite of whatever Holland believes. And it could easily happen. As Holland pointed out, she was more of Missy’s friend toward the end of her time on Young Sheldon, and with Missy appearing from time-to-time on the spinoff, it would be easy to add in a visit from Paige in an episode. And since Sheldon isn’t around, it doesn’t mess around with canon as he would have literally no idea if Paige reappeared in Missy’s life or not. It’s too early in the timeline to know what Paige gets up to in the future, and the two opportunities to do so are long gone. It would also be an opportunity for Georgie (Montana Jordan) to flex his parental muscles, weighing in with some beneficial, practical help for Paige. So, an appearance on Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage would at least provide a modicum of closure, suggesting that her life is heading in a direction, whatever direction that may be. I may not like it, but it’s a darn sight better than seeing a character I became quite fond of over her time on the show disappear into uncertainty.