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A Research Study and Czechoslovakian Wedding Pastries is the fifth episode of the second season of the American comedy Young Sheldon. This episode aired on October 18, 2018.

Plot[]

John suggests that Sheldon and Missy begin participating in a weekly twin study. Mary is concerned about possible effects on the children, but George likes the $300 that the study pays every week. Sheldon excels at the analytical tests, but has little patience for the tests of perceptiveness, while Missy is the opposite. She also suggests ways that her psychologist could make herself more attractive to her colleague. While monitoring the sessions, Mary learns that Missy feels a bit neglected, so she is given the choice of restaurant on the way home.

Extended plot[]

Older Sheldon narrates the tumultuous history between himself and his sister Missy. He mentions that when he was two years old he started reading books, while Missy tried to eat them. He then mentions that when they were five, he tried to have an organized work and play space, while Missy came in and trashed his workspace, just for kicks. In the same speech, he speaks of a much more recent and more positive interactions with her, specifically an incident where a spider was crawling around their bedroom. While Missy is focused directly on the spider, Sheldon is frantically standing on his bed. When she finally kills the spider, Sheldon has some doubts about whether it's dead or not. Then Missy shows her the shoe with the dead arachnid, causing him to run away screaming.

Dr Sturgis and Meemaw visit George with kolaches

Dr. Sturgis and Meemaw offer George a box of kolaches... with a catch.

Around the same time, George opens the front door to find a visit from Connie Tucker and Dr. John Sturgis who offers him a box of kolaches. However, there's an alternate motive to the gift and the visit, which Meemaw announces. George makes a sarcastic remark assuming that he's going ask for his mother-in-law's hand in marriage (When Dr. Sturgis doesn't get the joke, Connie admonishes him to finally ask his question). From there, Dr. Sturgis informs him that a study on the intelligence of both fraternal and identical twins is being carried out at a branch of East Texas Tech, and after mentioning Sheldon and Missy to his colleagues, they're quite interested in using the two as part of their studies. He almost considers offering to send his two twins to them, until he finds out the study is being conducted in Houston. Fortunately, Dr. Sturgis points out that the university is offering $50 an hour, plus fuel and other expenses, making George change his mind. Later that evening, George tells Mary about it. However, she is not sure and worries about Sheldon because she thinks he is already insecure due to his intelligence towards others. Likewise, if she worries about Missy getting along, she'll find that she's not as smart as Sheldon. George then tries to convince his wife and makes it clear that they could use the money for the later college of children well, but also secretly so that he can buy a motorboat for himself. At dinner together, George and Mary tell the twins this news. Georgie is slightly offended that the news doesn't apply to him. George reports that a study on twins is taking place at the university where John teaches and asks Sheldon and Missy if they feel like participating. While Sheldon is immediately excited, Missy has doubts. Mary immediately makes it clear that the two do not have to participate in the study, but George still tries to talk them both into it. While Sheldon is still eager to get involved, Missy is bribed by her father into a trip to a Dairy Queen franchise along the way, and ultimately agrees to participate in the study.

George, Mary, the twins, and Connie are escorted by John to meet two of his colleagues; Dr. Edward Thrope and Dr. Sandra Pilson. After a brief conversation, they ask Mary, George, and Connie for a conversation, which neither Sheldon nor Missy can understand. The doctors make clear that they want to catch up on background information about the children, which Sheldon finds very clever. He says that he was already more mature than his sister when he was an infant. Meanwhile, Connie asks John to take care of the twins. The latter promises to make an effort, but points out that he can not catch up with them if they run away.

As John waits with the twins, he reminisces about his childhood, because he himself once participated in a study. Sheldon assumes that John's parents also thought he was smart. But John denies that and tells them they were convinced that he was crazy. From there he tells them that Albert Einstein's parents were worried about him during his childhood because he wanted nothing to do with other children and often tended to burst out into tantrums. Missy interjects that this sounds like Sheldon, which he happily confirms. When talking to the doctors, Mary mentions that Sheldon never wanted to have anything to do with other children. The doctor then wants to know if there was anything unusual in pregnancy, which Mary denies. George reminds her of her crying, which lasted seven months; Mary, however, denies this and says that these were tears of joy. When they finally come to speak about Missy, she indicates that it is balanced. George, however, says she would occasionally bite, which Connie can confirm. Then she makes it clear that the doctors are wasting their time trying to find out anything about Mary and George and should start with the twins.

Drs Edward Pilson and Sandra Thorpe; Before and After Missy

Dr. Pilson and Thorpe, before (top) and after (bottom) meeting Missy.

Dr. Pilson tells Sheldon that the first test is about problem solving skills. The doctor appears surprised when Sheldon makes it clear that he already knows these tests. At the same time, Dr. Thorpe tells Missy the same purpose of the test. But before she can start, Missy makes some requests about her appearance in the videorecording, ranging from the position of the camera to whether or not she has food in her teeth. She also has a few questions that are less about the test but more about the doctor. Meanwhile, George, Mary, Connie and John in a next room watch a TV set up to monitor the testing process carried out on Sheldon and Missy. Unlike the others, Mary is not enthusiastic and does not want to see all that. George completely disagrees and is more impressed with his daughter's repartee. The feeling is mutual with Connie, who is rather bored watching Sheldon doing his test. On one of these videos, Missy reveals to Dr. Thorpe that Dr. Pilson has a crush on her, which Mary finds embarrassing. Though Dr. Thorpe tries to get Missy to focus on the test, she briefly inquires about what she knows about the other doctor. "When you're not looking, he stares at your tushie." Connie and Dr. Sturgis are equally impressed with her over this.

When the test is over, the two doctors ask the kids how they felt about doing it. Sheldon is pleased to that he was allowed to do a test on the weekend, while Missy is delighted to meet her own doctor, who she is very sympathetic toward. This returns the compliment and at the same time advised the hair to be worn down. After the Coopers leave, she awkwardly uses her hair to attract attention from her colleague, but it still works. Romance is in the air!

At home, Georgie watches an episode of "Soul Train" on TV when his family returns. Since Mary is still worried that the study is not good for Sheldon, she talks to George. Unlike her, he sees no problem in it and reminds his wife how much money they'll receive with the study.

A week later, the twins have more tests to show how empathetic the two are. More than dissatisfied Sheldon, who does not pay attention to the facial expressions on the pictures shown him. This also causes Mary to aggressively try to help her son. Meanwhile, Missy strikes herself great, as she shows a lot of empathy. Additionally, Dr. Thorpe is quite grateful for Missy's fashion advice, because she and Dr. Pilson are now romantically involved with one another. Although Mary is proud of her daughter, she must hear that she feels incredibly lonely and therefore has a good empathy. Shocked, she tries to make amends and offers Missy to select a restaurant. Much to the chagrin of George (and the delight of Meemaw), Missy selects a Red Lobster franchise, convincing him that his chance of getting a motorboat are now lost.

In the evening, Missy reveals to her father that she knows that there is money for the study and wants a fair share. George, however, tricked her, leaving his daughter to run to Sheldon for help with the math. Shortly thereafter, Georgie asks his father to change the channel, hoping to see the Soul Train dancer he has developed a crush on, and even hopes to marry someday. Annoyed, George finally switches to the desired program.

Credits[]

Main[]

Recurring[]

Guest[]

  • Amy Farrington as Dr. Sandra Thorpe
  • Wallace Langham as Dr. Edward Pilson
  • Madison Wulf as Five-Year-Old Missy
  • Parker Dailey as Five-Year-Old Sheldon

Trivia[]

  • Title Reference:
    • A Research Study: The test performed on Sheldon and Missy.
    • Czechoslovakian Wedding Pastries: The kolaches John and Connie used to bribe George into submitting his twins to the aforementioned study.
  • Mee-Maw calls George Sr. and Mary - Fred and Wilma
  • Missy mentions this movie (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids) to Dr. Sandra.
  • Dr. Sturgis gives Sheldon a pep talk by comparing him to Einstein. Einstein was widely theorized to be autistic.

Gallery[]


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