Thoughts From the Young Sheldon Episode A Solo Peanut, a Social Butterfly and the Truth (3/31/2022)

Synopsis: When Paige (Mckenna Grace) visits East Texas Tech as part of a team giving a guest lecture, Sheldon (Iain Armitage) learns her college experience has been vastly different from his and she is lonely and miserable. Georgie (Montana Jordan) finally tells his girlfriend, Mandy (Emily Osment) his real age and eventually learns some life-altering news.

My Thoughts:

I continue to be impressed by the way this series tackles the very real issue of discrimination against women in science. Paige could very well be smarter than Sheldon and is (at least normally) less socially awkward. Yet, while he is treated with a reasonable amount of respect by the people at his college, she's treated more as a sideshow attraction. 

I think the most telling thing about it has to be the decision to give Paige a 30-year-old chaperone. Sheldon might think it is because she is a troublemaker, but it's fairly obvious that decision is gender specific. After all, Sheldon was allowed to go on a road trip with his professors without some sort of escort.

Speaking of her chaperone, where was she? Paige was wandering around the East Texas Tech campus pretty much by herself and even spent some time in a men's dorm before completely disappearing for a few days. I think that woman probably will lose her job over this.

Kudos to Missy (Raegan Revord) for proving to be the mature one in all of this. As I've said before, she might not be as smart as her twin brother on paper but does definitely possess gifts he doesn't have. Her intuition about Paige was spot on, even with the limited amount of information Sheldon gave her. Oh, and I have to say it was pretty cool how quickly she was able to accept her brother's lifestyle choice when she momentarily thought he was gay.

It's looking more like Mandy will turn out to be Georgie's first wife. I suspect the fact she is pregnant, combined with the fact they live in east Texas, will result in a shotgun marriage for the two of them. Plus, it's pretty clear they aren't meant to be together, making divorce a logical conclusion.

But is she really pregnant? I only ask this because, at no point during The Big Bang Theory, did Sheldon mention he had nieces/nephews other than the ones Missy gave birth to. I don't think Mandy is trying to con him, but I wonder if maybe she is wrong about being pregnant or if she will eventually lose the baby.

Final Opinion: This was actually kind of a depressing episode to watch because I've always liked Paige, especially when she was Sheldon's rival, and feel bad about the way her life is turning out. I am, however, interested to hear what happens to her next (will she transfer to East Texas Tech?) and what kind of impact this pregnancy has on the Cooper family.

My Grade: A