S05.E19: A God-Fearin' Baptist and a Hot Trophy Husband

[Bort]

George and Mary insist on meeting the new woman in Georgie’s life. Also, Sheldon and Missy have suspicions about what’s going on with their family.

Airdate 21 April 2022

[greekmom]

Mary has issues. Insisting that the baby is going to be Baptist and the marriage conversation.

George Sr. wasn't talking about him and Mary. Initially he was talking about Georgie and Mandy.  Mary is showing the cracks in their marriage more than George Sr.

The twins coming to the conclusion that Mary is pregnant was funny.

I wish they would just do away with the Mandy pregnant storyline. She could just go up north for a "vacation" and come back that she had a "miscarriage" to save face with religious Mary. 

[ams1001]

I swear Sheldon's voice gets lower every episode.

Loved George's reaction: "Ohhh no."

"No one died."
"Kinda the opposite, actually."

"What kind of 29-year-old dates someone your age?!"
"The kind who was lied to?"

Another reference to Georgie turning 18 in March, making it sound like March is much closer than Asimov having just died in the last episode would suggest. 

"In my defense..."
"You have no defense, you're an idiot."
"That was part of my defense."

Loved Meemaw's "We get it."

"Do you like meatloaf?" I have a feeling that Billy thinks "dinner conversation" means conversation about dinner.

[Katy M]

I don't quite understand the concept of not getting married in this situation, but Mary, it's really not your decision.  And, also, you don't do things based on worrying about others will think.  And, since it's Georgie, and not you, the church really shouldn't judge you that harshly anyway.  So, chill out a bit about that.

MeeMaw for the win in this epi, I think.

I loved the dinner with Brenda, Billy, Missy, and Sheldon.  Poor Billy.

Edited April 22, 2022 by Katy M

[Spartan Girl]

Run, Mandy. Run far, run fast.

2 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

"In my defense..."
"You have no defense, you're an idiot."
"That was part of my defense."

Loved Meemaw's "We get it."

Connie was on fire tonight. “God let her get pregnant. He’s done enough.” But I loved that she was the one to offer genuine support to Mandy.

Mary seriously needs to cool it. She just loves forcing her religion and lifestyle on everyone, doesn’t she?

Billy is too pure for this world.

[SoMuchTV]

So not a humorous topic, but I think this is the most I’ve laughed at an episode. 

[DanaK]

Really good episode

[shapeshifter]

11 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

So not a humorous topic, but I think this is the most I’ve laughed at an episode. 

I probably chuckled more than usual too. Humor is subjective. Been there; done that.

[Chit Chat]

59 minutes ago, Katy M said:

And, also, you don't do things based on worrying about others will think.  And, since it's Georgie, and not you, the church really shouldn't judge you that harshly anyway. 

Things may have been different in the 90's, but back in the 70's you were judged harshly if you got pregnant outside of marriage (especially as a teenager).   I'm not saying that was okay, but I still remember the feeling I had when I learned that one of the teenagers in our church was pregnant.  It was all very hush hush and there was a lot of pearl clutching! I understand it because I saw it happen more than once, so right or wrong, I understand Mary's need for secrecy.  She also feels that she and her family have some moral obligation to be on the straight and narrow path since she's such a big part of the church.  

I wouldn't doubt if Mandy runs back home and leaves Texas in her wake.  They would probably have trouble tracking her down at this point. That family dinner probably scared her enough to make her go back to Oklahoma.  Mary shouldn't have come on so strong, but the whole thing was so awkward for everybody, and they all kept saying the wrong things (except for Connie.)

 

[shapeshifter]

1 minute ago, ChitChat said:

I wouldn't doubt if Mandy runs back home and leaves Texas in her wake.  They would probably have trouble tracking her down at this point. That family dinner probably scared her enough to make her go back to Oklahoma.  Mary shouldn't have come on so strong, but the whole thing was so awkward for everybody, and they all kept saying the wrong things (except for Connie.)

It sounded and looked to me like Connie was better than any family back in Texas. I'm guessing Mandy sticks around as a semi-regular (not living with Georgie). 

[Chit Chat]

3 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I'm guessing Mandy sticks around as a semi-regular (not living with Georgie). 

Spoiler

It will be interesting to see how they handle this.  As far as we know, grown-up Georgie doesn't have children (to my recollection).   They might not stick to the BBT storyline on this one.  I won't be surprised if she goes back to Oklahoma and disappears out of Georgie's life or has a miscarriage (the usual easy-out for a show).   We know that he was married several times, but I don't think he had kids.  Correct me if I'm wrong!

 

[Bobbin]

How is it that adult Mandy is pregnant and it's all Georgie's fault?

[shura]

39 minutes ago, ChitChat said:

I wouldn't doubt if Mandy runs back home and leaves Texas in her wake.  They would probably have trouble tracking her down at this point. That family dinner probably scared her enough to make her go back to Oklahoma.

I think her parents are originally from Oklahoma, but now they are living in Texas and Mandy grew up in Sheldon’s town. She said when she met Georgie that she moved back from San Antonio and is living with her parents again, and is trying not to bump into anybody she went to high school with. So they are local, there is nowhere to go back home to.

It was a little off hearing everybody treat Mandy as if she is a teenager, especially the part about her being scared to tell her parents and how her father was going to shoot Georgie. The woman is 29 years old, this is not a teenage pregnancy!

[chocolatine]

1 hour ago, shura said:

She said when she met Georgie that she moved back from San Antonio and is living with her parents again, and is trying not to bump into anybody she went to high school with. So they are local, there is nowhere to go back home to.

Yes, that's how I remember it as well. I think it's a continuity error. I still don't understand why the story needs to be contorted around Mandy's pregnancy. There's plenty of conflict to mine from George and Mary's marriage.

[Mediocre Gatsby]

This episode had just the right (miniscule) amount of Sheldon. 

Connie was fun. 

[Kiddvideo]

2 hours ago, Bobbin said:

How is it that adult Mandy is pregnant and it's all Georgie's fault?

I think it’s his lies about his age. Mandy wouldn’t have dated him if she’d known. If Jana had gotten pregnant I think she and Georgie would’ve been told to sit on the couch while all the parents paced the living room rotating anger, fear, and incredulity.

I liked this episode. Sheldon’s minimal screen time made it better, but no hot dogs in the spaghetti, Brenda?? I gotta go with Sheldon on that one. And Mary needs to walk a fine line. Mandy can make it difficult to see the baby if Mary pushes her too far. Mary might send her straight back to her people, as MeeMaw called them. 

I didn’t miss the circus of John and Dr. Linkletter.

[Zoe]

It really feels like this is what dooms their marriage. 

On another note, the credits finally made me realize that Mandy is Haley Joel Osment's sister. 

[HyeChaps]

IMO a lot of Mary's reaction is her feelings of guilt from her own pregnancy.

[ams1001]

5 hours ago, Kiddvideo said:

I liked this episode. Sheldon’s minimal screen time made it better, but no hot dogs in the spaghetti, Brenda?? I gotta go with Sheldon on that one.

Sorry, I'm with Brenda. Ew.

 

[Chit Chat]

8 hours ago, shura said:

I think her parents are originally from Oklahoma, but now they are living in Texas and Mandy grew up in Sheldon’s town.

Thanks for the clarification!  I didn't remember their original conversation.

3 hours ago, HyeChaps said:

IMO a lot of Mary's reaction is her feelings of guilt from her own pregnancy.

And probably the reaction she received from people at that time.  

[shapeshifter]

5 hours ago, HyeChaps said:

IMO a lot of Mary's reaction is her feelings of guilt from her own pregnancy.

1 hour ago, ChitChat said:

And probably the reaction she received from people at that time.  

So much this. Mary is both having PTSD about being judged for her own "out of wedlock" teen pregnancy, and wanting to protect Georgie (and, to some degree, Mandy and the baby) from the same experiences of being shamed by the community.
The show paints the church as the source of the shame, but people from all walks of life can subtly let unmarried parents and their children feel their disapproval, even today, but more so a generation or two ago.

 

7 hours ago, Zoe said:

It really feels like this is what dooms their marriage. 

Perhaps. 
But when George found Mary smoking on the porch in the middle of the night and told her "she earned" the right to smoke that cigarette, I thought it was a nice call back to when he saw her smoking with the youth pastor. 

Edited April 22, 2022 by shapeshifter

[ch1]

My favorite line was George saying to Georgie why they wanted to meet Mandy - “Because she’s having our grand baby you stupid son of a bitch!”  It was all in the delivery. 
 

 

[Beden]

10 hours ago, ChitChat said:

Things may have been different in the 90's, but back in the 70's you were judged harshly if you got pregnant outside of marriage (especially as a teenager).   I'm not saying that was okay, but I still remember the feeling I had when I learned that one of the teenagers in our church was pregnant.  It was all very hush hush and there was a lot of pearl clutching! I understand it because I saw it happen more than once, so right or wrong, I understand Mary's need for secrecy.  She also feels that she and her family have some moral obligation to be on the straight and narrow path since she's such a big part of the church.  

I was in high school in the 70's, in a small town. Pretty much every year at least one of the girls in school would 'disappear', go visit an aunt upstate or whatever. Sometimes they came back, often they didn't and (I presume) graduated at some other school. Yeah, that's how it was usually handled back then, in a small town. Either that or they got married. The classic was the head cheerleader and the captain of the football team. Graduated, he headed off to college, she stayed with his parents with the baby. Rumor was he was having way too much fun at his ivy league university, his wife had another baby a year later (yes, his). Marriage didn't last very long.

[shura]

47 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Mary is both having PTSD about being judged for her own "out of wedlock" teen pregnancy

Was hers a teen pregnancy though?  That's what my impression was too, but then it makes Mary barely older than Mandy.  Say, she was 19 when she had Georgie, he is 17 now, so Mary is only 6-7 years older than Mandy.  Where does she get off then lecturing Mandy about everything the way she did at the dinner table? She was talking to Mandy like she talks to a dumb teenager like Georgie.

FWIW, Mary Cooper's BBT wiki has her birth date as Jan 13, 1950 (no idea where this comes from).  Georgie's is Mar 13, 1975. 

The acting in the episode was top-notch.  Missy's facial expressions were priceless, especially the suspicion side eye she left Mary and MeeMaw in the kitchen with.  Georgie's reactions were spot on too. 

 

[SusanM]

36 minutes ago, shura said:

That's what my impression was too, but then it makes Mary barely older than Mandy.  Say, she was 19 when she had Georgie, he is 17 now, so Mary is only 6-7 years older than Mandy.  Where does she get off then lecturing Mandy about everything the way she did at the dinner table? She was talking to Mandy like she talks to a dumb teenager like Georgie.

Unless they've retconned things (which they have certainly done before) Mary was in her 20s when she and George got together.  They did "have" to get married but only because that's what you did when you had an unplanned pregnancy in the '80s.   I think most of Mary's lecturing came from the place where her 17 yr old son is involved with a woman knocking on 30s door.  Mandy was lied to but that doesn't change that she's having a  baby with Mary's teenage son.   Mary has a right to be upset.  She has a right to be furious.

[Poohbear617]

Anybody know where  Billy's little.sister.went?  The one who beat up sheldon.  Is she off playing with Judy Winslow, chuck cunningham, cousin oliver and both Christy plunketts kids?

[bad things are bad]

11 hours ago, shura said:

, especially the part about her being scared to tell her parents and how her father was going to shoot Georgie

I was 32, unmarried and pregnant in the late 80s, and was very afraid to tell my religious  (but not nutjobs like Mary) parents 

[proserpina65]

No, Mary, Georgie does NOT have to get married just so you can hold your head up in church.  It should be about what's best for Georgie, Mandy and the baby, not what's best for your hypocritical, sanctimonious ass.  And you also get no say in what, if any, religion the child is raised in.

I hate people like Mary who think trying to force people to get married just so a baby won't be a bastard is Christian.  Good for Connie for just telling Mandy she'd be there with whatever Mandy needed.

Missy remains the best.

13 hours ago, Katy M said:

I don't quite understand the concept of not getting married in this situation, but Mary, it's really not your decision.

Georgie is only 17, and even though he thinks he's in love, Mandy clearly isn't.  The marriage would be doomed from the start.  No way should these two people get married.

[proserpina65]

13 hours ago, Katy M said:

And, since it's Georgie, and not you, the church really shouldn't judge you that harshly anyway.

Unfortunately a lot of alleged Christians very much judge parents harshly when their kids do things like this.  Hopefully Mary's church won't, since the pastor is actually divorced, but who knows.

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Mary is both having PTSD about being judged for her own "out of wedlock" teen pregnancy, and wanting to protect Georgie (and, to some degree, Mandy and the baby) from the same experiences of being shamed by the community.

I don't think her reaction has anything to do with protecting Georgie from being shamed.  It's all about what people will think of her.

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

The show paints the church as the source of the shame,

And it's on the money about that.

1 hour ago, Beden said:

I was in high school in the 70's, in a small town. Pretty much every year at least one of the girls in school would 'disappear', go visit an aunt upstate or whatever. Sometimes they came back, often they didn't and (I presume) graduated at some other school. Yeah, that's how it was usually handled back then, in a small town.

By the time I graduated in the early 80s, it was unusual for a senior class to not have at least one teenage mother.  And my graduating class had one guy with multiple kids already.  Admittedly he'd failed a year earlier so he was a little bit older.  (Clearly our school needed more talk about protection in sex ed classes.)

39 minutes ago, SusanM said:

Mary has a right to be upset.  She has a right to be furious.

No, she may have a right to be a little upset but she has no right to be furious.  Basically she's a hypocrite.

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by proserpina65

[Katy M]

50 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

Georgie is only 17, and even though he thinks he's in love, Mandy clearly isn't.  The marriage would be doomed from the start.  No way should these two people get married.

That kid deserves a 2 parent household.  They loved each other enough to have sex and make a baby. If they want, they can make it work.

[proserpina65]

15 minutes ago, Katy M said:

That kid deserves a 2 parent household.  They loved each other enough to have sex and make a baby. If they want, they can make it work.

This is bull.  Sex doesn't always have anything to do with love; physical attraction is not love.  And a kid deserves a 2-parent household that works.  People forced to get married because the woman was pregnant very often don't have marriages that work and a dysfunctional household is not good for the children.

[HyeChaps]

Maybe Mandy will move in with Meemaw

[shura]

1 hour ago, bad things are bad said:

I was 32, unmarried and pregnant in the late 80s, and was very afraid to tell my religious  (but not nutjobs like Mary) parents 

I can see that, everybody's situation is different. It just felt like a teen pregnancy trope in the episode when everybody was like "of course you are scared, we will help you."  Why would they (the characters, not the writers - the writers just write whatever comes to them most of the time) assume that this is an "of course" reaction? Everyone is different, she is an adult, she just said she was not religious, so she is probably comfortable around her parents when faith or lack of it is concerned. There is no need to write it as "of course she would be scared, why wouldn't she be?" 

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

No, she may have a right to be a little upset but she has no right to be furious.  Basically she's a hypocrite.

Well, Mary probably has the right to be as furious as she wants, but she is talking to an adult who has her own ideas and opinions about what her life should be. Those ideas and opinions have as much value as Mary's. And yet Mary is dismissing the adult in front of her and is talking to a teenager who cannot possibly have valid opinions simply because she is not old enough. I think it might be on the writers, they just forgot that Mandy is supposed to be an adult.

[proserpina65]

1 minute ago, shura said:

I think it might be on the writers, they just forgot that Mandy is supposed to be an adult.

I don't think the writers forgot.  I think they very much intended to have Mary talking to an adult like she's a teenager.

[UncleChuck]

Quote

I liked this episode. Sheldon’s minimal screen time made it better, but no hot dogs in the spaghetti, Brenda??

Good for Brenda.  She didn't cave in to Sheldon's "cut-up hot dogs in the spaghetti" and she just fed him the same plate she prepared for everyone.  Of course, he had to fuss about it, but in the end he sat down and ate it. 

Her reactions to Missy and Sheldon speculating about their dad with another woman were spot on.

[Chit Chat]

4 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

The show paints the church as the source of the shame, but people from all walks of life can subtly let unmarried parents and their children feel their disapproval, even today, but more so a generation or two ago.

So true.  It wasn't just some of the church folks back in the 70's, it was a common reaction at school too.  Most times it wasn't a judgmental thing with fellow teens, but more of a feeling of "I'm glad it's not me!"  I know that's the wrong way to think about it, but that's just how things were.  

11 minutes ago, UncleChuck said:

She didn't cave in to Sheldon's "cut-up hot dogs in the spaghetti" and she just fed him the same plate she prepared for everyone

Sheldon probably thinks that everybody puts hot dogs in spaghetti!  He might not know any different way to fix it!!  I did like the look on Brenda's face when she told him that there wouldn't be hot dogs in the spaghetti.  

[tennisgurl]

I wouldn't at all be surprised if Mandy either runs off, after after that awkward dinner with the Coopers, or ends up having a miscarriage. I don't remember Georgie having kids in the Big Bang Theory, and I don't think the show will be all that interested in Georgie as a teenage father. 

Connie was on fire. "God let her get pregnant. He's done enough." 

They cant keep this away from Missy and Sheldon forever, they will have to tell them what's going on at some point. Missy and Sheldon wondering about George's health and what will happen if he's dying was pretty sad considering what we know happens in just a few years. In fact, both of the things they guessed actually did end up happening. Their parents marriage does end and their dad does die of a heart attack soon. 

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

Sex doesn't always have anything to do with love

WEll, it absolutely ought to.

3 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

and I don't think the show will be all that interested in Georgie as a teenage father. 

Then why would the show bother with the pregnancy?  They already did a miscarriage with Mary and a pregnancy scare with Jana.  Doesn't seem like they need another miscarriage.  Although, I'll agree that they don't exactly need Georgie to be a teen dad, either.

[treeofdreams]

I suspect a large part of  Mary's reaction is frustration at not really being able to let loose on Georgie because of her own pre-marital pregnancy.  

[SusanM]

2 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

No, she may have a right to be a little upset but she has no right to be furious.  Basically she's a hypocrite.

Absolutely disagree.  At the end of the day her teenage son had a relationship with a woman who is almost 30.  I think most parents would be angry, disappointed and worried as hell about what happens next.

[proserpina65]

10 minutes ago, Katy M said:

WEll, it absolutely ought to.

It probably should, but it often has far more to do with physical attraction.  And I think that's just fine.

 

3 minutes ago, SusanM said:

I think most parents would be angry, disappointed and worried as hell about what happens next.

Disappointed and worried, yes.  A little angry, maybe.  Furious, no.  Not when what Georgie's done isn't all that much different from what Mary did when she was quite a bit older than Georgie is now.

[treeofdreams]

If I were Mandy, I would be packing up and disappearing after that dinner with Georgie's family.  It was so unpleasant, and Mary's insistence on the religious upbringing of the child would be the last straw.  No way would I want that family to get their hands on my baby.

Edited April 22, 2022 by treeofdreams

[Chit Chat]

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

Furious, no.  Not when what Georgie's done isn't all that much different from what Mary did when she was quite a bit older than Georgie is now.

Mary was probably hoping that he would've heeded her warning when they talked about her being pregnant before getting married.  At least they didn't storm out of the house and refuse to speak to him.  Their reaction could've been so much worse.  

19 minutes ago, treeofdreams said:

No way would I want that family to get their hands on my baby.

Unfortunately, George and Mary didn't put their best foot forward in how they handled meeting her, but I think their nervousness about the whole thing played into some of the crazy stuff they said.  The whole thing was awkward for everybody.  I think that Mary overstepped her bounds, but again, I think she had a knee-jerk reaction and she made things worse than they had to be.  Georgie was of no help either.  Poor Mandy just sitting there wondering what the hell kind of crazy home she was in!!

[StaceyNotStacie]

George and MeeMaw were the MVPs of the episode, with Billy as an honorable mention. 
 

Mary’s reaction was a bit over the top with the religious stuff. I wonder why she thought it was okay for a 17yo to marry a 29yo (and I wonder what her reaction would have been if it was 17 year old Missy and a 29yo guy). I was honestly surprised that Georgie’s initial reaction was that he had to get married. 

[Chit Chat]

5 minutes ago, StaceyNotStacie said:

I was honestly surprised that Georgie’s initial reaction was that he had to get married. 

It was actually mature of him to step up to the responsibility.  I was surprised too!

[kay1864]

2 hours ago, ChitChat said:

Sheldon probably thinks that everybody puts hot dogs in spaghetti! 

I think in BBT he regarded it as the ‘gourmet version’, that not everyone got to experience.

[Chit Chat]

1 hour ago, kay1864 said:

I think in BBT he regarded it as the ‘gourmet version’, that not everyone got to experience.

I always chuckle when I watch the episodes where Sheldon got so excited about "cut up hot dogs" in his spaghetti.  It's that child-like glee that brings a smile to my face!   I like hot dogs, and I like spaghetti, but I've never tried them together.  I make a face like Brenda did when thinking about it.  Maybe I should try it one time.  ;)  

[HurricaneVal]

See...for most of this season they've had me very irritated with MeeMaw.  She's been kind of bitchy and selfish and a little arrogant.  Then last night, Connie absolutely stepped up and stepped in for Mandy.....someone she only knows as having been lied to by her grandson but who is also carrying her great grandchild.  It didn't seem like she was only motivated by her great grandchild though, her warm compassion truly seemed to stem strictly from empathy with no ulterior purpose.  Dang.

Wasn't Mandy only in town on a temporary basis to lick her wounds after being fired from a job as a weather girl on a local TV station?  Or did I dream that?  I swear that was part of her story, and another reason why she was waaaaaay out of Georgie's league, but his charm proved to be irresistible and his wild swing connected to hit it outta the park.  But....now she's waiting tables in a diner.  So either that backstory got dropped for a blue collar background, or I was on drugs and it never happened.  Does anyone else remember?

[SnapHappy]

I also did not feel like slapping the taste out of Memaw's mouth this episode.  Literally, for the first time this season. 

Georgie is romanticizing the situation, as 17 year-olds are wont to do.  Usually it's the girl, but Georgie is a pretty good kid, so I'm not surprised they're writing him as being wiling to "step up to the plate".  And thinking that he loves her will be enough to make it work out.  

I wouldn't have said anything to Missy & Sheldon either.  Mandy isn't far enough into her pregnancy to be in a safe zone, and as she mentioned, she hadn't even told her parents. 

It will  be interesting to see how it plays out.  I'm not really surprised George was less upset than Mary.  I was kind of expecting that. 

[eel21788]

19 hours ago, shura said:

I think her parents are originally from Oklahoma, but now they are living in Texas and Mandy grew up in Sheldon’s town. 

If they grew up in the same town, wouldn't Mandy have known how old Georgie was?

I remember the moms in our neighborhood who had babies when I was around 10 years old. I ended up babysitting many of them when I was in high school.