Martin Carr reviews the tenth episode of Young Sheldon…
Growing pains, educational betterment and emotional quandaries frame this episode of Young Sheldon. Hinging on the opportunities of moving into a public school Sheldon gets his first taste of life beyond high school. What Chuck Lorre and his fellow showrunner focus on is the family dynamic, vacant culture clash and how others adapt to his absence. Bite sized in scale, concisely entertaining yet the easiest of easy viewing, episode ten demonstrates how good Young Sheldon really is.
Engagingly trivial, sketched in characteristically broad strokes yet never anything other than watchable, this ensemble cast deliver another piece of televisual gold. Armitage, Perry, Potts and Barber play off each other with ease making this situational comedy whip by at pace. Interlinking a series of poignant scenes which all use Sheldon as their central preoccupation, this family get to deliver emotion in spades. There is a heartfelt sense that his absence from the family unit really means something, giving things depth without feeling mawkish.
Stand outs from this week include Frances Conroy as the quirky headmistress of an opposing preparatory school, who does her best aging hippy to great effect. Elsewhere Sheldon’s high school teachers are really beginning to shine in little moments away from the classroom. Little by little this world is being expanded on without feeling forced, manipulated or irrelevant. Jim Parsons still turns up through voice over on occasion and is beginning to expand on his counterpart’s inner dialogue. Memories are forever rose-tinted here as this mini adventure turns in another mini masterpiece of television for the attention deficient.
As I have said in the past this programme could easily run to thirty plus minutes without losing any audience whatsoever. Given The Big Bang’s supernatural popularity everywhere it seems to me that there can never be too much of a good thing. If the showrunners can deliver eighteen minutes of not much at all then pushing that figure to thirty seems logical. Comedic segues, character progression and solid humour already get delivered in the smallest timeframe, so why not push those boundaries further. Given the slices of fried gold which have been served up thus far it makes perfect sense.
Martin Carr
