S07.E11: A Little Snip And Teaching Old Dogs

[DanaK]

Quote

George Sr. is worried that Mary wants another baby and gets a vasectomy behind her back. Meanwhile, Drs. Linkletter and Sturgis go to Sheldon for science tutoring, on YOUNG SHELDON, Thursday, May 9 (8:00-8:31 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+

1st of 2 episodes for May 9

[ItCouldBeWorse]

I like the 2nd part of the synopsis. . . .

[SoMuchTV]

Well, after seeing the following episode, in retrospect this one felt like filler.  Still, I’m reasonably optimistic they can pull it all together in the final two. 

[ams1001]

8 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

Well, after seeing the following episode, in retrospect this one felt like filler.  Still, I’m reasonably optimistic they can pull it all together in the final two. 

Right? I don't even know what to say about this one.

Sheldon employing his tutor's methods was funny.

[appositival]

I loved the scene with Tam. I think Sheldon has become a little more considerate, but he returned to his egotistical roots when talking to his childhood 'friend'.

Does anyone have a clue what President Hagemeyer is waiting for?

I'm glad profs Sturges and Linkletter were able to understand the new theories.

[highway61]

47 minutes ago, appositival said:

I loved the scene with Tam. I think Sheldon has become a little more considerate, but he returned to his egotistical roots when talking to his childhood 'friend'.

It was good to see all the old High School characters (except Danielle Pinnock!) back, and not for the reasons in Pt 2. 

But wow, Sheldon really was a jerk to Tam.

[Spartan Girl]

Oh, we had a desperate thread for this episode? Alrighty then.

I don’t blame George for getting a secret vasectomy. Before she finally came to her senses, Mary was clearly back on wanting another baby, and it wouldn’t have shocked me with all her “accident” talk if she was thinking about messing with her birth control. Just saying…

Wayne, as I recall, your now-ex wife kept several big secrets from you. So maybe lay off George’s less-than-perfect husbandry since clearly being a great husband didn’t work out so well for you.

[proserpina65]

3 hours ago, appositival said:

Does anyone have a clue what President Hagemeyer is waiting for?

The day Sheldon leaves and she doesn't have to deal with him anymore.

This episode definitely felt like a filler to me.  I really wish they had more episodes for the final season.  There's so many threads I think needed woven back into the main picture and there wasn't enough time to do them all justice.

Edited May 10 by proserpina65

[freeser]

17 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

This episode definitely felt like a filler to me.  I really wish they had more episodes for the final season.  There's so many threads I think needed woven back into the main picture and there wasn't enough time to do them all justice.

Unless it is discovered that the vasectomy had something to do with George's health and ultimate death, this was a very strange and unnecessary detour for the show to take.  I agree with others that there are so many other story lines that I would like to see wrapped up.  It also was unrealistic that George would be able to just take the appointment of someone who decided against his vasectomy without any previous health check up or tests, etc.  

[rmontro]

Getting a vasectomy behind your wife's back seems like a pretty sneaky thing to do.  They put a lot of effort into retconning George into a human but not that bad of a guy after all, so it seems strange they throw this in here at the last minute.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, rmontro said:

Getting a vasectomy behind your wife's back seems like a pretty sneaky thing to do.  They put a lot of effort into retconning George into a human but not that bad of a guy after all, so it seems strange they throw this in here at the last minute.

It does seem like it's not there for nothing. 
Maybe we'll find out Mary was already pregnant? 

[SoMuchTV]

17 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

It does seem like it's not there for nothing. 
Maybe we'll find out Mary was already pregnant? 

I was thinking about that too, but I don’t think another sibling was mentioned anywhere in TBBT canon, and I can’t imagine them throwing in a miscarriage on top of everything else in the last two episodes. I want to trust they’ll make it (the vasectomy) make sense. We’ll see, I suppose. 

[chitowngirl]

Plus we already had Mary have a pregnancy loss a few seasons ago….

[Dimity]

The vasectomy story was pointless and for me just served as a way to have two of the cast from earlier seasons show up - the principal and the assistant coach. I've noticed this episode and a few others this season have done this.

 

Edited May 11 by Dimity

[shapeshifter]

21 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

It does seem like it's not there for nothing. 
Maybe we'll find out Mary was already pregnant? 

20 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

I was thinking about that too, but I don’t think another sibling was mentioned anywhere in TBBT canon, and I can’t imagine them throwing in a miscarriage on top of everything else in the last two episodes. I want to trust they’ll make it (the vasectomy) make sense. We’ll see, I suppose. 

Maybe it will just be Mary saying

Spoiler

she's glad they didn't get pregnant right before George died and/or she'll also sort of wish she had, and then find out about the vasectomy and reach some conclusion.🤷🏻‍♀️

 

[Katy M]

On 5/10/2024 at 9:02 AM, Spartan Girl said:

don’t blame George for getting a secret vasectomy. Before she finally came to her senses, Mary was clearly back on wanting another baby, and it wouldn’t have shocked me with all her “accident” talk if she was thinking about messing with her birth control. Just saying…

So, you don't blame George for a secret vasectomy, but you do blame Mary for secretly messing with her birth control (which she didn't actually do)?  

[Spartan Girl]

13 minutes ago, Katy M said:

So, you don't blame George for a secret vasectomy, but you do blame Mary for secretly messing with her birth control (which she didn't actually do)?  

No, I’m saying that Mary was irrational for wanting another baby when they clearly can’t afford one just because she has empty nest syndrome. And she did bring it up before last season right when their family was going through all that crap and just like now she only wanted one because she felt purposeless without the church.

I’m glad she saw sense in the end, but still.

[Dimity]

1 hour ago, Spartan Girl said:

No, I’m saying that Mary was irrational for wanting another baby when they clearly can’t afford one just because she has empty nest syndrome.

In this specific episode I felt George was the one being irrational.  In the earlier episode Mary clearly wanted another baby, in this one she was wistful but within a very short space of time (2-3 days?) she had realized that there was no way she could cope with a baby full-time.

That whole side story just seemed so random.  As someone mentioned upthread it seemed to be more a way to give Lance Barber one last story that focused on him.  Well that and every Chuck Lorre show, sooner or later, has to have a vasectomy story.

[Spartan Girl]

4 minutes ago, Dimity said:

In this specific episode I felt George was the one being irrational.  In the earlier episode Mary clearly wanted another baby, in this one she was wistful but within a very short space of time (2-3 days?) she had realized that there was no way she could cope with a baby full-time.

That whole side story just seemed so random.  As someone mentioned upthread it seemed to be more a way to give Lance Barber one last story that focused on him.  Well that and every Chuck Lorre show, sooner or later, has to have a vasectomy story.

Fair point.

[Dimity]

Just now, Spartan Girl said:

Fair point.

I just wish instead they had done something where George was with Missy.  We had the earlier episode where George had travelled to Boston with Sheldon to check out MIT (well almost check out MIT) and then we had George have a nice chat with Georgie about adult responsibilities but I don't think we see any connecting with Missy in these last few episodes.  Missed opportunity I feel.  But maybe that was a deliberate choice on the part of the powers that be?

[ams1001]

27 minutes ago, Dimity said:

I just wish instead they had done something where George was with Missy.  We had the earlier episode where George had travelled to Boston with Sheldon to check out MIT (well almost check out MIT) and then we had George have a nice chat with Georgie about adult responsibilities but I don't think we see any connecting with Missy in these last few episodes.  Missed opportunity I feel.  But maybe that was a deliberate choice on the part of the powers that be?

Maybe that's a factor in why she seems to have problems with relationships later in life...

[januaryman]

Sheldon's phone call to Meemaw was the funniest thing here.

[proserpina65]

On 5/12/2024 at 8:57 AM, Katy M said:

So, you don't blame George for a secret vasectomy, but you do blame Mary for secretly messing with her birth control (which she didn't actually do)?  

I don't blame George for getting a secret vasectomy any more than I'd blame any man who didn't want an "oops" baby.  Because birth control can fail, even if no one is messing with it.  I also wouldn't blame Mary if she had decided to secretly get her tubes tied for the same reason.  Not that she would, or that hiding it would be practical.  And to be fair to Mary, I certainly didn't think she'd mess with birth control to have a pretend "oops" pregnancy, however much she might've briefly entertained the idea of another baby.

[BMGepinniw]

On 5/10/2024 at 7:36 AM, highway61 said:

It was good to see all the old High School characters (except Danielle Pinnock!) back, and not for the reasons in Pt 2. 

But wow, Sheldon really was a jerk to Tam.

Yes, Sheldon was sure terrible to Tam.  He's morphing into his "adult Sheldon" full force lately.

Sorry, but I don't completely understand your first comment about the High School characters.  🤔

[ams1001]

2 hours ago, BMGepinniw said:

Sorry, but I don't completely understand your first comment about the High School characters.  🤔

I assume they meant the science teacher, librarian, etc (don't remember if there were others). 

[highway61]

On 5/15/2024 at 6:07 PM, ams1001 said:

I assume they meant the science teacher, librarian, etc (don't remember if there were others). 

Yep, exactly - good to see all the teachers one more time, and not just as extras at the funeral!

 

[anna0852]

On 5/14/2024 at 12:42 PM, proserpina65 said:

I don't blame George for getting a secret vasectomy any more than I'd blame any man who didn't want an "oops" baby.  Because birth control can fail, even if no one is messing with it. 

And that is a lesson George has already learned the hard way. They’ve had at least two reproductive mishaps. Neither Georgie nor the miscarriage from a couple of seasons ago were planned. No idea about the twins, but clearly they weren’t planning on that pregnancy *being* twins. And you have to think of the back of his mind there’s always the risk they end up with another Sheldon. And I feel like one of those is enough.

If he is 100% done with babies then good for him for taking steps to make sure they don’t accidentally create any humans.

[Dimity]

Whether George was right or wrong to have the vasectomy (and I can go either way on this one) the thing for me is WHY?  With so few shows to go before the finale I will always wonder why they bothered with this storyline?  It was ultimately so pointless - partly as within a few days Mary herself had realized she didn't want any more babies - but mainly, of course, because George had so little time left.  Aside from bringing back a few characters from the high school that we hadn't seen in awhile it just seemed to me that there were other stories they could have pursued given the time frame.