A Proposal and a Popsicle Stick Cross is the twentieth episode of the second season of the American sitcom Young Sheldon. This episode aired on May 2, 2019.
Premise[]
When Veronica has problems at home, the Coopers take her in for a few days, thrilling Georgie. She fits in well with all the family and Georgie's kindness make her actually start to have feelings for him. George steps in when her mother's boyfriend tries to take her home against her will. Meanwhile, John proposes to Meemaw after a year of dating, only she never thought she'd marry again, upsetting him.
Extended Plot[]
Older Sheldon laments about the difficulties of living in "small town Texas" such as every other resident owning farm animals, and everybody knowing everyone else's business. On the positive side, he also realizes that the people help each other when someone is in need. A clear example of this would be a terrified Veronica Duncan escaping the wrath of her mother's alcoholic and abusive boyfriend, and confiding in Mary Cooper over her ordeal. Mrs. Cooper decides to give her sanctuary at her house for a few days... the same Veronica Duncan that Georgie has an unshakable crush on.
That afternoon while George is enjoying a beer on the back porch, Mary announces that she's inviting Veronica to their house, and he thinks she only told her about the girl's ordeal because he was drinking a bottle of beer at the time. At the dinner table, Mary announces that the family will be inviting a guest, which Sheldon and Missy incorrectly assume is George's sister Ruth.
Georgie's reaction when his mother says Veronica will be the family guest.
When she announces that the guest is Veronica Duncan, Georgie feels like he's on top of the world. Mary reminds the kids that everybody should be on their best behavior while she's there. By "everybody" she specifically means Georgie, who offers to let her sleep in his room while he sleeps on the couch.
Meanwhile, in Meemaw's living room, Connie Tucker is trying to keep in shape by working out to a video tape of Richard Simmons' "Sweatin' to the Oldies" series. Suddenly Dr. John Sturgis calls her up on the telephone and invites her for a date at Puerta Roja, a local Mexican restaurant, although both realize she's the one who will drive there.
Georgie shows Veronica around the house.
Just before she arrives, Georgie goes out of his way to clean up his room. He removes all his posters of heavy metal idols as well as carefully hidden pornographic magazines. George is so surprised, he takes a Polaroid picture of his actions. Sheldon, Missy and even Mary notices that he has doused himself with Old Spice cologne in order to attract the girl of his dreams, although he tries to deny it. Once she arrives, Georgie shows her around the house. When he brings her to his room, he shows the new custom decorations, including a popsicle stick cross that he made in Sunday School as a child. Overwhelmed by his kindness, she starts to cry. Just then, Sheldon walks in and assumed her troubled home life was carelessly mentioned to her.
John reserves tables at the restaurant, and arranges their seating positions as being identical to their first date. Both are having a good time, then he slowly poses as if he's about to ask for her hand in marriage, and Connie knows what he's going to do before he even shows her the ring.
While the Coopers and Veronica eat dinner together the family tries to get to know her better. Veronica mentions that she wants a scholarship from Baylor Young University so she can be a teacher, because she adores kids, a quality that Sheldon finds repulsive. Missy on the other hand is impressed with her appearance. "You're so tall and pretty. You should be Vanna White," she declares.
Dr. Sturgis tries and fails to make Meemaw his wife.
Connie turns down her boyfriend's marriage offer, because she had already been a married wife and mother in an earlier part of her life, and doesn't want a repeat of it, but still would like to remain a couple. John is convinced that being married is the only way that people would know that they're a genuine couple then becomes despondent and offers to give her the ring to do as she sees fit once he dies. She takes him to her house and offers him some tea, presumably preceding a sexual tryst with him, only to turn around and discover him riding his bike down the road towards his apartment.
One night, Veronica enters the TV room and sees Georgie watching "Charles in Charge." He compares the sitcom to the ABC sitcom "Who's the Boss" but with Scott Baio's character Chachi from "Happy Days" and the ill-fated spinoff. The two make jokes about the show, and she initiates a passionate kiss with him. Unfortunately, it's all a dream—a very profound and frightening dream that makes her realize she's actually starting to fall in love with him.
Meemaw visits the Coopers and tells Mary about her disastrous date with Dr. Sturgis. Mary thinks they should be married because they're having sex with one another, but she blows her daughter's recommendations off. Just then Sheldon walks in and asks about her date. Meemaw is surprised he knew about the date, and Sheldon is surprised about the proposal. He also suggests that she should've married him, but only because he thought she didn't have as much time to live.
Veronica invites Missy out for a little "girl time."
Unwilling to face her feelings about Georgie, Veronica decides to invite Missy for some girl time, which consists of a visit to a sno-cone booth at a local gas station. While there, Veronica apologizes for the less than impressive quality of their outing, but Missy is still impressed by her. "You probably get this all the time, but you're like princess pretty," she reiterates. The two girls compliment each other, though both wish they could be in each other's positions in life. Missy suggests that they should both say "I wish I could switch places" simultaneously as in the various incarnations of "Freaky Friday," but it doesn't work.
Back at home Missy begs Mary to let Veronica stay with them forever, even with the possibility of trading her in for Sheldon. Just then there's a knock on the front door. Clint arrives to take Veronica home against her will, but Georgie steps in to try to defend her from him. That's when George steps in to defend both of them from Clint. For further emphasis, George asks Veronica if she wants to go with the drunk, and she tells him no. He tries to send the man home, but he refuses to leave even threatening the patriarch of the Cooper household, who is clearly not intimidated by him. The scene is cut to the laundry room of the house where Mary hears a loud thud from the front yard. George walks in preparing to put ice on his sore fist and recommends that she call the police claiming a bum (specifically Clint) was sleeping on the front stoop.
The episode ends with a sullen Dr. Sturgis reading his local newspaper and drinking coffee, when suddenly he changes the page, and sees an oversized classified ad submitted by Connie announcing that they're in a relationship, immediately lifting his mood.
Credits[]
Main[]
- Iain Armitage as Sheldon Cooper
- Zoe Perry as Mary Cooper
- Lance Barber as George Cooper Sr.
- Montana Jordan as George Cooper Jr.
- Raegan Revord as Missy Cooper
- Jim Parsons as the voice of Sheldon Cooper
- Annie Potts as Meemaw
Recurring[]
- Wallace Shawn as Dr. John Sturgis
- Isabel May as Veronica Duncan
- Doc Farrow as Coach Wilkins
Guest[]
- Tim Griffin as Clint Watson
- Yeniffer Behrens as Teresa
Trivia[]
- Music:
- "Clean Up Woman" by Betty Wright.
- "I'll Be You" by The Replacements.
- At the dinner table, Missy claims that Veronica is "so tall and pretty that she should be Vanna White." However, Vanna White only stands at 5'6" and was often turned down for modeling gigs because she was so short.
- Vanity Card here
Gallery[]
Quotes[]
- Mary Cooper: You know that Veronica Duncan girl?
- George Cooper Sr: The one that Georgie likes?
- Mary Cooper: Yeah. I was thinkin' about havin' her stay here for a couple days.
- George Cooper Sr: Wh-, is it Georgie's birthday or somethin'?
- Mary Cooper: No! She's just havin' a rough time at home.
- George Cooper Sr: [takes a sip of his beer] What's goin' wrong?
- Mary Cooper: Her mother's boyfriend has a drinkin' problem, and things have been gettin' out of hand.
- George Cooper Sr: You waited 'til I had a beer to tell me this story, didn't you?
- Mary Cooper: You always have a beer.
- Dr. John Sturgis: What's this? "Connie Tucker is proud to announce that she is sweet on Dr. John Sturgis and they are officially a romantic couple." Oh boy. I'm back in business!
- [final lines]