Young Sheldon – A Tummy Ache and a Whale of a Metaphor

By starrymag | January 16, 2019

By: Ujjyani Banerjee

 

 

The episode begins with Ms. Victoria’s (Valerie Mahaffey) English class where Sheldon (Iain Armitage) complains of tummy ache and wishes to go see the nurse. When his classmate Derek (Nick Alvarez) gives him a sarcastic look, Sheldon reiterates about having a tummy which can understandably ache. Ergo, tummy ache. Derek is puzzled upon hearing “ergo.” Sheldon explains that it’s Latin for “hence.” He hurries off to see nurse Nora (Vernee Watson).

 

Adult Sheldon (Jim Parsons) reminisces the multiple close calls he and nurse Nora have had in the past – from false alarms of leprosy to hysterical blindness to scurvy. This time he suspects cholera and has a pain level of 3.47 out of 10. Nora gives him an antacid and shortly informs George (Lance Barber) who couldn’t be less alarmed. His colleague guesses it to be Yellow fever, Dengue fever and so on. George reveals it is Cholera and they share a laugh.

 

Things turn worse in Ms. Evelyn’s (Danielle Pinnock) Math class when Sheldon starts to groan. Adult Sheldon remembers his pain zooming up to a 4.9 this time after nurse Nora reprieved it temporarily.

 

George drives Sheldon home and Mary (Zoe Perry) takes care of him. When he complains of pain, Missy (Raegan Revord) tries taking advantage of the situation by speaking about how twins feel each other’s pain, yet Mary shuts her off saying no way is she missing school next day.

 

George, Mary and Georgie (Montana Jordan) are watching TV. George asks Mary to relax, who’s visibly worried. Georgie feels jealous because his ailments are never an issue at home. Mary says it’s because he’s growing to be a strong man while Sheldon is still a fragile little boy. Georgie concurs admitting that puberty has done right by him. Suddenly, Missy walks in panicking about Sheldon’s condition and they all rush in. They take Sheldon to the hospital.

 

Missy and Georgie are at Meemaw’s. Connie (Annie Potts) inquires about Sheldon and informs the siblings about him needing a gallbladder removal surgery. When Missy gets worried about how he’ll pee, Connie says that it’s the other bladder. She asks if they’ll bring the gallbladder home for them to see. Connie bemusingly says she’ll inquire! Georgie looks puzzled.

 

George and Mary wait outside the OR. Mary is praying and George is feeling guilty of having belittled Sheldon’s ailment. Meanwhile, the surgeon leads the time-out informing Sheldon about administration of anesthesia and how they’ll make a small incision to snatch the boy right out of there. Sheldon cringes at the surgeon’s choice of words and starts questioning his qualifications, college, alcohol consumption and sleep pattern. The anesthetist shortly administers in the gas and Sheldon is now under. While they perform the surgery, Sheldon dreams about leading a pirate ship where he and his whole family are steering towards a dead gallbladder whilst communicating with each other in pirate vernacular.

 

Back home, Connie puts Missy to sleep and retires for the night. Worried, Missy looks over at Sheldon’s empty bed and shifts over to it with her cabbage patch doll trying to sleep. Outside the OR, George impatiently tells Mary about how they were told it’d be an hour and a half procedure, but it’s almost two hours. When he rises up to give someone an earful, the surgeon steps out informing about the successful cholecystectomy and Sheldon having to stay home for three to four days for post-op care. George and Mary are happy parents and they share a hug.

 

Soon, the Coopers come down to meet Sheldon. Georgie and Missy look disappointed upon learning that the gallbladder’s been discarded. Sheldon is highly reluctant to stay at the hospital. The staff tries to cheer him up with jellos and clown acts but nothing works. Neither can he cope with the pulpy juice they give him alongside meals nor can he sleep sans Mary. The next day George gets Sheldon his home blanket and pillow while Mary helps him walk across the hallway. When he gets back from his stroll, Sheldon is alarmed to see a new patient roommate named Ricky (Mauricio Lara). He soon inquires the nurse if Ricky’s got something contagious. She says no but he wants a doctor’s word as she’s not a doctor and has long limited her career making it stall at a nurse’s position. Having had enough, she crisply tells him to make do and stop complaining.

 

Sheldon can’t watch the hospital TV as it’s either boxing or cartoons. Ricky, from across the curtains, asks him to calm down and relax. Sheldon is offended and asks how’s it possible to relax when in a bacterial playground. He asks why Ricky’s been admitted to which he reveals that he’s got surgery the next day for his congenital heart disorder – he has a hole in his heart. Ricky says the doctors will put a patch on it, kind of like a permanent band-aid that needs no ripping off. Concurring with him, Sheldon starts to bond with Ricky. They learn about how each other’s ailment got aggravated as it turns out Ricky fainted while playing soccer. They discuss their family backgrounds and Sheldon learns how Ricky and his brother have been living with their grandma, which is why Ricky wants to get healthy fast like Iron Man so as to relieve his grandma from worrying about him.

 

At home, Missy makes a “Welcome Home” sign for Sheldon and Connie finds it very thoughtful. Missy tells her that the “W” alone took her 30 minutes. Connie asks Georgie to come help her.

 

The next day, as Sheldon wakes up, he’s anxious upon finding Ricky missing. Mary tells he’s gone into surgery and she’re wrapping up for Sheldon’s discharge. He asks if they can wait until Ricky’s surgery is done, but Mary says it’ll be a while and suggests coming back and checking up on him later. While leaving, Sheldon leaves an Iron Man for Ricky at the nurse’s station and thanks the nurse for taking care of him. She looks on wondering when did the boy get so nice?

 

Sheldon gets home and is greeted with the adorable “Welcome Back” sign. Soon the family is back to its round table dinner. Missy admits to have missed Sheldon. When he asks what she exactly did she miss about him, she’s put into thought. In the meanwhile, Mary comes in informing Sheldon about Ricky’s successful surgery and asks him if he wants to give him a visit. Sheldon doesn’t find it necessary and gives a questioning look to his mom. Suddenly, George surprises him with a gift at the dinner table – a Precision Astronomical Refractor Telescope! Sheldon’s happiness knows no bounds as adult Shelly reminisces about the next few weeks when his guilt-ridden dad kept showering him with gifts until the football playoffs started and so did his gift drought!