S06.E05: A Resident Advisor and the Word 'Sketchy'

[Bort]

At college, Sheldon decides to expand his responsibilities and become a dorm resident advisor. Also, Meemaw and Dale make a sketchy business deal and Mary and George Sr. rekindle their romance.

Airdate: 27 October 2022

[Browncoat]

This isn't the first time Sheldon has spent the night in the dorm.  What happened to all his gaming friends?

[ams1001]

Sure, a college would allow a 12-year-old, who has never actually lived in the dorm (and still doesn't), and has zero inter-personal skills, to be an RA, just because he decided mid-semester that he wants to be. Okay. (At my school there was a whole application and hiring process in the spring, plus training over the summer, to start as an RA in the fall semester.) But Sheldon gets whatever he wants, no matter how unreasonable, because someone who is in charge of an entire University can't deal with him. How many nights did he spend there? Did his family even notice (aside from the one call home)? 

It's really starting to bug me that Georgie won't leave Mandy alone. I wanted her boss to come out and kick him out of the diner. It's one thing to be supportive with baby stuff and quite another to keep talking to her like she's his girlfriend, especially in front of customers while she's working. 

Love Missy suppressing her smile listening to Georgie and Mandy fight.

[Spartan Girl]

Okay, the last scene of Sheldon being taped to the wall made me laugh.

George and Mary getting their spark back was fun while it lasted. But the second it was obvious Mary just wanted a baby, I’m right back to hating her again. She’s just doing it because she’s so needy without the church. Ughhh.

Georgie seriously needs to back off with Mandy. Just because he’s doing things for doesn’t entitle him to a relationship with her.

[StaceyNotStacie]

6 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Okay, the last scene of Sheldon being taped to the wall made me laugh.

George and Mary getting their spark back was fun while it lasted. But the second it was obvious Mary just wanted a baby, I’m right back to hating her again. She’s just doing it because she’s so needy without the church. Ughhh.

Georgie seriously needs to back off with Mandy. Just because he’s doing things for doesn’t entitle him to a relationship with her.

At least Mary brought up the baby and didn’t aspire to get pregnant without telling George. 
 

I’m liking Mandy and Missy together. While Georgie is trying hard, he still doesn’t get why she’s so pissed at him regarding the age difference. He thinks there’s no difference between her shaving a few years off of her late 20s while he lied about being of legal age. She would have run in the opposite direction if she knew he wasn’t 18. 

[shura]

Um, Connie? You know that Dennis person can still call the cops on you, right? Before he just wanted the money, but now that you pissed him off by slashing his tires he has a reason to actually do it.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

1 hour ago, Browncoat said:

This isn't the first time Sheldon has spent the night in the dorm.  What happened to all his gaming friends?

But now he's been there 2 nights running.  I doubt he had 2 clean changes of clothing, and you know Sheldon isn't wearing the same underwear 2 days in a row.

52 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

Sure, a college would allow a 12-year-old, who has never actually lived in the dorm (and still doesn't), and has zero inter-personal skills, to be an RA, just because he decided mid-semester that he wants to be. Okay. (At my school there was a whole application and hiring process in the spring, plus training over the summer, to start as an RA in the fall semester.) But Sheldon gets whatever he wants, no matter how unreasonable, because someone who is in charge of an entire University can't deal with him. How many nights did he spend there? Did his family even notice (aside from the one call home)? 

Agreed. It's like the President wanted him to be assaulted.

13 minutes ago, shura said:

Um, Connie? You know that Dennis person can still call the cops on you, right? Before he just wanted the money, but now that you pissed him off by slashing his tires he has a reason to actually do it.

Unless he was smart enough to record their license plate #, he had no way to find them.  By the time he comes to, they'll be far away.

Edited October 28, 2022 by ItCouldBeWorse

[shura]

If he didn’t get their license plate, how was he going to report them? They’ve got to assume that he did.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

4 minutes ago, shura said:

If he didn’t get their license plate, how was he going to report them? They’ve got to assume that he did.

That's true, but is he really going to tell the police he sold them (probably illegally obtained) poker machines for 20k cash?  And remember, it's not illegal to buy them, just to use them for profit.  Dale could have claimed he was setting them up in his sporting goods store to be used for free.  The real risk would be someone in authority checking out the laundromat, like last time.

[MollyMelrose]

Pains me to say this 'cuz he's certainly no prize, but Connie's lack of ethics gives me no choice ...

You can do better, Dale.

[UncleChuck]

If you think Sheldon was a tough R.A., consider this:

My first college year (about a hundred years ago) I attended a Catholic men's only college that was connected to a Monastery.  Each floor in our dorm had a resident Catholic priest living among us.  I'd take Sheldon anytime over Father Zachary!

[januaryman]

That last gag of Sheldon being muted was 5 years overdue. 

Why are they turning Meemaw into a near-criminal?

Edited October 31, 2022 by januaryman

[Bethany]

Where to start - they brought back the shady casino storyline, they focused on the idiot pregnancy storyline, they had a 12 year old alone in residence trying to boss around a bunch of 20 yr olds, and on top of that they had horny Mary and George freaking out poor Missy with their antics.  Too many things going on in a very short show and none of them interesting to me.  On the other hand my husband laughed all the way through this episode, especially Bonny and Clyde.  So different strokes, for different folks I guess!

[Yeah No]

3 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

That's true, but is he really going to tell the police he sold them (probably illegally obtained) poker machines for 20k cash?  And remember, it's not illegal to buy them, just to use them for profit.  Dale could have claimed he was setting them up in his sporting goods store to be used for free.  The real risk would be someone in authority checking out the laundromat, like last time.

I agree, this guy was so shady he's not going to put himself on the police radar by implicating himself in that transaction.  If he was so on the up and up he would never have sold them for cash all hush-hush like that.  Unless he calls the police with an "anonymous tip" he'll keep his mouth shut. 

I'm also not loving how they continue to turn Meemaw into a small time criminal.

2 hours ago, UncleChuck said:

If you think Sheldon was a tough R.A., consider this:

My first college year (about a hundred years ago) I attended a Catholic men's only college that was connected to a Monastery.  Each floor in our dorm had a resident Catholic priest living among us.  I'd take Sheldon anytime over Father Zachary!

Haha about 100 years ago I went to a Jesuit university and my dorm also had a resident priest AND an R.A. but since this was the crazy late '70s the priest was a Jesuit so he was cooler than cool and also my advisor so it was all good.  And the RA was a total preppie type.  Every single article of clothing he had including socks and underwear had those Izod alligators on them, LOL.  And yet no one taped him to the wall, LOL!

[shapeshifter]

On 10/21/2022 at 12:15 AM, chocolatine said:

The show has faked us out with hair changes before, so I'm sure in the next episode Missy's hair will be back to her natural color and the DIY dye job will never be mentioned again.

Hah! You called it in the last episode’s thread, @chocolatine!✋

Did Mary and George’s relationship just do another complete 180°?
If so, does that mean Mary isn’t reading or writing romance novels anymore either?

Likewise, it took me a few lines to realize Dale and Meemaw were talking about actual “money.”

[Traveller519]

The show has a great opportunity with Mary and Missy. I hope they don't waste it

[Skooma]

5 hours ago, januaryman said:

Why are they turning Meemaw into a near-criminal?

3 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I'm also not loving how they continue to turn Meemaw into a small time criminal.

So what?  No one cared about backroom gambling in small towns.  Nor do they now.  It's like being upset because someone smokes pot in some state where it is still illegal or jaywalks.  Some laws are stupid and people ignore them as well they should.  Makes MeeMaw cool to me.

[greekmom]

I agree with the poster above that duct taping Sheldon to the wall is long overdue. He deserved it. I honestly thought they were all going to beat the kid up. LOL.

Mary wanting another kid is plain stupid. They are both unemployed (or under employed) and barley hanging on. But sure, bring a baby into the picture which will suck up any money they have.  Mary should concentrate on the kids she does have and join some community activities that don't revolve around the church.

(I honestly wonder how the church accepts her back in)

[EtheltoTillie]

Wow Sheldon was the worst he’s ever been. 

[shura]

7 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I agree, this guy was so shady he's not going to put himself on the police radar by implicating himself in that transaction.  If he was so on the up and up he would never have sold them for cash all hush-hush like that.  Unless he calls the police with an "anonymous tip" he'll keep his mouth shut. 

That may be true, but if that's the calculation, then Connie and Dale assaulted the guy and damaged his property for nothing. And if his threat was credible, which Connie thought it was, then what she did still accomplished nothing to protect them from it. I guess the moral of the story is - if you get involved in something illegal, you panic and it snowballs? Connie should probaly hold off on her gambling empire expansion in case the guy does tip off the police somehow. Which means Dale is out of another 20K. He really should start thinking that he can do better.

54 minutes ago, greekmom said:

Mary wanting another kid is plain stupid. They are both unemployed (or under employed) and barley hanging on. But sure, bring a baby into the picture which will suck up any money they have.

And the tragedy is that George was so happy when she was happy, and now it's all gone. There is no way he can say no and keep being happy.

[aqusdealer]

56 minutes ago, greekmom said:

Mary wanting another kid is plain stupid. They are both unemployed (or under employed) and barley hanging on.

My thoughts too. I also didn’t care for Meemaw going down the rabbit hole of crime and dragging Dale with her. Now if the show needs to shake stuff up so badly, how about they have George Sr. so worried about Mary wanting a baby that he secretly gets a vasectomy and months later Mary does indeed get pregnant with the young pastor? She pretends it’s George’s, but he knows all the time it isn’t. It could all be a nightmare and she wakes up. Better than Meemaw and Dale going to prison.

[ams1001]

10 hours ago, UncleChuck said:

I'd take Sheldon anytime over Father Zachary!

Well, you can't tape Father Zachary to the wall...

I lived on the same hall for my first three years of college. My first RA was a senior; the next two years I had different RAs but they were both in the same class as me. (My senior year I lived in the townhouse complex they built for seniors; there was no RA; a professor lived there and acted as an unofficial RA which mostly amounted to running a couple community meetings each semester and being available if any big issues came up. Other than that we were expected to be adults and work any issues out ourselves.)

1 hour ago, greekmom said:

Mary wanting another kid is plain stupid. They are both unemployed (or under employed) and barley hanging on. But sure, bring a baby into the picture which will suck up any money they have.  Mary should concentrate on the kids she does have and join some community activities that don't revolve around the church.

They also don't have enough bedrooms for the kids they have living there. Even if Georgie moved out, you can't exactly have a 12-year-old living in an unfinished garage. 

[Chit Chat]

5 hours ago, Skooma said:

No one cared about backroom gambling in small towns.  Nor do they now.  

If you lived where I live, you'd know how big a deal it is!!  I'm in a non-gambling/lottery state and businesses that run stuff like this do get raided!  Connie is taking a risk by running an illegal gambling site.  The guy that Dale hit might just get some of his pals involved in searching for them to even the score.  

The line that caught my attention was when Missy walked in on her parents while they were kissing, and she said something like 'Ugh, is somebody dying?"  If only she knew.

[BitterApple]

I can see both sides of Sheldon's annoyance. He needs to learn the world doesn't revolve around him, but people can be assholes. We had a guy in our dorm who was on the track team and he would blast his music full-volume at 4:30 a.m. because it "woke him up" for his 5:00 a.m. practices. 

With regards to Sheldon being the R.A., my interpretation was that Pres. Haegermeyer never gave him any actual authority, she just let him think he had it to get him off her back. 

Mary and George Sr.'s constant sexy times is starting to gross me out. The writers are pushing it so hard, I'm worried for what kind of downfall is coming in the near future. And yes, Mary wanting a baby is stupid. They're barely keeping their heads above water as it is. 

Not sure how I feel about MeeMaw roping Dale into the illegal gambling business. I'm not a fan of his character, but he's got way more to lose. 

[ams1001]

5 minutes ago, ChitChat said:

The line that caught my attention was when Missy walked in on her parents while they were kissing, and she said something like 'Ugh, is somebody dying?"  If only she knew.

I was thinking, 'sooner than you expect.. 😟"

[Bethany]

I was looking up some background stuff on this show and although we're now in the 6th season Sheldon and Missy are still 12.  I guess they're holding back time to keep George going a little longer but it's just not working.  Neither of the kids looks 12 anymore and, at least with Missy, they're writing her like she's 14 (which she actually is).  And last night expecting us to believe for one minute that overprotective Mary would shrug her shoulders and let Sheldon stay alone at the university over what had to be at least two full days and nights is just stupid.  Almost as stupid as the pregnancy and casino storylines.  

[DoYouLikeMutton]

I didn't enjoy any of the story lines in this episode.   

[Spartan Girl]

On 10/28/2022 at 7:30 AM, greekmom said:

Mary wanting another kid is plain stupid. They are both unemployed (or under employed) and barley hanging on. But sure, bring a baby into the picture which will suck up any money they have.  Mary should concentrate on the kids she does have and join some community activities that don't revolve around the church.

Not to mention she’s about to have a grandchild, so maybe now is not the best time to bring another child into the world just because you’re bored!

Also stop trying to make Dale and Connie happen again, show!

Edited November 2, 2022 by Spartan Girl

[Bethany]

4 minutes ago, DoYouLikeMutton said:

I didn't enjoy any of the story lines in this episode.   

Same.  And it was also just such a disappointment after the last few episodes which really worked for me.  

It also seemed to me, as others have noted, that the big romance between Mary and George is now dead in the water.  And over something as ridiculous as Mary wanting another baby.  Which, in one way I could actually buy - lots of women reach that age and do go through a stage of wanting another baby, I know I did (I didn't BTW) but honestly, show.  To have a few episodes with Mary and George happy with each other and really reconnecting as a married couple just to blow it all up because of this?  Really?

[AD35]

13 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Okay, the last scene of Sheldon being taped to the wall made me laugh

That made me think if only future Howard and Leonard could travel back in time to see that moment.

12 hours ago, MollyMelrose said:

Pains me to say this 'cuz he's certainly no prize, but Connie's lack of ethics gives me no choice ...

You can do better, Dale.

I'm beginning to wonder if Dale decides to end things between them in the not-too-distant future because Connie is a bit too much on the wild side for him.

[freeser]

36 minutes ago, DoYouLikeMutton said:

I didn't enjoy any of the story lines in this episode.   

I'm right there with you.   Sheldon was just obnoxious - I know that is just how he is, but seeing him behave like that was not enjoyable to any degree.  And totally unbelievable that Mary would gladly and easily let him stay at the dorm of a couple of days.

I am also tired of the pregnancy story line.  I do not like Georgie's attitude toward the whole thing.  I know it is nice - I guess - that he pays so much attention to Mandy.  But his attention has seemed to have evolved into a kind of 'glee and pride' that she is pregnant with his child.  He seems way too proud of what he has done.  Just icky under the circumstances of being unmarried, 12 years younger than her, totally broke, etc.  

I have read that in upcoming episodes Mandy's parents will be in the story line.  Mandy said before that they had shunned her and wanted nothing to do with her or the baby.  It will be interesting to see what part they play.  Maybe they will somehow take her away and back home with them so the story of her pregnancy will not have to be featured so much.  

Less said about MeeMaw and Coach and the illegal gambling room the better.  Too much is dumb and unbelievable about that entire story line.  

[Bethany]

12 minutes ago, freeser said:

Less said about MeeMaw and Coach and the illegal gambling room the better.  Too much is dumb and unbelievable about that entire story line.  

I'm a little worried that they're setting Connie up to go completely broke.  If she loses her house and whatever savings she has and ends up living with Mary and George that will really be the proverbial last straw for poor old George.

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, greekmom said:

I agree with the poster above that duct taping Sheldon to the wall is long overdue. He deserved it. I honestly thought they were all going to beat the kid up. LOL.

I was not amused by the depiction of abuse, although I preferred it to Dale punching the blackmailer, possibly causing a TBI.
 

Meemaw was wrong to not accept Dale's preference to not be involved in illegal activity, but Dale was stupid to go along with it. Did he really need his money back that badly? How about he and Meemaw go on a Judge Jilly episode? 
 

 

14 hours ago, ams1001 said:

Sure, a college would allow a 12-year-old, who has never actually lived in the dorm (and still doesn't), and has zero inter-personal skills, to be an RA, just because he decided mid-semester that he wants to be. Okay. (At my school there was a whole application and hiring process . . .

13 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Agreed. It's like the President wanted him to be assaulted.

IRL, College President Hagemeyer could be sued for allowing and/or encouraging behavior that resulted in Sheldon's abuse. 
I know it's not the internet age in the show yet, but there could be a polaroid photo or even a CD with pictures of Sheldon duct taped to the wall.


ETA: I just flashed on a series ending shot that would be a take-off on Seinfeld's last episode, only it would be Meemaw, Dale, and Hagemeyer in a jail cell. 
Hopefully Georgie is still a minor.

Edited October 28, 2022 by shapeshifter

[Yeah No]

6 hours ago, Skooma said:

So what?  No one cared about backroom gambling in small towns.  Nor do they now.  It's like being upset because someone smokes pot in some state where it is still illegal or jaywalks.  Some laws are stupid and people ignore them as well they should.  Makes MeeMaw cool to me.

Yeah I'm not on board with the societal shift of applauding people that break laws like that.  And I think equating anything else to that is a false equivalency, especially if you compare today's values in other places to Texas in the '90s.  It was a big enough deal in Texas back then to warrant the cops nosing around and attempting to shut her down.  Her thumbing her nose at that is a lot bigger deal that jaywalking, especially in the early '90s.  If my grandma did stuff like that I'd be embarrassed, plus this is not the first time or the first thing she's done on the show that was a little sketchy.  Those are my values, what can I say? 🤷‍♀️

[Yeah No]

3 hours ago, shura said:

That may be true, but if that's the calculation, then Connie and Dale assaulted the guy and damaged his property for nothing. And if his threat was credible, which Connie thought it was, then what she did still accomplished nothing to protect them from it. I guess the moral of the story is - if you get involved in something illegal, you panic and it snowballs? Connie should probaly hold off on her gambling empire expansion in case the guy does tip off the police somehow. Which means Dale is out of another 20K. He really should start thinking that he can do better.

And the tragedy is that George was so happy when she was happy, and now it's all gone. There is no way he can say no and keep being happy.

I think the more immediate reason for them assaulting the guy and damaging his property was to get away from him, so I don't think that it was for nothing.  Maybe it could have been handled better but it accomplished them getting away from him for the moment, which I think had to happen or else who knows what the guy would have done to them?  If they refused to pay him he could have caused them harm or at the very least continued to follow them, so beating him to the "punch" as it were (pun intended, LOL) was probably the best thing to do at the time.

I think we'll have to see how much the guy knows about them before it becomes clear whether Connie and Dale are still going to be harassed by him.  It was an all-cash transaction and hopefully she was smart enough not to give him her listed phone number or her full name that he could trace to her house if he looked in the right phone book.  As most people on this thread are probably old enough to remember, back then people didn't have the access to public records on the internet that we have now to find out a lot of the information we have at our fingertips today.  I don't even think we had caller ID back then - that came out in the late '90s.

Edited October 28, 2022 by Yeah No

[BitterApple]

One thing I forgot to mention, has anyone else noticed Iain seems to struggle with his words as his voice is deepening? It's like he's talking with a mouthful of marbles. I've picked up on it since the beginning of the season but it was really noticeable last night. 

[Yeah No]

7 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

One thing I forgot to mention, has anyone else noticed Iain seems to struggle with his words as his voice is deepening? It's like he's talking with a mouthful of marbles. I've picked up on it since the beginning of the season but it was really noticeable last night. 

I noticed it.  My theory is that he's trying to sound more like adult Sheldon and he's struggling a little to achieve that with his "new" voice.

[Sarah 103]

14 hours ago, Elizabeth Anne said:

they had horny Mary and George freaking out poor Missy with their antics. 

Mary and George were trying to be responsible about it. They are a married couple. They are allowed to hug and kiss in front of thier kids. Also, they kept the more intimate activities confined to the bedroom with the door closed, and at times when Missy was out of the house or supposed to be out of the house. Young teenagers are often grossed out by the idea of thier parents having sex, but that's something Missy has to deal with it. I have no problem with what Mary and George did.

2 hours ago, AD35 said:

I'm beginning to wonder if Dale decides to end things between them in the not-too-distant future because Connie is a bit too much on the wild side for him.

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Meemaw was wrong to not accept Dale's preference to not be involved in illegal activity, but Dale was stupid to go along with it. Did he really need his money back that badly? How about he and Meemaw go on a Judge Jilly episode? 

I agree. These two people should not be a relationship. They want different things and that's okay, but they should realize that. Dale needs to learn how to say no and not let Connie talk him into things. 

Making Sheldon the RA was the dumbest thing this series has done so far. Even the set-up was stupid, because Sheldon would have had 8 AM classes all semester. He is on a very regular schedule. For this incredibly stupid plotline to get rolling, they would have needed to start it with Sheldon being on campus late the night before for an event, or he found out about an 8 AM event and wanted to attend. 

Maybe Sheldon keeps a set of clothes in his dorm in case of emergency. 

[shura]

1 hour ago, Yeah No said:

It was a big enough deal in Texas back then to warrant the cops nosing around and attempting to shut her down.  Her thumbing her nose at that is a lot bigger deal that jaywalking, especially in the early '90s.

Well, in the world of the show, the chief did tell her that normally they do look the other way, but he was running for sheriff and needed to demonstrate accomplishments. And she reopened and is operating under the brilliant legal theory that playing for teddy bears and getting cash for them is somehow not the same as gambling for cash. I think the police can easily shut her down again at any moment, but they aren’t.

Is it actually possible to duct tape a person to the wall like that? Will it hold a kid of a hundred pounds or so?

[Bethany]

32 minutes ago, Sarah 103 said:

I have no problem with what Mary and George did.

My issue isn't what they were doing, it's that it wasn't funny.  On a sitcom I expect to laugh a little and the writers were definitely going for the "let's freak Missy out" scenario to bring on the chuckles.  Once would have been fine but by this episode, for me at least, the pitcher went to the well once too often.

[Sarah 103]

33 minutes ago, shura said:

Well, in the world of the show, the chief did tell her that normally they do look the other way, but he was running for sheriff and needed to demonstrate accomplishments. And she reopened and is operating under the brilliant legal theory that playing for teddy bears and getting cash for them is somehow not the same as gambling for cash. I think the police can easily shut her down again at any moment, but they aren’t.

I'm guessing she is paying them off on a regular basis, which for the most part means they leave her alone, but during election season they need accomplishments/to look they are doing something and doing it well, so there are raids. 

[snarkylady]

This may have been the worst episode ever.  Nothing good here at all and I regret watching.  I admit Sheldon was obnoxious but I don't see taping someone to a wall the least bit justifiable or humorous. 

[proserpina65]

8 hours ago, greekmom said:

(I honestly wonder how the church accepts her back in

Maybe she eventually finds a new one?

5 hours ago, BitterApple said:

Mary and George Sr.'s constant sexy times is starting to gross me out.

Doesn't seem like you're going to have to worry about it anymore.

2 hours ago, Sarah 103 said:

Mary and George were trying to be responsible about it. They are a married couple. They are allowed to hug and kiss in front of thier kids. Also, they kept the more intimate activities confined to the bedroom with the door closed, and at times when Missy was out of the house or supposed to be out of the house. Young teenagers are often grossed out by the idea of thier parents having sex, but that's something Missy has to deal with it. I have no problem with what Mary and George did.

Agreed.  They were actually being adult about it.  But I get Missy's reaction - the knowledge that my parents had sex (my bedroom shared a wall with theirs) totally grossed me out when I was a teenager.  Pretty much still does.

1 hour ago, Elizabeth Anne said:

My issue isn't what they were doing, it's that it wasn't funny.  On a sitcom I expect to laugh a little and the writers were definitely going for the "let's freak Missy out" scenario to bring on the chuckles.  Once would have been fine but by this episode, for me at least, the pitcher went to the well once too often.

I found her reaction amusing.  Probably because it reminded me of mine.  But otherwise this was a lackluster episode.

10 minutes ago, snarkylady said:

I admit Sheldon was obnoxious but I don't see taping someone to a wall the least bit justifiable or humorous. 

I do when it's fictional characters.

[Bethany]

14 minutes ago, snarkylady said:

This may have been the worst episode ever.  Nothing good here at all and I regret watching.  I admit Sheldon was obnoxious but I don't see taping someone to a wall the least bit justifiable or humorous. 

What bothered me was that the President of the university had to know that Sheldon's obnoxious behavior was going to backfire on him.  She couldn't have foreseen duct taping him to the wall but she had to know something was going to happen.  He's 12.  I don't care how snotty he is he's being thrown to the wolves here and it's not funny.

[Katy M]

17 hours ago, UncleChuck said:

If you think Sheldon was a tough R.A., consider this:

My first college year (about a hundred years ago) I attended a Catholic men's only college that was connected to a Monastery.  Each floor in our dorm had a resident Catholic priest living among us.  I'd take Sheldon anytime over Father Zachary!

TBH, that dorm seemed way out of control.  At my school we had an RA on each hall, but we had an adult resident director in ech dorm.  That level of out of control would never have happened.  10:00 is early to be going to bed in college, but I think our quiet hours started at 8 or 9.  

[proserpina65]

Just now, Katy M said:

TBH, that dorm seemed way out of control.  At my school we had an RA on each hall, but we had an adult resident director in ech dorm.  That level of out of control would never have happened.  10:00 is early to be going to bed in college, but I think our quiet hours started at 8 or 9.  

Ours started at 11pm.

[Yeah No]

2 hours ago, shura said:

Is it actually possible to duct tape a person to the wall like that? Will it hold a kid of a hundred pounds or so?

It can and will actually hold an adult.  Thanks to Google Images there are many photos of this online here.

[Skooma]

6 hours ago, ChitChat said:

If you lived where I live, you'd know how big a deal it is!!  I'm in a non-gambling/lottery state and businesses that run stuff like this do get raided!  Connie is taking a risk by running an illegal gambling site.  The guy that Dale hit might just get some of his pals involved in searching for them to even the score. 

Only if the sitcom writers decide to do that.  These are fictional characters on a comedy show and it is pretty funny that MeeMaw is running a backroom gambling parlor to me.

31 minutes ago, Elizabeth Anne said:

What bothered me was that the President of the university had to know that Sheldon's obnoxious behavior was going to backfire on him.  She couldn't have foreseen duct taping him to the wall but she had to know something was going to happen.  He's 12.  I don't care how snotty he is he's being thrown to the wolves here and it's not funny.

Again, a fictional character and one, along with his fictional friends on BBT, who would talk about being stuffed in lockers and such.  He has to get his creds for his future proud nerdhood from somewhere.  And the duct taping job was a work of art besides.  Kind of something you'd see in some modern art exhibition these days.

[possibilities]

I would never have acted the way Sheldon did, and I would certainly have known I wouldn't get away with it if I tried, but I hated dorm life because it was actually a terrible place to study or sleep, which is what I thought your residence was supposed to be for, in college. So I was sympathetic to his frustration, even though I also think he's completely obnoxious and out of touch with reality in a lot of ways. They haven't shown him to get a clue at all and I don't enjoy seeing him mocked and bullied for what appears to be a complete incapacity to learn in this area of life.

The dean or president or whoever she is could have just told him no, leave my office, sleep at home if you don't like the dorm conditions. Even Mary hung up on him when he didn't respect her shutting down the conversation. If the university wants to have him as a student, they are obligated to educate him, and I'd think it would be beneficial to their rep if they graduate him somewhat in touch with how social norms work, since it seems they want him to be a prestige graduate and not an embarrassment to their reputation.

Why yes, I'm taking this too seriously and I know it's "just a sitcom". But it's too much. The normalizing of obnoxious behavior, inability for even adults to deal with it in children, and the result being bullying as social justice? It's a problem in our society that episodes like this only make worse, and it just escalates and escalates until you have more and more public violence because people never get checked before it's too late, and nobody has the skills to stop things before they spiral out.

[Yeah No]

41 minutes ago, Katy M said:

TBH, that dorm seemed way out of control.  At my school we had an RA on each hall, but we had an adult resident director in ech dorm.  That level of out of control would never have happened.  10:00 is early to be going to bed in college, but I think our quiet hours started at 8 or 9.  

That dorm did seem way out of control, at least for a school like this one that isn't being portrayed as a "party school" as we used to call them.  I remember visiting a couple of New York State "SUNY" colleges that had party school reputations, though, and they were as bad or worse than that!

56 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

Agreed.  They were actually being adult about it.  But I get Missy's reaction - the knowledge that my parents had sex (my bedroom shared a wall with theirs) totally grossed me out when I was a teenager.  Pretty much still does.

Yeah, me too and me too.  It was tough for my parents because they both worked and the only time they had alone was when I was home or the odd time I was over at someone's house for a sleepover.  And we lived in a 900 square foot 2 bedroom 1 bath apartment.

51 minutes ago, Elizabeth Anne said:

What bothered me was that the President of the university had to know that Sheldon's obnoxious behavior was going to backfire on him.  She couldn't have foreseen duct taping him to the wall but she had to know something was going to happen.  He's 12.  I don't care how snotty he is he's being thrown to the wolves here and it's not funny.

I think that was intentional.  She puts up with Sheldon but I can see her taking the opportunity to do something mean to him under the guise of giving him what he wants, and I agree that it was stupid and not funny.

3 hours ago, shura said:

Well, in the world of the show, the chief did tell her that normally they do look the other way, but he was running for sheriff and needed to demonstrate accomplishments. And she reopened and is operating under the brilliant legal theory that playing for teddy bears and getting cash for them is somehow not the same as gambling for cash. I think the police can easily shut her down again at any moment, but they aren’t.

True although I think all it would take is for this to get the wrong kind of press and then they'd suddenly shut her down if a certain segment of the population disapproved of it and didn't want it in their town.

Edited October 28, 2022 by Yeah No