Young Sheldon – Quirky Eggheads and Texas Snow Globes

By: Ujjyani Banerjee

Mary (Zoe Perry) comes to Sheldon’s (Iain Armitage) bedroom and is surprised to see her son meditating with blindfolds, mittens and a nose plug on. Apparently, he was blocking sensory input to concentrate just like the famous scientist Nikola Tesla who used to isolate himself to a greater degree and ultimately had befriended a brown pigeon in his final years of life. Mary is concerned.

In the kitchen Mary asks her mom about Dr. Sturgis (Wallace Shawn) who was hospitalized for psychological issues. Connie (Annie Potts) has no new information. Mary wonders if she’d gotten any warning signs before. To Connie, John was another quirky egghead like Sheldon and soon remembers how the kid is still being lied to. Mary defends that she had to make up a fake communicable disease-related hospitalization otherwise he’d want to visit. Connie likes her daughter’s ability to lie. Mary praises her earrings.

George (Lance Barber) is explaining a sports game to Missy (Raegan Revord). She’s confused. George reveals that he feels the same way while watching “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” They’re interrupted by Georgie (Montana Jordan) who tries to get his dad pumped up about a new sale he’s starting. He’ll buy Texas Snow Globes from a shop running out of business, which sells them at $1, and will sell them at $5. Missy is piqued with interest, but George isn’t and nor is he willing to put his money into it.

Later that night Sheldon is playing with the subatomic particles in his mind. To Mary and Missy who’re watching him, he’s basically throwing his hands around hitting invisible balls. Mary’s concern escalates. The next day she issues Children’s Mental Health books from the library. Meanwhile, Georgie goes to the shop and buys Snow Globes in bulk and at a good bargain from Phyllis (Jayne Taini), the lady at the cash counter.

That night Mary, who is buried in the book, wakes up George who was asleep and tells him how disturbingly accurate it is about their Shelly. Though she’s worried about their son following in Dr. Sturgis’s footsteps, George is sure that he won’t turn out a complete cuckoo as Dr. Sturgis. Adult Sheldon (Jim Parsons) recollects how insensitive people were about psychological issues back in the day.

The next day Mary drives Sheldon to school alone in an attempt to have a talk. Sheldon is elated that Missy’s gone with their dad. Mary asks him if he sees things that others can’t see. Sheldon points out the car antennae vibrating in sync with the motor, but when asked about nonexistent things he jumps to modern metaphysics which questions the existence of entities. Mary asks if he ever feels paranoid. Sheldon thinks him being a ten year old at high school suffices that emotion. When she says that her having similar issues would’ve been scary, Sheldon starts to worry and in no time issues a relevant book from Ms. Hutchins (Sarah Baker) to help his unraveling mother.

Glued to their respective books, Sheldon and Mary delve deeper into the subject and start to worry about each other’s mental health as they dig out more and more similarities. Georgie fails miserably on the sales front as even Meemaw ditches him. At dinner she apologizes for that, but still won’t buy a globe. Missy’s astonished that Georgie couldn’t sell even one. George asks her to appreciate the initiative but, yes, the Snow Globe was a lousy choice. Georgie feels insulted and vows to sell every single one of them just to prove him wrong. Mary orders them to end the bickering as she wants everyone to openly share issues at home. She asks them to join hands to say Grace and as part of the prayer she asks the Lord to keep everyone physically and mentally sound while looking at Sheldon. He notices that and asks for an explanation. Mary doesn’t give one and quickly says Amen.

Late that night Sheldon finds Mary reading a book with a worried expression on her face. He asks if she’s suffering from anxiety-induced insomnia as he’s unable to sleep, too. Mary reveals how she’s worried about him moving those apparently non-existent subatomic particles. Sheldon is appalled that she denies their very existence and calls her speaking to an invisible wish-granting man in the sky a more worrisome issue. Mary gets mad and asks for an apology. Their heated exchanges wake up George and he asks what’s it all about. Sheldon complains that his mom thinks he’s crazy and he is surprised as he thought it wasn’t to be discussed with Sheldon.

The next morning Sheldon and Mary have an interesting bickering going on at breakfast. Connie has no idea what’s up. Missy says she’ll fill her in later. While buttering his bread Sheldon asks Mary if she’s worried that he’ll do something crazy with the knife and if the bread is real-life or a fragment of his imagination. Mary is pissed. George asks both of them to shut up as both look like lunatics at this point.

Georgie’s second go at selling the Snow Globes turns out to be a success. He picks on the public’s Texas love and their respective experiences of the first snow in the state. They buy the Snow Globes just in memory of those cherished times. Some even buy two.

Sheldon and Mary visit Dr. Goetsch (John Hartman), a psychologist. Sheldon thinks it’s a waste of time when he could rather concentrate with blindfolds, mittens and a nose plug on. Mary asks him to mention that to the doctor. Sheldon says that he’ll also add how she thinks that God “speaks” to her as he finds it concerning. Mary says that God is asking her to wash his mouth with soap right now. Sheldon notes that she’s having violent fantasies, too. During the consultation Mary justifies her concerns. Sheldon finds it neurotic. Dr. Goetsch points out how communication solves everything and sometimes moms do try searching for issues to feel more needed. Sheldon wonders why Mary’s suddenly so worried when he hasn’t been acting any differently. The doctor asks if anything has changed recently. Sheldon asks if it’s related to menopause and ensures that it’s not his puberty as he hasn’t shown any signs yet. Mary confirms it not that and shares the truth about Dr. Sturgis being admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Sheldon is shocked and realizes how she was scared for him heading down the same path. He apologizes for causing such grief and they reconcile. Dr. Goetsch nearly says, “I told you so,” but Mary won’t let him take credit for this.

At home Missy is explaining “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” to George and Georgie shows up. He reminds their dad about how he anticipated his salesmanship failure. George smirks. This time Georgie shows exactly how wrong his father was by pulling out bundles of cash from his pockets and throwing them into the air. The naysayers look around in pure awe as money flies around their living room while Georgie smirks at them this time.