S02.E17: Albert Einstein and the Story of Another Mary

[Bort]

Quote

Inspired by his hero, Albert Einstein, Sheldon tries his hand at the violin. Also, Mary and Meemaw secretly buy a pregnancy test when Mary thinks she's pregnant.

Airdate: Thursday, March 7, 2019

As a reminder: please no discussion in the episode topic of "future" plot points of the parent show, The Big Bang Theory.

[Spartan Girl]

Wow. Was not expecting Mary to have a miscarriage. I thought she would just find out she wasn't really pregnant. Very ballsy, show.

[Bort]

Yeah, that was surprising. And that was a very awesome conversation that Sheldon had with the rabbi.

[EtheltoTillie]

Wow, Mary and George. Very powerful. Sheldon was more annoying than usual. But great ep. 

[Guest]

Great episode. Nice mix of humor and seriousness. Loved Missy and Georgie being entertained watching Sheldon learning violin. Loved Sheldon’s conversation with the rabbi. 

Like everyone else I am really surprised they went there with Mary and George. Powerful episode. 

[mxc90]

Last season, we saw Sheldon play the piano (with no lessons) flawlessly and the music teacher said he has perfect pitch. Now he struggles with the violin?

[SpiritSong]

1 hour ago, GussieK said:

Wow, Mary and George. Very powerful. Sheldon was more annoying than usual. But great ep. 

I would say he was just as annoying as usual. But at least he wasn't a complete dick like he's been in several recent shows.

Didn't really understand all the secrecy and sneaking around Mary was doing. She is a married woman, after all. So what if she was pregnant? It's not like everyone wouldn't know eventually. I get her not wanting the whole world to know before she told George but is the church secretary or Brenda really going to call him at work to tell him the news?

The rabbi was excellent. He had a lot more on the ball than Pastor Jeff, that's for sure. I think Sheldon actually would have come to respect the rabbi. That would never happen with poor Pastor Jeff, bless his heart.

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, mxc90 said:

Last season, we saw Sheldon play the piano (with no lessons) flawlessly and the music teacher said he has perfect pitch. Now he struggles with the violin?

Violin has a much steeper learning curve. Even if Sheldon can easily recognize the notes he would still have learn the technique. I doubt anyone could really learn violin from one video lesson. 

I was happy they brought back the same music teacher. She has been really good in her small roles on TBBT and Mom. 

[Armchair Critic]

I've really gotten to like George, he has great facial expressions. Poor George, when Mary mentioned getting pregnant in the heat of the moment Meemaw said something like 'even after 3 kids and his stomach hanging over his belt?' 😂

[Yeah No]

I know it's because I'm old and I've watched so much TV, but the tired old trope about everyone knowing before George and neighbors just showing up at the drug store counter and being all in your business is so 1950s by now.....However, the miscarriage was not, and I appreciated that this show would go there.  If Mary was so worried about people finding out they could have gone to a different town, but I guess that would have been too easy.

Sheldon's plots are making him look more ridiculous as time goes on and I don't know how I feel about that.

[Chit Chat]

10 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Wow. Was not expecting Mary to have a miscarriage. I thought she would just find out she wasn't really pregnant. Very ballsy, show.

I agree.  I figured they'd do the usual thing of reading the test strip as positive, then the hijinks would ensue, just to find out it was a false positive.  I'm glad they didn't handle it that way.  It was a nice moment when Connie told Mary that she'd be there for her if she was pregnant.

9 hours ago, Dani said:

Loved Sheldon’s conversation with the rabbi.

Sheldon seemed to take his words to heart.  It was a very nice thing to say to a young child - just be you, not somebody else.  Makes me wonder if Sheldon carries those words with him and reflects back on the rabbi whenever he has any doubts about himself - as most young kids do during those crazy teenage years!  

[ShelleySue]

10 hours ago, Dani said:

10 hours ago, mxc90 said:

Last season, we saw Sheldon play the piano (with no lessons) flawlessly and the music teacher said he has perfect pitch. Now he struggles with the violin?

Violin has a much steeper learning curve. Even if Sheldon can easily recognize the notes he would still have learn the technique. I doubt anyone could really learn violin from one video lesson. 

I am completely tone deaf and played the viola for three years.  I was horrible.  One problem was that I was unable to tune my viola so when I practice it was never in tune.  I switched to the piano and played passably.  If you hit the right keys you hit the right keys.  The viola (and violin) are much more difficult because your fingers have to be in exactly the right spot for you to play the correct note.

I loved Meemaw trying to convince the neighbor (I forgot her name -- I'll always think of her as Barbara Jean) that the pregnancy test was for Meemaw.

Wasn't there a previous episode in which Sheldon talked to Richard Kind about Judaism?

[rmontro]

13 hours ago, Dani said:

Violin has a much steeper learning curve. Even if Sheldon can easily recognize the notes he would still have learn the technique. I doubt anyone could really learn violin from one video lesson.

Yeah, it's not that violin is harder than piano, but it is probably harder to start out on.  Sounded like most of Sheldon's problem was with working the bow, which requires a certain touch and takes a little while to get used to.  As opposed to piano, where you just plunk a key and a note sounds.

Kind of a sad story with the miscarriage, a little more drama than we're used to seeing here.  But it was nice to see Sheldon not acting so pompous this week.

[CherryAmes]

I've got this on PVR but I'm hesitating to watch it.  Last week I turned off the episode less than half way through it.  I dunno.  Somehow it feels like YS has taken a sad turn.  Will I be pleasantly surprised if I watch?  I just don't watch sitcoms for sadness.

[HurricaneVal]

Oh my.  I was so worried the show would take a dark turn and have it turn out that Mary's baby was fathered by Pastor Jeff.  I was concerned because it was sooooo important for her to talk to him.  Then the show really did take a very serious turn.  Miscarriage isn't something that is usually talked about on TV, let alone a family sitcom.  I also really liked the moment between George and his boss where deep sadness and sympathy passed between them without George having to use his words.  I thought that was a very powerful moment too, reminding you that fathers share this private pain too.

This episode brought the funny too, it wasn't all serious.  Missy and Georgie watching Sheldon learn violin was hilarious, the neighbor kid playing hide-and-seek in the drug store with a mortified Mary, and the neighbor going on and on about egg production...

[Chit Chat]

4 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

I also really liked the moment between George and his boss where deep sadness and sympathy passed between them without George having to use his words. 

That was a nice moment, and so true of men not to go into details or want to talk about it, but still feeling that sadness all the same. 

[Mystery]

The only lightness for me was Missy and Georgie settling back on the couch to watch Sheldon learn to play the violin. I'm crossing my fingers that a Young Missy and Georgie show is in the works, as I'm finding Sheldon increasingly unwatchable. 

[hoodooznoodooz]

Paraphrasing:

”What are you doing?”

”What does it look like I’m doing?”

”Giving everyone yet another reason to make fun of you.”

“This is my new favorite show.”

[anna0852]

George's raise was impressive. Adjusted for inflation that's over $10,000 a year. 

[Katy M]

18 hours ago, mxc90 said:

Last season, we saw Sheldon play the piano (with no lessons) flawlessly and the music teacher said he has perfect pitch. Now he struggles with the violin?

I think the only weird part of that was that he thought it sounded good.

I was unaware that public schools, whose budgets are approved by voters, gave middle of the year raises based on how my children you have.  Good to know.

That was actually a very touching episode.  but, Sheldon's voiceover of how he brought his mother tears of happiness annoyed me.  Not even Sheldon is that clueless.

I, too, liked Missy and Georgie watching the violin lesson.  And, stupid though it was, I laughed out loud when Sheldon told the music teacher if he'd said a joke her mouth would be open and and the sound ha ha would be coming out. He clearly forgot her nonreaction to his other joke.

And I like that the rabbi didn't want his little fake conversion.  

[eel2178]

5 hours ago, Mystery said:

The only lightness for me was Missy and Georgie settling back on the couch to watch Sheldon learn to play the violin.

On the other hand, my wonderful sibling would walk around the house with her fingers in her ears whenever I was practicing. 

[Sarah 103]

21 hours ago, SpiritSong said:

The rabbi was excellent. He had a lot more on the ball than Pastor Jeff, that's for sure. I think Sheldon actually would have come to respect the rabbi. That would never happen with poor Pastor Jeff, bless his heart.

I think part of it is age. The rabbi seemed older, and I have no problem believing this is Pastor Jeff's first churches, or at least, his first church as head pastor. 

11 hours ago, ShelleySue said:

Wasn't there a previous episode in which Sheldon talked to Richard Kind about Judaism?

I was watching this plotline thinking, "didn't they already do this plot?" so thank you for confirming that for me. 

Missy and Georgie are great. What I love is that they will act like Statler and Waldorf to Sheldon, but if anyone outside the family insults him, they will get into a fight and defend their brother.

I want to see a scene of Missy at school. I know it would be expensive because it would mean a new set and extras, but I think it would be fun to see.  

[Miss Scarlet]

George and Mary are the best parts of the show. They're both very charming and endearing, I think mainly because of the actors.

Georgie is the second best part of the show and I liked that there was a plot involving him, Missy and Sheldon. I could be wrong, but I feel like that doesn't happen very much on the show.

The violin plot was boring and yes, they already did the Jewish conversion plot. I'm also tired of anything Jewish being portrayed as "weird" and played for laughs. 

[MollyMelrose]

I really like George. That's why I'm encouraged any time grown-voice Sheldon reiterates an erroneous perception made by young Sheldon.

Don't want anything to happen that will make me stop liking George ... and am holding out hope.

[PWHCHCH]

Iain really needs to tone down the pursed lips and facial mugging. I feel like he has only started doing it In the last few episodes. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 3/8/2019 at 4:38 PM, anna0852 said:

George's raise was impressive. Adjusted for inflation that's over $10,000 a year. 

On 3/8/2019 at 5:44 PM, Katy M said:

I was unaware that public schools, whose budgets are approved by voters, gave middle of the year raises based on how my children you have.  Good to know

George should have tried to negotiate for a raise when he was offered that better job in Oklahoma that Mary wouldn't let him take.  If he had gotten a raise, he would have been a lot less resentful about staying in Texas.

Btw, I appreciate that Mary has a limited and recognizable wardrobe just like a real woman of her income would. Connie, too, I believe.  

Edited March 11, 2019 by ItCouldBeWorse

[zillabreeze]

On 3/8/2019 at 1:45 AM, Yeah No said:

Sheldon's plots are making him look more ridiculous as time goes on and I don't know how I feel about that.

I'm concerned that it can't be sustained for too long without getting tired.  Given the fact that there are ZERO sitcoms worth a crap, I'll take what I can get right now.

[MoreCoffeePlease]

I know the pregnancy test said positive, but I believe it was a false-positive (rare, I know) since she was only a couple of days late.  I think pregnancy tests are much more reliable now than they were back then. So to me, Mary just had her period, not a miscarriage, but I know that wouldn't have provided the same drama.

I loved how she went to her mom to talk, and how Meemaw was incredulous that George and Mary could still have "the heat of the moment".

[HazelEyes4325]

On 3/7/2019 at 8:29 PM, mxc90 said:

Last season, we saw Sheldon play the piano (with no lessons) flawlessly and the music teacher said he has perfect pitch. Now he struggles with the violin?

 

As someone who played both the violin and the piano as a child, this did not surprise me AT ALL.  The piano is an easy instrument to start with.  If you press a key, you get a note.  Someone who has never seen a piano and concert pianist will get the exact same note from that key.  The hardest part about playing the violin is actually learning how to play it.  I actually thought that Sheldon progressed too quickly with it before he gave it up.

[HazelEyes4325]

2 hours ago, MoreCoffeePlease said:

I know the pregnancy test said positive, but I believe it was a false-positive (rare, I know) since she was only a couple of days late.  I think pregnancy tests are much more reliable now than they were back then. So to me, Mary just had her period, not a miscarriage, but I know that wouldn't have provided the same drama.

 

Definitely possible, but to be fair, the show was not clear about this.  It could have been a false positive and played out exactly the same way.  The important thing is that both Mary and George had started to accept a new child into their family and then that expectation was abruptly ended.

[SmithW6079]

5 hours ago, MoreCoffeePlease said:

I know the pregnancy test said positive, but I believe it was a false-positive (rare, I know) since she was only a couple of days late.  I think pregnancy tests are much more reliable now than they were back then. So to me, Mary just had her period, not a miscarriage, but I know that wouldn't have provided the same drama.

I loved how she went to her mom to talk, and how Meemaw was incredulous that George and Mary could still have "the heat of the moment".

I looked it up, because I couldn't see how Mary could be so positive she was pregnant after missing her period by two days. According to this article on Live Science, a pregnancy test can measure hCG in a woman's blood or urine about 10-12 days after conception, so I suppose she could have been anywhere from 12 days to just under 28 days pregnant. I tend to think she just had her period a couple of days late too, but that doesn't have the same dramatic impact.

Has Mary become so repressed by religion that she can't even acknowledge that she -- a married woman -- has coitus with her husband?

Lance Barber and Zoe Perry just hit it out of the park this episode, proving that once again, "Young Sheldon" is much better when young Sheldon is nowhere in sight. The scene with George and his boss was so powerful without words.

While it's nice that Connie was supportive of Mary, I found her to be a bitch again about George, with her crack about his belly and her disbelief that George and Mary still had sex. Fuck you, Meemaw. Let's talk about your sagging tits and your less-than-Adonis boyfriend if we want to get bitchy about bodies. 

[Guest]

32 minutes ago, SmithW6079 said:

Has Mary become so repressed by religion that she can't even acknowledge that she -- a married woman -- has coitus with her husband?

That’s not really exclusive to religious people. Many people are just uncomfortable with people knowing anything about their sex life. Considering how quickly the news spread she was probably right to be hesitant if she wanted any privacy at all. 

[Katy M]

57 minutes ago, SmithW6079 said:

Has Mary become so repressed by religion that she can't even acknowledge that she -- a married woman -- has coitus with her husband?

Unless I missed something, I don't think her hiding/embarrassment had anything to do with that.  I don't think she watned people speculating about her being pregnant before she even knew, and a lot of people don't like anyone to know before the fist trimester because it's awkward and painful to have to tell people who ask about your baby, that you had a miscarriage.  If nobody knows, you don't have to go through all that.  Add to that, that I don't think they were planning to have more kids, she probably felt silly that they got careless and may have felt too old to have a new baby.

Plus, I'm sure she didn't want George to find out she was pregnant via gossip.

Edited March 11, 2019 by Katy M

[Driad]

Mary and Connie both have cars. Why not go farther away to buy a pregnancy test, instead of Nosy Neighbors Drugstore?  (I know. Sitcom plot.)

[shapeshifter]

10 hours ago, HazelEyes4325 said:

Definitely possible, but to be fair, the show was not clear about this.  It could have been a false positive and played out exactly the same way.  The important thing is that both Mary and George had started to accept a new child into their family and then that expectation was abruptly ended.

Good point. 

It's not uncommon to respond to either a miscarriage of an unplanned pregnancy or a false pregnancy by either trying to get pregnant or by taking steps to permanently prevent a future unplanned pregnancy (having a vasectomy or tubal ligation). I wonder if they'll go there.

Edited March 12, 2019 by shapeshifter

[SmithW6079]

9 hours ago, Driad said:

Mary and Connie both have cars. Why not go farther away to buy a pregnancy test, instead of Nosy Neighbors Drugstore?  (I know. Sitcom plot.)

Plus, Mary made it more obviously suspicious by skulking around in the store and hiding. 

[FinnishViewer]

Quote

Definitely possible, but to be fair, the show was not clear about this.  It could have been a false positive and played out exactly the same way. 

Mary specifically said she lost the baby. If it was a false positive, I don't think she would have used the word 'lost'.

[Browncoat]

If she hadn’t been to a doctor to confirm the pee stick, she wouldn’t have known it was a false positive.  She thought she was pregnant, so she used the word “lost”.  Because of the short time frame (she was two days late, and this all seemed to take place over one or two days), I tend to think she was just late — that it was a false positive pee stick.  Pee sticks (especially back then) are not 100% accurate.

But it’s her uterus, and if she wants to think she was pregnant, more power to her.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Browncoat said:

If she hadn’t been to a doctor to confirm the pee stick, she wouldn’t have known it was a false positive.  She thought she was pregnant, so she used the word “lost”.  Because of the short time frame (she was two days late, and this all seemed to take place over one or two days), I tend to think she was just late — that it was a false positive pee stick.  Pee sticks (especially back then) are not 100% accurate.

But it’s her uterus, and if she wants to think she was pregnant, more power to her.

What you describe, @Browncoat, no doubt happens,* but I don't think that was the writers', actors', or director's intent here. 

But I do agree that they should have written Mary as 2 months instead of 2 days late. I wonder if that was the original script but that it was deemed too tragic for Young Sheldon. If so, your post explains why that change was a mistake—especially since I doubt young viewers would make the distinction.

-------

*The reverse also happens: A misscarriage (or even an abortion) is characterized as being a false positive because the narrative is more tolerable for those involved. But that is an even less likely plot for this show.

Edited March 13, 2019 by shapeshifter

[HazelEyes4325]

11 hours ago, FinnishViewer said:

Mary specifically said she lost the baby. If it was a false positive, I don't think she would have used the word 'lost'.

If she believed she was pregnant and then got her period, she would have seen that as "losing the baby," even if it was a false positive.  

Sometimes it is more about the emotions than the facts in situations like this.

Edited March 13, 2019 by HazelEyes4325

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, HazelEyes4325 said:

If she believed she was pregnant and then got her period, she would have seen that as "losing the baby," even if it was a false positive.

This. I think this is one of those instances where medical facts don’t really matter. The point was George and Mary’s emotional reaction. 

[Browncoat]

29 minutes ago, Dani said:

This. I think this is one of those instances where medical facts don’t really matter. The point was George and Mary’s emotional reaction. 

Which is kind of what I was trying to say in my convoluted way.  If it had been me, I would have just thought, oh, phew, late period.  But it was not me, it was Mary, so it was *sob* miscarriage.

[MdMaxx]

I really liked the conversation with the Rabbi. It's based off of Rabbi Zusha's final words. 

[shapeshifter]

47 minutes ago, MdMaxx said:

I really liked the conversation with the Rabbi. It's based off of Rabbi Zusha's final words. 

From the episode:

[Rabbi Schneiderman] be your own man.
[Sheldon] But I want to be a great scientist like Albert Einstein.
[Rabbi Schneiderman] Sheldon, when your days are over, God will never ask you, "Why weren't you Einstein?" But he might ask you, "Why weren't you Sheldon?"

From http://rabbishimon.com/tzadikim/showz.php?p=zusha.htm :

[Rabbi Zusha on his deathbed]  "When I pass from this world and appear before the Heavenly Tribunal, they won't ask me, 'Zusha, why weren't you as wise as Moses or as kind as Abraham,' rather, they will ask me, 'Zusha, why weren't you Zusha?' Why didn't I fulfill my potential, why didn't I follow the path that could have been mine."

[John Potts]

I love that they didn't make Georgie (Sr) the bad guy here, but was both supportive of his wife and honest with his boss about what had happened (who was surprisingly sympathetic, too). As for the end... wow, I never thought the show would go there.

The Rabbi was awesome! And I got a kick out of the fact that (I think) Sheldon was learning the Suzuki method, as I did (...40 or so years ago), because the first thing he learnt was correct posture and then the first piece he learnt was "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Though he seemed to be playing the viola version not the violin (it started D-D-A-A not A-A-E-E) - while it would be possible it would be a harder tune to play like that on a violin, at least for a beginner.

On ‎3‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 4:45 AM, SpiritSong said:

Didn't really understand all the secrecy and sneaking around Mary was doing. She is a married woman, after all. So what if she was pregnant? It's not like everyone wouldn't know eventually.

I didn't get it either. But assuming she did care, she seemed to go about it in the stupidest way possible. The chemist knows who you are! If she'd driven to the neighbouring town but then run into somebody from school/church then her antics might have made sense, but as it was... pure sitcom shenanigans.

[voiceover]

Lance and Zoe might be my favorite TV parents ever.   I was so very moved by their moment together.  And the fact that they didn't immediately move to embrace each other -- both were in some real emotional pain, and didn't take the huggy way out.