After several weeks away, Dr. Sturgis is finally released from the hospital. Connie is nervous about his return and Mary is worried the kids (and in particular her husband) will ask inappropriate questions when the professor joins them for dinner. In her opinion, his stay at the hospital should not be addressed under any circumstances. To anyone’s relief but Mary’s Sturgis actually welcomes any and all questions about his time at the psychiatric hospital. After all, he believes "
the best way to destigmatize something is to talk about it." He is not ashamed of having reached out for help but he does understand that the Coopers might be somewhat uncomfortable around him. Mary certainly is. As it is no surprise for a faithful servant of the church, Mary would prefer to simply pretend that everything is just fine but Dr. Sturgis' open-minded attitude makes it hard to ignore the fact that he had a mental breakdown.
After dinner Connie expects Sturgis to stay over at her place but instead, he breaks up with her. Being broken up with is something Connie has no experience in whatsoever. She is always the one who does the breaking up! Now she is on the other side of the fence which is entirely new to her. To add some more fuel to the already raging fire, Sturgis actually suggests men who Connie could date instead of him. Ira from the furniture store comes to mind. In her anger, Connie actually sets up a date with him. However, all she does with Ira is talk about John and admits she only set up this date because it was his idiotic idea. At first, Ira does not mind that Connie only asked him out because she is angry at Sturgis, he is just glad to be on a date with her. Eventually though, he realizes just how hung up Connie still is on Sturgis and ends the date.
Sheldon is unhappy when his mother informs him that Dr. Sturgis will not be coming over for dinner anymore as he and Meemaw have broken up. Sheldon does not understand why he has to give up his friendship with Sturgis just because he is not Meemaw's boyfriend anymore. It took Sheldon such a long time to find someone who is like him, and now that he finally has someone who really gets him, he is suddenly not allowed to see that person anymore. How is that fair!? Mary does not have it in her to deny Sheldon the friendship with Dr. Sturgis. So, they invite the professor over to dinner once again. Due to Sturgis’ none existent speech filter and his inability to recognize comments inappropriate for children, Mary ends the dinner early and asks George to take out Dr. Sturgis for a drink. After a few sips of beer Sturgis admits that he only broke up with Connie because he is damaged goods. He thinks she deserves better. If he has another episode and ends up at the hospital again it will hurt Connie and he does not want that. He is protecting her. Sturgis ends up being drunk after only one beer and spends the night on the Coopers' couch.
What are your thoughts on this episode? Did you like the focus on Dr. Sturgis?
