Justice for Connie! Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re taking a closer look at the Cooper kids' beloved Meemaw.
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00:00I have lost my business, I have lost my home, I have lost my freedom.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're taking a closer look at the Cooper kids' beloved Meemaw.
00:10We'll be breaking down her story arc from the final season of Young Sheldon and rebuilding
00:15it in a way that we believe truly does her character justice.
00:19The tornado blew mine to smithereens, how about some do-gooder build me a home?
00:23Moving on.
00:26The Character You Know
00:28When we first met Connie Tucker in Young Sheldon,
00:30Big Bang fans were confused about how the character went from this
00:44to this.
00:58To be fair, considering she only appears in one Big Bang Theory episode,
01:02and most of what we know about her otherwise comes from Sheldon,
01:05there wasn't much time to really explore her character.
01:09Also, if the prequel taught us anything, it's that Sheldon's unique perspective
01:13of the world doesn't always align with reality.
01:16Anyway, the Connie Tucker we meet on Young Sheldon is feisty, vivacious,
01:21and refuses to be confined by what society expects from women her age.
01:26Plus, she has enough sass to power all of Medford, if not Texas.
01:30Don't get us wrong, she still bakes cookies for her grandkids as Sheldon mentioned as an adult.
01:36However, she's also out there dating, having fun, and building an independent life.
01:41Why do I come here?
01:42I gotta find a cooler chick to talk to.
01:46You know I'm right.
01:47I know no such thing.
01:48It's my life.
01:49I don't have to do anything because I'm supposed to.
01:51I do it because I want to.
01:53In fact, that's one of the things we loved most about her character.
01:56She wasn't just relegated to the supporting Meemaw role.
02:00She showed us that you can live your best life at any age.
02:03You're gonna love Ira.
02:04He's a great guy.
02:06Is he your boyfriend?
02:07Well, he's one of them, so let's not bring that up.
02:10But then the tornado hit, and things started to go downhill.
02:14Where it went wrong.
02:15Fortunately, after the tornado passed, everyone came out relatively unscathed.
02:20Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for Connie's house.
02:24While Dale reminds her to be grateful that no one was hurt,
02:27she suddenly realizes that buried in the rubble is a stash of
02:31cash she had hidden since a break-in at the gambling room.
02:35It's just stuff, right?
02:40And money.
02:44Oh, no.
02:45All my money.
02:46The season ends with her family and Pastor Jeff searching for her hidden money.
02:50Things don't get better in the Season 7 premiere, either.
02:54Connie finds out her insurance doesn't cover tornado damage.
02:58She's feeling pretty down about it all, and Dale isn't exactly being Mr. Sensitive,
03:03so she temporarily moves in with the Coopers.
03:05Do you think I'm stupid just because I didn't have tornado insurance?
03:11We are in Texas.
03:15I live here now.
03:17Speaking of Dale, he and Connie do make a fun, dynamic duo,
03:21but he's not always the most supportive partner.
03:24When Connie confesses she's embarrassed about not having the proper insurance,
03:28Dale responds in all the wrong ways.
03:31Look on the bright side.
03:32You're running a successful criminal enterprise,
03:35and boy, you know you're gonna have enough money to rebuild.
03:40Assuming you stay out of jail.
03:41This isn't surprising if you consider his track record.
03:44If Dr. John Sturgis had been around, we think he would have handled it differently.
03:49But more on that later.
03:50We're compatible.
03:52We enjoy each other's company.
03:54And we've become extremely proficient in the bedroom.
03:58There's very little wasted effort.
03:59While we can't make a sure connection here,
04:02it does seem that since Connie has to fund her house being rebuilt with no financial assistance,
04:07she starts making some riskier business decisions.
04:10What the hell?
04:12Where'd you get the table?
04:14I'm no a guy.
04:15Where'd you get him?
04:17He's the guy.
04:19Red 12.
04:22No winners.
04:23Oh, there's a winner.
04:25Given the tension of living with Dale, it makes sense she'd want out fast.
04:30Anyway, Connie ends up getting arrested.
04:32Not necessarily for her illegal roulette wheel,
04:35but because that shady cop who had been blackmailing her finally double-crossed her.
04:41My chariot awaits.
04:43Is Dale more supportive now?
04:45They have visiting hours that could come tomorrow morning.
04:49Not till 1.
04:50Oh, see.
04:51My game's on.
04:52Nope.
04:53After a week in jail, Connie gets put under house arrest because she tried to outrun the cops.
04:59So now her home is destroyed, she can't leave Dale's place,
05:02and if that wasn't enough, she loses her, Georgie, and Mandy's livelihoods too.
05:07So what are we gonna do for money?
05:09Yeah.
05:10That's an excellent question.
05:15How was Dollywood?
05:16Magical.
05:17What are we gonna do about money?
05:18Now with no home, no job, and not much freedom, Connie is pretty much sidelined,
05:24taking on a supporting role for the rest of her family when she's not doing community service.
05:29180 hours, Mary.
05:32Only 174 to go.
05:35You're enjoying this, aren't you?
05:37Aren't I?
05:38It feels like all these twists were just setting her up to be available when tragedy hits.
05:43After George passes away, Connie realizes that Mary is struggling to keep it together,
05:49so she steps in to help.
05:50Up until now, Connie hasn't really been a woman of faith,
05:54more like she just goes along with it to humor her daughter.
05:57But now she leans into it, maybe thinking it's the only thing keeping Mary going.
06:02Listen, I talked to your mom about this baptism thing.
06:05You got us out of it?
06:06No.
06:07You need to do it.
06:08But it's against my well-established atheism.
06:10It's not about you.
06:12Your mom needs this.
06:14Does she accidentally push Mary toward becoming the person we meet in the Big Bang Theory?
06:18Does she herself turn to faith, hoping for a change in luck?
06:22Whatever happens, it's definitely not the life that Connie we first met would have accepted
06:27or felt fulfilled in.
06:28My grandson has a question.
06:33Let her rip, kid.
06:35As we said earlier, TBBT fans couldn't help but notice the stark differences between the
06:41two shows' versions of Connie.
06:42So we have to wonder, did the writers hear our confusion and decide to write Connie in
06:47a way that moves her closer to that Big Bang Theory version?
06:50Constance, are you sure I can't pour you some wine?
06:53Oh, no wine for me.
06:55Sheldon's bringing me my whiskey.
06:58How do we fix it?
07:00Firstly, if the writers decided to rewrite Connie's character after the Big Bang Theory,
07:05it wouldn't be the only or even biggest retcon in the prequel.
07:09Also, we loved young Sheldon's meemaw.
07:12She's basically who we hoped to be when we grow up.
07:15Well, at least before Season 7 did her dirty.
07:18Stings, don't it?
07:20It do.
07:21We can't imagine Connie would just resign herself to fate so easily.
07:26When her house was destroyed by the tornado, she immediately jumped into action to raise
07:30the money to rebuild it.
07:32We're breaking in quarters.
07:34I got a house to rebuild.
07:35You wanna raise the price?
07:37Nope.
07:37I'm thinking bigger.
07:41Table games.
07:42Maybe a roulette wheel.
07:43That's the kind of energy the final season should have kept going.
07:47The writers let life knock Connie around, but honestly,
07:50earlier seasons Connie would never have put up with it.
07:53She's a Texan after all.
07:55But most of all, you are a Texan.
08:01So?
08:02So Texans aren't afraid of nothing.
08:06Season 7 should have been all about Connie's journey to get back on her feet.
08:11Maybe she and Georgie could have come up with a new business plan,
08:14something with fewer legal or ethical risks.
08:17Connie was too self-assured to let faith dictate her path.
08:20She would 100% be the one in the driver's seat.
08:24And seriously, what better time to brainstorm a new career path than when you're stuck at
08:28home on house arrest with nothing else to do?
08:31What about the laundromat?
08:32The video store?
08:33They shut everything down.
08:34Now, let's talk about her relationship with Dale.
08:37Sure, they're fun together and he matches her fiery spirit,
08:41but he's seriously lax in the support department.
08:54It's not that he doesn't care, he's just clueless.
08:58If Dr. Sturgess had still been in her life,
09:01he would have been the shoulder she could lean on while rebuilding.
09:04Don't get us wrong, Dale clearly cares about Connie,
09:07but Dr. Sturgess treated her like the queen she is.
09:11With his strong, positive support, we're sure Connie would have bounced back in no time.
09:16We're not saying she and Dale should break up or that she should go back to John,
09:20but the latter was severely underutilized this season.
09:24This would have been the perfect opportunity to see more of him.
09:27I could be enticed to stay.
09:32Meemaw, I do believe there were subtexts there.
09:34Did you pick up on it?
09:36Yeah.
09:37With Dale for the fun times and John as a sounding board,
09:40Connie would have had the perfect balance to handle
09:42both the emotional and practical sides of her journey.
09:46We was married to a wonderful woman, so that says a lot.
09:51You're pretty wonderful yourself.
09:56Even if we set aside all her bad luck,
09:58season 7 seemed to forget the Connie we'd come to love.
10:02The one who was an amazing Meemaw, but also her own person.
10:06How'd it go?
10:07She made the team.
10:09Congratulations!
10:11And Meemaw got to date the coach.
10:13What?
10:15It was a productive afternoon.
10:17We adored seeing an older woman on screen who was independent,
10:21had an active personal life, and was really enjoying her golden years.
10:25Of course, Meemaw would never abandon her family,
10:28especially when they needed her most,
10:30but season 7 could have focused more on her personal storyline
10:34away from her family and her legal troubles.
10:37This is the same Connie Tucker who taught a busload of seniors
10:40not to let age define their lives.
10:43I didn't think you'd kill me to lose my independence like that.
10:46Oh, it's not so bad.
10:47Sometimes Clayton takes us to the park.
10:50Like dogs.
10:51I got places to go.
10:53Bowling league, water aerobics, I drive my grandson to college.
10:56In season 7, she had plenty of times to explore that more for herself.
11:01House arrest doesn't last forever,
11:03so the final season could have shown her rediscovering who she is in this new phase.
11:08I can't leave the house?
11:09What the hell am I supposed to do all day?
11:12I am way ahead of you.
11:13See, I stopped and I picked up puzzles.
11:16Maybe she'd take Dale along for the ride,
11:18or maybe she'd go back to playing the field.
11:20What mattered most was that she was living her own life
11:24and continuing to thrive as the strong, independent woman we knew her to be.
11:28I was talking about us traveling together,
11:31and instead you went out and bought a yellow clown car.
11:34You're the one who told me to go out and have fun with my money.
11:37I meant something fun for us.
11:39Why us?
11:40It's my money.
11:41She could have spent time helping other older people
11:44remember who they were before life steered them off course.
11:47Maybe even building a thriving social circle of like-minded folks.
11:52Tell me, when was the last time you went and got all dolled up at a salon?
11:56I don't even remember.
11:58It's been years.
11:59Do I look like I go to a salon?
12:01We're going now.
12:02I'm gonna take you, and it's on me.
12:05Don't get us wrong,
12:06we wouldn't change how Connie supported her family through grief.
12:09That part was realistic.
12:11Grief can be isolating because it's such a personal experience,
12:15so Connie not always knowing how to help Mary made sense.
12:19Other than being there for them, what else can you do?
12:23I don't know.
12:24We have no doubt she wanted to help,
12:27even if her attempts didn't always land perfectly.
12:30But I'm watching my daughter fall apart right now.
12:36I'm just asking for 20 minutes of your time.
12:42Please.
12:44Forcing the kids to get baptized to help their mom's heartache?
12:48Well, what about theirs?
12:50They just lost their dad.
12:51Ultimately though, Connie got it right at the funeral,
12:55just being there for Mary when she needed her the most.
13:05Thank you, darling.
13:06Thank you, Jeff.
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13:24One thing's for sure,
13:25while this version of Connie seems almost unrecognizable
13:29compared to the one Amy first meets on The Big Bang Theory,
13:32we'd actually forgive the writers for ditching that version altogether
13:36instead of trying to force young Sheldon's meemaw to fit her.
13:39You think putting on this act is gonna get you a lighter sentence?
13:42Act?
13:44What act?
13:45But hey, with another spinoff in the works,
13:47this doesn't have to be the end of Connie's story.
13:50Annie Potts has returned as Connie
13:52for at least one episode of Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage,
13:55so there's still time to give her a happy new beginning.
13:58And I am on the set of Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage,
14:02and we are taping our first episode tonight.
14:06We want to hear that Connie has landed back on her feet stronger than ever.
14:10She's helped the family through their darkest moments,
14:12and now it's time for her to focus on her own life again.
14:16Oh, I should have brought more beer.
14:18I know that I'm not winning any popularity contest,
14:21but I'm gonna do whatever it takes to make sure that my kids are safe
14:24in this life and the next.
14:27Damn, I really thought I was gonna bring you around.
14:31Maybe that means restarting her secret gambling room,
14:34but with a few more precautions to keep greedy cops away.
14:37Or maybe she decides the thrill isn't worth the stress
14:40and opens a legitimate business instead.
14:43Perhaps she and Georgie even go into business together again.
14:47Or maybe she takes it as a sign that it's time to retire
14:50and fully embrace her golden years,
14:52maybe even traveling the world with Dale,
14:54or solo if that's what she wants.
14:56Well, we could put it together.
14:58We could travel.
14:59We could buy a vacation home.
15:02Well, I can't just up and leave.
15:03I mean, I got the gambling room.
15:05Georgie can take care of that.
15:06Besides, what's the use of having all that money and not enjoying it?
15:10If she'd been off traveling,
15:11that could explain why she didn't visit her moon pie more often in The Big Bang Theory.
15:15It would also explain why she's less present in her great-granddaughter's life,
15:19especially since Potts isn't slated as a series regular.
15:23Whatever path she chooses, the key is that she's in charge.
15:27You actually bought this thing?
15:29It's fine, huh?
15:30I feel like I'm riding in a banana.
15:32Oh, come on.
15:33It's a beautiful day.
15:34The top is down.
15:36Feel that wind.
15:37Mostly, we just want to see Connie living her best life and following what makes her happy.
15:42Whatever life throws at her and whoever comes in or out of it,
15:46Connie is at peace knowing she's making every moment count.
15:50And I'll tell you another thing.
15:51Your life's not over.
15:53You are writing a new chapter in the book of you.
15:57What tweaks would you have made to Connie's story?
16:00Let us know in the comments.
16:02A book where a perky heroine rises up...
16:09And what?
16:10I don't know.
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