"A Clogged Pore, a Little Spanish and the Future" is an episode of Young Sheldon that first aired May 19, 2022.
Sheldon gets his first pimple, and is very worried about going through puberty and his childhood ending. He tries talking to Dr. Linkletter (Ed Begley Jr.) about it, but he is not interested, so he calls in President Hagemeyer (Wendie Malick). The meeting quickly turns into a nostalgic discussion between Linkletter and Hagemeyer about their young adulthood.
Meanwhile, at the high school, Coach Wilkins (Doc Farrow) tells George Sr. about how the boosters offered him the position of head coach, which prompts George to quit his job, just to get it over with. The principal (Rex Linn) had hoped George would finish out the school year, but George wants to leave on his own terms.
George's other job at Dale's store doesn't pay enough, so he and Mary look through the classifieds section of the newspaper, but they can't find any jobs they are qualified for. Mary then applies for a job at the supermarket, and she wants George to apply too, but he refuses due to being upset and embarrassed about losing his coaching job.
Mary eventually applies for the job at the bowling alley with Brenda (Melissa Peterman), who is initially hesitant to hire Mary, but ultimately accepts.
Sheldon then has a nightmare about turning into Mary/George/Georgie/Connie. He talks to Missy about his fears, and she tells him about all of the things that she is looking forward to in life, such as dating and driving. Sheldon is afraid that he won't be able to do anything that he is looking forward to, such as getting his Ph.D., winning the Nobel Prize, or working with Stephen Hawking (all of which he does in the parent series), but Missy tells him to stay positive. At the end of the episode, Sheldon wears a Flash T-shirt for the first time.
Meanwhile, Georgie tries selling beer to the casino customers, but Connie shuts him down, since they don't have a liquor license. Georgie then gets the idea to sell cigarettes he buys at Wal-Mart at a substantial markup. Connie brings up the time in her youth when she went to Mexico to buy very cheap cigarettes.
Georgie wants to go to Mexico for the cheap cigarettes, but Connie doesn't, so Georgie asks Wade (Grady Lee Richmond), one of the casino customers, to go with him. Wade's game, but Connie demonstrates that Wade knows very little Spanish. Connie agrees to go to Mexico with Georgie and without Wade.
In the car ride, Georgie reminisces about how much his life has changed in the past year, and Connie tells him that things will get better once he is her age, which doesn't comfort him. Georgie and Connie are later arrested by the Border Patrol, and they call and ask George Sr. to come pick them up.
Tropes
- Anthropomorphic Personification: Penn & Teller appear as a personification of Sheldon's pimple. Penn is A.V. (short for acne vulgaris) and Teller is Pus.
- Call-Forward: Sheldon wishes to win a Nobel Prize, meet Professor Proton and Stephen Hawking, but worries those things will never happen. All three of these will happen on The Big Bang Theory.
- Daytime Drama Queen: George becomes the daytime game show version of this: instead of looking for a (second) job, he sits around all day viewing game shows. He has a special fondness for Plinko.
- Faux Fluency: When Georgie wants to go with Wade to Mexico to buy cigarettes, Connie tests Wade by asking him "Where can I find some cigarettes?" in Spanish. All Wade can say is "Sí."
- Hypochondriac: Sheldon really does have acne, but he'd rather it be chickenpox, monkeypox, or almost anything else. Missy asserts it's acne, and later a medical professional confirms that diagnosis after conclusively ruling out monkeypox (because Sheldon has not had contact with monkeys). When the pimple gets larger, Sheldon thinks he needs to go to the emergency room. Missy has a simpler solution.
- Iconic Attribute Adoption Moment: The episode ends with Sheldon donning a Flash T-shirt on top of a long sleeve shirt, like the outfits he will wear as an adult on The Big Bang Theory.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: As Missy is about to pop Sheldon's pimple, A.V. and Pus say their goodbyes.A.V.: Well, the time has come to say goodbye. But don't worry. We'll be back in times of stress, like during final exams, or my personal favorite, school picture da—*Pop!*
- Rise of Zitboy: Sheldon gets his first pimple, and has him thinking about what will happen when he grows up. When he becomes concerned about the pimple growing bigger, Missy offers to pop it.
- Season Finale: This episode is the Season 5 finale. Fans will have to wait the whole summer to see why Connie and Georgie were arrested at the border and what happens after that.
- Shout-Out: to Vanilla Ice, whom Missy would most like to marry. Sheldon is confused about Missy wanting to marry a snow cone.
- Take This Job and Shove It: Upset that Wilkins was offered the head coach position behind his back, George goes over to the principal's office and quits immediately rather than play out the rest of the season.
- Turning Into Your Parent: Sheldon dreams about turning into George, Mary, Connie, and Georgie.
