‘Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage’: Georgie’s Visits to Dad’s Grave Are His ‘Therapy’

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage Season 1, Episode 2, “Some New York Nonsense.”]

Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage‘s latest episode, “Some New York Nonsense” saw the pressure close in on new Cooper family patriarch Georgie (Montana Jordan) as he tried helping his rebellious younger sister Missy (Raegan Revord).

Their reunion onscreen marks the latest chapter for the characters since fans saw them on Young Sheldon as the weight of dad George Sr.’s loss (Lance Barber) continues to be felt. As Georgie tries juggling work, where fellow employee Ruben (Jessie Prez) is determined to give him a hard time, alongside his family drama and understanding of Mandy’s (Emily Osment) employment status, things begin to pile up for the young man.

“The truth is he’s this 19-year-old kid who has all of this stuff piled on his shoulders,” executive producer Steve Holland tells TV Insider. “Now he’s got a new wife and a baby and in-laws that he has a complicated relationship with. And his dad recently passed away and his sister’s going off the rails and his mom’s really throwing herself into religion. And it just felt like there was a really interesting and real story about anxiety and the weight of that pressure,” Holland adds about exploring this aspect of Georgie’s life in Episode 2.

Robert Voets / CBS

Learning that Missy has been suspended from school for bad behavior only raises the stress levels that when Mandy tells Georgie over dinner that they may need to move in order for her to find a reporter gig, it sends him over the edge. The anxiety manifests in a physical way prompting Georgie to visit the emergency room as he believes he’s having a heart attack.

The doctor reassures Georgie that it’s merely a panic attack, but he can’t seem to cope with the idea, writing it off as “some New York nonsense.” Realizing the stress he’s under, Mandy and her family attempt to ease the burden a bit, and Georgie tries leveling with Missy, getting her to express her emotions in a more subdued way that doesn’t conflict with her schooling.

The pair visit George Sr.’s grave in a poignant moment, and viewers see Georgie visit the site a few other times on his own in the episode. For Holland, he shares, “I don’t think it’s going to be a main part of every episode, but we will be back there, I think. And I think Georgie dealing with the fact that his father recently passed away is certainly a part of his character moving forward, and we don’t feel the need to shy away from it.”

Robert Voets / CBS

According to Holland, fans can expect more emotional moments on the horizon. “We don’t have to just do this bright shiny show, we can actually dive into some real things, especially because they’re already baked into the core of the character,” he shares. Part of what led to this storyline is examining how Georgie, a new father and husband would cope with grief and loss during this time period.

“How do you get Georgie to move forward when he would not have time in place [to talk] to a therapist?” For Holland, that was “going to his dad’s grave. That was his therapy. Getting to unload himself at his dad’s grave site was sort of all he needed to do to be able to keep going.”

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As for what Mandy’s ongoing job search may do to her and Georgie’s relationship dynamic, Holland adds, “This is not going to be an easy road for them. There are all the normal things like finances and in-laws, but there’s also this weird age gap between them that’s going to make their relationship tricky, hopefully in fun and interesting ways.”

Stay tuned to see how their story continues and let us know what you think about Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage and how it dealt with Georgie’s anxiety in the comments, below.

Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, Thursdays, 8pm ET/PT, CBS