S04.E02: A Docent, A Little Lady and a Bouncer Named Dalton

[Bort]

Quote

Sheldon gets a summer job at the local train museum. George and Missy bond when Missy embarks on a new stage of womanhood. Georgie discovers Mary's guilty pleasure.

Airdate: 12 November 2020

Please, no discussing spoilers from The Big Bang Theory that have not “happened” yet. 

[ams1001]

I've never even seen Road House! (I was only 13 when it came out...) Loved Mary and Georgie bonding over violent movies.

Frankly, Sheldon lasted longer at the museum than I expected... Meemaw should have known better than to think she could bore him with details about yarn.

"Oh, and there's a very helpful cashier you need to hug."

"It's got that guy who looks Georgie in it!" 😂

[Spartan Girl]

Mary’s guilty pleasure is action movies like Road House?! Well even the most devout Christian woman can’t resist Swayze...at least until George pointed out how much he looks like Georgie 😂😂😂😂

I love George and Missy episodes. I know the “father doesn’t know how to tell with daughter’s first period” is done to death but this one worked. Namely because the nice cashier lady immediately figured out what was going on and was happy to help out.

Sheldon really should’ve heeded everyone’s advice that no one likes a know-it-all. Still it’s hard not to be impressed by how much he knows about trains and his ability to keep up with Connie trying to lecture him about yarn.

Edited November 13, 2020 by Spartan Girl

[Bort]

Well, George ruined Roadhouse forever for Mary.

[SoMuchTV]

All I can say is “awww”. Except a kinda weird turn at the very end. 

[Browncoat]

Aww, Missy.  Glad they didn't turn it into a Very Special Episode, like when Rudy got her period on The Cosby Show.  But ugh, white pants!  

Did Sheldon make it until lunchtime as a docent?  Just his bell-ringing would have driven me to distraction.  It was a nice bell, and it had a nice sound -- once or twice, but not all morning!

 

[Medicine Crow]

Mary & I have something in common ... I think I've seen Roadhouse at least five times!!  Patrick Swayze & Sam Elliott = Bliss!!!

[jewel21]

I missed the beginning because the Canadian station that took over the CBS feed didn't get lost when Young Sheldon came on and so the first bit was some game show that ended up recording. Can someone tell me what happened? The episode only started for me after the first commercial break. Thanks. 

[tennisgurl]

There is nothing wrong with a good Christian woman loving the best ever movie about a philosophical Tai-Chi practicing frequently shirtless superstar club bouncer who has to clean up a town and save it from some evil land developer and there is also a taxidermy bear involved. I saw Roadhouse at a late night movie showing a few years ago, and it was a wild night. 

The plot with George and Missy was really sweet, I am glad that it didnt go too far into After School Special territory or make things too over the top. It was awkward, but George actually handled things pretty well, especially with help from Gretchen, who is the true hero of the episode. It was just a nice sweet story, and I really hope that Gretchen got that hug. 

Sheldon's knowledge of trains really is impressive, but you could tell right away that this was going to go badly. People don't really go to museums, especially little specialized ones, to just have facts shouted at them. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

I'm surprised the docent didn't already know Sheldon.  You'd think he'd go there frequently.

[chocolatine]

I loved Sheldon bravely telling Mary that she should leave the crust on his sandwich because he's a docent now.

[Mellowyellow]

This show continues to be such a bright spot for me.

Loved the Mary and Georgie storyline this week, especially them sitting there having lunch together. Georgie has really grown up and it's sweet to see him bonding with his mum like a friend.

George was all kinds of adorable in the truck with Missy. I loved all the faces he pulled. They did that storyline really well. The only thing that killed me was Missy's white pants. They didn't play any role in the story but they were kind of there, being very threatening in the background.

That ending with Patrick Swayze's face merging into Georgie's 🤣😆😂

Edited November 13, 2020 by Mellowyellow

[Ms Lark]

Good episode, especially Missy and Dad's adventure, and Mom and Georgie bonding over Road House.

Which reminds me of MST3K's all time best holiday song: "Let's Have a Patrick Swayze Christmas" based on Road House. So, Mary shouldn't feel bad at all, since it's religious!

 

[Quark]

Another great episode. There is so much warmth in this show, I love it!

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

George was all kinds of adorable in the truck with Missy. I loved all the faces he pulled. They did that storyline really well. The only thing that killed me was Missy's white pants. They didn't play any role in the story but they were kind of there, being very threatening in the background.

I managed to miss noticing Missy’s white pants because I was dwelling on the unlikeliness of a middle school athlete starting menstruation as young as eleven, but I suppose baseball isn’t like training for track or football? And I suppose they’re almost twelve. 

Edited November 13, 2020 by shapeshifter

[anna0852]

Plenty of girls start their periods at 11. It's not an uncommon age at all.  And the fact that she plays sports won't have any impact on it. We're not talking about Olympic gymnast level training here.

Edited November 13, 2020 by anna0852

[hoodooznoodooz]

The expression on Sheldon’s face when he said, paraphrasing, “I could just listen to this all day,” while ringing that bell, was pretty darned funny.

[Chit Chat]

9 hours ago, jewel21 said:

I missed the beginning because the Canadian station that took over the CBS feed didn't get lost when Young Sheldon came on and so the first bit was some game show that ended up recording. Can someone tell me what happened?

Here 'ya go!  The show opens with a countdown (Sheldon narrating) 'Sheldon Cooper's Top 5 Sources of Information.'

#5. Star Trek fan club magazine.  Sheldon is reading the magazine while Mary is cooking.  He proceeds to tell her a "fun fact" from said magazine.   #4.  The Weather Cube from Radio Shack.  Again, he spouts off a fun fact to Mary.  #3.  The MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour.   #2.  MeeMaw after a few beers.  He & MeeMaw are at her house on the patio, her with her feet up on the table.  She then tells Sheldon that her bowling team decided on a name -  the "Ball Busters."  Then we see Sheldon walking into his house yelling out for his Mom to tell her the news.     

#1.  The bulletin board at the train store. Sheldon says "News about trains in a store full of trains.  Yummy!"   That's where he sees the notice of a job opening for a Docent.  On the ride home from the train store Sheldon is giving Mary reasons why he should apply for the job.  He said "I have the unique ability to wear people down until I get my way."  Mary mumbles under her breath "that's very true."  They go home and Sheldon calls the train store and spouts all kinds of fun facts about trains.  Then he said "in a short 47 minutes, I was hired."  (or something to that effect.) Then it went to commercial.

Hope that helps!  I always keep the show on the DVR for a few days so I can re-watch it. 

51 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I managed to miss noticing Missy’s white pants because I was dwelling on the unlikeliness of a middle school athlete starting menstruation as young as eleven, but I suppose baseball isn’t like training for track or football? And I suppose they’re almost twelve

Talking to other Moms over the years, they've said that it seems that girls are starting their periods at much younger ages.  It seems to be the norm these days.  And kudos to Raegan Revord for how she handled this episode.  Put yourself back to her age and think about working on a TV show and they ask you to do an episode revolving around your character getting her period.  That's a tall order!  I liked how they had Missy act like it's no big deal (even though it can be very emotional if you're not home when it happens that first time.)  That means Mary probably had her prepared so that she wouldn't be too rattled about it.  It was a good episode!

Edited November 13, 2020 by ChitChat

[ItCouldBeWorse]

16 hours ago, Browncoat said:

But ugh, white pants!  

 

8 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

The only thing that killed me was Missy's white pants. They didn't play any role in the story but they were kind of there, being very threatening in the background.

It was very fortunate that she insisted that George stop at a bathroom in time for her to avert a disaster.  And that bathroom must have been well-stocked with toilet paper.

Edited November 13, 2020 by ItCouldBeWorse

[mammaM]

My tablet's acting up, so I can't show you, but a shout out to everyone who's mentioned girls getting their periods earlier. I'm old, so with me we're talking mid 70's, 11 was a little young but not unusual. Now a days girls are starting as young as 9 (poor babies). Doctors are torn between "we're feeding children better so they're growing faster" and "we're ingesting too many chemicals".

PS: those white pants scared the hell out of me all episode. I kept thinking oh no please don't go THERE!

[ams1001]

2 hours ago, ChitChat said:

Here 'ya go!  The show opens with a countdown (Sheldon narrating) 'Sheldon Cooper's Top 5 Sources of Information.'

Thank you! I turned it on just slightly late and came in at "Meemaw after a few beers" so I wasn't sure what the opening was all about. (Also now I get his later MacNeil/Lehrer comment.)

1 hour ago, mammaM said:

Doctors are torn between "we're feeding children better so they're growing faster" and "we're ingesting too many chemicals".

I think another hypothesis is also potentially that kids are, on average, heavier these days, and body fat can affect hormone levels. (I'm at work so I won't be googling that right now.) Though clearly that's not an issue with Missy.

[Bobbin]

Until that last scene, I was thinking how much Montana looks more and more like adult Jerry O'Connell. Good casting in either case. And how Raegan is growing from cute little girl into beautiful young woman. My thought with those white pants, besides how are they still spotless, was no, the show wouldn't go there, it's just a Hitchcockian McGuffin. I wondered why George didn't just ask Gretchen for help, but of course, men never ask for directions!

LOL. Sheldon, with his eidetic memory and no filter and no governor, is both a bottomless well and a fountain of knowledge, a black hole devouring every factoid in reach -- and spewing it back out. Meemaw didn't stand a chance. Sheldon does ring a mean bell. Kudos to his boss for having saintly patience, while it lasted.

Mary and Georgie bonding over action movies was sweet. I hope Mary at least watches "Die Hard" with George some day. They need that.

I love this family.

[ams1001]

13 minutes ago, Bobbin said:

Until that last scene, I was thinking how much Montana looks more and more like adult Jerry O'Connell. Good casting in either case.

I remember in the first season we were talking about how much he looks like a young Patrick Swayze, but Jerry O'Connell is a good match, too (don't remember if that was before or after he had appeared on BBT as adult Georgie). (And he seems to be a better personality match, I think. I don't picture Georgie growing up to be a serious-brooding Patrick Swayze character.) Funny to think how much different JO looked when he was a kid. I always picture him in Stand by Me.

[Gulftastic]

44 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

I remember in the first season we were talking about how much he looks like a young Patrick Swayze, but Jerry O'Connell is a good match, too (don't remember if that was before or after he had appeared on BBT as adult Georgie). 

We saw the younger Georgie first, thank god.

His portrayal in the parent series was definitely influenced by the spin off. I think if we hadn't had young Georgie first, the older one would have been a lot worse. He'd have been a lot more like the various descriptions Sheldon gave of him over the years.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Bobbin said:

Until that last scene, I was thinking how much Montana looks more and more like adult Jerry O'Connell. Good casting in either case.

Yes and yes. Exactly what I was thinking.

1 hour ago, ams1001 said:

I remember in the first season we were talking about how much he looks like a young Patrick Swayze

I guess the writers either thought that too or they read your posts. 🧐

[Chit Chat]

2 hours ago, Bobbin said:

Kudos to his boss for having saintly patience, while it lasted.

Sheldon:  He took away my 'Ask Me' button without even asking me!!  Poor Sheldon, he never gets the hang of not lording his "fun facts" over everybody else! 

[SmithW6079]

There were several laugh-out-loud moments for me in this episode. Georgie yelling, "Mary Cooper!" and her reaction will never not be funny, and their bonding over the movie was sweet. I wish they would show the human side of Mary more often. I thought she was going to sneak over to the neighbors for smokes and wine coolers, but getting caught with the "forbidden" movie was amusing.

George and Missy continue to be gold. She looks like a teenager compared to Sheldon now. While I would hope Mary had the talk with her, I kind of can't see Mary doing that. And this is Texas in the 1990s, so would sex education and health and puberty even be on the curriculum? Even if it is a trope, watching George try to navigate Missy's "becoming a woman" was hilarious, and I loved his scene with the sympathetic drugstore cashier.

The Connie/Sheldon interaction we all saw coming a mile away. Has she ever met her grandson before? She's usually smarter than that. (And, like Sheldon, I kind of found her talk of the different types of yarn and knitting to be interesting. It's a subject I know nothing about, so I'm always up to learn something new.)

[HurricaneVal]

Oh my!  I got the Georgie / Patrick Swayze scene I always wanted, but never thought I'd get.  Then I got it, and it was better than I thought it could be.  I thought when we first saw Mary gleefully run and jam the video into the VCR after she was finally alone and saw that it was Road House, I thought we'd see her gradually see Georgie in the character, and then see his face superimposed on Swayze's body that she was lusting after, then see her freak out.  But Georgie catching her doing something "forbidden" then eventually bonding through their afternoon and then watching the movie with George then George making the obvious connection and the sudden shock was even better!  I like it when Mary is less of a cartoon and more of a real person. 

George continues to be my favorite. His character continues to be so very different than the one-dimensional person we all assumed he'd be, based on what little we knew from the original show.  To be fair, he also started out as that one-dimensional person, but the writers have been slowly flipping the script on that, to where George is becoming warmer and expansive, and Mary is getting colder and narrower.  This is some three dimensional chess here, and not usually something you see in a sitcom.

I know that white pants are the usual baseball uniform, but I spent a lot of the episode just poised in horrific anticipation.  Way to ratchet up the suspense in half the audience!

[bybrandy]

9 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

They didn't play any role in the story but they were kind of there, being very threatening in the background.

I had so much anxiety about the white pants!

[Bort]

1 hour ago, SmithW6079 said:

And this is Texas in the 1990s, so would sex education and health and puberty even be on the curriculum?

Yes. It's much more likely that they DON'T do it anymore, if anything. But I was in school in the 80s/90s and we got the sex/period lectures somewhere around the 5th or 6th grade.

[Katy M]

18 hours ago, Browncoat said:

 But ugh, white pants!  

That's what I was thinking.  It seemed like quite a while between the thing that happens when a girl becomes a young lady happened until they got her products.  She's lucky she didn't have cramps.  That would have killed her game.

I loved the trick that MeeMaw tried with the yarn.  Of course that wouldn't work.  Sheldon loves facts about everything.  

And, yeah, I found the ending a little disturbing.

[Chit Chat]

1 hour ago, SmithW6079 said:

While I would hope Mary had the talk with her, I kind of can't see Mary doing that.

I'm going on the assumption that Mary talked to her about it.  She was pretty calm about the whole thing.  Of course, Missy is pretty street-smart, so she may have been talking about it with her friends.  

15 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

But I was in school in the 80s/90s and we got the sex/period lectures somewhere around the 5th or 6th grade.

We had the lecture about our periods (early 70's) in 5th or 6th grade too,  but I was so naïve about everything that I really didn't know what the heck they were talking about!  In my defense, they were rather vague about it.  Reminds me of the game Pictionary and we were supposed to figure it out from the drawings!  I can still remember the drawing of the uterus, and it made no sense to me!    Everything along those lines was rather hush-hush back then and I think the teachers were too embarrassed to talk about it too.    

[Guest]

4 hours ago, bybrandy said:

I had so much anxiety about the white pants!

Me, too. This actually happened to someone I know at a softball tournament. To make it worse she was the catcher. That was a awkward conversation with her pitcher. 

Edited November 14, 2020 by Guest

[Driad]

Surprised that Sheldon was not already well known at the railroad museum. They could have added a line "It's under new management, I can go back now!"

Besides worrying about Missy's white pants, I wondered why she didn't bring another outfit. With a 3 hour round trip, plus the game and maybe a get-together afterward, there was a possibility that he clothes would get torn or spilled on.  

Were the feminine hygiene product packages fairly authentic for 1990ish?  I didn't get a good look.

Enjoyed Connie's knitting lecture. Some time when she's not driving, she might teach him to knit. Hasn't knitting been used to send secret messages?

[Bort]

2 minutes ago, Driad said:

Were the feminine hygiene product packages fairly authentic for 1990ish?  I didn't get a good look.

They weren’t anything that was a real product so there’s not really a way to verify it.

[3 is enough]

Feeling a bit nerdy here, but I looked up Sheldon and Missy’s birthday, and apparently it is February 26, 1980.  Since the episode takes place in the summer Missy would be close to 11 1/2.  That seems like perfectly normal age to me.

Edited November 14, 2020 by 3 is enough

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Driad said:

Were the feminine hygiene product packages fairly authentic for 1990ish?  I didn't get a good look.

They were. 

6 hours ago, kariyaki said:

They weren’t anything that was a real product so there’s not really a way to verify it.

All the products were real. It was an assortment of Always, Kotex, Stayfree and Carefree pantyliners. 

Edited November 14, 2020 by Guest

[Bort]

Just now, Dani said:

All the projects were real. It was an assortment of Always, Kotex, Stayfree and Carefree pantyliners. 

Oh? Guess I didn’t pay as much attention as I thought.

Re: graduations... As a Texas child, we had zero graduation ceremonies until the final high school one. No pre-k, no kindergarten, no elementary, no junior high. Just high school.

[ams1001]

2 hours ago, Driad said:

Surprised that Sheldon was not already well known at the railroad museum. They could have added a line "It's under new management, I can go back now!"

I feel like the prior owner would have warned the new owner...

39 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

Re: graduations... As a Texas child, we had zero graduation ceremonies until the final high school one. No pre-k, no kindergarten, no elementary, no junior high. Just high school.

We did middle school (8th grade graduation practice was when I came to hate Pomp & Circumstance; still do). Might have done preschool, I don't remember, but that's usually just a cute thing for the parents. When I was in high school I took a class that ran a preschool program (I was also in that program when I was 4 🙂) and we did a little graduation ceremony for them in the auditorium. Only their parents and maybe a few siblings were in attendance.

When I was in college I babysat for a family whose kids went to my elementary school and I learned that first graders get yearbooks now... 🙄

[Driad]

3 hours ago, ams1001 said:

I feel like the prior owner would have warned the new owner...

If the railroad museum had changed hands, and the prior owner liked the new owner, they would probably include a photo of Sheldon just in case.

[Callietwo]

15 hours ago, anna0852 said:

Plenty of girls start their periods at 11. It's not an uncommon age at all.  And the fact that she plays sports won't have any impact on it. We're not talking about Olympic gymnast level training here.

My sister & I were 8 years old (called precocious puberty) but 11 is pretty normal.

I couldn't believe the white pants didn't play a role at all in the show.  I thought for sure when she was pitching, she was going to turn around and we'd see the tell tale signs and was horrified at the idea they would do that.  I was relieved it was a non-issue, even considering how much time elapsed between that 1st bathroom stop & her getting the supplies and heading into the bathroom.

 

Edited November 14, 2020 by Callietwo

[ProudMary]

Georgie never did answer Mary's question about why he wasn't at work.  Makes me wonder if something's up with Dale that we may find out next episode.

[Yeah No]

3 hours ago, Callietwo said:

I couldn't believe the white pants didn't play a role at all in the show.  I thought for sure when she was pitching, she was going to turn around and we'd see the tell tale signs and was horrified at the idea they would do that.  I was relieved it was a non-issue, even considering how much time elapsed between that 1st bathroom stop & her getting the supplies and heading into the bathroom.

I couldn't believe it either because I lived that very scenario on May 10, 1971, the first day I ever got my period.

I was 12 years old and went to school that morning wearing, yes, WHITE PANTS.  Of course I they were brand new, why wouldn't they be, LOL?  And of course I had a test that day.  Despite stuffing my pants with toilet paper after discovering it on a trip to the girl's room, and then being given a huge torpedo sized Tampax by a sympathetic student, a red stain appeared.  I was in tears.  Girlfriends suggested I go home, but I reminded them that I had a test and couldn't miss it.  Someone lent me their hoodie, which I wore tied around my waist for the rest of the day.   My mother, bless her heart, managed to get most of the stain out.

So I was kind of thinking the white pants meant it would figure into the episode somehow.  I could see Missy getting a stain and having to wear a hoodie but still pitching a winning game.  That would have been kind of cool, and even closer to my own life.

I love this show!

[possibilities]

Those white pants will haunt my dreams. It's like they wanted to tortue all the women watching!

[shapeshifter]

Did the White Pants = Not A Red Herring?

[nora1992]

Re the white pants: Now I’m wondering about the ratio of males to females on the writing staff.

Edited November 14, 2020 by nora1992
Missing quote

[shapeshifter]

42 minutes ago, nora1992 said:

Re the white pants: Now I’m wondering about the ratio of males to females on the writing staff.

Oooo! Great question! 
IMDb shows 2 male and 1 female writers for the episode (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13402862/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast).

Or not? 
Maybe someone in wardrobe made the White Pants choice, and the director either didn’t notice or decided to just go with it. 
If so, maybe Raegan Revord was in on it. 😉

IMDb shows Linda Bass as Costume Designer and Alex Reid (referred to as “He”) as director. 

[Katy M]

53 minutes ago, nora1992 said:

Re the white pants: Now I’m wondering about the ratio of males to females on the writing staff.

If the uniform has been red shirt, white pants all along they couldn't change it just for this episode.

[Browncoat]

19 minutes ago, Katy M said:

If the uniform has been red shirt, white pants all along they couldn't change it just for this episode.

Yeah, sometimes you've just gotta go with the white pants.  But I would have worried about it the whole time, and probably not have pitched quite as well as usual.  Assuming I could pitch, of course.

[Chit Chat]

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

If the uniform has been red shirt, white pants all along they couldn't change it just for this episode.

It seems like a lot of teams go with white or gray pants, and a colored shirt.  Not that there aren't darker pants, but I've mostly seen the lighter pants with the colored shirt.  I don't think most schools could afford more than one uniform per player, so most teams didn't have multiple color options to switch in and out with.  My son played baseball one year in high school and the parents bought the uniforms. They had gray pants and a purple shirt.  

My DVR cut off at the very end.  I got to the part where George told Mary that Georgie looked liked Swayze, then she said to just watch McGuyver.  Was that the gist of it or did I miss anything else?