Young Sheldon Cannot End Without An Appearance From This Crucial Character

"Young Sheldon" needs to bring Paige Swanson back in Season 7.

Paige, played by "Gifted" star Mckenna Grace, is introduced in Season 2, Episode 2 – "A Rival Prodigy and Sir Issac Neutron," as one of Sheldon's (Iain Armitage) fellow students in Dr. Sturgis' (Wallace Shawn) class. Despite some initial tension between them about who is smarter, the two young prodigies become good friends, and Paige makes a number of appearances throughout the show's run.

During the earlier seasons of "Young Sheldon," Paige tends to pop up when Sheldon needs help with a problem, and she offers him some advice or a different perspective. But by Season 5, Episode 17 – "A Solo Peanut, a Social Butterfly and the Truth," their relationship has flipped on its head. While Sheldon is thriving at East Texas Tech and even making friends, Paige has been left devastated by her parents' divorce and feels completely alone, leading her to drop out of college. Sheldon does his best to support Paige as she makes this life-altering decision, even letting her crash in his dorm and going to his mom for help. When he sees her again in Season 6, Episode 13 – "A Frat Party, a Sleepover and the Mother of All Blisters," he tries to help her again — but the show ultimately leaves Paige's future up in the air.

"Young Sheldon" will come to an end with Season 7, and as one of the few close friends Sheldon has had in his childhood, it's important for Paige to return before the show's conclusion. The series' last few episodes will wrap up this period of the young genius' life before he moves to California, and Paige is an important part of that. "Young Sheldon" cannot leave her story unfinished.

Paige and Sheldon start off on equal trajectories, with both set to make great strides in the world of science. But, as Sheldon achieves academic success and reaches major life milestones, such as graduating from high school in Season 4 and then from East Texas Tech (which is expected to happen in Season 7), Paige's life heads in a very different direction.

Fans of the show see the character struggle with her parents' fraught relationship and eventual divorce even as she deals with the pressures of being a pre-teen in college. Not only does Paige drop out of school as a result, but she also starts partying and drinking heavily despite her young age. Her final appearance in Season 6, Episode 16 – "A Stolen Truck and Going on the Lam" ends with her and Missy (Raegan Revord) detained in the back of a squad car after running away together. At the end of the episode, Paige's mom, Linda (Andrea Anders), comes to get her daughter, and she hasn't been seen or heard from since.

The way Paige behaves in her later appearances on "Young Sheldon" is a huge departure from the character she was at the start of the show. Although she's not exactly regressing, she is struggling and no longer following the same path as Sheldon. But she's still his friend, and he's still hers, and she's had a big impact on his life. It doesn't seem right that Paige now seems forgotten and left behind while the show is providing satisfying conclusions for its other characters.

Leaving Paige in a poor place emotionally is bad enough, but "Young Sheldon" also needs to bring her back in Season 7 to tie up a major loose end. The show needs to explain why she is never once mentioned by Sheldon (Jim Parsons) in "The Big Bang Theory." With Paige on a very different life path from her friend right now, it is a sad possibility that the pair just naturally fall out of touch. But what happens between this series and "Big Bang Theory" is not clear from what we've seen so far.

Paige's absence in "TBBT" has fans questioning her future, with some even theorizing that she dies by suicide. If she continues to go down a dark path fueled by alcohol or even drugs, as we began to see, and her mental health continues to deteriorate, this, tragically, could come to pass. However, it's also completely possible that Paige will get her life back on track and end up with a prosperous career within the world of science or even another academic field.

There are a lot of ways Paige's story could go, but at the moment, there's absolutely no sign of a conclusion for her. What's more, the series has provided no explanation as to why she and Sheldon aren't in touch in "TBBT." As of right now, fans of "Young Sheldon" are left with nothing more than speculative theories about her future.

Despite there being nothing to indicate that Mckenna Grace will appear in the seventh season by way of an upcoming credit on her IMDb page or an official announcement from CBS, "Young Sheldon" star Raegan Revord has given fans hope. Revord posted behind-the-scenes photos on Instagram while filming Season 7, including one featuring Grace. It's not clear from the background whether the happy selfie of the co-stars was taken on the set of "Young Sheldon," but the picture was part of a carousel that included several photos that are from the set and featured other members of the cast and crew, including Iain Armitage and Montana Jordan.

Grace has been doing press for her movie "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" while "Young Sheldon" Season 7 has been shooting, but she isn't currently filming any other projects, which could mean she's free to make an appearance before the show wraps. It certainly would be a shame if the show's bosses chose not to bring Paige back to conclude her storyline, as "Young Sheldon" would be leaving a major aspect of Sheldon's childhood unresolved. It's also highly unlikely she'll return in the upcoming Georgie and Mandy (Montana Jordan and Emily Osment) series since Armitage and Revord won't appear in the "Young Sheldon" spin-off, so this really seems like it's the last chance to conclude Paige's story.

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