S11.E23: The Sibling Realignment

[Quof]

Did no one else catch the grammar error?  I forget exactly what it was, but Sheldon said "Georgie and I" when it should have been "'Georgie and me" - subject vs. object.   Sheldon would have never made that mistake. Lazy writers. 

[Yeah No]

51 minutes ago, Quof said:

Did no one else catch the grammar error?  I forget exactly what it was, but Sheldon said "Georgie and I" when it should have been "'Georgie and me" - subject vs. object.   Sheldon would have never made that mistake. Lazy writers. 

I'm convinced that no one knows how to use the English language properly anymore, especially on TV.  I've given up on it.  They consistently use "I" when they should use "me" and vice versa.  It's such a simple rule, too!

[Quof]

They think "I" = smarter.

[stan4]

On 5/3/2018 at 7:31 PM, ams1001 said:

I have a hard time believing that Mary Cooper wouldn't go to Sheldon's wedding. 

So is the pediatrician going to prescribe medicine for the adults who aren't his patients? If Amy needed to know what kind of pinkeye it was, why not go to her own doctor as soon as the symptoms started? (I know, because that would make sense and we can't have that on a sitcom.)

Does the whole city of Pasadena have pinkeye?

Everything medical they said about that pink eye was wrong.

 

So we have to move on.

[Katy M]

13 minutes ago, stan4 said:

Everything medical they said about that pink eye was wrong.

 

So we have to move on.

All I remember them saying was that it was contagious and that there were viral and bacterial types.  So, not everything was wrong.

[Crs97]

I had a real problem with Mary giving Sheldon that ultimatum, and I would argue that once Sheldon invited him his obligation was met.

[BlossomCulp]

What was wrong about what they said about pinkeye, it made sense to me and I  guess that's all the writers care about!

9 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

I had a real problem with Mary giving Sheldon that ultimatum, and I would argue that once Sheldon invited him his obligation was met.

I really have to watch this episode again because I totally agree, I didn't blame Mary for wanting Sheldon to invite his brother but how can she really expect him to force Georgie to attend?

[Katy M]

35 minutes ago, BlossomCulp said:

I really have to watch this episode again because I totally agree, I didn't blame Mary for wanting Sheldon to invite his brother but how can she really expect him to force Georgie to attend?

I think she would have come whether or not Georgie came and whether or not Sheldon invited him.  But, I think she really wanted them to make amends and this was a good occasion.  Parents of children who aren't close and are their children's only link tend to worry when they start getting older.  They know they're not going to be around forever and they don't their kids to forever lose touch after the funeral.  

[anna0852]

1 hour ago, Crs97 said:

I had a real problem with Mary giving Sheldon that ultimatum, and I would argue that once Sheldon invited him his obligation was met.

I agree. I can see Mary insisting that Sheldon at least invite Georgie. But holding *Sheldon* accountable for *Georgie's* decision to attend wasn't cool. And threatening not to come to the wedding was emotional blackmail on her part. The estrangement was on both sides. Sheldon and Georgie have been mutually not speaking for a decade, this wasn't just Sheldon being Sheldon.

As a watcher of Young Sheldon, I'm delighted that Georgie turned out so successful. The 14-year-old version catches more crap than he should from his parents and Memaw. I'm glad he turned out well.

I'd love to see Beverly compliment Mary on that manuever in a future episode and have Mary horrified that she's done something that Beverly would approve of.

[CherryAmes]

41 minutes ago, Katy M said:

They know they're not going to be around forever and they don't their kids to forever lose touch after the funeral.

Given the way all the sibling relationships have been presented on BBT the only siblings I can think of who seem close at all are Penny and her brother!  Bernadette seems to have a very distant relationship with her siblings, Leonard never sees his brother and sister that we know of and Sheldon is close enough to his sister that he did go home for the birth of her child but you do wonder if Mary wasn't in the picture if the siblings would stay in much contact ongoing. 

That said the sibling relationship I find oddest is Bernadette.  The others can be excused to some degree by geography.  As far as we know all Bernadette's siblings live in California and yet there is no contact that we are ever told about and the few references we have to her siblings makes it sound like she resents them and if she doesn't actually dislike them she certainly has no strong love or family feeling for them.  

Edited May 5, 2018 by CherryAmes

[MissLucas]

It's weird that we have never met Leonard's or Bernadette's siblings yet we've met Howard's half-brother (never to be heard of again).

[ams1001]

1 hour ago, Crs97 said:

I had a real problem with Mary giving Sheldon that ultimatum, and I would argue that once Sheldon invited him his obligation was met.

I agree. Sheldon invited him; if he says no that's on Georgie.

 

51 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I think she would have come whether or not Georgie came and whether or not Sheldon invited him.  But, I think she really wanted them to make amends and this was a good occasion.  Parents of children who aren't close and are their children's only link tend to worry when they start getting older.  They know they're not going to be around forever and they don't their kids to forever lose touch after the funeral.  

I can see that. I wonder about me and my brother sometimes. We're not on bad terms at all, but we're not close, either. We mostly see each other at our parents' house or other family functions. The last time we went out just the two of us was when he took me to dinner for my birthday a year and a half ago, and that was because my parents were out of town (if they had been home we would all have gone out).

 

16 minutes ago, anna0852 said:

I'd love to see Beverly compliment Mary on that manuever in a future episode and have Mary horrified that she's done something that Beverly would approve of.

That would be great. I can totally see Sheldon talking to Beverly about it, too.

 

13 minutes ago, CherryAmes said:

That said the sibling relationship I find oddest is Bernadette.  The others can be excused to some degree by geography.  As far as we know all Bernadette's siblings live in California and yet there is no contact that we are ever told about and the few references we have to her siblings makes it sound like she resents them and if she doesn't actually dislike them she certainly has no strong love or family feeling for them.  

They seem to forget that Bernadette is even supposed to have siblings sometimes.

[Bort]

1 hour ago, Crs97 said:

I had a real problem with Mary giving Sheldon that ultimatum, and I would argue that once Sheldon invited him his obligation was met.

The problem was that Sheldon had originally NOT invited Georgie. And if he had, Georgie would’ve accepted and gone to the wedding. By pointedly not inviting him, Mary said she wouldn’t go if he didn’t. Georgie was saying no to the later invite because he knew this was the case. 

So none of this was on Mary or Georgie, Sheldon brought it all on by being his usual self. Sure, Georgie could’ve made it easier by just accepting the invite but I would imagine that he’s grown tired of a lifetime of making things easier for Sheldon. 

[CherryAmes]

56 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

The problem was that Sheldon had originally NOT invited Georgie. And if he had, Georgie would’ve accepted and gone to the wedding. By pointedly not inviting him, Mary said she wouldn’t go if he didn’t. Georgie was saying no to the later invite because he knew this was the case. 

So none of this was on Mary or Georgie, Sheldon brought it all on by being his usual self. Sure, Georgie could’ve made it easier by just accepting the invite but I would imagine that he’s grown tired of a lifetime of making things easier for Sheldon. 

I missed this completely!  I really have to watch this episode again I didn't catch at all that Georgie was ever prepared to go to the wedding!  I thought the brothers not talking was a mutual thing and that Georgie was just as at fault as Sheldon in this.  

[jumper sage]

On 5/3/2018 at 11:39 PM, chocolatine said:

Wasn't Georgie in the running for Sheldon's best man? How does Sheldon go from that to not inviting him at all?

This! I hope that if Sheldon ever makes another reference to what an idiot and/or loser Georgie is, Leonard will check him and tell everyone that Georgie is a successful businessman. Sheldon's disdain for everyone who isn't smart and accomplished in the exact same way that he is has gotten really old.

It just follows what we know of Sheldon who thinks he is ALWAYS THE SMARTEST PERSON IN THE ROOM.  He rags on Howard and Leonard all the time.  Sheldon not being able to live without people who practically carry him everywhere is of no concern to Sheldon.

[jumper sage]

1 hour ago, ams1001 said:

I can see that. I wonder about me and my brother sometimes. We're not on bad terms at all, but we're not close, either. We mostly see each other at our parents' house or other family functions.

That will change.  I hate to say it but I have lived it.  When our parents passed away it really jolted us.  We were the old guard.  We had to come together to make arrangements, settle the estate, sell the house..............I do think eldest children are raised to take the reins as my brother just stepped into the role and would always consult us for our vote but mainly he made all the right choices.  I can remember him, just hours after our mom died, handing us boxes of Kleenex and telling us to get in our cars and quickly drive to different institutions to close out all the accounts.  Our mother had split her various accounts up 3 ways and had 2 names on each account.  He told us, "Cry in the car, don't get into an accident, meet back here as quickly as you can".  Since then we have never let a quarrel cross the line.  We have made more of an effort to be together and to have all the kids together too.  We have grown very close.  It seems that once you realize that you and your siblings are all that's left it changes you.  Instead of Nana passing on the recipes, the culture and the stories you will have to.

2 hours ago, anna0852 said:

As a watcher of Young Sheldon, I'm delighted that Georgie turned out so successful. The 14-year-old version catches more crap than he should from his parents and Memaw. I'm glad he turned out well.

I think what we are seeing on the show is the words I highlighted, 14-year-old boy.  I work with them and they can be asses.  9 year olds are much cuter.

[ams1001]

3 minutes ago, jumper sage said:

That will change.  I hate to say it but I have lived it.  When our parents passed away it really jolted us.  We were the old guard.  We had to come together to make arrangements, settle the estate, sell the house..............I do think eldest children are raised to take the reins as my brother just stepped into the role and would always consult us for our vote but mainly he made all the right choices.  I can remember him, just hours after our mom died, handing us boxes of Kleenex and telling us to get in our cars and quickly drive to different institutions to close out all the accounts.  Our mother had split her various accounts up 3 ways and had 2 names on each account.  He told us, "Cry in the car, don't get into an accident, meet back here as quickly as you can".  Since then we have never let a quarrel cross the line.  We have made more of an effort to be together and to have all the kids together too.  We have grown very close.  It seems that once you realize that you and your siblings are all that's left it changes you.  Instead of Nana passing on the recipes, the culture and the stories you will have to.

I think what we are seeing on the show is the words I highlighted, 14-year-old boy.  I work with them and they can be asses.  9 year olds are much cuter.

Thanks for saying that. He's the older one; he is also executor of my parents' wills when the time comes. I don't see us fighting over stuff; we just generally don't talk a lot for some reason (goes way back to around middle school; stuff happened and I guess we just kind of don't know how to relate to each other. Which is weird, when I think about it, because I think we actually have a lot in common). Today is also a year since my cousin died so this sort of stuff is on my mind. His brother now gets to deal with everything (their elderly father, and his own ex-wife died in December so he had to deal with her stuff, too) on his own, now.

I wonder who Mary would leave in charge of her estate. I can't see Sheldon being fair to his siblings if her will doesn't make things extremely clear on who gets what. On the other hand, he doesn't care much about money so that might not be an issue. Maybe more sentimental stuff, though. (I'd guess probably Georgie, though, since he's the oldest.)

[Lovecat]

56 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

Thanks for saying that. He's the older one; he is also executor of my parents' wills when the time comes. I don't see us fighting over stuff; we just generally don't talk a lot for some reason (goes way back to around middle school; stuff happened and I guess we just kind of don't know how to relate to each other. Which is weird, when I think about it, because I think we actually have a lot in common). Today is also a year since my cousin died so this sort of stuff is on my mind. His brother now gets to deal with everything (their elderly father, and his own ex-wife died in December so he had to deal with her stuff, too) on his own, now.

I wonder who Mary would leave in charge of her estate. I can't see Sheldon being fair to his siblings if her will doesn't make things extremely clear on who gets what. On the other hand, he doesn't care much about money so that might not be an issue. Maybe more sentimental stuff, though. (I'd guess probably Georgie, though, since he's the oldest.)

Well we first met Missy when she brought Sheldon some papers pertaining to their father’s estate (though why would there still be legal matters pending so many years later?...details ::handwave::), so at least in that iteration of the BBT universe, she’s grown up to be at least a little responsible.  Let’s see how much she’s retconned next week when she shows up for the wedding.

[kili]

Quote

I had a real problem with Mary giving Sheldon that ultimatum, and I would argue that once Sheldon invited him his obligation was met.

I suspect that she wanted Sheldon to make an earnest effort in asking. Sheldon isn't above giving a non-inviting invitation if all that was required of him was to invite George (he wrote the book on technicalities).  Mary wanted him to give his brother a real invitation. Mary would not have missed Sheldon's wedding if he honestly tried and still failed. I think she was pretty sure that it wouldn't be too hard to get George to come to the wedding.

[ams1001]

11 minutes ago, Lovecat said:

Well we first met Missy when she brought Sheldon some papers pertaining to their father’s estate (though why would there still be legal matters pending so many years later?...details ::handwave::), so at least in that iteration of the BBT universe, she’s grown up to be at least a little responsible.  Let’s see how much she’s retconned next week when she shows up for the wedding.

That's right! I forgot all about that! Do we even know what Missy does for a living?

[Sarah 103]

22 hours ago, MissLucas said:

 However I thought it weird that a microbiologist and a neuroscientist (both with access to a lab) were not able to clear the viral/bacterial question on their own. I also expected the company Penny and Bernadette were working for having some experimental treatment at hand. (Of course my degrees are all in dratted humanities so what do I know?)

19 hours ago, LoneHaranguer said:

Considering what Bernadette has said about the company;s products, I'd hate to think what side effects the experimental ones might have

Virtual wave to someone else (@MissLucas) with humanities degrees. I don't know that much about science but I do know the rules/tropes/conventions/plot lines of sitcoms and expirimental treatment is potential comedy gold. It's a different variation of the product that a kid is selling which goes horribly wrong, or the person in advertising/marketing with a product that goes horribly wrong.

Edited May 5, 2018 by Sarah 103

[CherryAmes]

56 minutes ago, Lovecat said:

Well we first met Missy when she brought Sheldon some papers pertaining to their father’s estate (though why would there still be legal matters pending so many years later?...details ::handwave::),

When we meet Missie I don't remember if they have specified when George died but in an episode later than that one there were references to him still being alive when Sheldon was 16 and a visiting professor in Germany.  So the George dying when Sheldon and Missie are 14 is a later decision made by the writers.

 

46 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

Do we even know what Missy does for a living?

At some point or another Sheldon says something about her being a hostess at Fuddruckers (or some similar name) I can't recall now when that came up.

[3 is enough]

In all fairness to Sheldon, if Mary has a will, and Sheldon is executor he will follow the will to the letter.

[ams1001]

13 minutes ago, 3 is enough said:

In all fairness to Sheldon, if Mary has a will, and Sheldon is executor he will follow the will to the letter.

That's true. If she left any ambiguities, though, he wouldn't do so well.

[AuntieL]

1 hour ago, Lovecat said:

Well we first met Missy when she brought Sheldon some papers pertaining to their father’s estate (though why would there still be legal matters pending so many years later?...details ::handwave::), so at least in that iteration of the BBT universe, she’s grown up to be at least a little responsible.  Let’s see how much she’s retconned next week when she shows up for the wedding.

Speaking of retcon- all of the references to Missy being dumb (especially by Mary) never jived with what I remembered her in her one appearance.  She seemed perfectly normal and even intelligent. As for his Dad's estate, I suspect the writers hadn't decided at that point when Sheldon's Dad died but I can assume that George had life insurance through the school, some of which went to the kids in trust until they reached a certain age.  

[Mystery]

10 hours ago, Quof said:

Did no one else catch the grammar error?  I forget exactly what it was, but Sheldon said "Georgie and I" when it should have been "'Georgie and me" - subject vs. object.   Sheldon would have never made that mistake. Lazy writers. 

I remember Chuck Lorre getting it wrong on a vanity card fairly recently, so I think it's a blind spot for him and the creators. 

[Edmond83]

33 minutes ago, AuntieL said:

Speaking of retcon- all of the references to Missy being dumb (especially by Mary) never jived with what I remembered her in her one appearance.  She seemed perfectly normal and even intelligent. As for his Dad's estate, I suspect the writers hadn't decided at that point when Sheldon's Dad died but I can assume that George had life insurance through the school, some of which went to the kids in trust until they reached a certain age.  

But that could just be that compared to Sheldon they are seen as way less intelligent.

Honestly neither Georgie or Missy the time I saw her came across as dumb at all, certainly not how Sheldon described them. I think it's because of the other show in all honestly, they are retconning 11 years of TBBT and things that have been said to make the two programs set in the same universe more in line. And you will only see more of that...

[CherryAmes]

I don't think it's a stretch to think that Sheldon genuinely believes Missy and Georgie are dumb - he thinks medical school is a trade school and he certainly has no use for Howard's engineering degree and even Leonard who is a phd in Physics he has encouraged to start over and teach high school history.  The problem is that everything we've heard from Mary about her two other kids makes them sound "dumb as soup" and so on.  I totally get that the writers decided to change this but it's also not like Mary's comments were only from the first season, until very recently they were still going with the other two kids being stupid schtick.  Still I'm glad they changed it up with Georgie in this episode and I hope they do the same thing with Missy next week.

Edited May 5, 2018 by CherryAmes

[LoneHaranguer]

19 hours ago, BlossomCulp said:

He started university at 11, the people making the decisions would have been George and Mary.  And street smarts or no I think even at 11 Sheldon would have a very good idea of what he was worth!

Sheldon may have cared more about the facilities, and didn't really question how much of his expenses wouldn't actually be covered. His parents would have bent to his wishes as they always did when possible. Back then, schools could be downright dishonest in saying what their tuition was, hiding the rest in a lengthly list of fees, so "free tuition and room" might not have meant that much. I don't see him going off campus for meals, so he'd probably have been eating pricey food too.

[CherryAmes]

1 minute ago, LoneHaranguer said:

 His parents would have bent to his wishes as they always did when possible.

I don't think we've ever been given any reason to believe George and Mary are stupid people.  If Sheldon was being wooed by competing universities that alone would have given them a good idea of what they could expect to have covered and would have gone with the choice that made the most sense for Sheldon and for their family.  Given the episode of BBT when Sheldon travels home from university at 13 ( when he discovers his father in bed with another woman) I think it's pretty safe to assume he went to a university relatively close to home and I wonder if they will ever talk about which universities he actually attended.  We know which ones he didn't go to and why he thinks they are inferior but I'd love to find out which universities the mighly Sheldon Cooper honoured with his presence, aside from CalTech of course.

[wknt3]

Once again it seems like a lot of viewers expect more consistency from TV than from real life. We went through this with Zach - you can be successful in business and also a dumbass. In my job I work with a lot of small business owers and I know a more than a couple of Georgie's. Folks whose personal life is a mess and who don't know anything except trucks, or moving and storage, or yoga, or whatever their business is and who have succeeded entirely by hard work and charm and being good in their particular field, and often their personal life reflects that lack of common sense and general knowledge. I think if most of the people complaining about the "continuity error" think about it they know several people who are professionally successful who make one stupid decision after another. Of course this is a choice driven by creative needs, both Young Sheldon establishing more about the character than the few punchlines we had before and because it's a more interesting story this way. But it's also one with plenty of basis in real life.

Edited May 7, 2018 by wknt3
autocorrect fail.

[DkNNy79]

42 minutes ago, wknt3 said:

Once again it seems like a lot of viewers expect more consistency from TV than from real life. We went through this with Zack - you can be successful in business and also a dumbass. In my job I work with a lot of small business owers and I know a more than a couple of Georgie's. Folk's whose personal life is a mess and who don't know anything except trucks, or moving and storage, or yoga, or whatever their business is and who have succeeded entirely by hard work and charm and being good in their particular field, and often their personal life reflects that lack of common sense and general knowledge. 

I give you Jessica Simpson.   She’s not the sharpest tool in the shed but she has more money then I will ever see in 100 lifetimes.

[CherryAmes]

50 minutes ago, wknt3 said:

We went through this with Zack - you can be successful in business and also a dumbass.

Zach is sweet and I love his character but are we ever given any reason to believe he personally is successful in business?  He works for his dad's company.  It's not hard to be a success when you are the boss's son.

[possibilities]

On 5/4/2018 at 11:53 AM, 3 is enough said:

Sheldon is a learning snob and looks down on anyone who does not have the same level of education, in the sciences, as he does.  He does not recognize that there are many kinds of "smart".

He looks down on everyone, including those with as much academic education as he has, and including his friends. He's definitely a snob, but he's really not that much worse to Georgie than he is to everyone else. He insults Leonard who is exactly as educated as he is, and Howard who spent time on the space station, and he has even in the past shown disdain for Amy's work because she's in neuroscience which he considers not as serious as physics.

 

On 5/4/2018 at 12:02 PM, msani19 said:

I think Georgie is resentful not because Sheldon was super smart and went to college early, he’s probably proud of his smart brother, but that Sheldon is a jerk who looks down on everyone else. He doesn’t recognize that the sun doesn’t shine out of his backside and he never acknowledges that his siblings are worthy of respect and not scorn.

Yes, this exactly.

[nilyank]

1 hour ago, CherryAmes said:

I don't think we've ever been given any reason to believe George and Mary are stupid people.  If Sheldon was being wooed by competing universities that alone would have given them a good idea of what they could expect to have covered and would have gone with the choice that made the most sense for Sheldon and for their family.  Given the episode of BBT when Sheldon travels home from university at 13 ( when he discovers his father in bed with another woman) I think it's pretty safe to assume he went to a university relatively close to home and I wonder if they will ever talk about which universities he actually attended.  We know which ones he didn't go to and why he thinks they are inferior but I'd love to find out which universities the mighly Sheldon Cooper honoured with his presence, aside from CalTech of course.

I think that Sheldon was the only one who decided which college/university he went to. It didn't matter which school provided him the best offer in scholarships and stipends. He went to the one that he deemed the most worthy of his presence and he wasn't going to listen to anyone advice, including that of his parents.

[stan4]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

He looks down on everyone, including those with as much academic education as he has, and including his friends. He's definitely a snob, but he's really not that much worse to Georgie than he is to everyone else. He insults Leonard who is exactly as educated as he is, and Howard who spent time on the space station, and he has even in the past shown disdain for Amy's work because she's in neuroscience which he considers not as serious as physics.

 

Yes, this exactly.

Is he a snob or just someone who thinks everyone who doesn't like what he likes is flat out wrong?

He has no ability to empathize or see anything from anyone else's point of view.

[stan4]

5 hours ago, ams1001 said:

That's right! I forgot all about that! Do we even know what Missy does for a living?

It is revealed in the Pilot that she is a hostess at Fuddruckers when Sheldon is expressing concern of "committing genetic fraud" about donating sperm at a high-IQ sperm bank ("I have a sister who has the same basic DNA mix who hostesses at Fuddruckers.")

 

I agree with those here that said she seemed a lot sharper.  Though didn't someone (Mary or Sheldon) say it took her 6 years to graduate high school?

[Crs97]

Quote

Honestly neither Georgie or Missy the time I saw her came across as dumb at all, certainly not how Sheldon described them

Didn’t Mary describe George and Missy as dumber than a box of rocks?

[ams1001]

Just now, Crs97 said:

Didn’t Mary describe George and Missy as dumber than a box of rocks?

I know she's called them "dumb as soup."

[wknt3]

1 hour ago, CherryAmes said:

Zach is sweet and I love his character but are we ever given any reason to believe he personally is successful in business?  He works for his dad's company.  It's not hard to be a success when you are the boss's son.

IIRC he took over for his dad running the company (it was mentioned when he offered Penny a job in "The Cognition Regeneration" and several people were saying it was totally unbelievable that. At the time I pointed out that it was certainly possible for a family business to run just fine when the next generation takes over even if they're not too bright as long as there is a good team below them and they stick to what they are good at. And that since Zach seemed perfectly willing to socialize with clients and let the people his dad hired take care of finances and production and all those sorts of details it was perfectly realistic and indeed fairly normal and I knew of several examples in real life, And yes it's not hard to be a success when you are the boss's son, but it's quite easy to run your father's company into the ground (I've also seen that in my work and watching the news.)

Edited May 6, 2018 by wknt3

[Bort]

The past season discussion is getting this episode thread off topic. Please take it to more appropriate threads and focus the discussion on what happened in the episode.

[stan4]

You know, I get that we wind up having Sheldon apologize and seem more understanding and contrite at the end, but haven't we been watching this guy grow for the last kazillion seasons?  It's like he started at ground zero again with his brother and was completely dismissive and ridiculous.  I feel like that's old Sheldon, not current Sheldon.

 

Then again, we do revert to infantile behavior around our siblings sometimes.

 

I thought it was unfair for Georgie to hold a grudge against Sheldon re: something he knew nothing about.

[CoyoteBlue]

With all the debate about retconning the Coopers, etc, we're forgetting the best part of this episode:

"I would rather swallow a pregnant wildcat and crap out a litter of kittens" :)

Edited May 6, 2018 by CoyoteBlue

[CherryAmes]

15 hours ago, nilyank said:

I think that Sheldon was the only one who decided which college/university he went to. It didn't matter which school provided him the best offer in scholarships and stipends. He went to the one that he deemed the most worthy of his presence and he wasn't going to listen to anyone advice, including that of his parents.

If we based our thinking solely on Sheldon from BBT I'd agree with you, now that they've introduced us to Young Sheldon I'm not so sure.  And I think we can't lose sight of the reality that Sheldon started university at 11.  There is no way he was going cross country (to Harvard for instance) without a parent along and we are given no reason to believe that Mary and George beggared themselves to educate their son.  Georgie in this episode resented Sheldon but I don't think it was because he saw a lot of money going to Sheldon and they were living on canned beans.  A lot of the resentment had more to do with Sheldon's attitude than anything else - which we can all totally understand!

[BlossomCulp]

I rewatched this episode and the whole interaction between Georgie and Sheldon makes a lot more sense.  Georgie talked about "extra money" the Coopers had going to Sheldon for his education, he never said that they struggled financially either before or after George died and that makes a lot more sense than if they had retconned things differently.  When Georgie talks about working his ass off to make a success of himself it's nothing to do with expecting any kind of help from Mary it's to do with knowing that no matter how hard he worked or how big a success he is his mother will always be prouder of Sheldon.  Boy I am betting a lot of siblings out there could totally relate to that!

Mostly I sympathized with Georgie but as a few others pointed out how could he still be angry at Sheldon over things he knew perfectly well that Sheldon was unaware of - in part because he himself never told Sheldon about it?  Georgie is a man in his 40s at this point.  To hold a grudge over things that happened is one thing, to continue to hold a grudge over something Sheldon could not have done anything about is just fricking childish!

[BlossomCulp]

On 5/4/2018 at 11:20 AM, Driad said:

Leonard said he was used to being around a bully.  Sheldon asked who he meant. Leonard hesitated and then said Penny. I assumed he meant Sheldon was a bully but he didn't want to say so. He could have said his mother, but Sheldon might have objected to that.

Having just rewatched this episode I think it's very clear he meant Penny, Which irritates me no end.  If he was thinking SHeldon but said Penny I didn't see any indication of that in the way he spoke or his body language.  I think he said Penny because he meant Penny.

[OtterMommy]

7 hours ago, BlossomCulp said:

Having just rewatched this episode I think it's very clear he meant Penny, Which irritates me no end.  If he was thinking SHeldon but said Penny I didn't see any indication of that in the way he spoke or his body language.  I think he said Penny because he meant Penny.

I agree that he meant Penny when he said Penny, but it really pissed me off.  First of all, I don't actually recall ever seeing Penny tread Leonard in a way that I, at least, would consider bullying.   So that made no sense.  Secondly, you just should not be married to someone who bullies you--if Leonard is claiming that Penny is a bully to him, then there are some pretty big problems in that relationship that are neither funny nor sitcom fodder.

Finally, it was the perfect set up for a joke.  If Leonard had said "Penny" in a way that was clear to the audience that he wanted to say "Sheldon" but didn't have the guts to do it, that would have worked.  But I just don't think that was the case.  Either what I've said above about the Penny/Leonard relationship is true, in which case the show has some issues it needs to deal with (although, being a sitcom, is woefully unequipped to actually handle)...OR the intent of that scene was to have Leonard say Penny when he meant Sheldon, which makes it just a terrible performance on Galecki's part.

[Bort]

2 hours ago, BlossomCulp said:

To hold a grudge over things that happened is one thing, to continue to hold a grudge over something Sheldon could not have done anything about is just fricking childish!

I wouldn’t necessarily say he’s been holding an active grudge all these years. Just that it’s something that came to a head because Sheldon decided to pettily not invite Georgie to his wedding and got their mother all upset. 

[peacheslatour]

The only thing I liked about the pinkeye s/l was how happy everyone was when they found out it was bacterial instead of viral. I remember when my son was little, how relieved I always was when he had some illness that was bacterial and would be treated with antibiotics. Virus' have to be ridden out and last longer.

[CherryAmes]

4 hours ago, kariyaki said:

I wouldn’t necessarily say he’s been holding an active grudge all these years. Just that it’s something that came to a head because Sheldon decided to pettily not invite Georgie to his wedding and got their mother all upset. 

The brothers hadn't talked in 10 years.  There was a lot going on, or not going on, other than Sheldon not inviting Georgie to his wedding.  I know it's just a TV show and this isn't real but there had to be other things that happened in the lives of all the Coopers (Missy getting married and having a child for instance) where the brothers must have met up.  If the writers want us to believe they didn't talk for 10 years that's down to both of them being petty not just Sheldon.  And one has to wonder why Mary hadn't intervened up to now. I know, I know -- TV show :).