Young Sheldon Season 2 Episode 8 Review

Sheldon and Meemaw become obsessed with video games on tonight's Young Sheldon. Also, Georgie gets a part-time job that shows the origin of his later career. This episode sounds like a very promising one, and I hope it doesn't disappoint.

Meemaw gives Sheldon a video game console she won at bowling, but he refuses because "video games are for children." Ultimately, she is able to convince him to play, but not before he spends an eternity reading the instructions. Georgie also gets an offer for a part-time job at Hershel's car shop, which he agrees to after getting Mary's permission.

Days later, Sheldon and Meemaw are now obsessed with their video game. Mary has to intervene, especially once it startings interfering with Sheldon's bedtime. Hershel stops by to ask Georgie to work the next day, which would interfere with football practice. George is opposed to this, but Georgie really wanted to work. George forces him to play football, which leads to a fight between the two. That night, Sheldon dreams about the video game and he calls Meemaw in the middle of the night for game advice. However, he discovers that she's playing the game without him and he gets upset, until she agrees to turn off the game for the night.

Meemaw starts up the game, but she can't bear to play it without Sheldon. So she stops by school to pick him up, which Sheldon isn't all that happy about because hooky is wrong. He gets over it though, and they go home to finish the game up. Meemaw hands the controller over to Sheldon and they end up fighting the video game villain together. Hershel stops by to tell George that Georgie has a real gift for changing tires, and that he has a future in the tire business. Sheldon and Meemaw beat the game, and they then decide to buy another game to play together.

Wrap-Up:
This was a stellar, and unexpectedly emotional, episode of Young Sheldon. While Georgie's storyline was very good itself, Sheldon and Meemaw's was fantastic. I was expecting a pretty run-of-the-mill and bland storyline there, but it was actually pretty layered. It was both hilarious and emotional, with the ending voiceover really tugging at my heartstrings. It was also great to see Sheldon just let loose and worry about something other than academics for once, especially since he actually neglected his school duties to play video games. It was hilarious and unexpected, but a real delight. Seeing the strong bond that Sheldon and Meemaw have get some increased attention also helped make this one of the finest episodes of the season. The episode also managed to give every member of the family something really funny to do, whether it was just a few lines like Mary and Missy or a whole storyline like Sheldon and Meemaw. This was my favorite episode of the season for sure.

Score: 9.5/10
Grade: A

Young Sheldon Season 2 Episode 6 Review

It's a spooky, sinful episode of Young Sheldon this week, as Jason Alexander makes a return trip to "help" Mary with a church Halloween function. I hope that the episode is more of a treat than a trick.

Mary is help with the local church's haunted house, and she's pretty much ruining it by removing the blood and gore from the event. She stops by school to ask Mr. Lundy for advice on the haunted house, and it's pretty clear that he wants to be a really big part of it. Later on, he reveals that he wrote the script for the house, and Mary's not pleased because she wanted to write it.

Mary hates the script, because it doesn't reflect the values she wants it to. But it's not just the script that Lundy takes over: he's taking over everything, and Mary hates it. She tries to shut it down, but Lundy is persistent and won't give at all.

It's time for the haunted house to make its grand debut, and Lundy has made himself the star of the whole production. Mary tries to "fix" it by showing up as an angel, but everyone is more interested in Lundy's version. However, Lundy's seven deadly sins-themed haunted house scares Georgie's date so much that she runs to Mary and decides to devote her life to religion.

Wrap-Up:
I was disappointed in this episode, though Jason Alexander's return as Mr. Lundy was a real treat. The Lundy v. Cooper feud was the best part of the otherwise mediocre episode. I didn't dislike anything about the episode per se, it just wasn't as good as I'm used to for an episode of Young Sheldon. Sheldon and Missy's trick-or-treat costumes were pretty good, and Sheldon explaining his costume was very funny. The episode, however, was packed with filler, presumably because the plot wasn't all that strong. The Georgie subplot was pretty weak, and it felt pretty incomplete overall. I didn't care about it much at all, and would have rather just seen more of Sheldon and Missy trick-or-treating or even more of Mary's fight to have a haunted house that she was comfortable with.

All in all, this episode wasn't a bad one, but it wasn't even close to being one of the show's best, and it was definitely the season's worst so far.

Score: 7/10
Grade: C+

Young Sheldon Season 2 Episode 5 Review

It's an experimental episode of Young Sheldon this week, as Sheldon and Missy become test subjects and Rex from Toy Story Wallace Shawn makes an appearance. It should be another fun episode of one of my favorite shows of the season.

John asks George for permission to experiment on Sheldon and Missy as part of an experiment on twins. George doesn't want to do it at first due to the long drive, but the big payment is enough for him to approve. Mary isn't on board at first, but George sways her. The twins also agree, and the experiment will go on. The test begins with some interesting, completely expected, results, with Sheldon commenting on and criticizing the test for being easy and Missy spending most of the time talking to one of the scientists.

In a different portion of the experiment, Missy is doing a lot better than Sheldon. The two have to examine pictures, and Sheldon is bombing. During the test, the family hears Missy talking about how nobody is on her team, with George and Georgie being a "team" and Meemaw, Mary and Sheldon being their own "team." This leads to Mary letting Missy choose the restaurant they'll be going to eat at on the way home, which makes Sheldon super confused.

Wrap-Up:

This was, without a doubt, the worst episode of the season. As always, it had some really funny moments, but it didn't really go anywhere. There was basically no plot this week, aside from Sheldon and Missy being in the experiment. Spending the entire episode on the experiment wasn't a great creative choice, and it left me wanting more. While that didn't make it bad, it did make the episode a real disappointment. I was really excited for this episode and it let me down. The episode wasn't all that creative or original, which isn't usual for this show. It honestly felt like an episode that any family comedy could have done. However, I will compliment it for making Missy the star instead of the typical Sheldon-led main plot. It didn't go that well this time around, but I still love Missy and it was nie to see her get increased screentime.

Grade: 7.5/10
Grade: B-

Young Sheldon Season 2 Episode 4 Review

It's been a little while since my last Young Sheldon review but rest assured, they're finally back this week. I'm glad to be back to reviewing it, because Young Sheldon has been a pleasant surprise this season. While the first season was consistently solid, this season has been a step up, and has delivered fantastic episodes every week.

It's time for Sheldon to do the family's taxes, which makes him strangely ecstatic. He takes his role very seriously and is very upset that a check is missing, which he figures out was for $300. He asks George about it, but he's very secretive and doesn't want Sheldon telling Mary about it. Sheldon starts acting weird around Mary because of the secret, but nobody really notices at first. He tries to avoid contact with Mary, which leads to him hiding in various strange places. Mary finally notices that something's off about Sheldon, but George brushes it off. Later, George goes to see Meemaw, telling her that Sheldon can't hold their secret, whatever that is, for long. Meemaw doesn't think this is an option, so she blackmails George.

Sheldon tries to get a hotel room, but that's way too expensive for him. So he ends up asking his friend Tam to have a sleepover. Tam's not too sure, but eventually, he agrees. Sheldon has an... interesting time at Tam's. Meanwhile, Mary is wondering why Sheldon suddenly wanted to stay at Tam's, and she blames herself. George wants to come clean to her, but Meemaw won't budge. Back at Tam's, Sheldon tells Tam what's going on, and he finally clears his conscience. And later, his colon.

Sheldon's now mad at George because he asked him to keep the secret, and he tells him he can no longer look up to him as a role model. This causes George to finally come clean to Mary, which leads to Mary yelling at Meemaw. It turns out that Meemaw took Georgie to the dog track, and had a few too many. This cause Georgie to drive them home, but they got pulled over. To keep Georgie out of trouble, Meemaw got behind the wheel and ended up getting a ticket. And that's what the check was for. Once the entire secret is out, Mary kicks George and Georgie out of the house until further notice. That night, as her revenge, Meemaw calls Mary to rat out George about his drunken night at the church picnic.

Wrap-Up:
This was another great episode for Young Sheldon, and was only a mild step down from last week's phenomenal Mary-centric episode. There were extremely hilarious and deeply touching moments to be found in this episode. I genuinely felt bad for George when Sheldon told him he wasn't his role model anymore, and then was laughing hysterically just minutes later when Mary was reprimanding the episode's trio of troublemakers. Getting to know Tam's family a bit was pretty interesting, and I would like to see more of them in the future.

Also, and I don't even think this needs to be said because it's such an obvious fact, but Annie Potts is a national treasure. Meemaw and George freaking out about Mary learning their secret and the eventual reveal of their secret was just delightful. It was great to see those two not at each other's throats for once, even though Meemaw's blackmail was the only reason their truce lasted as long as it did.

Score: 9.5/10
Grade: A

Young Sheldon Season 2 Premiere Review

Young Sheldon had a great first season last year, filled with many memorable moments and hilarious episodes. It's now back for its second season, and I hope it'll be just as good this time around. I reviewed the pilot episode last year as a special one-time thing, but now I'll be reviewing it for good, as the show has really become a favorite in my house.

Sheldon hears a horrible noise that nobody else can hear, which is preventing him from eating. George decides it's the fridge, but he won't do anything about it because it really doesn't matter. The sound only bugs Sheldon, and what *doesn't* bug Sheldon. Unfortunately, this also keeps him awake at night, and he's bugging Missy too. So he does the only logical thing: he goes to Meemaw's to sleep. Meemaw... does not love this. Sheldon later decides to take apart the entire fridge in order to figure out what's causing the annoying noise. As expected, this goes horribly and Mary freaks out. But at least Sheldon figures out the cause of the noise. So... that's a win, right? It'll take $200 to repait the fridge, and things get worse when Mary reveals that she donated the old fridge that they had in the garage. So George goes to yell at Sheldon, who now has to pay back all the money, no matter how long it takes. This causes Sheldon to burst into tears, and Missy shockingly shows him kindness.

Sheldon gets a job as a paperboy to repay his debt, which causes mixed reactions among his parents. Mary eventually agrees as long as Georgie teaches Sheldon how to do this. The next morning, Sheldon is excited to start his new job. Georgie's not as enthusiastic. He just wants to sleep, so he lets Sheldon fold the papers on his own while he naps. Sheldon does it, slowly, taking 17 minutes to complete even one. Meanwhile, Mary is worried about Sheldon and watches over him, even though George tells her it's all gonna be okay. A while later, Sheldon heads out to deliver the perfectly-folded papers, with Mary following closely behind. He takes a long time to deliver the papers, and the rest of his week is even worse.

Sheldon starts collecting for the week's paper delivery, and he's disappointed by his first tip. He grows to hate his job, and Missy hates it almost as much. He gets to school late that day, and he takes it out on everyone around him. He even takes it out on his family at dinner, leading to a conversation with George about how awful his job is. George decides not to punish him, but he tells him about his day and asks Sheldon to apologize to the family, which Sheldon gladly does.

Wrap-Up:

This was a great start to the second season, and the show is just as good as I remember it. Iain Armitage really carried this episode, and it's one of the funniest episodes of TV that I've seen in quite some time. Sheldon anxiously starting his job as a paperboy was hilarious, and him braving the rain to deliver papers was even better. If this is an indication how season two will be, I'm very excited.

Of course, while Armitage was the episode's highlight, the rest of the cast was still fantastic. Every character had some moment to shine, but the most notable to me has to be Missy, who actually was nice to Sheldon for once when he was sad. We're used to seeing her as the jokester in the family, so seeing her give Sheldon a much-needed hug was something truly moving.

Score: 9/10
Grade: A-

What did you think of the Young Sheldon premiere? Did you love it as much as I did? Let me know in the comments below!