S02.E12: A Tummy Ache and a Whale of a Metaphor

[Bort]

Quote

When Sheldon spends a few days at the hospital, he turns out to be the world's worst patient; Missy gets a taste of what life would be like if she didn't have a twin.

Airdate: Thursday, January 10, 2019

[Spartan Girl]

Even though Sheldon was such a pain at the hospital it was nice that he bonded with his roommate. Poor kid, any kind of surgery is scary, but fixing a hole in his heart?! Yikes. Glad he made it through okay.

[Bort]

I was convinced that Ricky would die in surgery and they would lie to Sheldon about it.

[mojoween]

Yeah I would scare that freaky ass clown away from me too.

I love that they use the same nurse here as they do on BBT.  

Missy is just the best.

[ams1001]

Sheldon leaning on dad in the car was sweet. Also Missy sleeping in his bed, in his corpse posture.

The welcome home sign was great. :)

My cousin's son had his gall bladder out when he was 10. When he started complaining of a stomach ache, they thought he just didn't want to go to school. (I don't think he got a telescope, though.😉) Didn't seem to hurt his development any...he's 6'4" now.

3 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

I was convinced that Ricky would die in surgery and they would lie to Sheldon about it.

I was thinking the same thing.

[Chit Chat]

Sheldon bounced back from his surgery awful quick!  Having had my gallbladder out too, I can tell you that I didn't feel or look that good those following days post-op!  Good for the nurse for putting Sheldon in his place.  He really was a little turd.  

[Sarah 103]

40 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

I was convinced that Ricky would die in surgery and they would lie to Sheldon about it.

I thought Ricky was going to be a figment of his imagination due to the medication Sheldon was on post surgery.

It was touching the way Missy ran to get Mary when she thought Sheldon was sick. She likes him seeing unhappy, but when she thinks there is something seriously wrong with him, she runs to get help. I know Sheldon normally does the voice-over, but I would love to see an episode where Missy does the voice-over. I love the dynamic between them-she doesn't like Sheldon, she doesn't get along with him, she's jealous of the attention he gets, but she also would be sad if he was no longer a part of her life. 

[jalady]

With this episode I can see how adult Sheldon came to be.  Thank goodness for the nurse who shut his annoying ass down.  But I did like his temporary concern about his roommate.

[jewel21]

I was scared Ricky was going to die. I'm glad he made it through the surgery. His bonding with Sheldon was great. 

Missy sleeping in Sheldon's bed was so sweet. I also loved Sheldon asking why his pillow smelled like Missy, lol. 

Lastly, I was tickled pink that the nurse was the same one from BBT. I love her. I wish we could see more of her. 

[zillabreeze]

31 minutes ago, jewel21 said:

Lastly, I was tickled pink that the nurse was the same one from BBT. I love her. I wish we could see more of her. 

Might happen!  Chuck Lorre was terrific about having Jane Lynch be the shrink across different shows.

[Guest]

Loved Missy trying to use the twin bond to get out of school and later her actual concern for Sheldon. They really feel like siblings.  

“It’s a metaphor doofus.” - Even dream Missy makes me laugh.  

3 hours ago, jewel21 said:

Lastly, I was tickled pink that the nurse was the same one from BBT. I love her. I wish we could see more of her. 

She was also in the first season episode where they go to the hospital. I love that they keep bringing her back and was glad to see her have a bigger role in this episode. 

Edited January 11, 2019 by Guest

[Baby Button Eyes]

My favourite parts were Sheldon being annoying on the operating table and the surgeon asking the anesthesiologist to knock him out already, lol!

and, being a bit autistic myself, I related to Sheldon expressing relief about his roommate being ok after surgery but perplexed at the idea he’d want to go visit him at all. 

[galaxychaser]

Sheldon is growing up fast. He doesn’t even look like a little boy anymore.

[SpiritSong]

3 hours ago, ChitChat said:

Sheldon bounced back from his surgery awful quick!  Having had my gallbladder out too, I can tell you that I didn't feel or look that good those following days post-op!  Good for the nurse for putting Sheldon in his place.  He really was a little turd.  

Yes, I was wondering why the writers thought us watching Sheldon act like a complete jerk would be funny. It wasn't. I nearly cheered when the nurse told him off. And I loved that it was the nurse from BBT. As usual, Missy stole the show. The welcome home banner was great.

[TV Diva Queen]

For you young folks out there,  That nurse has been around forever. Welcome Back Kotter. Fresh Prince’s mom, BBT just to name a few. I love her. 

[luna1122]

1 minute ago, TV Diva Queen said:

For you young folks out there,  That nurse has been around forever. Welcome Back Kotter. Fresh Prince’s mom, BBT just to name a few. I love her. 

She's currently a regular on General Hospital as well.

[TV Diva Queen]

@luna1112 I had no idea!

[SpiritSong]

1 hour ago, TV Diva Queen said:

For you young folks out there,  That nurse has been around forever. Welcome Back Kotter. Fresh Prince’s mom, BBT just to name a few. I love her. 

Wow. I did not know she went all the way back to Welcome Back Kotter. Now I'm feeling old. She sure doesn't show her age.

[luna1122]

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0914937/

 

Vernee Watson. She's 64, and plays annoying Aunt Stella on GH. She's worked constantly since the '70s, I didn't realize!

[NutmegsDad]

Was the clown uncredited? Because if it was, my money's on that it was Riki Lindhome.

[anna0852]

I felt bad for Georgie last night when he asked why Mary doesn't fuss like that when he's sick. And I think the answer she gave him about how he's older than Sheldon was very telling, she didn't say she used to fuss over him like that she just said it's because he's older. I bet you money Mary has never fussed over Georgie like that in his life.

[hoodooznoodooz]

15 hours ago, jalady said:

With this episode I can see how adult Sheldon came to be.  Thank goodness for the nurse who shut his annoying ass down.  But I did like his temporary concern about his roommate.

He lightened up a little, by the end. But now I see how inevitable it is, Sheldon’s adult personality. They really indulge him. What a brat. (And this is the first time I, as an adult, have used that word to describe a child.)

[Bort]

If more people (and by people, I mean his parents) put Sheldon in his place like that nurse, he would learn not to speak to people that way. The parents are the primary problem but as we saw, his teachers and the school nurse also indulge his condescending ass behavior.

[TV Diva Queen]

42 minutes ago, LadyKenobi said:

Ohhhhh, the nurse was Second Aunt Viv? 

 

42 minutes ago, LadyKenobi said:

Ohhhhh, the nurse was Second Aunt Viv? 

Nooooo The nurse is Will’s mom. Both aunt Viv’s sister. Lol. 

[ShelleySue]

1 hour ago, kariyaki said:

 

If more people (and by people, I mean his parents) put Sheldon in his place like that nurse, he would learn not to speak to people that way. The parents are the primary problem but as we saw, his teachers and the school nurse also indulge his condescending ass behavior.

 

My father-in-law was on the spectrum.  His parents solution was to send him to military school.  He learned to have a veneer of civility, but at times the real him would come out.  He was absolutely brilliant (also a PhD physicist) but had three ex-wives and six children who barely spoke to him.  Meanwhile casual acquaintances and co-workers thought he was a wonderful person.

There were a lot of great moments in the show, but one of my favorites was when he went to the school nurse.  Scurvy?  Cholera?  It's so true that you can see the adult Sheldon in the young Sheldon.

Spoiler

 It reminds me of when Sheldon thought he had appendicitis, but it was gas from eating too much broccoli.  As a matter of a fact, I thought that young Sheldon's problem was his appendix until I remembered that adult Sheldon still had his during that episode.

Edited January 11, 2019 by kariyaki
Please tag spoilers for Big Bang Theory

[TV Diva Queen]

4 hours ago, luna1122 said:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0914937/

 

Vernee Watson. She's 64, and plays annoying Aunt Stella on GH. She's worked constantly since the '70s, I didn't realize!

Holy crap....what a career. She’s 10 years older than me, which means she’s pretty much been a part of my entire life. The soundtrack of my life, if you will. ;)

[Snow Apple]

7 hours ago, SpiritSong said:

Wow. I did not know she went all the way back to Welcome Back Kotter. Now I'm feeling old. She sure doesn't show her age.

She played Freddy "Boom Boom" Washington's girlfriend. I always think of her as the cool teenage girlfriend whenever I see her. And then feel old.

[BitterApple]

4 hours ago, kariyaki said:

If more people (and by people, I mean his parents) put Sheldon in his place like that nurse, he would learn not to speak to people that way. The parents are the primary problem but as we saw, his teachers and the school nurse also indulge his condescending ass behavior.

I agree. I don't know why George and Mary are always walking on eggshells around Sheldon. Yes he's smart, but he's also a child. If he's rude and disrespectful, there should be consequences, just like there would be for Georgie and Missy. 

I thought there were some funny moments, but I spent most of the episode wanting to smack Sheldon in the face. 

[SmithW6079]

Sheldon is rapidly turning into my least favorite character once again in TBBT/Young Sheldon universe. Last week, he used his sister as a test monkey, and this week, the little bastard was rude and obnoxious to everyone trying to take care of him. I have no desire to see him turn into the arrogant prick he becomes.

1 hour ago, BitterApple said:

I don't know why George and Mary are always walking on eggshells around Sheldon. Yes he's smart, but he's also a child. If he's rude and disrespectful, there should be consequences, just like there would be for Georgie and Missy. 

I thought there were some funny moments, but I spent most of the episode wanting to smack Sheldon in the face. 

Many, many times.

6 hours ago, anna0852 said:

I felt bad for Georgie last night when he asked why Mary doesn't fuss like that when he's sick. And I think the answer she gave him about how he's older than Sheldon was very telling, she didn't say she used to fuss over him like that she just said it's because he's older. I bet you money Mary has never fussed over Georgie like that in his life.

Did Mary turn religious after her marriage to George or was she religious before and had a moment when she gave into "temptation," ending up pregnant? Maybe she views Georgie as physical evidence of her "sin" and that's why she's not as demonstrative and loving with him.

[Chit Chat]

6 hours ago, kariyaki said:

If more people (and by people, I mean his parents) put Sheldon in his place like that nurse, he would learn not to speak to people that way. The parents are the primary problem but as we saw, his teachers and the school nurse also indulge his condescending ass behavior.

I work in a dental office and I've had to put a few young kids in their place (nicely, but firmly) due to them acting like little turds!   One example is when a parent is sitting with them in the waiting room and the child is bouncing up and down on the waiting room chair (enough that you hear the springs creaking,) and the parent does absolutely nothing.  Who cares?  It's not their furniture.  I've given the stink eye and shook my head 'no' to a few kids doing that and they usually stop right away.   One young boy (about age 9) was in the hygiene room and every other sentence out of his mouth was "I hate this.  I hate that."   After hearing that so many times, I looked at him and said "you're much too young to have that much hate in you."  He looked at me in disbelief and didn't say another word!  Maybe he heard those words at home all of the time.  Sometimes it's the gentle reminders that make them stop being little brats!  I'm glad the nurse told Sheldon to quit acting like that.  She should not be disrespected.  That's where I draw the line with kids too.  I will not be disrespected.  :)

1 hour ago, SmithW6079 said:

Did Mary turn religious after her marriage to George or was she religious before and had a moment when she gave into "temptation," ending up pregnant? Maybe she views Georgie as physical evidence of her "sin" and that's why she's not as demonstrative and loving with him.

I've wondered that too about Mary.  That's a good observation about her possible guilt with Georgie.   Maybe one day they'll give us more answers in that regard. 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, SmithW6079 said:

 

Did Mary turn religious after her marriage to George or was she religious before and had a moment when she gave into "temptation," ending up pregnant? Maybe she views Georgie as physical evidence of her "sin" and that's why she's not as demonstrative and loving with him.

On TBBT 

Spoiler

Sheldon has said that Mary became more religious has her marriage deteriorated.

There was also an episode when Mary told Penny, “When I was your age, you could have me for a car ride and a bottle of strawberry wine.” 

 

[AnnaRose]

I think the writers have to rein in Sheldon to some degree or risk the show becoming too unpleasant.  I will give him a little bit of leeway in this episode though, because he is an extreme germaphobe who was (in his view) being held "hostage in a bacteria playground" and his was pissed off and powerless to do anything about it.  He really wanted to convalesce at home in his own bed.  I know, that's no excuse for behaving badly, but at least his acting out was more understandable compared to other episodes.  My main issue is that watching Sheldon behave poorly just wasn't particularly funny or enjoyable.  It may also have to do with Iain becoming noticeably more mature and thus making Sheldon's intellectual precociousness not as cute as it was at the start of the series.

[Chit Chat]

Thanks for the answer, Dani!  I had forgotten that particular conversation.

I felt bad for George Sr. in this episode.  A parent's guilt can be a bitch, but having a tummy ache turn out to be as serious as a gallbladder issue (especially given Sheldon's age) was one of those "shit happens" moments.  Sheldon cries wolf so much with every little ache, so I can understand their reluctance to rush him to the doctor at the first mention of "my tummy hurts."  That's usually a wait and see kind of thing.  Back in the 60's, we either got Pepto Bismol or some Bayer children's aspirin.  Usually the Pepto Bismol made you throw up rather than help you!

Sheldon's not  mature enough to let his Dad off the hook though, and now he sees that he gets rewarded for such a splendid guilt trip.  I wish Mary or MeeMaw would've been firm with Sheldon and told him to quit making his Dad feel bad about the whole thing.  He does tend to listen to his MeeMaw. 

Edited January 12, 2019 by ChitChat

[Homily]

2 hours ago, ChitChat said:

I wish Mary or MeeMaw would've been firm with Sheldon and told him to quit making his Dad feel bad about the whole thing.  He does tend to listen to his MeeMaw. 

It was only in the voiceover that Sheldon talked about making his Dad feel bad.  In the show that was all on George himself.  Sheldon and his dad didn't really interact much after he carried Sheldon into the hospital.  George's feelings of guilt were voiced mainly to Mary and while she wasn't all that patient with him she also wasn't agreeing that he should feel guilty.  To be honest with the Lorre track record of making women bitches I thought that showed some restraint on the part of the writers.  Not having Mary turn on George was a relief to me.  I half expected it.

[Chit Chat]

3 hours ago, Homily said:

Sheldon and his dad didn't really interact much after he carried Sheldon into the hospital.

I think that Sheldon gave him the stink eye a few times, or I could be remembering it wrong!  Sheldon did say that he made sure to remind his Dad about it for a long time after that. 

[CherryAmes]

4 hours ago, Homily said:

George's feelings of guilt were voiced mainly to Mary and while she wasn't all that patient with him she also wasn't agreeing that he should feel guilty.  To be honest with the Lorre track record of making women bitches I thought that showed some restraint on the part of the writers.  Not having Mary turn on George was a relief to me.  I half expected it.

Total agreement!  In the scene where Mary is praying and George is talking about how bad he feels I really expected her to snap at him and tell him he should feel bad!  So glad they didn't go there.  They set the episode up so it was very clear that Sheldon as a child is very much like Sheldon as an adult and he always assumes the worst case scenario for every ache and pain.  It's totally understandable that George would feel guilty (as least until football playoffs - heh - ) but also understandable that the other family members would have never felt they should be blaming him.

[retiredviewer]

On 1/10/2019 at 10:04 PM, ChitChat said:

Sheldon bounced back from his surgery awful quick!  Having had my gallbladder out too, I can tell you that I didn't feel or look that good those following days post-op!  Good for the nurse for putting Sheldon in his place.  He really was a little turd.  

Kids bounce back really fast from surgery. My daughter had a hernia operation and was outside playing two days later.

[Yeah No]

I guess this was before laparoscopic surgery because now you don't even spend a night in the hospital for a gallbladder removal.  I just had mine out last September and I was home by 1:00 p.m.

As annoying and obnoxious as Sheldon was in this episode I was LOL because when I was in the hospital I kept wondering if he would ask the kind of questions I asked of the doctors and nurses, and now I have my answer, which is YES!  I even told my husband there was a little Sheldon Cooper in me at the time!

I remember asking my anesthesiologist if there would be a shift change during my operation because I read that the chances of mistakes are higher in that case, LOL.

When he told me the name of the anesthetic they were going to give me I asked him if that wasn't the drug that killed Michael Jackson.  He said the drug didn't kill Michael Jackson, his doctor did.  I told him that was the correct answer.

Of course I wasn't obnoxious about it and they were all happy to answer my questions.

[CherryAmes]

6 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

As annoying and obnoxious as Sheldon was in this episode I was LOL because when I was in the hospital I kept wondering if he would ask the kind of questions I asked of the doctors and nurses, and now I have my answer, which is YES!  I even told my husband there was a little Sheldon Cooper in me at the time!

I don't know if this is Sheldon Coopery or not but when I was in the hospital having my first baby I asked the doctor how old he was before I answered any of his questions.  He was only 2 years old than I was at the time but somehow I figured that was ok.  I've no idea what I thought I was going to do if it had turned out he was younger than me!  (I should note I was 26 at the time)

Edited January 14, 2019 by CherryAmes

[rhys]

2 hours ago, CherryAmes said:

I don't know if this is Sheldon Coopery or not but when I was in the hospital having my first baby I asked the doctor how old he was before I answered any of his questions.  He was only 2 years old 

Amazing. Mazel tov to both you & your doc.

[Sarah 103]

4 hours ago, CherryAmes said:

I don't know if this is Sheldon Coopery or not but when I was in the hospital having my first baby I asked the doctor how old he was before I answered any of his questions.  He was only 2 years old than I was at the time but somehow I figured that was ok.  I've no idea what I thought I was going to do if it had turned out he was younger than me!  (I should note I was 26 at the time)

 

43 minutes ago, LadyKenobi said:

My primary care doctor is younger than me. I almost cried when I saw it on her profile. She was nice about it, though. "It's only a couple of years!" Problem is, it's only going to start happening more and more often...

Sorry to go off topic, but I thought I'd share this. I've read that there are advantages to having younger doctors. They are more likely to be up to date on the latest procedures, methods, breakthroughs, and what not. They are less likely to be stuck in thier ways and think things like "I've been doing it this way for 20 years and I've never had a problem so I'm not going to change." That being said, there is also something to be said for experience, but this was just a little message for those a bit worried about younger doctors. 

[Yeah No]

6 hours ago, Sarah 103 said:

Sorry to go off topic, but I thought I'd share this. I've read that there are advantages to having younger doctors. They are more likely to be up to date on the latest procedures, methods, breakthroughs, and what not. They are less likely to be stuck in thier ways and think things like "I've been doing it this way for 20 years and I've never had a problem so I'm not going to change." That being said, there is also something to be said for experience, but this was just a little message for those a bit worried about younger doctors. 

This is one reason I appreciated going to a university hospital.  I got the head of a department as my surgeon so I not only had the benefit of his experience, but he was also up on all the latest procedures and breakthroughs.  Yes, I thought about that when I chose my hospital and met my surgeon or I probably would have asked him all those questions that Sheldon did, LOL!

Then again, with what they consider a very common, routine procedure like gallbladder, I read that it's better to find someone that does that particular procedure a LOT.  When I asked my surgeon how many gallbladder procedures he'd done, he said, "literally hundreds.  I do a few every week".   I remember grilling him about the possible things that could go wrong and I liked his answers.  One of my best friends didn't ask enough questions of her surgeon beforehand for a different type of surgery and ended up with a perforated bowel.  It seems that the surgeon wanted to do what was at that time a new robotic procedure on her, but the complication rate was a little high when I looked it up online.  I wouldn't have agreed to it, but she let him pressure her into it.  No Sheldon Cooper would have ever let that happen!  Better to be a pain in the ass than to go what she went through after her bowel was accidentally perforated.

[Bort]

Let’s please get back to the topic of the episode. Doctor stories and Doogie Howser are best kept for the Small Talk thread.

[AnnaCody]

On 1/10/2019 at 10:04 PM, ChitChat said:

Sheldon bounced back from his surgery awful quick!  Having had my gallbladder out too, I can tell you that I didn't feel or look that good those following days post-op!  Good for the nurse for putting Sheldon in his place.  He really was a little turd.  

Were you the same age as Sheldon 😉?  

[AnnaCody]

On 1/14/2019 at 12:09 AM, LadyKenobi said:

My primary care doctor is younger than me. I almost cried when I saw it on her profile. She was nice about it, though. "It's only a couple of years!" Problem is, it's only going to start happening more and more often...

You've got that right.  I was driving away from the doc's office thinking "gosh, she could be half my age; she looked so young".  Then I realized---- She is!!!  🤣

[John Potts]

I did like how the family rallied round Sheldon, despite how annoying he can be. As Missy put it in a previous episode, "I can't take any pleasure in your pain if you're really hurt!" (paraphrased) and it made sense to me that his dad would be feeling guilty at dismissing his complaints (even if Young Sheldon should take to heart the story of the Boy who Cried Wolf - unless he takes the same lesson from it that Garak  did). But even if I can understand that Sheldon was scared and that his family was concerned about him, I was so glad the Nurse tore into him for whining all the time when other people have it much worse. At least he did show some concern for his Ward-mate - in a suitably Sheldon-y way.

Spoiler

If more people called him on it when he acted like a self entitled jerk, he might have turned out differently in the future.

[LisaM]

Cracked up at Sheldon in the nurse's office - and the history of his visits. 

[voiceover]

Yayyyy, Meredith from The Office as Nurse Nora!!

I felt so bad for George: rushing into the hospital, his son in his arms; wearing a hole in the waiting room floor while pacing and beating himself up; and the way his voice broke when he called Sheldon "our special little boy".

Connie said exactly the right things to Missy -- exactly what you'd want to hear from a grown-up at that time.  And I almost bawled when she crawled into her brother's bed.

[SusanM]

On 1/12/2019 at 3:14 PM, CherryAmes said:

On 1/12/2019 at 10:45 AM, Homily said:

George's feelings of guilt were voiced mainly to Mary and while she wasn't all that patient with him she also wasn't agreeing that he should feel guilty.  To be honest with the Lorre track record of making women bitches I thought that showed some restraint on the part of the writers.  Not having Mary turn on George was a relief to me.  I half expected it.

Total agreement!  In the scene where Mary is praying and George is talking about how bad he feels I really expected her to snap at him and tell him he should feel bad!  So glad they didn't go there.  They set the episode up so it was very clear that Sheldon as a child is very much like Sheldon as an adult and he always assumes the worst case scenario for every ache and pain.  It's totally understandable that George would feel guilty (as least until football playoffs - heh - ) but also understandable that the other family members would have never felt they should be blaming him.

I just saw this episode for the first time and this is exactly what I thought was going to happen too!  That Mary would be nasty and be blaming George.  Major relief that the show didn't go there!