The episode begins with a typical family dinner at the Cooper residence, filled with sarcasm and witty one-liners, until the loaded question of, “should we say Grace?” is brought up. The tradition that has been upheld by the family since the early days, is now put into question as Mary grapples with her faith. She responds with “we can if you want.” Sheldon opts to continue the tradition, stating that he finds the ritual comforting, and Missy decides to lead them in prayer.
The twins spend the episode brainstorming ways to help with the family finances. As usual, their banter is filled with quick quips, mostly at the hands of Missy, who states that she is good at being popular and when Sheldon retorts, “that is not a skill,” she claps back with “you can’t do it.” Sheldon decides to run with his idea of writing episodes for Star Trek to make money, and eagerly shares his ideas with various others including George and Grant Linklatter. When everyone shockingly finds fault in his plot line, Sheldon realizes that he needs to head back to the drawing board. Missy on the other hand, manages to land a job at King Comics, much to her brother’s chagrin. Missy's blossoming maturity is definitely on display this season, which is actually a contrast to how her character is presented in The Big Bang Theory. The prequel's Missy is turning out to be a far cry from the loose, unsuccessful one as described in TBBT.
Meanwhile in the episode, George confronts Brenda about why she hired Mary at the bowling alley. Brenda defends her decision, stating that nothing happened between them. George retorts that it almost did, and she knows it. At the bowling alley. Mary is stunned to see Pastor Rob with a pretty young lady. The two are obviously happy to see one another, and their attempts to hide that fact come in the form of awkward conversation. Mary is ultimately humiliated when Pastor Rob’s date points out that Mary used to babysit her. Mary quickly heads to the bowling alley office, visibly upset, which does not go unnoticed by Brenda who offers to take Mary out for a drink. At the bar, Brenda questions Mary as to why she was rattled by Pastor Rob's presence. It is clear that Brenda is hoping to use Mary’s obvious attraction to the pastor to drive a further wedge between her and George, but it quickly backfires. Mary instead goes home and puts the moves on her husband, who happily obliges.
Elsewhere in the episode, Grant Linklatter is happily surprised when Connie finally accepts a date with him. With a little advice from Sheldon, he takes her to a Polynesian restaurant and the date quickly becomes awkward when Linklatter gets drunk and says all the wrong things. The date storyline felt very out of place in this episode, though it did make for some comedic interludes between the scenes showcasing the tension plaguing the Cooper family.
Surprisingly, Georgie was only in one scene this episode, which is a shift from the focus of season four, and from what is anticipated to be the main dramatic element of this season.
What were your thoughts on the episode? Do you think Mary will finally confront her feelings for Pastor Rob? Comment below with your thoughts or interact with me on Twitter @ms_c_almeida.
