Contracts, Rules and a Little Bit of Pig Brains

Contracts, Rules and a Little Bit of Pig Brains is the thirteenth episode of the third season of Young Sheldon. The episode aired on January 30, 2020.
==Summary==
George and Georgie go camping with Meemaw's new boyfriend, Dale, but things get complicated when her ex-boyfriend, Dr. Sturgis, tags along. Also, Sheldon and Missy invent a super-game.
==Extended Plot==
Missy is in a baseball match. George, Mary, Meemaw, and Sheldon are all in the audience. The grownups are piqued while Sheldon is bored. After beating nervousness and getting encouragement from Coach Dale, Missy throws her signature swing and earns victory for her team. Elated, Dale announces a pizza party. He ends up sitting with the Coopers. Sheldon manages to bore Dale with pizza history. Mary asks him not to. Sheldon wonders how important is it for Meemaw to have Dale gel well with her family at dine outs. Meemaw sends him over to the kids’ table. Over there Billy teaches Sheldon how to eat hot pizza slices with ice on them.
 
Dale wants to take Meemaw camping, but she's not ready. He instead invites an enthusiastic George and Georgie too. Later, George gets a call from Dr. Sturgis who wants to hangout with him on the weekend. He turns it down as he's got camping plans. John excitedly shares that he once backpacked across Asia but upon learning that Dale would be in attendance he decides to hang out with other friends, once he makes a few. George rings up Dale and calls for a raincheck as he'd forgotten about an earlier plan. Dale suggests bringing in the other fella too. He learns that it's John and that he apparently backpacked in the past.  Both decide to take John in.
Missy is jealous that she's not allowed to go camping and wants to go to Chuck E. Cheese. Sheldon prefers the American History Museum. Georgie blurts out that camping with John seems more fun. Meemaw is alarmed. She calls up John to warn him about Dale's mean nature, but he's sure that he'll be able to handle. In fact, he's busy packing his camping gear and preparing his own “gorp” (good old raisins and peanuts). Meemaw calls Dale asking him to behave properly with John.
 
George and Georgie are all ready for camp. Mary hands them a flask of coffee asking one to drink within limits and the other to not drink at all. Soon, Dale comes to pick them up in his RV. They soon reach John's place. Dale finds his ensemble resembling a garden gnome. He mocks his attire comparing it to Boy Scout and then picks on his indecent way of sitting. John takes it in stride and calls him to be a probable bedwetter. Georgie is loving the banter but George gets nervous.
 
At home Sheldon tries to persuade Missy into agreeing to the museum or the planetarium but she'd rather go for a movie. Missy wants to decide using rock-paper-scissors but Sheldon feels that the outcomes get too redundant. She even offers to increase the variables by adding “Candy” and “Pony,” but Sheldon comes up with a more reliable game of listing kitchen spices alphabetically. Missy says no right away. Meemaw visits her husband's grave to discuss her dating life. She explains to Charlie how hard it is to remain healthy and single at her age. She also says that she misses him.
 
Seeing John catch plenty of fish George is curious about his bait. It turns out to be cheese, garlic and little bit of pig brains. Dale wonders where he sources the brains from. John reveals that he butchers himself as asking from someone garners odd looks. Dale pulls at him for probably always receiving those looks. John offers the bait for tasting to everyone. Dale turns it down as he needs to concentrate on fishing. John calls his technique wrong. Having had enough, Dale goes to get himself a beer while Georgie relishes bait food.
Meanwhile, the twins have invented a new game where they're making a list of tasks which each of them have to attempt. Upon successful completion of each task, they’d build a wooden tower block by block and whoever's tower reaches the set height first he/she would get to choose the place they’d visit. Sheldon makes a contract and gets Missy to sign it.
In the woods John shares facts about fire-building techniques practiced in Finland and doesn't allow Georgie to have beer. Dale is pissed at his know-it-all attitude and wonders why is he here or why Meemaw dated him. John reminds him that he's been invited, but Dale calls it being pitied on. John isn't ashamed of dating Meemaw either. Dale picks on how he broke up with her after his time at the mental institution, but he stops just before going too hard on him. George comes just in time after a bio break.
Meemaw tells Charlie about how Dale reminds her of him while John is one unique chap. She wonders how afterlife is treating him.  She's interrupted by Kenneth, who's come to visit his departed wife Vanessa and according to her it's great up there! Meemaw and Kenneth have a brief chat and he lets her wrap up with Charlie by giving her privacy. Meemaw shows Charlie how much she's in demand, even at this age!
Sheldon and Missy start with their listed tasks and likewise build the wooden tower with full concentration.
As night falls in George and Georgie look back at the excellent day. John reveals that he didn't enjoy himself and wants to leave. Dale is glad but George cannot let him go alone. He asks Dale to request John to stay, but before they can look he escapes.
Sheldon and Missy are nearing the end, but Missy changes her last block's orientation and gets her tower to reach the set height first. As per contract, she's ethically and officially won. She tells mom that they’d go to Chuck E. Cheese, but it turns out that they can't as it's already dark. Missy is still happy because she won. However, Sheldon feels that he was the real winner as they spent the day doing everything he loves which were making rules, signing contracts and remaining indoors. Later, Missy coaxes Sheldon to play Rock-Paper-Scissors-Candy-Pony with her. They do and Sheldon wins each time. Missy is puzzled. He explains that she picks Pony every single time.
John takes the bus to reach home. He's enjoying the ride munching on his gorp and even offers it to a lady sitting opposite him. She looks over at the weird looking gorp and then at him.
==Credits==
=== Main ===
* Iain Armitage as Sheldon Cooper
* Zoe Perry as Mary Cooper
* Lance Barber as George Cooper Sr.
* Montana Jordan as George Cooper Jr.
* Raegan Revord as Missy Cooper
* Jim Parsons as the voice of Sheldon Cooper
* Annie Potts as Meemaw
* Matt Hobby as Pastor Jeff Difford
=== Recurring ===
* Craig T. Nelson as Coach Dale Ballard
* Wallace Shawn as Dr. John Sturgis
* Wyatt McClure as Billy Sparks
=== Guest ===
* Jim Beaver as Kenneth
* Marty Ryan as Umpire
* Teddy Vincent as Woman on Bus
==Trivia==
* Supernatural star Jim Beaver made his guest appearance in this episode.
* Sheldon is heavily interested in a visit to Museum of the American Railroad.Museum of the American Railroad (HomePage)
* Coach Ballard's motorhome is a 1976 GMC MotorHome, a model made between 1973 and 1978.1976 GMC MotorHome (Young Sheldon, episode 3.13; IMCDb)
* Lake Conroe is a real lake in Montgomery County, Texas, although part of it can be found in Walker County, Texas.Lake Conroe (Texas Parks and Wildlife)
* Craig T. Nelson and Wallace Shawn also played characters in a heated argument in the 2004 Disney/Pixar movie "The Incredibles."
==Gallery==
File:Coopers at a Texas Thunder Game as Sheldon Reads 'Dune'.jpg|The Coopers watch an exciting baseball game, while Sheldon reads Frank Herbert's "Dune."
File:Scared Missy on the Mound.jpg|Missy is afraid she won't be able to strike this boy out.
File:Coach Ballard convinces Missy she can strike a player out.jpg|Coach Ballard tells Missy the boy won't let a girl strike him out.
The other team's best player strikes out.jpg|The boy swings and misses, and the Thunder wins the game.
Billy Sparks tops his pizza with ice.jpg|The Texas Thunder celebrates their victory with pizza, where Billy Sparks gives Sheldon a questionable tip.
Dale drives his motorhome around the corner.jpg|Coach Ballard takes George and Georgie fishing in his motor home...
Georgie in the back of Coach Ballard's Motor Home.jpg|.. which Georgie thinks is nicer than his family home.
File:Dr Sturgis waves at Dale Ballard's motor home.jpg|Then they pick up Dr. John Sturgis on the way there.
Connie talks to her dead husband's tombstone.jpg|Meanwhile, Meemaw visits Pop-Pop's grave and talks to him about her life with both men.
File:Connie meets Kenneth at the cemetery.jpg|As she tells her husband, she gets hit on quite often by other guys her age.
Kenneth talks to Connie about his late wife.jpg|Meanwhile, Kenneth tells Connie about how he talks to his dead wife's grave as well.
Sheldon didn't think he could trick Missy into an RR Museum Trip.jpg|Sheldon thought she could manipulate Missy into joining him at the railroad museum, but she saw right through his trick.
Mary thinks Sheldon and Missy agreed to a new game.jpg|Missy and Sheldon use Jengas and a model rocket to decide what to do that day. Mary thinks it's just a new game.
Sheldon and Missy's Hula-Hoop Competition.jpg|So who among them can name states and hula-hoop at the same time?
Missy beats Sheldon at Hula-Hooping.jpg|Not Sheldon.
Sheldon and Missy's Master List of Games.jpg|The montage starts at the list of games.
Sheldon and Missy play Perfection-Operation.jpg|Playing Perfection and Operation at the same time.
Missy Wins at Jenga.jpg|Missy won the previous game, so she wins at Jenga.
Missy Wins at Jenga, again.jpg|And Missy wins again.
Sheldon and Missy play One-Legged Simon.jpg|Sheldon tries to play One-legged Simon. We don't know who well Missy does.
==Quote==
==References==
Category:Episodes
Category:Young Sheldon Episodes
Category:Games