Episode Recap
In Meemaw’s kitchen, she asks Mary if she’s looking for a new church. Mary says not yet. Meemaw jokes that she can see Mary going Catholic, saying she has a “get me to a nunnery” look. Mary judges her mother after seeing the cover of the romance novel Meemaw is reading, "Passion’s Harvest." Meemaw explains, “The main character's name is Passion. She's inherited her daddy's farm, and there's a stud in the stable.” When Mary says that’s terrible, Meemaw tells her to read it and then judge. Mary refuses to read such trash, but Meemaw points out she’s literally judging a book by its cover. Mary relents and agrees to read the book.
In Dr. Sturgis's lecture, he asks his students if science can ever ethically go too far. Just because we can do something, does that mean we should? Sheldon raises his hand to say yes. Dr. Sturgis isn't finished. What about human cloning, for example? Sheldon raises his hand to say yes to the idea of more of him. What about more of everyone else, Dr. Sturgis wonders. After a dismissive look around the class, Sheldon says no thank you. What about dinosaurs? Sheldon says yes to herbivores but not carnivores, but John points out there are herbivores that could crush him like a bug. Sheldon changes his mind and says no to dinosaurs. But what, John wonders, about cloning Albert Einstein? Sheldon is excited as he’d like a sidekick. So cloning is unethical if it’s dinosaurs but not if it’s Einstein, Sturgis asks. Sheldon argues Einstein never hurt anyone, but John points out the victims of the atomic bomb might disagree. After Sheldon asks what the answer is, John says that's what they’re here to find out.
Mary reads "Passion’s Harvest" in the backyard, saying out loud that it’s such trash before turning the page. She continues reading in the utility room, and then in the bathroom. After Missy knocks on the bathroom door, Mary says she’ll just be a minute. Missy says she really needs to go. Mary reiterates that it’s occupied.
When Mandy answers her door, Georgie is holding a bag of groceries which he picked up for her. Mandy insists she can shop for herself, but Georgie reminds her she's eating for two now. After Georgie notices the place is lit by candles, Mandy explains she was late paying her electric bill this month. She tells Georgie that waiting tables and dealing with morning sickness isn't a great combination, and this was reflected in her tips. Georgie offers to pay to get her power back on, but Mandy insists she's not a charity case. Georgie points out that she can't even watch TV, wondering what kind of life that is. Georgie leaves her with the groceries, suggesting she make the ice cream a priority.
In her office at the bowling alley, Mary begins writing a romance novel on her computer about a woman named Marie. In the story, Marie goes to a bar and starts chatting with a man named Dusty. Marie jokes that Dusty isn't a name, but a poorly cleaned house. When Dusty asks what she's drinking, she responds, "a dirty martini." "How dirty?" he asks. "Very dirty," she replies.
Sheldon goes to Dr. Sturgis’s office to say he doesn’t think he can do the assignment because he doesn't know the right argument to debate. “Any one you want,” John says. Sheldon questions how he will know the right side to take, but John says to pick any side. Sheldon argues that this is torture and can’t be ethical. “There you go,” John says, telling Sheldon he’s picked his subject and found his side. Sheldon is relieved, declaring torture is unethical and noting that’s clearly the right position. John agrees but postulates there’s a bomb under the city, and the only way to find its location is through torture. What then? Sheldon argues that Batman, playing by Gotham city rules, would use torture, but Superman would be opposed. Sheldon groans that he hates ethics as he walks out of John’s office in a huff.
Mary's fantasy continues as she writes her romance novel. Marie says at the bar she hasn’t seen Dustin before. He replies he’s just passing through, here for a night and gone tomorrow. Marie figures they need to make the most of tonight. After Dustin suggests they leave, Marie wonders what he has in mind. "I was thinking maybe we take a walk. You can tell me more about your hopes and dreams. What's going on in here... and all the way down here." Marie is surprised that he’s interested in her thoughts and feelings, not just her body. In reality, Mary fans herself as she continues writing. "Oh, my," she says with a deep sigh.
Georgie is surprised when Mandy visits him in the garage. He starts cleaning up, joking that the cleaning woman didn’t come today. Mandy explains that although she claimed to have everything under control, she was not only short on her electric bill but also on rent and now has no place to live. Georgie says she’s welcome to stay with him. “Mi garage, su garage.” Mandy insists it will just be for a little while. When George asks if she needs help moving her stuff, Mandy admits it's still at her old apartment. The landlord put a padlock on it and will only return her belongings when the back rent is paid. Georgie says that ain’t right and offers to go fix it.
When Missy goes into the den and finds George watching TV, she asks if she can change the channel. After George insists he’s watching it, Missy says she misses when her dad had a job and wasn’t around all the time. George and Missy can’t believe their ears when Sheldon comes in and says he needs help with his homework. George wonders if this is some kind of prank, but Sheldon insists it's not. Missy asks if a bully took it from him, but Sheldon says no. “Is it too heavy? Do you need help picking it up?” George wonders. Sheldon explains he wants their opinion on an ethical dilemma: "Should robots have the same rights as humans?" “That depends,” Missy tells him, “What's ‘ethical' mean?” Sheldon walks away disappointed.
After Georgie climbs in through an apartment window, he hears a gun cock. “Don’t shoot. I’m not a robber,” Georgie shouts. The man orders him to turn around slowly. Realizing he’s in the wrong apartment, Georgie tries to explain. His girlfriend—well, not his girlfriend, but she’s having his baby—just got evicted, and he came to get her stuff. Henry realizes he’s talking about Mandy and figures Georgie is the dumb bastard that knocked her up. “Not a robber, a dumb bastard.”, Georgie concedes. Henry tells Georgie to put his hands down; he’s not going to shoot him. Georgie explains all Mandy’s stuff is in there, and he came to get it. After Henry describes Mandy as a good one, Georgie agrees. Henry wonders why he doesn’t marry her, but Georgie admits Mandy isn’t up for that. “So, you think getting her toothbrush is gonna change that?” Henry wonders. Georgie argues it can’t hurt. When Georgie asks if he can go, Henry says yeah. Georgie opens the window, apologizes again, and climbs out.
Mary’s fantasy continues as her character, Marie, says she thought by her age she’d have everything figured out. Dustin says nobody has everything figured out. When Marie asks if he ever gets scared, he says all the time. Right now he’s scared she won’t like him. Marie assures him he doesn’t need to worry about that, as God is her witness. Dusty hopes God’s not watching now as he’s about to kiss her. In the Coopers’ kitchen, Mary snaps out of her fantasy as George asks her what she’s writing. "Just a list of things that need to be done," Mary lies. George thinks that doesn’t sound like fun. Mary insists one of the things is fun, as she walks over and kisses her husband. When George wonders what’s happening, Mary tells him to follow her to the bedroom and find out. “What a weird day,” George remarks.
Out in the garage, Mandy asks Georgie if he had any trouble getting into her old apartment. “In the right window, out the right window, easy peasy,” Georgie lies. Mandy tells Georgie that just because they’re sleeping together doesn’t mean they’re “sleeping” together. Georgie understands and says he’d be fine sleeping on the floor. Mandy insists they can share the bed but tells him to keep his hands to himself. When Mandy asks about the toilet situation, Georgie says he pays rent, so she can use the one in the house. Mandy is relieved as she expected him to say they use the garage sink, prompting a scoff from Georgie. After Mandy leaves to use the bathroom, Georgie says the sink is back to just being a sink. As Mandy walks into the Coopers’ house, she overhears George and Mary’s bedroom talk. Mandy rushes back to the garage, telling Georgie to get out so she can use the sink.
The next morning, Georgie and Mandy go to the Coopers’ kitchen for breakfast. When Missy asks if they had a sleepover, Mandy insists it’s not like that. Missy didn’t say it was. After Sheldon comes in for breakfast, he says good morning to his “Niblingo.” Sheldon is happy Mandy is there because he wants to ask her a question about robot ethics. Mandy agrees, saying she is his “niblingo” after all. “Ethically, should a robot be programmed to never kill, even if killing would save lives?” After Sheldon asks his question and Georgie complains he can’t find the toaster, Missy tells Mandy, “Welcome to breakfast at our house.”
When Dale arrives at his sports goods store, George is asleep at the counter. Dale wakes him up by shouting, “Fire!” George apologizes, saying he didn’t get much sleep last night. Trouble with him and Mary? The opposite, George explains. Things are... really good. It’s like she’s a different person, but George doesn’t know why. That reminds Dale of a film. “A lady fell off a boat, hit her head, and when she woke up, she was a completely different person.” After Dale asks if Mary fell off a boat recently, George tells Dale they’re not boat people. Dale says when June went through “the change,” she became downright frisky. George thinks Mary’s too young for that, but Dale suggests having the family doctor give her a once-over. “You know, kick the tires, see how she's rolling.” George sarcastically thanks Dale, saying, “I tell you my wife wants to have sex with me, you tell me she needs to see a doctor.” Dale apologizes but jokes that a woman finding George hot isn’t exactly normal.
When Georgie drops off some food and ginger ale for Mandy during his lunch break, she looks like she’s going to cry. When Georgie asks what’s wrong, Mandy says her whole life. A year ago, she was a weather presenter in San Antonio, and now she’s living in a garage with the 17-year-old who got her pregnant. When Georgie asks what he can do, Mandy tells him he’s doing great. “That's how screwed up my life is right now, you're the best part of it,” Mandy says. Georgie thanks her, tells her he’s really trying, and insists things are going to be okay.
Over at Meemaw’s house, she shows Mandy to the guest room and tells her to make herself at home. Mandy is relieved when Meemaw mentions the bathroom is just down the hall. Georgie arrives with Mandy’s bags, saying he'll get the rest of her stuff. Georgie has a question about Mandy’s TV. "I want it," Mandy tells him. "Gotcha."
In Dr. Sturgis’s lecture, Sheldon is at the lectern explaining that he started working on the presentation to address specific ethical dilemmas like the laws of robotics, torture, or human cloning. However, he realized you can’t solve moral quandaries without first deciding who should make those decisions. “Do we put it up for a vote? Does everyone get to decide for themselves? Should it be by committee? Is that committee elected or appointed? You see where I'm going? You probably don't.” Sheldon argues that for the smartest decision, we need the smartest person. “Ladies and gentlemen, in the field of scientific ethics, we can't rely on democracy or plutocracy. We need an autocracy, or to be more precise, a ‘Sheldocracy.’” After Dr. Sturgis interrupts Sheldon to say this wasn’t the assignment, Sheldon starts to take over the class, saying he picks the assignments now. He wants the class to write 500 words on what they can do to further the Sheldocracy. When Dr. Sturgis says class dismissed, Sheldon insists that’s his line. After John says it isn’t, Sheldon tells Dr. Sturgis to see him after class. Class dismissed.
As Mary’s fantasy continues, Marie and Dusty are in a boat on a serene lake. Dusty tells Marie her feelings are valid. Mary isn’t sure, but Dusty assures her they are and asks her to tell him about her day. Mary says she thinks they’re done talking. “Do you mean…?”, Dusty wonders. “I do,” Mary says before leaning in and kissing him. Mary’s fantasy is interrupted when Missy bangs on the bathroom door, saying she really needs to go. “Use the sink in the garage!”, Mary yells back.
