Young Sheldon – Teenager Soup and A Little Ball of Fib

By: Ujjyani Banerjee

Adult Sheldon (Jim Parsons) recalls how high schools often resemble haunted houses with their odd-smelling cafeterias, bully-ridden yards and disease-incubating swimming pools. Young Sheldon (Iain Armitage) doesn’t want to give the swimming test and appeals to the principal. He states that the pool is nothing but a teenager soup to him. Principal Petersen (Rex Linn) lets him know that clearing the swimming test is a state requirement and, hence, mandatory.

John (Wallace Shawn) and Connie (Annie Potts) meet at a diner to rekindle their friendship. He calls her as his first ex-girlfriend. Connie asks him to see her as his friend only. John next asks her about Dale (Craig T. Nelson). Connie doesn’t find it appropriate, but John feels that friends should discuss their personal lives with each other. Connie gives in and speaks about Dale’s sporting goods store and coaching career. John makes a mental note.

George (Lance Barber) is struggling with untangling the Christmas lights. Mary (Zoe Perry) comes over. She is worried about how Sheldon is getting all worked up with the swimming test issue and she wants George to speak to him. George wants her to do the talking. They agree to do it together.

John visits Dale’s store to spy on him. Dale spots him in no time and finds him to be a weirdo fiddling with a groin protector cup. He asks Georgie (Montana Jordan) to keep an eye on John, who immediately introduces him as Meemaw’s ex. When John spots Georgie he realizes the pickle he got himself into. He gets home, calls Connie, shares his spy act and notes how Dale sold him that cup. Connie asks him to wear it the next time they met. John tries to apologize for his actions by gifting one massive cookie to Dale and Connie each.

Mary and George break it to Sheldon that missing his swimming test is not an option. Sheldon storms off to him room. After learning about his worry Missy (Raegan Revord) suggests lying about being sick or being prepared to swim or to drown. But Sheldon is not a liar. That night he dreams about standing near the school swimming pool. It tells him that it’s regularly chlorinated and needs his trust. It asks him to come closer and closer until he reaches the edge and gets pulled into the water. Sheldon screams as he wakes up from his dream and Mary rushes to him. He says that he’s feeling sick. She asks him to stay home. Later Georgie too learns about Sheldon’s fake sickness. Being an expert at it, he suggests ways to make it look foolproof. Meanwhile, Mary calls Medford High and lets them know about Sheldon falling sick and being unable to take the swimming test. All of the teachers rejoice as Sheldon is absent. However, George does not believe any of it.

Mary comes to check on Sheldon. He’s got no fever but given that Billy’s (Wyatt McClure) got a bug infection it won’t be a surprise if Sheldon contacted it too. She asks him if he wants to watch Star Trek. He does not. Mary sings him a lullaby in order to cheer him up. Sheldon’s mounting guilt changes up the lyrics making it sound like “ball of fib.” When Mary goes to the grocery store to make him some soup, a guilt-ridden Sheldon stealthily rushes to Billy’s house to shake his hand to get the flu for real. Mary gets home and prepares the soup as George remains amused on the heights of this facade.

Connie and Dale are on a date. Dale can’t stop thinking about his funny encounter with John followed by the funnier peace offering. He wonders how Connie ended up dating a guy like him. She stresses that John is a good guy with very high intellect. Dale asks her if she finds him to be a supermodel. They laugh. Even though Dale tries cracking jokes later, Connie makes it clear that she took offense to him speaking ill about John. Dale takes it in the stride.

Mary makes a visit to Sheldon’s room. He hasn’t touched the soup. She asks him to have it later when he feels better and takes it back to the fridge. Sheldon is feeling increasingly guilty. He tries deviating his mind by reading a comic book, but even there Batman accuses him of wrongly lying to Mary and wasting her efforts to make him that soup. Sheldon has had enough. He goes to mom and reveals everything from being afraid to face the swimming test to Missy and Georgie helping him. Even though Mary is hurt she forgives him as he owned up to his mistake, but still she asks him to keep the truth from his dad. The next day, Sheldon wears a full swimming gear with masks, paddle feet and gloves for his postponed swimming test. Even though the water was well chlorinated as he’d dreamed it to be Sheldon’s genuine sickness that he contacted from Billy surfaces as he contaminates the water and soon gives rise to a small epidemic in the school as well as at his home.

Dr. Sturgis; however, remains safe as he is busy respecting friendship boundaries with Meemaw, but he does manage to trip over garbage cans while riding his bike one day. He falls on his face but thanks to the cup that Dale made him buy that day only his face bears the brunt!