Young Sheldon Review: Gluons, Guacamole, and the Color Purple (Season 1 Episode 19 )

Young Sheldon Season 1 Episode 19, “Gluons, Guacamole, and the Color Purple” gives us a clear reminder of how smart Sheldon really is.

While we know from The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon starts college at age 11, in this episode, 9-year-old Sheldon gets his first look at a college physics course.

The episode opens with a very bored Sheldon daydreaming in math class. He dreams of rescuing a crashing satellite and outsmarting all the adults. As everyone else enthusiastically celebrates, Sheldon just has an adorable little smile on his face.

He’s confident his plan is going to work. Sheldon has complete trust in math and science. He isn’t worried if the satellite could crash because he knows it won’t.

It is obvious Sheldon is way beyond high school, and so he scores himself an invitation to attend a college physics class. He may be confident that he is smart enough to be there, but he is still a little boy who needs his Meemaw to walk him into class.

It would be easy for the show to paint Sheldon as older than he really is, but Young Sheldon consistently does an excellent job of showing Sheldon as both a genius and a little kid.

It is not uncommon for Georgie and Missy to be annoyed and embarrassed by Sheldon, but on this episode, we see that Sheldon’s intelligence has a much larger effect on his siblings. While Sheldon is off at college, Missy seeks Georgie’s help with her homework. After he refuses, Missy asks him a heartbreaking question.

Missy: Do you think we’re stupid?

Georgie: Sheldon’s in college right now, and we can’t figure out your homework. What do you think?

Missy: Sometimes, I tell myself I only look stupid because he’s so smart.

This sparks something in Georgie, and he steps up to help his little sister. There is a definite sense that they need to prove themselves. I get the impression that Georgie has long accepted that he isn’t the genius his brother is, but he doesn’t want his sister to feel that way too.

Sheldon has never been shy about his belief that he is smarter than everyone else. That can’t be easy for his siblings to hear. While it is played off as a joke in most scenes, Georgie and Missy are struggling to find where they can shine when they are constantly stuck in Sheldon’s shadow.

It turns out Sheldon’s physics class introduces more than just knowledge, as Meemaw finds an unexpected new beau in the form of Sheldon’s professor. Sheldon loves the idea and doesn’t waste any time planning a future for them.

Sheldon: If they get married, we immediately double the amount of smart people in our family.

(Mary sighs)

Sheldon: That means we go from 1 to 2.

From riding his bicycle to pick up Connie for their date to having no clue what guacamole is, Dr. Sturgis has many quirks. However, he is so innocent and sweet that Connie finds him quite fun.

There are many parallels between Dr. Sturgis and Sheldon. They both love the color blue, vanilla ice cream, and physics, but the comparison is present in more than interests. They both struggle to relate to people and understand humor. Although, come to think of it, Dr. Sturgis might be more like The Big Bang Theory’s Raj than Sheldon.

When Missy gets her homework back, she cryptically slides it under Georgie’s door. While Missy teases Georgie about crying over their success, I wonder why she didn’t want to show it to him face to face. Perhaps, she was emotional herself.

It is both adorable and sad that Georgie pins the paper up on his bulletin board. Although, I wish they would have put it on the fridge for the whole family to see.

The episode closes with Sheldon daydreaming yet again, but this time, he is in college. He proudly tells that class he already knows this material. It won’t be long before Sheldon is ready to move on to bigger and better things.

Other Thoughts:

• I loved every minute of Sheldon’s daydreams. The computer screen just flashing “It worked” after Sheldon saved the satellites was absolutely perfect.
• I know Georgie is supposed to be a low academic achiever, but he is in high school. He doesn’t know what a complete sentence is?!
• This episode had some great one-liners. Georgie’s “Put a verb in there, girl” particularly sticks out.
• A gluon is a subatomic particle of a class that is thought to bind quarks together.

What did you think of this episode of Young Sheldon? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Young Sheldon airs Thursdays at 8:30 on CBS.

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