Mary Cooper (Zoe Perry) could be getting her own cheating plotline before George Cooper Sr. (Lance Barber) does in Young Sheldon. Ever since it was revealed in The Big Bang Theory that Sheldon (Jim Parsons) caught his dad having a sexual relationship with another woman when he was 13 years old, fans have been curious about the whole incident. When Young Sheldon premiered in 2017, many presumed that CBS would take the opportunity to properly tackle the traumatizing experience for the socially inept genius.
For years, Young Sheldon danced around the aforementioned plotline. After all, it's arguably too dark and depressing for an otherwise lighthearted sitcom. The fact that George is nothing like he was described in The Big Bang Theory made addressing the narrative much trickier. However, eventually, the spin-off series would need to tackle this formative experience that understandably shaped who Sheldon would become in adulthood, causing him to adapt his signature knocking style. When Young Sheldon season 4 finale ended with an implication that Sheldon's dad would start cheating with Brenda Sparks (Melissa Peterman), fans expected them to begin a full-blown affair in season 5. However, aside from a few encounters, the pair hasn't technically done anything wrong — at least thus far.
This makes it all the more shocking when Young Sheldon season 5, episode 6 titled "Money Laundering and a Cascade of Hormones" seemingly sets up Mary having her own affair. After a brief conversation with Youth Pastor Rob (Dan Byrd) about how to handle the kids' increasing interest in romantic and sexual relationships during Sunday School, Mary suddenly starts crushing on him. At one point, she even dreamed of actually sleeping with her younger colleague. This confused and baffled her, but when they reunited at church the next day, it's confirmed that she's really quite attracted to him. Based on her behavior, this attraction seems unlikely to just fade away anytime soon. As seen towards the ending of the outing, Mary laid on her bed fully awake, still bothered by her growing feelings for Youth Pastor Rob. No one knows for sure if this will result in an illicit relationship, but the fact that Young Sheldon is willing to explicitly show Mary Cooper having sexual desires for another man is interesting. Especially since the show is trying too hard to justify George's cheating scandal.
For what it's worth, the only reason there's so much anticipation for the Cooper patriarch to be unfaithful was because of Sheldon's revealed backstory in The Big Bang Theory. Since then, not much else has been revealed about the incident. Young Sheldon has never given any indication that George had been attracted to other women. He also hasn't done anything on his own that implies his intention to be unfaithful. George's controversial night out with Brenda happened on the heels of a really bad fight with his wife. Yet, even so, he wasn't the one to suggest that they do something wrong. Rather, it was Brenda's idea. Mary, on the other hand, has these thoughts about actually cheating with Youth Pastor Rob. While she feels very guilty about having this attraction towards him, there's no denying that she's quite smitten. What makes this situation so much worse is the fact that Missy (Ragan Revord) is also harboring a secret crush on Youth Pastor Rob, as revealed by her dream of them getting married.
Whether or not Mary indulges her feelings towards Youth Pastor Rob is currently unknown. It's possible that this attraction ultimately fades away. Nonetheless, in the case that the Cooper matriarch does eventually have an affair, it'll be interesting to see how it will have an impact on Young Sheldon's depiction of George's much-anticipated extramarital affair.
