Two years after the finale aired, Young Sheldon still looms large in the wider Big Bang Theory universe. Its spin-off, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, is still going strong in its third season, returning as television’s highest-rated comedy during CBS’ premiere week and still featuring many of the Cooper family members viewers grew to love over seven seasons. However, Sheldon Cooper (Iain Armitage) himself has been left in the past/future following a two-part final story that sent him off to Caltech and linked the prequel up with the mothership series. Most notably, it welcomed Jim Parsons back as the modern version of Sheldon alongside his wife, Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik), who now have two children.

While seeing Parsons again was a full-circle moment for the series and a “gift” for the actor, it was also a reminder of the very different tone of the two shows. The version of Sheldon viewers came to know in The Big Bang Theory was often immature, growing in some key ways throughout the sitcom but keeping a lot of his more frustrating qualities even after forming a relationship with Amy. It stood in contrast to Young Sheldon‘s exploration of the genius at a young age as he evolved with guidance from the people who loved him. As shown with Georgie & Mandy, the rest of the spin-off’s cast became worth following as well, turning the Sheldon-centric show into a portrait of the entire family. One person who was particularly put off by the moment was the series’ “Meemaw,” Annie Potts.

In the recently released tell-all book, Young Sheldon: The (Juicier-Than-Meemaw’s-Brisket) Inside Story of the Hit Comedy, author Jessica Radloff spoke to Potts about the finale and her thoughts on the series overall, and she didn’t mince words when it came to Parsons and Bialik’s cameo. She was beyond frustrated that, as the show flashed back to Sheldon penning his memoir, he was still the same as he appeared in The Big Bang Theory. In her eyes, it felt as if the growth he experienced and the overall efforts of the show were swept under the rug in favor of bringing back the characters everyone knew.

“That broke my heart. It was like, ‘Really? Still no responsibility?’ It was just selfishness. It’s just not how I wish to see Sheldon off into the world. … I thought the show could have ended [with young Sheldon] and not to the dreaded scene with Jim and Mayim as Sheldon and Amy revealing he was unchanged and unrepentant. That gave me a stomachache. It was like, ‘Who crashed our party?! Who invited you?’”