Mary Cooper, Sheldon’s deeply religious and God fearing mother, appeared in both Young Sheldon and the popular sitcom The Big Bang Theory (TBBT). TBBT first premiered in 2007 and ran for 12 seasons, and owing to its massive success, its prequel series, Young Sheldon, was released in 2017.
Interestingly, Young Sheldon, which delves into the childhood of Sheldon Cooper and his family in Texas, establishes Mary’s (played by Zoe Perry) attachment to her faith from her first appearance. From urging her family to say ‘Grace’ before meals to building a ‘Faith Garden’ in their backyard — she had done it all!
However, one plot point from the Young Sheldon finale establishes that Mary’s faith was unshaken even after her husband’s death. The series finale, titled “Memoir,” begins around 27 days after George Sr.’s death. When Mary instructed the Cooper twins at breakfast, “Finish up we have to go to church,” the viewers came to realize that Mary turned ‘more religious’ to overcome the grief. She frequented the church three times the previous week and dragged her children too. Sheldon and Missy turned to their Meemaw for some help, but Meemaw refused to help them and asked the Cooper twins to tag along with their mother to the church.
At the dinner table, Mary said that she wished Sheldon and Missy to get baptized. Sheldon tried to deviate from the topic when Mary stopped him and fiercely said, “This is serious. This is important. This is about saving your souls. You two are getting baptized. End of discussion.”
Throughout the series finale, Mary’s steady obsession with her religion kept growing — from crying her heart out in the Faith Garden to sitting quietly at the cemetery, to getting upset about treating the ‘Baptism’ topic as a joke. Her obsession grew to such an extent that Missy and Sheldon found it almost unbearable as she continued to pester them about getting baptized. Even though Missy backed out, Sheldon agreed to get baptized for his mother.
Thus, it’s safe to say that Mary Cooper’s strange obsession with her religion was established in the Young Sheldon finale, as a coping mechanism after George Cooper Sr.’s death.
Young Sheldon: Mary Cooper’s obsession with religion in TBBT
Portrayed by Laurie Metcalf in TBBT, the character not only showed strong Christian beliefs but also encouraged her theoretical physicist son, Sheldon, to do the same. This caused a difference of opinion between the devout Christian mother, Mary Cooper, and her science-driven atheist son, Sheldon. However, the creators portrayed such a clash of opinions in a humorous, lighthearted manner.
Throughout the series, Mary’s obsession with her religion was highlighted, from praying out loud to quoting Bible references. Well, the list is long, but some of the memorable instances of Mary being a deeply religious woman involve when she rejected the theory of evolution (in Season 5 Episode 6), and her disapproval of Amy’s secular views. Mary’s staunch Christian beliefs often created several heartwarming and humorous moments; however, by the end of the series, viewers also get to see her soft side when she attends Amy and Sheldon’s wedding.
