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Betty White as Rose Nylund
"It's like we say in St. Olaf, Christmas without fruitcake is like St. Sigmund's Day without the headless boy."

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Sophia's Choice is the twenty-second episode of the fourth season of The Golden Girls and the ninety-eighth episode overall. Directed by Terry Hughes and written by Tracy Gamble and Richard Vaczy, it premiered on NBC-TV on April 15th, 1989.

Summary[]

Sophia breaks her friend Lillian out of a retirement home that is worse than Shady Pines was. Meanwhile, Blanche decides to use her work bonus to have her breasts enlarged.

Plot[]

Blanche tells Dorothy and Rose that she received her latest bonus and has planned to use it on Breast Enlargement which she is mocked for. However Sophia has just returned to Shady Pines her friend Lillian wasn't there, Blanche then reveals she's in Sunny Pastures, Sophia is horrified as she classes the place worst that Shady Pines, Sophia goes to visit the place and Dorothy seeing her Mother's fear goes with her. 

Later on Blanche is looking at pictures she got from the doctor of the breasts, Rose remarks with silly advise. Dorothy and Sophia return from Sunny Pastures, Dorothy admits that Sophia was right about it and Sophia wants to try visit Lillian as much as she can. However that night Rose and Sophia go to the home and bust Lillian out.

That morning Dorothy tells the home Lillian is visiting and Sophia is trying to look after Lillian, but soon enough she shows that she is Senile and that Sophia is exhausted. Dorothy and Sophia go to see the manger, but he is overworked, while he wants to help, the lack of money and process is stopping him. 

Without anything Dorothy and Sophia return home, but Rose found a Nursing Home that will help Lillian with her problems, the only flaw is that they need an extra $150 a month due to Lillian's benefits not being enough and Blanche is able to provide her bonus as enough to pay for Lillian. While Dorothy is glad she doesn't feel happy, Blanche remarks that many people end up in homes and are forgotten, Lillian was the lucky few and maybe they might be in a nursing home soon enough and so they make a pace to stay together, then Rose remarks "what happens when there is only one of us left?" Sophia remarks she can look after herself. [1]

Tall Tales[]

Picture It...[]

To be added.

Tales from the Old South[]

To be added.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

  • Ellen Albertini Dow as Lillian
  • Ron Orbach as Dan Cumming
  • Mark Morrroco as Orderly
  • Stanley Ullman as John Gale
  • Margaret Wheeler as Woman #1

Notes[]

  • When the ladies discuss their future, Rose asks, "But what happens when there's only one of us left?" With the death of Rue McClanahan in 2010, Betty White was the last surviving Golden Girls until her death in early 2021. Even more eerie, the Golden Girls are also sitting from left to right in the order that they will have all died with White on the far-right side.
  • Rose says they'll need an additional $150 a month to support Lillian in a nursing home they like. This is a total of $1,800 for the year in 1985, and, adjusted for inflation, ~$5,000 in 2023.

Production[]

Continuity[]

Site Navigation[]

V - E - H List of The Golden Girls episodes
Season 1 The EngagementGuess Who's Coming to the WeddingRose the PrudeTransplantThe TriangleOn Golden GirlsThe CompetitionBreak-InBlanche and the Younger ManThe Heart AttackThe Return of Dorothy's ExThe Custody BattleA Little RomanceThat Was No LadyIn a Bed of Rose'sThe Truth Will OutNice and EasyThe OperationSecond MotherhoodAdult EducationThe FluJob HuntingBlind AmbitionsBig DaddyThe Way We Met
Season 2 End of the CurseLadies of the EveningTake Him, He's MineIt's a Miserable LifeIsn't It RomanticBig Daddy's Little LadyFamily AffairVacationJoust Between FriendsLove, Rose'Twas The Nightmare Before ChristmasThe SistersThe Stan Who Came to DinnerThe ActorBefore and AfterAnd Then There Was OneBedtime StoryForgive Me, FatherLong Day's Journey into MarinaraWhose Face is This, Anyway?Dorothy's Prized PupilDiamond in the RoughSon-in-Law DearestTo Catch a NeighborA Piece of CakeEmpty Nests
Season 3 Old FriendsOne for the MoneyBringing Up BabyThe HousekeeperNothing to Fear But Fear ItselfLetter to GorbachevStrange BedfellowsBrotherly LoveA Visit from Little SvenThe AuditThree on a CouchCharlie's BuddyThe ArtistBlanche's Little GirlDorothy's New FriendGrab That DoughMy Brother, My FatherGolden Moments, Part 1Golden Moments, Part 2And Ma Makes ThreeLarceny and Old LaceRose's Big AdventureMixed BlessingsMister TerrificMother's Day
Season 4 Yes, We Have No HavanasThe Days and Nights of Sophia PetrilloThe One That Got AwayYokel HeroBang the Drum, StanleySophia's Wedding, Part 1Sophia's Wedding, Part 2Brother, Can You Spare That JacketScared StraightStan Takes a WifeThe AuctionBlind DateThe Impotence of Being ErnestLove Me TenderValentine's DayTwo Rode TogetherYou Gotta Have HopeFiddler On the RopesTill Death Do We VolleyHigh AnxietyLittle SisterSophia's ChoiceRites of SpringForeign ExchangeWe're Outta Here, Part 1We're Outta Here, Part 2
Season 5 Sick and Tired, Part 1Sick and Tired, Part 2The Accurate ConceptionRose Fights BackLove Under the Big TopDancing in the DarkNot Another MondayThat Old FeelingComedy of ErrorsAll That JazzEbb TideHave Yourself a Very Little ChristmasMary Has a Little LambTriple PlayClinton Avenue MemoirsLike the Beep Beep Beep of the Tom-TomAn Illegitimate Concern72 HoursTwice In a LifetimeSisters and Other StrangersCheatersThe Mangiacavallo Curse Makes a Lousy Wedding PresentAll Bets Are OffThe President's Coming! The President's Coming!, Part 1The President's Coming! The President's Coming!, Part 2
Season 6 Blanche DeliversOnce, In St. OlafIf At Last You Do SucceedSnap Out Of ItWham, Bam, Thank You MammyFeelingsZborn AgainHow Do You Solve a Problem Like Sophia?Mrs. George DevereauxGirls Just Wanna Have Fun... Before They DieStand By Your ManEbbtide's RevengeThe Bloom Is Off the RoseSisters of the BrideMiles to GoThere Goes the Bride, Part 1There Goes the Bride, Part 2Older and WiserMelodramaEven Grandmas Get the BluesWitnessWhat a Difference a Date MakesLove for SaleNever Yell Fire in a Crowded Retirement Home, Part 1Never Yell Fire in a Crowded Retirement Home, Part 2Henny Penny — Straight, No Chaser
Season 7 Hey, Look Me OverThe Case of the Libertine BelleBeauty and the BeastThat's For Me to KnowWhere's Charlie?Mother LoadDateline: MiamiThe Monkey Show, Part 1The Monkey Show, Part 2Ro$e Love$ Mile$Room SevenFrom Here to the PharmacyThe Pope's RingOld BoyfriendsGoodbye, Mr. GordonThe CommitmentsQuestions and AnswersEbbtide VI: The Wrath of StanJourney to the Center of AttentionA Midwinter Night's Dream, Part 1A Midwinter Night's Dream, Part 2Rose: Portrait of a WomanHome Again, Rose, Part 1Home Again, Rose, Part 2One Flew Out of the Cuckoo's Nest, Part 1One Flew Out of the Cuckoo's Nest, Part 2

References[]

  1. The Golden Girls, Season 4, Episode 22, “Sophia’s Choice”. Gamble, Tracy and Vaczy, Richard (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (April 15th, 1989)
  2. The Golden Girls, Season 4, Episode 2, “The Days and Nights of Sophia Petrillo”. Speer, Kathy and Grossman, Terry (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (October 22nd, 1988)
  3. The Golden Girls, Season 6, Episode 18, “Older and Wiser”. Gamble, Tracy and Vaczy, Richard (writers) & Diamond, Matthew (director) (February 16th, 1991)
  4. The Golden Girls, Season 2, Episode 20, “Whose Face is This, Anyway?”.  Hervey, Winifred (writer) & Hughes, Terry (director) (February 28th, 1987)
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