"A New Home and a Traditional Texas Torture" is an episode of Young Sheldon that first aired May 9, 2024.
Sheldon is preparing to move to California to attend Caltech. He visits the comic book store for the last time, has lunch with Tam in the high school library (where he talks about himself nonstop), and visits his old high school science class. Mary also wants to do a family portrait in a flower field, which Sheldon calls a "traditional Texas torture" due to pollen and insects.
Meanwhile, George Sr. gets a coaching job at Rice University in Houston. Mary and Missy are excited about it, but Sheldon is not. He is already nervous about moving to California, and now he won't have his old room to come back to. He tries convincing Connie, Georgie & Mandy, and East Texas Tech to buy the house and leave his room intact, but to no avail.
On the day of the family portrait, everyone is at the Cooper house getting ready. Then, the doorbell rings, and Mary opens it to find Tom and Wayne, who break the news that George had a fatal heart attack at school. Everyone starts crying, except for Sheldon, who just sits down in silence.
Tropes:
- Bait-and-Switch: It's obvious that George is going to die in this episode, but the specifics aren't known. At one point, he's on a ladder cleaning out the gutters and Georgie comes out, seeming somewhat concerned, suggesting that George will fall off the ladder. He doesn't, he has another heart attack while at work.
- Bearer of Bad News: Tom and Wayne drop by the Cooper house to inform the family that George is dead.
- The Bus Came Back: Tam returns after a three season absence.
- Call-Forward: Tam tries to tell Sheldon about his new girlfriend, but Sheldon won't listen. This girlfriend resulted in Tam not keeping in touch with Sheldon after the latter moved to California, as alluded to in The Big Bang Theory episode "The Tam Turbulence".
- Character Death: George dies offscreen of a heart attack in this episode, as alluded to in The Big Bang Theory.
- A Death in the Limelight: This episode focuses a lot on George, the reason being he dies at the end.
- Doomed by Canon: We know from The Big Bang Theory that George died when Sheldon was 14, and Sheldon is 14 in this season. George dies in this episode.
- Downer Ending: George dies of a heart attack. Mary, Missy, and Connie are absolutely in tears, while Sheldon just sits there trying to process what just happened.
- Heroic BSoD: Sheldon upon hearing that George has died. He just plops down on a chair, unable to process the sudden bad news.
- It's All About Me: During his final lunch with Tam, Sheldon makes no effort to listen to Tam and just wants to talk about how his life is going.
- Killed Offscreen: George succumbs to a third heart attack offscreen.
- Moving Angst: Sheldon is nervous about moving to California.
- Never Got To Say Good Bye: In a business as usual way, none of the other family members say goodbye to George before he leaves for work and doesn't return. In particular, Missy turns down a ride from George, a decision she'll probably live with for the rest of her life.
- Sudden Downer Ending: The episode ends with the family being told George has died of a heart attack, right as they were all waiting for him so they could have a family photo.
- Wham Episode: George Sr. dies at the end of the episode.
- Wham Shot: When Mary opens the door, we see George's coworkers looking somber. Viewers will already know what's coming.
