'Young Sheldon' Season 4: Who is Paige Swanson? Mckenna Grace's character is Shelly's brilliant rival prodigy
Spoilers for 'Young Sheldon' and 'The Big Bang Theory'
CBS' 'Young Sheldon' aired Season 4 Episode 4 'Bible Camp and a Chariot of Love' on December 3, 2020, and with that, we saw Sheldon Cooper forced to attend Bible Camp with his sister Missy Cooper (Raegan Revord), but he wasn't planning for any competition. In the episode, Sheldon was seen being mega competitive with frenemy Paige Swanson (Mckenna Grace) — his goal was to beat Paige in Bible trivia even though he believes there is no God.
Fans quite enjoyed the episode, but who is Paige Swanson? The 10-year-old genius was first seen in 'A Rival Prodigy and Sir Isaac Neutron' where Sheldon's jealousy of her was only fueled by how smart Paige is and how much Dr Sturgis (Wallace Shawn) praised her. She's then again seen in 'Carbon Dating and a Stuffed Raccoon' where she attends a lecture on carbon dating at a museum and meets Sheldon — both are bored of the lecture.
Here, Paige tells Sheldon that her parents are most likely going to divorce. In 'A Stunted Childhood and a Can of Fancy Mixed Nuts' Paige and her mother Linda meet Sheldon, his mother Mary (Zoe Perry) and Missy at a shoe store. While Missy and Paige end up having a sleepover, Paige tells Sheldon that his overly mature personality might result in him being weird as an adult — she wasn't wrong, 'The Big Bang Theory' fans know this.
In 'Body Glitter and a Mall Safety Kit', Linda and Barry, Paige's parents get a divorce which affects Paige who ends up giving up wearing dresses, changes her hairstyle with a pink streak in her hair and also has a stark change in attitude. She shoplifts, rebels and ends up with failing grades.
When she spends time with the Coopers, Sheldon learns how sad and broken she is due to her parents' divorce which ends up in him being more empathetic to her situation, and learning how to listen — of course, he offered Paige a "hot beverage".
Most recently, she was seen in 'Bible Camp and a Chariot of Love' where she ends up punching Sheldon in the eye after he agitates her by speaking of her parent's divorce when she wouldn't compete with him on bible trivia. Although secondary, Paige as a character has been sprinkled through 'Young Sheldon'. However, she is not in 'The Big Bang Theory'.
Mckenna Grace is a wonderful actress who adds a lot of flair to her character. Some fans even hoped that Sheldon Cooper would end up with her in the future. Alas, that didn't happen as 'The Big Bang Theory' fans know that he ended up marrying Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik).
The young actress won two Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards in 2017 for Breakthrough Performance and Best Performance by a Youth for 'Gifted' and HCA Award in 2020 for Next Generation of Hollywood. In 2017 she was also nominated for a Women Film Critics Circle Award for Best Young Actress, for an OFTA Film Award for Best Youth Performance and Critics Choice Award for Best Young Actor/Actress in 2018 — all for 'Gifted'.
'Young Sheldon' airs on Thursdays at 8 pm EST on CBS.
