S04.E05: A Musty Crypt and a Stick to Pee On

[ams1001]

"Paladin" makes me think of that one scene in Stand By Me.

[Chit Chat]

7 hours ago, DanaK said:

I think a need a reminder why Mary is so religious while her own mother is decidedly not and neither is George (and certainly not Sheldon).

I've messed this up before, so if I'm remembering it incorrectly, someone please correct me!  Wasn't it because when she gave birth to Sheldon & Missy, there were complications and Missy's life was in danger?  I can't remember exactly how Mary's prayer went, but she devoted her life to God after that.  Again, help me out if I'm wrong! 

[possibilities]

I can't remember which kid it was, but I also remember that Mary was not very religious before, but when she was afraid one of her children was going to die, she promised that if God saved her baby, she would become a "good Christian" or something like that, and serve God in gratitude.

[EtheltoTillie]

I’m just glad I never had to play Dungeons and Dragons. It seems like torture. 

[ams1001]

2 hours ago, GussieK said:

I’m just glad I never had to play Dungeons and Dragons. It seems like torture. 

My friend (who plays with a couple different groups) asked once if I'd be interested. I was like, uh, no thanks. I like board games and stuff but D&D does not interest me in the least.

[Bort]

Taking the D&D tangent to small talk...

[Sarah 103]

On 12/19/2020 at 10:32 AM, Rebky said:

While I've heard of that show, I've never watched it in reruns.  Is Paladin a character in the show? (Please excuse my ignorance) 🙂

 

Yes. He is a hero for hire in the Old West (post Civil War America).

18 hours ago, ams1001 said:

"Paladin" makes me think of that one scene in Stand By Me.

That's because they were singing the lyrics to the show's theme song. http://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/havegunwilltravellyrics.html

17 hours ago, ChitChat said:

I've messed this up before, so if I'm remembering it incorrectly, someone please correct me!  Wasn't it because when she gave birth to Sheldon & Missy, there were complications and Missy's life was in danger?  I can't remember exactly how Mary's prayer went, but she devoted her life to God after that.  Again, help me out if I'm wrong! 

That is correct.

[theredhead77]

The few times they've shown Sheldon playing D&D he comes across as a really good DM. His attention to detail would have led to some amazing campaigns and the structure of the game doesn't really allow for him to question how things are playing out.

I took the rest of my off-topic D&D thoughts to small-talk.  I'm a member (or was) of a campaign that had more women then men and it was awesome.

[Sarah 103]

6 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

the structure of the game doesn't really allow for him to question how things are playing out.

Could you please explain this? I'm not familiar with D&D aside from what I've seen in Freaks and Geeks, Stranger Things, The Big Bang Theory, and Young Sheldon

[theredhead77]

7 minutes ago, Sarah 103 said:

Could you please explain this? I'm not familiar with D&D aside from what I've seen in Freaks and Geeks, Stranger Things, The Big Bang Theory, and Young Sheldon

It's discussed a bit more more in the Small Talk thread

[LisaM]

I hope that this is the end of Dale. Meemaw deserves better. 

Where is Veronica? I really hoped that she and Georgie would get together. 

Mary can definitely be overbearing but I felt she deserved better from George regarding the trip. He obviously did not want her to come - and then deliberately did not mention that she should bring a bathing suit - while packing one for himself. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

It seemed to me that George was choking up a bit after Mary told him that she appreciated what he did for the family.

[John Potts]

Sheldon wanting to be DM so he could indulge his God Complex certainly fits with his character (and is why I'd never want to be in any campaign he ever ran)!

While he might have (nearly) been a teen dad, George actually handled that pretty well. Sure, he could have handled the marriage conversation a little better, but he was pretty mature about the whole thing.

Shouldn’t Missy’s Ninja Turtle Princess of Power have given a High Four?

[proserpina65]

On 12/18/2020 at 12:10 PM, WinnieWinkle said:

Mary had valid concerns about moving that went beyond her job at the church but that episode didn't really go into that.

I didn't think her concerns were all that valid.  All of them could've been dealt with, and have been by families who've had to move.  She just didn't want to leave her comfort zone and manipulated the kids into backing her up.

On 12/19/2020 at 1:46 AM, Gimmick Genius said:

"What's a Paladin?" Oh, come on - Dale is old enough to remember Have Gun, Will Travel.

He might not have known exactly what the character's name referred to, though.

On 12/19/2020 at 10:36 AM, ChitChat said:

Maybe George didn't see any PDA with his parents (as was the case back in the day!), but that doesn't mean that he doesn't care about Mary.

There's an episode where George mentions coming from a bad family situation, so that's probably part of it.

[SusanM]

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

I didn't think her concerns were all that valid.  All of them could've been dealt with, and have been by families who've had to move.  She just didn't want to leave her comfort zone and manipulated the kids into backing her up.

I disagree with you on this.  Mary has as much right to want to stay with the life she is leading now as George does to want to make a change.  I felt that episode was straight out of the Men Should Run Things playbook and I resented it.  The only manipulating that happened as far as I'm concerned was on the part of the writers who tried to make us believe George would ever have been scouted by a university in the first place.

[Bort]

I don’t fault Mary her feelings, I fault her methodology. This is the type of thing she and George should sit down, talk about and reach a decision together. Instead, she did an end run around him and got the kids to do her dirty work.

[SusanM]

2 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

This is the type of thing she and George should sit down, talk about and reach a decision together.

Sadly, and inevitably I guess, they rarely show Mary or George prepared to sit down together and talk things through.  

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, SusannahM said:

Sadly, and inevitably I guess, they rarely show Mary or George prepared to sit down together and talk things through.  

Is "talking things through" something couples did in the 80s and 90s? 

About George having passed on the better job and now about to be fired:
There's no guarantee that his better coaching job wouldn't have come to an end in the same manner.
But if he'd taken the better job and it ended in similar disgrace, Mary would be more in the "I told you so" mood than the guilty mood
–—if indeed she feels guilty about the job choice bit.
From what we saw, she might just feel sorry for George and perhaps guilty for not being more supportive in general.

[Bort]

31 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Is "talking things through" something couples did in the 80s and 90s? 

No idea, my parents were divorced. As were all my friends’.

[shapeshifter]

On 2/4/2022 at 9:33 PM, kariyaki said:

No idea, my parents were divorced. As were all my friends’.

As were my kids' (meaning me and their Dad(s))
–—which is why I ask.
–—Sorry, kids. 😞

[proserpina65]

On 2/4/2022 at 1:43 PM, SusannahM said:

I disagree with you on this.  Mary has as much right to want to stay with the life she is leading now as George does to want to make a change.  I felt that episode was straight out of the Men Should Run Things playbook and I resented it.  The only manipulating that happened as far as I'm concerned was on the part of the writers who tried to make us believe George would ever have been scouted by a university in the first place.

We'll agree to disagree on this one because I found her using the kids (who honestly didn't care one way or the other) to be extremely manipulative.

[anna0852]

I absolutely contend that Mary handled the potential move very badly. Exactly what kind of life do we see her living in Medford that she wants to cling on to so badly? I'm sorry but her job at the church is easily found in other cities. She's not giving up a major career here. She doesn't seem to have a huge circle of friends. We don't see any sort of interests or hobbies outside the house beyond the church. Yes, her mother is across the street but that relationship is rather fraught. Connie and George do not get along. At All. And Connie doesn't hesitate to stir up trouble in the marriage when she can. Some distance could be a healthy thing.

Not to mention better financial security and access to the sort of educational facilities that Sheldon needs.

Even a willingness to discuss the move and signal her support for George's career would have gone a long way.

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, anna0852 said:

I absolutely contend that Mary handled the potential move very badly. Exactly what kind of life do we see her living in Medford that she wants to cling on to so badly? I'm sorry but her job at the church is easily found in other cities. She's not giving up a major career here. She doesn't seem to have a huge circle of friends. We don't see any sort of interests or hobbies outside the house beyond the church. Yes, her mother is across the street but that relationship is rather fraught. Connie and George do not get along. At All. And Connie doesn't hesitate to stir up trouble in the marriage when she can. Some distance could be a healthy thing.

Not to mention better financial security and access to the sort of educational facilities that Sheldon needs.

Even a willingness to discuss the move and signal her support for George's career would have gone a long way.

Plus, they could always have moved back to their small home town. The opportunity to move to the bigger city(?) for a job was pretty much once-in-a-lifetime.