After a special premiere week with two new episodes, Young Sheldon is finally getting settled in its normal time slot of Thursdays at 8:30 ET on CBS. In this new episode “A Crisis of Faith and Octopus Aliens”, Mary finds herself debating her faith after a freak accident in the community. The episode starts off with Sheldon questioning the pastor at his church about Octopus Aliens and whether God would save them. While the pastor seems exhausted with him, he continues to appease Sheldon much to Mary’s embarrassment. The conversation continues at home when Mary gets a call about a neighborhood friend whose sixteen-year-old daughter was killed in a car accident. Sheldon is more concerned with going to Radio Shack but it’s clear all the adults in the house are shaken by this news. While George and Mary go to the funeral, MeeMaw is stuck with the kids at home discussing what happens at a funeral. It’s clear as to why they weren’t allowed to go.
This news seems to hit Mary the hardest and causes her to have a crisis of faith. She goes to see the pastor who tells her to work on her relationship with God by doing more for the community. She starts a prayer group, faith garden, and a list of other things. But all the community service she does doesn’t get her the answers that she is seeking. It isn’t until we see George and Georgie in the car that the audience realizes the truth of the matter, it could have been ANY of their kids. Georgie wants his driver’s permit and George reminds him about asking “stupid questions at the wrong time”. Georgie acknowledges he knows about the girl who died but goes on to explain he already knows how to drive. He’s already driven MeeMaw’s car and even parked dear old dad’s truck while he was sleeping. Georgie admits “I said I was responsible, I never said I was smart.”
“A Crisis of Faith and Octopus Aliens” – Pictured: Mary (Zoe Perry) and Meemaw (Annie Potts) Photo: Cliff Lipson/CBS ©2018 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Mary seeks out her mother after drinking some wine coolers. So MeeMaw takes her to the local bar to play pool to drink some more. She continues to press on Mary about what’s wrong until she breaks down. Mary doesn’t understand God’s plan and it’s destroying her. Mid-discussion a man comes up to her with a corny pickup line about having a shoulder to cry on, MeeMaw’s response about where she was going to stick her pool stick finally gets a smile out of Mary. MeeMaw eventually drops off a very drunk Mary home to George. When the kids awake the next morning, they find Dad cooking them chocolate chip pancakes much to their surprise. Sheldon knows something is immediately wrong when he’s informed they will not be going to church, but reaches a breaking point when his mother doesn’t say grace at dinner. When Mary retreats to the front porch that evening, Sheldon asks to join her but is rejected. Before turning to go inside, he states that he is scared because she is going against everything he knows his mom to do. He fears that his discussion with the pastor earlier may have caused her doubts. While she attempts to explain to Sheldon about figuring out her faith, Sheldon tries to prove that God is real. For example, Did you know that gravity is JUST right to include life or the simple fact out of 5 Billion people, she’s the perfect mom for him?
Young Sheldon writer’s knocked it out of the park with this episode. The storyline was completely relatable and made audiences love the Cooper family more. As a nanny, there have been days where nothing can go right but a child picks up on it and literally make everything better with a single statement. Once again, the balance between humor and drama is amazing. The character development this season is wonderful. I love seeing Georgie and George’s interactions. Unlike The Big Bang Theory that often hangs on Sheldon’s annoying qualities, this series turns his quirks into complete positives. What was your favorite part of the episode? Let me know in the comments below! Don’t forget to follow The Game of Nerds for all your Young Sheldon coverage!
