S05.E15: A Lobster, an Armadillo and a Way Bigger Number

[DanaK]

Quote

Sheldon joins Dr. Linkletter (Ed Begley, Jr.) and Dr. Sturgis (Wallace Shawn) on a science road trip. Also, Georgie continues to lie about his age, on the CBS Original series YOUNG SHELDON, Thursday, March 3 (8:00-8:31 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+

 

[Browncoat]

Awww, I'm sad that Missy won't go to Red Lobster with her dad any more.

[SoMuchTV]

Yay for Sheldon, the true Texan!

[ams1001]

-Isn't there a rule against minors traveling?
-No,
-Can there be?

OMG, I remember TripTik! 

Poor Dr. Linkletter...

"It's Texas...it goes straight like this for the rest of our lives." Hard to fathom, being from a state I can drive top to bottom in a few hours.

Little Missy at Red Lobster! She's looking so grown up now. George was sweet to take her there, even if she's being a petulant teenager.

Sheldon standing up for Dr. Sturgis was great.

Poor armadillo. 

[Spartan Girl]

Poor armadillo. Sturgis made a valiant effort.

I did laugh at “This is Texas, armadillo roadkill is practically the state animal.”

It was fun watching the three of them on a road trip. For all Linkletter’s annoyance at Sheldon coming on the road trip, he really did come through for them by bringing out his inner Texan at that unfriendly bar. 

George’s lie is going to come back to bite him eventually.

The George/Missy plot started off kind of depressing with the callback to the Red Lobster episode we all loved and showing how Missy is no longer interested in daddy-daughter dates. But then it got better, like it always does. She even got to drive at the end!

[greekmom]

Older Sheldon has alot of Sturgis in him.

[Stats Queen]

1 hour ago, ams1001 said:

It's Texas...it goes straight like this for the rest of our lives." Hard to fathom, being from a state I can drive top to bottom in a few hours.

That’s the truth. I grew up in Albuquerque and went to college in San Antonio. It was a 12 hour drive and not matter what time you left, you always went through West Texas during the day.

This was the early 80’s and Mariachi music wasn’t not to be found (mostly Country ..) 

Lots of mariachi music in Albuquerque and San Antonio, tho 

[aqusdealer]

The synergy between Sheldon and Dr. Sturgiss is really where the show shines. 

[bad things are bad]

Can't believe Sheldon didn't freak out about being in proximity to the germy armadillo 

[Browncoat]

11 hours ago, ams1001 said:

OMG, I remember TripTik! 

TripTiks were the best, back in the day.  All the information you might ever need for your road trip, in one conveniently bound pad of paper.  I loved those things.

[HurricaneVal]

A road trip with two aging physicists and Sheldon.  What could go wrong?

Though Sheldon was awesome in the bar, asserting himself and going all Texan with the barkeep.

Georgie's storyline with the older woman makes me vaguely uncomfortable, but MeeMaw's poking and interjections are cracking me up.

Poor George.  Missy was his last child.  His last hope.  They had a special bond, and I think George cherished her as the one child he connected with.  He loves all his kids, but Georgie has rejected him, and he truly doesn't understand Sheldon and that is mutual.  Missy was his brawling little princess, someone who really "got" him and he could relate to.  And now Missy, in her surly pre-teen way, has damaged that bond.  The incognito daddy-daughter "date" at the drive-in walked some of that back, but the crack in their relationship is there, and as Missy advances further into her teens, that crack will get wider.  Poor George.

[Chit Chat]

9 hours ago, bad things are bad said:

Can't believe Sheldon didn't freak out about being in proximity to the germy armadillo 

Especially since they can carry leprosy!  We had a dead one in our yard one time, and boy were we super careful in disposing of it!

Also, he wasn't in a proper seat and wasn't wearing a seatbelt in the van, and we know how he is about car safety!!  Maybe  he had a lap belt we couldn't see.  I did like him speaking up for Dr. Sturgis. I think that Dr. Sturgis & Dr. Linkletter had a little bit more respect for Sheldon in that moment, and Dr. Linkletter truly sympathized with Dr. Sturgis when he related that the dead rolled up armadillo will be what he'll eventually become.   

33 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

he incognito daddy-daughter "date" at the drive-in walked some of that back, but the crack in their relationship is there, and as Missy advances further into her teens, that crack will get wider. 

It's sad to me because although I expect her to grow apart from him, she doesn't have to act like a turd to him.   Poor George, he just wanted a Cheddar Bay biscuit!!  Those are yummy.  

[HurricaneVal]

9 hours ago, bad things are bad said:

Can't believe Sheldon didn't freak out about being in proximity to the germy armadillo 

 

7 minutes ago, ChitChat said:

Especially since they can carry leprosy!  We had a dead one in our yard one time, and boy were we super careful in disposing of it!

Also, he wasn't in a proper seat and wasn't wearing a seatbelt in the van, and we know how he is about car safety!!  Maybe  he had a lap belt we couldn't see.  I did like him speaking up for Dr. Sturgis. I think that Dr. Sturgis & Dr. Linkletter had a little bit more respect for Sheldon in that moment, and Dr. Linkletter truly sympathized with Dr. Sturgis when he related that the dead rolled up armadillo will be what he'll eventually become.

 

Yes.  This.  It was bugging me all through the road trip that Sheldon was acting so contrary to his established strong character traits of a germophobe and motor vehicle safety freak.  Especially when Dr. Sturgis took the wheel, an inexperienced driver, I expected a Sheldon freak-out.  The seedy roadhouse bar would also ping Sheldon's safety and germ meter.

Maybe his thrill of being involved in a scientific breakthrough and being treated as an equal by his professors was overriding all those anxieties.  A simple voiceover comment in wonderment of "How am I doing this?  An armadillo, full of leprosy and salmonella?  Sitting sideways in a van driven by a habitual bike-rider?  All I can say is I was I was concentrating so hard on writing my Nobel Prize acceptance speech for this breakthrough that I guess I forgot to be worried."

[Sarah 103]

1 hour ago, HurricaneVal said:

Georgie's storyline with the older woman makes me vaguely uncomfortable, but MeeMaw's poking and interjections are cracking me up.

I can see why. The woman has no idea she is doing something borderline icky. As far as she knows, she is dating someone slightly younger than she is, and has no idea that Georgie has been lying to her about his age. MeeMaw is enjoying this, but also realizes how wrong it is. A relationship based on a lie isn't going to last. 

[EtheltoTillie]

55 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

 

 

ally when Dr. Sturgis took the wheel, an inexperienced driver, I expected a Sheldon freak-out.  The seedy roadhouse bar would also ping Sheldon's safety and germ meter.

 

I actually thought he was an unlicensed driver who never learned to drive!  So it seemed insane to me in many ways. 

[highway61]

43 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I actually thought he was an unlicensed driver who never learned to drive!  So it seemed insane to me in many ways. 

Linkletter letting Sturgis drive on an empty straight road in Texas was such a parallel for when future Howard would let adult Sheldon drive on an empty straight road in Texas I'm surprised they didn't voice over it.

And nobody noticed Sturgis hit an animal? You'd think he would have swerved into the trees to avoid it.

But yes, the TripTik callout was the best!

 

Edited March 4, 2022 by highway61

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I actually thought he was an unlicensed driver who never learned to drive!  So it seemed insane to me in many ways. 

He said he had a permit, and we saw a previous attempt to learn to drive with MeeMaw.

 

1 hour ago, highway61 said:

And nobody noticed Sturgis hit an animal? You'd think he would have swerved into the trees to avoid it.

Probably blended in with the road.

[ProudMary]

18 hours ago, Stats Queen said:

This was the early 80’s and Mariachi music wasn’t not to be found (mostly Country ..) 

Lots of mariachi music in Albuquerque and San Antonio, tho 

The show takes place in the early 90s. Admittedly, I have no idea if a ten year difference makes it any more likely that Dr. Sturgis would have found a station that was playing Mariachi music. 😄

[rmontro]

I think Dr. Sturgis, Dr. Linkletter, and Sheldon traveling could have their own TV show.

Wow, Georgie is quite the operator, isn't he?  I feel sorry for the woman though, she has the right to know that she's dating a teenager.  I liked the way the Mee-Maw and Dale Force Ghosts disappeared when she took her shirt off.

[Mediocre Gatsby]

Poor George, he wanted to relieve his date with Missy and she was so cute back then! 

I groaned when Mary asked Sheldon if calling AAA could wait, and he said "no." She really does give in to him on everything. 

[freeser]

3 minutes ago, Mediocre Gatsby said:

 I groaned when Mary asked Sheldon if calling AAA could wait, and he said "no." She really does give in to him on everything. 

Also I believe in talking about Sheldon taking the trip, Missy said something like "Sheldon get everything he wants".  Mary always answers that No Sheldon does not get everything.  But he DOES.  

The fact that Mary almost always gives in to Sheldon's wants and wishes really does influence his personality for the entirety of his life that we have seen.  Sheldon just does not seem to ever take into consideration the fact that there might be some reason for him to NOT get exactly what he wants.  In Sheldon's mind, if he wants it - he should absolutely get it no matter what.  

[Chit Chat]

3 hours ago, highway61 said:

And nobody noticed Sturgis hit an animal? You'd think he would have swerved into the trees to avoid it.

Maybe he saw it and thought it was already dead.  Someone once told me that an armadillo will just lay there (like playing possum), then bam, they'll jump up and hit a car/truck.  We see lots of armadillo roadkill in my state.  Legs up most of the time, so I don't think they're playing possum!

I wondered if Mary asked George his opinion about Sheldon going on the trip.  I noticed that she gave her okay to Dr. Linkletter, but we didn't see her discuss it with George (I'm assuming she did).  My point?  There have been many times when her word about something that involved Sheldon was the final say, so I hope she included him in that decision.  We know that he wouldn't have hesitated, but to be fair,  a discussion needed to take place.

[Sarah 103]

1 hour ago, freeser said:

Also I believe in talking about Sheldon taking the trip, Missy said something like "Sheldon get everything he wants".  Mary always answers that No Sheldon does not get everything.  But he DOES.  

I would have loved to know more about the beach trip Missy wanted to go on and why Mary said no. Was it as simple as a day trip to the beach with friends and someone's mom was driving, or was this a poorly supervised overnight trip? 

Mary sees Sheldon as her special little boy that she wants to protect and do anything she can for him, but she has other children. In a few years, I can Missy acting out as a way to get attention. She may feel it's the only way for her mother or father to notice her, because George is checked out half the time and Mary is too busy focused on Sheldon. 

[SusanM]

2 hours ago, freeser said:

Also I believe in talking about Sheldon taking the trip, Missy said something like "Sheldon get everything he wants".  Mary always answers that No Sheldon does not get everything.  But he DOES.  

In a recent rerun he wanted to go to Radio Shack and Mary held firm that she wasn't taking him so at least in the early seasons Sheldon didn't always get what he wanted.  It was also funny that Missy said this as on BBT it is Sheldon who complains that his sister always got what she wanted.  I guess this is typical of siblings - they never acknowledge where they benefit only where they think their brother or sister is getting something they aren't.

[howiveaddict]

13 hours ago, Browncoat said:

TripTiks were the best, back in the day.  All the information you might ever need for your road trip, in one conveniently bound pad of paper.  I loved those things.

We used to use Trip Tiks.  Before we had AAA, my step grandpa once wrote out step by step instructions to drive from Indiana to Florida on our first trip there.

[possibilities]

I think it was clear that Sturgis and Linkletter were not going to give in to him the way his mother does, and that is why Sheldon didn't tantrum over the armadillo or safety issues. L made it quite clear he wasn't interested in Sheldon's preferences and we've seen that Sheldon is capable of controlling himself when he has to, or wants to, or realizes he's not going to get anywhere with his demands.

[shapeshifter]

22 hours ago, bad things are bad said:

Can't believe Sheldon didn't freak out about being in proximity to the germy armadillo 

Heck, I was freaked out at just the idea of being in close proximity to a germy armadillo on TV! A whole new pandemic possibility! 
But kudos to the writers for turning it into a PSA with the requisite towel?

 

Just because this line bears repeating:

• My colleagues may be from the North, but for your information, I'm a Texan, born and bred.
  I know that real chili has no beans, and when my meemaw says, "Bless your heart," she means something very different.
  Now, my friend here is in need of help, and since our state motto is literally "friendship," may he please use your phone?

 

[ams1001]

Just for the record, while armadillos can indeed carry the bacteria that causes leprosy (aka Hansen's disease)*, it is not very transmissible to humans and the risk is quite low.  It doesn't even spread easily between people; according to the CDC website, "Prolonged, close contact with someone with untreated leprosy over many months is needed to catch the disease."

 

*and apparently researchers believe they got it from us!

[shapeshifter]

17 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

*and apparently researchers believe they got it from us!

👆Not making me less paranoid.   👀 

[ams1001]

21 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

👆Not making me less paranoid.   👀 

The thing I saw said 400-500 years ago...

Edited March 5, 2022 by ams1001

[aqusdealer]

Trip Tiks were great. The actual route was highlighted on ours. Coolest part for me.

Edited March 5, 2022 by aqusdealer

[Chit Chat]

5 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Not making me less paranoid.

Me either!  Especially when you find one splayed open on your property.  Yuk!  I erred on the side of caution and very carefully removed it with a shovel.  I think I buried it, but I didn't give it a Mardi Gras type of send-off!  

On 3/4/2022 at 5:05 PM, Sarah 103 said:

Was it as simple as a day trip to the beach with friends and someone's mom was driving, or was this a poorly supervised overnight trip? 

I'd like to know the details on that too.  I wonder how far from the coast they're supposed to be.  Even if it was just a day trip, young girls need supervision.  Missy isn't one to stick to the rules, so they might be reluctant to let her go on a trip for that very reason.  

[Katy M]

On 3/4/2022 at 6:05 PM, Sarah 103 said:

I would have loved to know more about the beach trip Missy wanted to go on and why Mary said no. Was it as simple as a day trip to the beach with friends and someone's mom was driving, or was this a poorly supervised overnight trip? 

Wouldn't someone's mom have to drive?  Unless Missy has much older friends, none of them could drive.  Then again I thought it was weird that a 12 year old would have friends that are going on dates to Red Lobster.  I think the writers look at 14 year old Raegan and think Missy is 14, forgetting that just 2 episodes ago Sheldon expressly stated their age as 12.

[SusanM]

47 minutes ago, Katy M said:

Then again I thought it was weird that a 12 year old would have friends that are going on dates to Red Lobster.  I think the writers look at 14 year old Raegan and think Missy is 14, forgetting that just 2 episodes ago Sheldon expressly stated their age as 12.

Part of the season finale last year was 11 yr old Missy being dumped by her boyfriend and everyone, including her uber religious mother seeming to think an 11 yr old even having a boyfriend in the first place was a perfectly normal thing.  The writers see a girl who isn't even a teenager yet and can't seem to write anything for her now that doesn't involve crushes and dates and boyfriends.  I accept that this may be par for the course for some 11 and 12 year old girls but on TV it seems to be the way it is for all 11 and 12 year old girls.  Yet another thing I am grumpy about tonight.

[Yeah No]

I get why the show did it, but why did they have to desecrate the sweet memory of Missy and George at Red Lobster for us now?  

And here Linkletter was worried that Sheldon was going to annoy him and in the end it was Sturgis that did that.

I know they want to make Sturgis look like a great guy and I love animals, but I don't think I would have gone to that extent to help an armadillo under those circumstances.

[peacheslatour]

Apparently armadillos live in Transylvania. Dracula 1931.

 

[rmontro]

13 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I get why the show did it, but why did they have to desecrate the sweet memory of Missy and George at Red Lobster for us now?  

Now that I think about it, is Red Lobster swarming with young teenaged schoolkids going out to eat?  I'm asking because Missy seemed really worried about it.  Seems like if there were teenagers there, most of them would probably be out with their parents themselves.  Not sure how old Missy is, about 14?  Are there a lot of 14 year old kids going out on dates at Red Lobster?  Where are they getting all their money?

I guess no one ever said kids were logical.  Except Sheldon, I guess.

[Driad]

"No one likes music" is an unsupportable statement for which I give Sheldon a demerit. If he doesn't like music, that's his problem and I can't argue with it.  Maybe he thinks people who say they like music are just pretending to like it, for social or other reasons.  But unless he has developed a perfect lie detector or an infallible truth drug (neither of which exists now) and questioned everyone in the world who claims to like music, he cannot state that no one does.  Learn this, Sheldon: "All generalizations are false."

[Pj3422]

On 3/3/2022 at 7:34 PM, ams1001 said:

 

"It's Texas...it goes straight like this for the rest of our lives." 

I’m in San Antonio. This line floored me. 

LOVED the Trip-Tik mention. Dad would always get one for our annual summer drive to visit family in Pennsylvania. 

[hoodooznoodooz]

So this was on the cusp of statutory rape in Texas?

[Sarah 103]

2 hours ago, hoodooznoodooz said:

So this was on the cusp of statutory rape in Texas?

Based on what I remember from an earlier discussion on this board, (it was an episode earlier in this story-arc,) it is technically legal. Georgie is 17, which is/was the age of consent. So legal, but also a bit icky because he is not being honest about his age and there is massive difference in terms of maturity and life experience between 17 and 27 (or however old she is). I would feel the same way if a 17-year-old girl was concealing her age to sleep with a 27 year-old-man. 

[Katy M]

14 hours ago, rmontro said:

ot sure how old Missy is, about 14?  Are there a lot of 14 year old kids going out on dates at Red Lobster?  Where are they getting all their money?

Missy's 12.  And yes, that's exactly what I was wondering.

[HouseofBeck]

I felt for Missy. Sheldon gets the attention and the enabling. Georgie gets attention, even negatively, through his life choices. Missy is often thrown back on her own devices, which is great for independence, not so great when you’re in those in-between years after having already grown up through attention being given elsewhere.

George should recall more strongly what kind of teenager he was, and also recall that his present self when at home rarely seems to be without a beer can, sitting, or passing through the house on the way to more beer, more sitting, or to take a dump. If he only just now realizes that Missy is no longer a pint-sized preteen and her interests have grown with her, then that is on him.

It’s not always easy for teenagers to express what they want, especially if the family has groomed them to expect a “No” in response. And “daddy-daughter dates” as a phrase sounds puerile at any age. Just go spend time together, FFS, don’t label it like it’s an entry in your planner. YMMV.

I was perhaps unaccountably disappointed that Dr. Sturgis’s response to the armadillo was really only because he’s feeling so alone. I had liked the unexpected facet of his personality to care for the animal for the animal’s sake, and hopefully teach Sheldon some empathy. Oh well. And now, can Linkletter and Sturgis continue to sit on Sheldon’s proclivities when they’re back at college the way they were doing in the van, or will all the adults continue to piss and moan and jump whenever Sheldon shouts, “Frog!”? Oh, how I wish the former would be so.

Edited March 7, 2022 by HouseofBeck

[shapeshifter]

I'm guessing in 1990s Texas when a 12-year-old said her friends were going on "dates" at the Red Lobster that it means something different than what I would associate with dating???

I recall in the 2000s learning that for high school freshman in the northern suburbs of Chicago, "going out with" someone meant what we called "going steady" in the 60s. I remember asking my daughter: "Going out? Where do they go? Who's driving?"

[Yeah No]

15 hours ago, rmontro said:

Now that I think about it, is Red Lobster swarming with young teenaged schoolkids going out to eat?  I'm asking because Missy seemed really worried about it.  Seems like if there were teenagers there, most of them would probably be out with their parents themselves.  Not sure how old Missy is, about 14?  Are there a lot of 14 year old kids going out on dates at Red Lobster?  Where are they getting all their money?

I guess no one ever said kids were logical.  Except Sheldon, I guess.

No, not in my experience in CT even back in that day either.  I never saw kids going on dates at Red Lobster, especially as young as Missy.  I think that line was a "miss".  Kids her age would still be going there with their parents and not dating yet.  And the "I'm not with them" stuff didn't really start until at least 14 in my memory.  At 12, I think Missy is still a bit young to be distancing herself that much from her father.

13 hours ago, Pj3422 said:

LOVED the Trip-Tik mention. Dad would always get one for our annual summer drive to visit family in Pennsylvania. 

We always got them too.  I found some in my father's things after he died.  One was for our trip cross country in 1973.  It brought tears to my eyes because I always loved them and found them very helpful.  I still have them!

[SusanM]

1 hour ago, Yeah No said:

At 12, I think Missy is still a bit young to be distancing herself that much from her father.

They aren't writing Missy like she's 12.  Which is another strike against this show for me.  I think though the reason for this is less because they actually think 12 is the same as 16 but because it's yet another way to nail home the "Lonesome George. nobody needs you" message they've been hammering at for the last season or two.

[Katy M]

30 minutes ago, SusannahM said:

They aren't writing Missy like she's 12.  Which is another strike against this show for me.  I think though the reason for this is less because they actually think 12 is the same as 16 but because it's yet another way to nail home the "Lonesome George. nobody needs you" message they've been hammering at for the last season or two.

Even if they were writing her more like a 12 year old, I don't know that I'd buy it.  You can't freeze children in time agewise just because you're boxed into what you don't want to happen on your show.  They should have made it a cartoon. Then the twins could be 9 or 10 forever.  No, I don't actually think it should be a cartoon, I'm just saying.

 

[possibilities]

3 hours ago, HouseofBeck said:

I was perhaps unaccountably disappointed that Dr. Sturgis’s response to the armadillo was really only because he’s feeling so alone. I had liked the unexpected facet of his personality to care for the animal for the animal’s sake

I felt the same way.

[tennisgurl]

Sheldon Cooper: True Texan. 

I felt sad when Missy didn't want to go to Red Lobster with George, he was trying so hard to give her some special attention but she's sadly heading into her angsty teen years where being around your parents in public in a fate worse than death. Its especially sad because we know that Missy doesn't have very much time with her dad left. At least she got to drive. 

This plot with Georgie seems to exist only to make me cringe. 

[proserpina65]

22 hours ago, Driad said:

"No one likes music" is an unsupportable statement for which I give Sheldon a demerit. If he doesn't like music, that's his problem and I can't argue with it.  Maybe he thinks people who say they like music are just pretending to like it, for social or other reasons.  But unless he has developed a perfect lie detector or an infallible truth drug (neither of which exists now) and questioned everyone in the world who claims to like music, he cannot state that no one does.  Learn this, Sheldon: "All generalizations are false."

Sheldon assumes that if he doesn't like something, no one does.  Or at least, no one should.  It's Sheldon's mindset.

16 hours ago, hoodooznoodooz said:

So this was on the cusp of statutory rape in Texas?

Nope.  Georgie's 17, which is over the age of consent in Texas.