Dr. Sturgis is back! The visiting professor who caught Connie’s eye continues his romantic relationship this week. Let’s see if the doting couple is ready to take their relationship to the next level…

Sneaky Sheldon

This week’s episode opens with a typical dinner prep at the Cooper house. The table is set, food is made and Mary is rounding up the kids when, strangely, there’s a knock on the door. Mary opens it to find a smiling old man outside her house who introduces himself as John Sturgis. Having never met Dr. Sturgis, it takes a moment for Mary to remember that Dr. Sturgis is the man who recently took her mother out for dinner. Dr. Sturgis claims he had been invited to their home, and ever the polite southern host, Mary invites him in.

As soon as he steps through the door, Mary calls for Sheldon. Sheldon is delighted to see that Dr. Sturgis has arrived. Mary asks him if he thought about telling her about inviting Dr. Sturgis to dinner. To which Sheldon replied: “I did think about it but I was afraid you might say no.” If only getting away with things was as easy as this when I was in high school.

Dinner that night goes smoothly. Sheldon is excited for Dr. Sturgis to have dinner with his family so that he can spend time with Connie. Sheldon is convinced that if Dr. Sturgis and Connie get along, eventually they will get married and the number of smart people in his family will double. He’s a little too enthusiastic about being able to carry an academic conversation with Dr. Sturgis and is told off for being exclusive. This episode continues along that theme; where Sheldon needs to let the grown-ups do the talking. I don’t miss the irony in that statement!

Bonding Time

The next day Sheldon visits Meemaw’s house and demands to know what she is going to do about Dr. Sturgis. He suggests that they go to a lecture together and Meemaw tells him that he’s a little underfoot. So of course, Sheldon takes this knowledge and promptly calls Dr. Sturgis. The old man is excited to be getting advice from Sheldon like he did last time they went on a date and uses this information to call Connie up and ask her to dinner.

While Sheldon struggles with keeping his nose out of his Meemaw’s romantic life, George and Missy go on a little father-daughter-date in order to spend some time together. When George heard Sheldon say that he was excited to finally have a man to look up to like Dr. Sturgis, George felt disconnected to his children. Mary suggested he spend some quality time with Missy, and while George was hesitant, she simply wanted to be taken to dinner. I don’t usually include the side stories in my reviews (that would mean for a lot of information) but I decided to include this part because it was just so wonderful to see. While it is awkward at first, George all dressed up for the Red Lobster and Missy wearing a princess costume, they end up having a great time. It’s clear in George’s expression that by the end of the night he really does see Missy as his little princess who he would do anything for.

An Adult Sleepover

Next, we see Dr. Sturgis showing up to Connie’s house with a giant wok tied to his back. He says himself that he looks like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, although I’d say he looks a little more like Crush, the sea turtle from Nemo. Dr. Sturgis makes a classic Sze Chuan dinner and I have to say does not completely butcher the pronunciation. He warns Connie of the spice but she ends up liking the dish a lot. Dr. Sturgis makes for wonderful company, and who doesn’t like a man that will bike across town just to cook you dinner? Connie certainly appreciates Dr. Sturgis’ efforts because at the end of dinner she asks Dr. Sturgis to spend the night. She actually asks three times, the first commenting on how far he has to bike to get home, the second mentioning that it might rain and the third time she flat out asks him to stay. And she is rejected every single time!

After dinner, Connie is reserved and Dr. Sturgis becomes concerned. While hesitant to speak of the problem at first, Connie eventually admits that she feels rejected. She all but insisted that he stay the night and was evidently refused. Dr. Sturgis explained that he didn’t want to be presumptuous and only thought he was doing the polite thing. He then gets down on his knees and exclaims that it would be an honour to spend the night.

Next episode is the finale and other than this story-line with Dr. Sturgis, there isn’t any grand cliff-hanging I’m anticipating. I am excited, though, to see what they do and hope that I will want to write the reviews for season 2!