The penultimate episode of the season focused heavily on Sheldon’s impending trip to Germany, instead of what viewers were anticipating- the fall of George and Mary’s marriage and George Sr.’s ultimate demise. For Big Bang Theory fans, the prequel’s deviation from the original timeline is frustrating. The writer’s have already chosen to have Sheldon travel to Germany at age 13, instead of 15, now it appears that they have opted to skip over a pivotal moment in Sheldon’s life, the discovery of his father in bed with another woman. With only one episode remaining, it appears that George’s emotional affair with Brenda was in fact the extent of George’s cheating scandal, which is a huge disappointment. Clearly the show isn’t ready to write George Sr. off the show just yet, but they could have chosen to delay certain plot points instead of glossing over significant moments in Sheldon’s life.
As stated above, this half-hour focused on Sheldon's trip preparations. He decides he needs to acclimate his body to Germany’s time zone, which doesn’t pan out too well for Missy. His new sleeping schedule has him awake during the wee hours of the morning, allowing him to catch his twin sneaking into her bedroom window after a late night smoking and drinking session with Tanya. Missy has had years of practice with manipulating Sheldon, and she uses it to her advantage. She tells him that if he tells their parents, neither of them will want to go with him to Germany and if they don’t go, he won’t go. As much as Sheldon wants to go to Germany, his innate need to tell the truth eats away at him.
Mary is also busy preparing for the trip, which leaves George to have to tend to the household chores. He realizes that going to Germany with Sheldon will be a lot easier than dealing with everything on the home front, and he tries to get Mary to let him go instead. George uses Sheldon’s fear of flying to make his case, reminding Sheldon of how he helped him remain calm during their flight to California. Before Mary can chastise George for his sneaky tactics, Sheldon tells them about Missy sneaking out of the house, leading Missy to tell Sheldon that she hates him.
After grounding Missy for the summer, George decides that Mary should go to Germany with Sheldon, and he will remain behind to deal with Missy. Viewers can likely guess how well George handled parenting alone, but they aren’t made to wonder long. Adult Sheldon narrates that Missy snuck out thirty two times that summer, and that George had no idea.
Meanwhile, Georgie and Mandy headed on a weekend spa getaway. Mandy was excited for some time away to relax, but Georgie wasn’t too keen on being alone with Mandy. He is struggling with all of her mixed signals, and isn’t clear as to what Mandy’s motives are for inviting him on the trip. At the spa, Mandy can sense that something is off with Georgie, and during what is supposed to be a relaxing couples massage, he admits that he is tired of constantly being rejected by her. In an anti-climactic move, Mandy tells Georgie that she wants to get married, much to Georgie’s delight. After such a dramatic will they/won't they with these two, it was anticipated that Mandy's acceptance of Georgie's proposal would have been a much bigger spectacle. Telling Georgie she wants to marry him on the car ride home from the spa, was not at all a satisfying conclusion for the long drawn out storyline.
Leave it to Connie and Dale to provide a much needed comedic reprieve. Connie is shocked to discover that despite having raised children of his own, Dale has no clue how to tend to a baby. Connie isn’t about to let Dale get away with never having changed a baby’s diaper, so she makes sure he gets to experience all of the things he missed when his children were babies. The banter between these two is always a hoot, hopefully the writer’s will incorporate a lot more of them together next season.
Considering this was the second last episode of the season, it lacked any type of drama or suspense. With no heavy storylines at play, it is unclear what the finale will hold. What is clear, is that the writer’s are likely choosing to keep George Sr. around for at least most, if not all of season seven. Hopefully fans will not be too upset by the deviation from the original storyline and keep watching. Over to you, Young Sheldon fans! What were your thoughts on the episode? Do you think George’s emotional affair will be the extent of his cheating? Or does something big lie ahead in the season finale? Share your thoughts by commenting below and interact with me on Twitter.
