“It began with a loaf of bread, and ended with me and my family almost being kicked out of the United States of America.”
I assumed, when Adult Sheldon introduced the episode with these words, he was exaggerating but he really wasn’t. When his favorite sandwich suddenly tastes differently than the day before Sheldon is ready to move heaven and earth to find out what caused the change in taste. After eliminating the possibility that his mother used one knife instead of two to prepare his sandwich (which would totally explain the different taste), he tastes all ingredients separately: The jelly is fine. No different in taste. Same goes for the peanut butter. But the bread, the bread is different! Turns out that Sheldon’s beloved bread from Happy Hearth Home Bakeries was bought out by the Domestic Food Corporation who changed the recipe to produce it cheaper and faster. When Sheldon calls the company to do “battle with corporate America” they assure him that the quality of the bread has not changed with the acquisition of the Domestic Food Corporation. Sheldon, though, clearly does taste a difference. Therefore, he decides to start a petition. He even calls Channel 7 to ask them to report about his project on their news show. They actually show up to interview him. However, the interview turns out to be a big mistake:
Sheldon on TV: I was shocked to learn that the Happy Hearth Home Bakeries had been bought out by the Domestic Food Corporation, and they started making their bread faster and cheaper.
Sheldon: No.
Reporter: And you're collecting signatures - to make them stop.
Sheldon: I am. Corporations shouldn't be allowed to make these decisions on their own Reporter: Well, who should?
Sheldon: The people who eat the bread. This wouldn't happen if there were centralized control over all these big corporations.
Reporter: Are you suggesting a communist form of government in Texas?
Sheldon: … I suppose I am.
In his - what I can only assume - ignorance about the current political situation, Sheldon says he would welcome a communist form of government in the state of Texas. A very unwise thing to say on television when your country is in the middle of a cold war with a communist Russia. In Sheldon’s defense though, without the reporter’s interference, the word “communist” would probably not have been uttered. She brought up the term, she pushed the child she interviewed in a specific direction. However, Sheldon still cannot be let off the hook. His entire family gets labeled as “communist” because of his interview. Even though they cover their house in American flags to show their patriotism and love for their country, George almost loses his job and even Pastor Jeff is very concerned about how all of this is going to reflect on the church. After all, communists are usually atheists!
When the Coopers had enough of all their neighbor’s calling them “traitors”, George decides to give an interview on TV to clarify once and for all that neither Sheldon nor his family are communists.
At the end of the episode, Sheldon announces that he actually came to like the new taste of the bread. So, all the drama actually was for nothing. Oh, Shelly.
The second and significantly shorter storyline of the episode, revolves once more around Georgie. Veronica, the young woman he has been in love with for months, broke up with her boyfriend. She is crushed and could really use a friend to talk to. Georgie wants to be that friend. He invites her out for waffles and they actually get along pretty well. After Sheldon’s communism incident, Georgie is being bullied and excluded from the students at school. Veronica is the only one who does not care about the rumors. She still wants to spend time with him. The two of them would actually make a cute couple. What I really appreciated in this episode is that Georgie was being completely honest with her. Episodes ago, he pretended to be someone he was not to get her attention. He was being an ass. In this episode, he was himself and even admitted to her that he does not know if he will manage it to just be her friend. However, he still wants to try. Little Georgie Cooper grew up quite a bit in the last few episodes. Who knew that day would ever come ;)
