10-21-2015, 01:25 AM
Toad, I am with you on absolutely everything you've said. The only good parts of the episode were the bits with Howard and Raj swordfighting.. Howard: "I'm Darth Vader, I AM your father.." Yeah, that was a chuckle.
The Kripke thing..just puzzling. 'Cos yeah, it didn't seem to me that it was essential he be the one to fill this role. Yes, he had the dialogue thing down. But..it wasn't used for humor, like it normally is. He played it straight, except for that lucid moment when he felt like capitalizing on Amy's singleness. But again, watered-down. If his verbal battles with Sheldon could be paralleled with the fencing, he didn't put up much of a fight. Usually their verbal exchanges go somewhere, and utilize Kripke's speech impediment for humor. Yet, when Sheldon was getting in his grill over Amy (annoyingly so) Kripke just sort of stood there and took it in, without much of a reaction. That was left to Leonard, explaining Sheldon's weirdness (as usual, of late), which to me, was just weird. So yeah, using Kripke, total waste. And confusing, to boot. Just totally incongruent. Just a guy with a speech impediment teaching fencing.
I'm glad other people notice/remember Stuart in the same way I do. That he was once charming, intelligent, cultured, self-aware, but with the self-deprecating humor. Again, another character that is now unrecognizable.
And everything you said about Penny..yes. They way they have her dressed, my very thought was, what next, a flowery muumuu?
And yes, also about the observation on single people versus those in couples. Yes, everyone in the show that's paired up seems to be praised, or made to appear 'normal'/got it together, while the singles are all acting or perceived as creepy. Even Sheldon, who is in this kind of limbo..now that he's unattached, they're making him come off creepy (to female characters on the show) as well. That's an astute observation. What the heck is going on with this show?
And yes, the whole thing just seemed to be a filler/build-up to the stairwell conversation. Which, yes, just screamed that they will be back together soon. Which makes me think, if it was only going to so short-lived as this, why even bother wasting all our time on it. It just doesn't seem to serve any useful purpose. Other than to upset a number of fans that like Sheldon and Amy together. That's the only reason I can think of. And if that's the case..it seems to confirm to me that their objective is just to make viewers upset. Maybe it's like you said, that running short of ideas makes them just do ill-conceived things. Who knows..
What's most confusing of all to me, then, is just how and why all the Howard/Raj is so great in comparison to the rest. As their scenes are improving, everyone else's are going downhill. How can the writing for the rest of the episode be so disastrous, with the same writers putting together great schtick for Howard and Raj? I mean, I'm seeing more and more people on social media (including a lot of us here) really preferring/enjoying Howard and Raj to anyone else on the show. I'm glad for the improvement there, as I love those guys. But..it's just so glaringly opposite of what's going on with the rest of the characters. What the 'aitch?
The Kripke thing..just puzzling. 'Cos yeah, it didn't seem to me that it was essential he be the one to fill this role. Yes, he had the dialogue thing down. But..it wasn't used for humor, like it normally is. He played it straight, except for that lucid moment when he felt like capitalizing on Amy's singleness. But again, watered-down. If his verbal battles with Sheldon could be paralleled with the fencing, he didn't put up much of a fight. Usually their verbal exchanges go somewhere, and utilize Kripke's speech impediment for humor. Yet, when Sheldon was getting in his grill over Amy (annoyingly so) Kripke just sort of stood there and took it in, without much of a reaction. That was left to Leonard, explaining Sheldon's weirdness (as usual, of late), which to me, was just weird. So yeah, using Kripke, total waste. And confusing, to boot. Just totally incongruent. Just a guy with a speech impediment teaching fencing.
I'm glad other people notice/remember Stuart in the same way I do. That he was once charming, intelligent, cultured, self-aware, but with the self-deprecating humor. Again, another character that is now unrecognizable.
And everything you said about Penny..yes. They way they have her dressed, my very thought was, what next, a flowery muumuu?
And yes, also about the observation on single people versus those in couples. Yes, everyone in the show that's paired up seems to be praised, or made to appear 'normal'/got it together, while the singles are all acting or perceived as creepy. Even Sheldon, who is in this kind of limbo..now that he's unattached, they're making him come off creepy (to female characters on the show) as well. That's an astute observation. What the heck is going on with this show?
And yes, the whole thing just seemed to be a filler/build-up to the stairwell conversation. Which, yes, just screamed that they will be back together soon. Which makes me think, if it was only going to so short-lived as this, why even bother wasting all our time on it. It just doesn't seem to serve any useful purpose. Other than to upset a number of fans that like Sheldon and Amy together. That's the only reason I can think of. And if that's the case..it seems to confirm to me that their objective is just to make viewers upset. Maybe it's like you said, that running short of ideas makes them just do ill-conceived things. Who knows..
What's most confusing of all to me, then, is just how and why all the Howard/Raj is so great in comparison to the rest. As their scenes are improving, everyone else's are going downhill. How can the writing for the rest of the episode be so disastrous, with the same writers putting together great schtick for Howard and Raj? I mean, I'm seeing more and more people on social media (including a lot of us here) really preferring/enjoying Howard and Raj to anyone else on the show. I'm glad for the improvement there, as I love those guys. But..it's just so glaringly opposite of what's going on with the rest of the characters. What the 'aitch?
"The mark of mediocrity is to look for precedent." Norman Mailer