Sheldon described George Cooper Sr. as a bad father in Young Sheldon initially featuring a very different version of the character, the spin-off now reveals how he'll eventually become the problematic dad that viewers first heard of. The spin-off prequel is revealing more about the socially inept genius' story by tackling his younger years living in Texas with his family. But before the Coopers even got their show, they were already established characters thanks to Sheldon's regular stories about them in The Big Bang Theory.
While Young Sheldon and its parent series supposedly exist in the same reality, there are some significant discrepancies between the version of characters first introduced in the original show and the period sitcom. Inconsequential changes are easily acceptable, but the offshoot features significantly varied iterations of the Coopers. This problem with plot holes in Young Sheldon is best represented by George Sr. In The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon often described him as a no-good father, and that his parents did nothing but fight all the time. However, Young Sheldon's take on the character is vastly different; he can be cranky and dismissive, but for the most part, he's been a devoted family man. Sheldon himself had some great moments with him just in the current season and despite not being as intellectually gifted, Geroge Sr. has been a steady for his son.
Now in season 4, Young Sheldon is covering Sheldon's first year of college in East Texas High after graduating college. That means that in just a few years, the infamous cheating incident involving Sheldon's dad will have to be tackled in the sitcom, otherwise, it risks breaking continuity. Although the spin-off may not be explicitly setting this up, it's subtly building towards it. Episode 16 titled "A Second Prodigy and The Hottest Tips For Pouty Lips" hinted at how George Sr. becomes the bad father and husband that Sheldon ed in The Big Bang Theory. After Mary spent money on her renewed interest in sewing, the Cooper patriarch went on a lecture about how she's wasting money. While the show skipped the actual fight, George Sr. later on confided with a friend who advised him to simply be ive. However, he pointed out that if he didn't have three kids, he wouldn't be as stingy when it came to money. So while he wants Mary to be happy, he simply can't back up her interests and hobbies if they have high costs.
For context, George Sr. has always been worried about money. When they found out that they're pregnant with a fourth child, his main concern was how this would change their financial state. But, he eventually mellowed and tried asking for a pay raise so they can still their four children. Mary, unfortunately, lost the baby, so the foreseen issue didn't come to . But as Georgie, Sheldon, and Missy grow older, their financial needs also increase, putting more pressure on their father. As a result, he becomes more obsessed with keeping their budget tight, inadvertently creating animosity between him and Mary. Meanwhile, in the Cooper matriarch's daydream, she visualized George being ive of her, revealing that she craved validation and positive interest from her husband — something that he often overlooks because he's focused on other things.
Couple this with George Sr's comment about being unhappy and it's the perfect set-up for his eventual downward spiral in Young Sheldon. At this point, he's still fairly understandable, but since he's not exactly great at talking about his feelings especially with his own family, his future bad behavior may be fueled by his internal struggles. Assuming that this is the case, it means that his and Sheldon's fallout as revealed in The Big Bang Theory would be so much worse because it turns out that the younger Cooper just never understood why his dad suddenly became bad.