How Lance Barber Feels About The Response To George Cooper's Return On Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage

Contains spoilers for Season 1, Episode 12 of "Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage" — "Typhoid Georgie"

There's nothing more shattering than the death of a parent, and on "Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage," Georgie Cooper Jr. (Montana Jordan) is still wrestling with the loss of his dad. In "Typhoid Georgie," those emotions bubble up to the surface; Georgie worries that he's a bad provider and father, and after ending up in bed with a cold, he dreams about having a heart-to-heart with his late dad (Lance Barber) in the Cooper family kitchen. One of the best things George Sr. did on "Young Sheldon" was dish out advice, and here, he's as good at it as ever. Unfortunately, Georgie must eventually wake up and once again face the reality of his dad's death.

An emotionally crushing scene, and one that certainly had a strong impact on the audience, George Sr.'s demise is one of the most devastating deaths in "The Big Bang Theory" history. While speaking with USA Today about his return to the Sheldonverse, Barber reflected on how crew members responded to experiencing George's return, a reaction that made him appreciate the impact his character left. "Some of the people watching the scenes were visually emotional seeing me on that kitchen set," he said. "This is a beloved character. It was fun to feel those feels and be so appreciated, even in the sadness."

It turns out it was a difficult task to recreate the familiar kitchen, as many of "Young Sheldon's" various set decorations had been snatched up by cast and crew when it was taken down after the show wrapped shooting. Barber itemized some objects that are missing for fans who might want to have a bit of a scavenger hunt during the episode. "This little hobo figurine didn't make it back, along with some refrigerator magnets that had been there for years. [They] were probably pillaged by cast and crew and are sitting in someone's living room." Hopefully the show's set designers have the floor plans saved for their next flashback, hallucination, or dream.

George Sr. was killed off during the second-to-last episode of "Young Sheldon" in a devastating scene that had fans talking, so why bring him back so soon — especially when his passing resulted in one of the show's saddest episodes ever? Executive producer Steve Holland says the notion came from series creator Chuck Lorre, who was inspired by dream visitations he experiences regularly with his own father.

"[The idea] came out of a conversation we'd had with Chuck, even early on, talking about the show. Chuck had said about his own father that he still dreams about him, he still visits him, so that was a thing we had thought about," Steve Holland explained to TVLine. "And then when we were breaking this episode, it just seemed like a great opportunity to bring George back." Audiences got to see how it all worked out when Georgie's cold resulted in the emotional reunion with his own dearly departed dad.