Young Sheldon season 7 episode 1 recap: A full Cooper house

We've reached the bittersweet time Young Sheldon fans! We've been eagerly awaiting the seventh and final season, but that also means we're close to the finish line with the comedy-drama. The Coopers have been a part of our lives since 2017, and we've literally watched the young actors and characters grow up on The Big Bang Theory prequel. Alright, let's get into our recap before I start crying!

Young Sheldon season 7 episode 1, "Half a Weiner Schnitzel and Underwear in a Tree," picks up right where we left off in the season 6 finale. News of the tornado that hit Medford, Texas finally reaches Sheldon and Mary, the Cooper home certainly becomes a full house, and Meemaw is dealing with the aftermath of her home being destroyed. One very fun surprise was a new intro! And it features Mandy and baby CeeCee.

Willkommen in Deutschland!

Welcome to Germany! We get our first look into Sheldon and Mary's summer stay in the European country. George is finally able to get a hold of Mary, remember this is a time without cellphones, and tell her the news of what happened back at home. Of course she's worried and George not even knowing they have a linen closet makes Mary want to go back and help take care of things.

At first, Mandy and CeeCee move in with the Coopers and Connie goes to stay with Dale. But then she also ends up at the Cooper home, but more on that below. Sheldon is not happy with the news of going back home, they just got to Germany and his class starts the next day. In a rare moment of not listening to his mom, Sheldon hilariously is passive resistant and refuses to go back home. Mary's main concern is her mother, and Sheldon asks if she even wants them there.

Mom and son go back and forth before Sheldon suggests they call Connie and ask. In Meemaw fashion, she tells her daughter “there’s too many people here already, you’d just be in the way.” Eventually she concedes, and she and Sheldon will stay. But Mary finds herself at a bar and hilariously walks up to Sheldon's lunch table with his fellow students drunk. Of course, sweet innoccent Sheldon just thinks his mom is jet-lagged.

Connie deals with losing her home

At first, Connie decides to stay with Dale which makes sense because the Cooper home already has enough people. She speaks with her insurance company, and it turns out poor Connie doesn't have insurance that covers tornadoes. When he teases her about not having coverage, she gets mad and decides to stay with George and her grandchildren. Later on, Dale comes to the house to apologize but Connie says she was just more embarrassed of herself for not thinking to get the proper coverage.

It's an emotional moment when she says that she's upset because now she's not living with Mandy and her great-granddaughter anymore. The two characters have formed a truly close relationship, and it's sweet that is one of the main things, other than losing everything of course, upsetting Meemaw. Dale continues to put his foot in his mouth when he says, “look on the bright side you’re running a successful criminal enterprise and before you know it you’ll have enough money to rebuild. Assuming you stay out of jail." Oh, Dale. Connie just says nothing and walks away, and I would have done the same.

A full Cooper house

I think the best character and part about this whole episode is Missy. She truly shined and made me laugh so many times. She channels her inner Mary and takes charge of it all. Missy gets everyone's breakfast and lunches ready, and truly acts like the matriarch of the home. When Meemaw decides to stay in the Cooper house, she divides up who's sleeping where - Missy stays in her room, Georgie and Mandy take Sheldon's room, Meemaw is in George and Mary's space, and George gets the garage.

My favorite moment was Missy talking to her grandmother and Dale at the dinner table.

Missy: "Oh, I didn’t realize your boyfriend was staying for dinner."

Connie: "Is that a problem?"

Missy: "No, it just would have been nice if someone told me."

Dale: "I’m sorry."

I mean, absolutely hilarious! After the frightening experience they all just went through, Missy also has the family say grace before starting their meal. Earlier in the episode, Dale was also taking advice from Missy and she tried her hand at black coffee. Even her outfits are more mature.

With power being down in half the town and people needing to feel alive or something I guess, Connie and Georgie's laundromat and gabling room are on fire! They're bringing in a lot of patrons, so at least that's going well. While there, Georgie tells Mandy that her mother stopped by and offered for them to stay with them instead. Mandy is very adamant about not staying with her parents, knowing how controlling her mom is. It will be interesting to see how their relationship will look like this season.

And speaking of the gambling room, Pastor Jeff's wife Robin finds $1,230 which is probably some of Connie's money that's been flying around after her house went down. The pastor says they have to return it, but Robin rationalizes keeping the cash as Connie got it from running an illeagal gambling establishment. She uses the money to buy a 27-inch TV, which was a big deal back then. But Pastor Jeff feels guilty. Without explanation, he shows up at the Cooper home and gives George the television: “I can’t have this on my conscience. I don’t want to go to Hell."

We end the episode on a funny note, with Missy being awesome once again. As the family is all sitting in the family room with the new TV, Missy turns to Dale and asks, “are you going to stay the night? Because we’re going to need to lay a few ground rules." Love it!

Next week on Young Sheldon

Young Sheldon season 7 episode 2, "A Roulette Wheel and a Piano Playing Dog," sees Sheldon struggling in class for once (other than that engineering one!), per the synopsis. He's the weakest student in his class, which I'm sure will not be fun for the young genius.

At home, Meemaw is thinking about expanding her gambling business. And based on the promotional images, it looks like Mandy's father will also be paying the Cooper home a visit. The second episode of the season airs Thursday, Feb. 22, 20224 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. The episode will also be available to stream on Paramount+. Check out the promo below!

Stay tuned to Hidden Remote as we bring you weekly recaps of Young Sheldon season 7!