Young Sheldon Season 7 Episode 9 recap: Sheldon makes a surprise decision

While Meemaw is on house arrest, all eyes are firmly back on Sheldon. Here’s what went down in Young Sheldon Season 7 Episode 9.

Things took a turn for the worse in last week’s instalment of Young Sheldon, as fans saw Meemaw getting to grips with being under house arrest. Now that the illegal gambling room at the back of the laundromat has been raided, newlyweds Georgie and Mandy have been worried about what to do for money.

Meanwhile, Sheldon has been blissfully unaware of his family’s issues. Unable to make it to the last-minute wedding — which he thanked his brother for — the genius Cooper later stepped in to try and help Meemaw by studying up for the bar exam.

All of this combined with George’s impending death means the show has a lot on its plate, but here’s what happened in Young Sheldon Season 7 Episode 9.

Young Sheldon Season 7 Episode 9: The fight for Sheldon’s grad school career begins

CBS

Young Sheldon Season 7 Episode 9 begins with Sheldon receiving a package from his former tutor in Germany. He learns that he’s officially co-authored a paper in a prestigious physics publication — though his family seem to understand Missy’s A grade at school more. The paper even appears to be beyond the realm of Dr. Linkletter’s understanding, with President Hagemeyer trying to figure out a way to package it for increased school donations.

However, the rest of the world is taking note of Sheldon’s net achievements, which include college admissions staff. After a few days, George and Mary get recruiters from Princeton, Stanford, and Harvard turn up at their door, with the likes of MIT and Caltech not far behind them. With George understanding how valuable it could be to the family to hold an asset like Sheldon over an Ivy League college, he and Mary begin to have meetings with each representative, playing them off against each other.

Dr Sturgis returns

CBS

This episode also sees the much-anticipated return of Dr Sturgis, who has been seen on the show less and less since his break-up with Meemaw in Season 3. He slots back into his scientific duo with Dr Linkletter with ease, who is equally as bemused by Sheldon’s theory proposed in his paper. Together, Hagemeyer gives them a daunting task — try and keep Sheldon at East Texas Tech, whatever the cost.

Knowing what they can do with the funding Sheldon would likely receive for his work, Hagemeyer asks the pair to plant reasons in Sheldon’s mind for why he should stay, knowing him well from years of having to cater to his family. Honing in on his hate for change, Linkletter and Sturgis emphasize how little bother Sheldon would have by staying put, as well as being closer to his family — all the while knowing that their own physics department isn’t fit for purpose.

Georgie learns to speak again

CBS

While this is going on, Young Sheldon Season 7 Episode 9 also features Audrey once again picking apart Georgie’s behaviour while he lives with them. This time, it’s his speech, picking Georgie up on what he says while he’s trying to get baby Cece to eat. Audrey hints that Cece will get better opportunities in life if she learns to speak eloquently, implying that Georgie’s Southern drawl will hold her back. Initially shaking it off, Georgie begins to feel more self-conscious.

Mandy picks up on the fact that Audrey has said something, with Georgie coming clean. While he turns to Missy’s school books to try and help him break “bad” habits, Mandy says that she’ll teach him herself. Determined to work on it for the good of Cece’s future, Audrey is delighted at Georgie’s progress in a short space of time, even if he does misunderstand occasionally.

Young Sheldon Season 7 Episode 9: Sheldon makes a surprising decision

CBS

Though Sheldon doesn’t seem too rattled by making a college decision to start with, those around him begin to give conflicting opinions. George says that not going to an Ivy League school would be foolish, while East Texas Tech is intent on keeping its claws hooked into Sheldon. However, when Linkletter and Sturgis finally come clean with their true feelings, Sheldon is able to use this planning to narrow things down to two colleges — MIT and Caltech.

However, Sheldon’s final decision is one that will shock fans of The Big Bang Theory, settling on MIT as his grad college of choice. Eager to get started, George and Sheldon fly out for a visit, immediately getting trapped in a snowstorm. Based on the weather alone, Sheldon decides there and then that he’d rather check out Caltech instead.

While you wait for the next episode, you can catch up with our other Sheldon content, like our Season 7 theories, filming locations, how to watch Season 7 outside the US, and how to watch Young Sheldon on streaming.

You can also check out all the best new TV shows coming out this month.