The rest of Season Grate (Eps 8.07-8.15 and 8.17)

[Nutz]

I was going to give the trailer 4 thumbs up, but I see Leonard, so it only gets three.

[Trust No One]

I was going to give the trailer 4 thumbs up, but I see Leonard, so it only gets three.

I'm a little surprised there was a scene with Leonard in bed without Penny. I guess TPTB are slipping?

[wellplayedpenny]

In The Prom Equivalency we have Bernadette and Amy wanting to rewrite their bad high school prom experiences. Penny, on the other hand, doesn't see what the big deal is. After all, it was just high school. Sure, she was popular then as opposed to now where her social base has shrunk significantly to just the gang but she also knows that what happened at high school has no bearing on adulthood. Life goes on. But she can't convince her friends and so the prom idea is born to fruit.

Amy is always the sad tale, this time with a mop (a la Cinderella) at the prom clean up wishing that her handsome prince would take her to the ball. On second thought, I believe in Snow White there was a dance sequence with her and her mop with the forest animals making a composite 'prince'. The writers seem to be taking a page from the Disney catalog what with Amy being Snow White in The Contractual Obligation Implementation, waiting for her Prince Sheldon to bring her to life with a kiss. As an aside, it was interesting at Disney World that both Bernadette and Amy were tickled pink wearing their princess costumes while Penny looked rather bored and disheveled. Obviously, being a princess isn't Penny's dream. Perhaps she is the 'mature' one of the group after all.

I found the whole prom premise to be absolutely juvenile. That grown scientists would actually overlook all of their academic, professional and personal successes as adults in order to rewrite their prom experience is immensely sad. What I don't like is the power this suggests high school bullies and experiences have over the lives of these people over a decade later. The gang have risen above all the teenage crap and have become reasonable successes—something which Leonard's high school bully pointed out as an irony given how as adults Leonard was the success and he, the loser. These people shouldn't be having a prom, they should be having cocktails, saluting who they've become and what the future awaits them.

The Stuart/Howard story line is a thing of absolute pettiness. Howard is mad because of Stuart's close relationship with his mother and yet when Stuart brings cousin Jeanie, Howard accuses him of 'two-timing' his mother. Granted, Stuart could have been more sensitive to the situation and not brought Jeanie given her history with Howard but as she told Howard in the limo, 'it was a long time ago'. I.E. Here's another incident when something was done in adolescence and continues to have an impact to this day. What is Jeanie supposed to do, never be seen in public with Howard again? To her it was no big deal. For Howard, it was humiliation. It's not difficult to see who was the adult in the situation.

What doesn't help is Raj's admission that he told Emily that Howard had slept with his cousin. Raj is turning into a colossal douche. First he's telling Emily he was 'intimate' with Penny and now relates something truly embarrassing about Howard. Doesn't Raj get the idea that what he's doing is talking down his friends? Emily becomes the audience and her laughing at the comments is exactly what TPTB expect the show's audience to do—find humour at another's expense. Only viewers like me who miss the days of friendly, inclusive humour find Raj to be one seriously sukky, sukky friend.

As for the Shamy, Sheldon is ready to abort the night after seeing Amy in her prom dress. He thought she looked pretty and knowing thanks to Penny and Leonard the expectation for post prom coitus Sheldon retreats to his room. It's a turning point as the relationship of the mind has transformed into the carnal. It's kind of funny considering that Shamys argued against there being any chemistry between Sheldon and Penny because he is attracted to intelligence. Amy is intellectual and that's what he likes about her. However, as the march towards coitus continues, there has been a marked reduction to near zero of intellectually stimulating evenings together. I can only surmise that this occurs off-camera which is a shame. I mean if Shamy is to be held up as an unorthodox couple shouldn't their intellectual connection be front and center in their on-air relationship? The writers, it seems, don't want the 'boring science-y stuff'; they want 'romance' as defined by Amy's coming into her social/sexual prime and her attempt to drag Sheldon along with her, making him someone he didn't know he apparently 'wanted to be'.

But what is Sheldon now? He's unrecognizable as early seasons Sheldon. His quirks come and go as the writers see fit. As he 'grows' he has become downright mean, especially to Amy. Since the writers this season have made it known that Sheldon can now tell when people are making fun of him, i.e. he's become more aware, then it's curious that his comments are now crueler than ever.

Sheldon's 'evolution' has always been problematic but tonight's 'I love you' really highlighted what's gone wrong with the show. His panic attack subsides when he tells Amy he loves her. Love was the only thing that explained his feelings for her. It's logical. Only when you place it next to how he normally treats her on-camera it's anything but. Basically, he fell in love with Amy off-camera and that's really lousy writing. I don't want to be *told* that Lenny is a great couple by Stuart or that Shamy is together like two peas in a pod. I want to see it for myself. If I was a fan of either ship I'd want to experience their moments of connection. The moments are few and when they do occur are so *this is a 'Moment'. Insert 'awwws' here *. They miss the natural beat that good writing provides and the writers were more than capable of doing when this was a friendship show.

Of course there is another more poignant example of flowing to a 'natural beat' but the Shamys are rather loathe to mention the Shenny connection. The rapport between Jim and Kaley ignited the screen as Sheldon's glares practically melted through walls even as Penny responded with her pumpkin grins. What works beyond the fact that both are good actors is that they had a strong sense of who their characters were. As the seasons have gone on I'd argue that all of the characters have declined significantly but particular attention must be drawn to Sheldon and Jim Parson's inability to maintain the illusion of the quirky physicist.

I had troubles with the 'I love you' moment because when the line was delivered it wasn't by Sheldon. I don't know what Jim Parsons sounds like in person as I don't watch interviews but if I had a guess as to what I heard last night it was Jim doing an impression of what he thought a 'more mature' Sheldon would sound like as opposed to him transforming himself into Sheldon and acting accordingly. Sheldon Cooper has passion, whether it's for trains, his Meemaw or his science. Jim is capable of generating this spark with adversaries like Kripke or Wheaton or Leslie and most definitely with Penny but seemed lost when he delivered his monumental line to Amy. There was no passion. And no, I don't mean the "oh Marsha!" "Oh Bob!" kind. I mean there was no *connection* between Mayim and him.

To be fair, Mayim did her best with the scene. She knew it was a BIG MOMENT for Amy and she expressed shock but it seemed overacted because the chemistry between her and Jim was all wrong. She was left to fend for herself as she had to react to his lack-luster 'I love you, too' pitch.

I remember Jim once saying that he does his best to play Sheldon the way he's written and directed only I find that he's playing less of Sheldon and more of 'Jim Parsons'. The writing has shifted from demonstrating nuances of characterization to keeping characters in line so as to fulfill the conditions necessary for the romantic 'master plan' of the show. This wouldn't be so problematic if the writers were actually good at the romance part, but they're not. What strikes me most about this episode is that it tries so hard to be significant, to be a moment, and it fails miserably.

Amy did get what she wanted and by extension the Shamys, but the writers fucked it up. For me it had the same anticlimactic feel as the Lenny engagement. The writers seem to have lost the ability to put proper sentiment into 'game-changing' moments. Remember when Leonard asked Penny out and she accepted? The audience was ecstatic. You could feel the relief and joy, practically envision the audience members hi-fiving each other and fist-pumping.

The Shamys had the Sheldon kiss after an entire episode of treating Amy horribly. Now after a drawn-out episode with a nonsensical plot about accomplished thirty-somethings wanting to rewrite their prom experiences they had the 'I love you, too' delivered by Jim Parsons instead of Sheldon.

For Shenny, all it took was a single napkin to set the audience ablaze.

And they say Shenny is a forced, unrealistic relationship....

[Idle Miscreant]

[Trust No One]

Did Sheldon really say this?

[Idle Miscreant]

Yes. He also compared Lennui to a urinary tract infection. I'm starting to get a vague notion of why he might be disliked by Leonard fans...

[Trust No One]

Yes. He also compared Lennui to a urinary tract infection. I'm starting to get a vague notion of why he might be disliked by Leonard fans...

Was not right for Sheldon to compare a urinary tract infection to the Lennui.

[wellplayedpenny]

Re: The Septum Deviation. This will be short and sweet because I actually forgot the show was on and missed half the episode and what I did see was absolute fluff. It was just so OOC it was almost surreal. Like there was so much wrong if there was actually something right it came across as a 'moment of surprise' like inadvertently spotting the scroll or book in a 'Where's Waldo' page.

Our particular moment was between Penny and Sheldon in the waiting room with their discussing his refusal to say the word 'ass'. Now before you register a pulse let me assure you that you're not missing much. It was an exchange of four sentences. If this was the extent of the Shenny scene Jim mentioned during his speech at Kaley's walk of fame ceremony let me be the first to remind him that four lines of connection in an otherwise forgettable sequence isn't something to crow about.

As for the Shamy, I missed their exchange in the car so I can't comment on that. What I did see in the waiting room was Sheldon snuggling a bear (weren't bears supposed to be terrifying, continuity people?) bought by Amy because he stubbed his toe. Okay, OOC but not weird. Then we find out that the man who can discern 26 dimensions and can sharp shoot a raccoon can't tell the difference between inside and outside of a building when he's using a turn stile. More than a little demeaning but it's not like Sheldon's a child. Then Amy comments that his doubling his baby powder (it's talc damn it!) had her distracted. Welcome to the creep zone kiddies!

I imagine people will say that Sheldon is a man-child and so Amy's merely catering to that aspect of Sheldon. Teddy bears and baby powder are okay. Comic books are lame-o. Nice to see she can draw a line in the sand somewhere. Through Amy's actions and words it's obvious she does have a problem with Sheldon's man-child persona--the man part. While Sheldon is an adult with two doctorates who lived and taught abroad and functioned on his own in Pasadena before meeting Leonard, Amy sees him as a 'sexy toddler'. What the hell happened to the 'relationship of the mind'? The ShAmy--and it really does have to be written with a capital 'A' since it is ultimately Amy's agenda that runs the relationship--is written with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer as the writers choose to express Sheldon's 'softer side' by infantilizing him.

Yes, Sheldon and Amy are different--that doesn't mean they should conduct a kink meme of mother/infant. Apparently the writers don't get that this continued portrayal really undermines the 'adult' moments between them like the horribly over the top Sheldon 'milestones'; they feel about as natural to their everyday rapport as watching a preview for Rambo II at a viewing of The Manchurian Candidate.

While there might be grumbles at the lack of Shenny, the level of writing this season has been so deplorable and amateurish it might be a blessing that Shenny is off to the sideline. I suppose the only positive thing I can say is at least no one can blame Shenny for ruining the episode and the season's momentum. After all, who'd want to add humour to an otherwise dull story line?

[Trust No One]

Re: The Septum Deviation. This will be short and sweet because I actually forgot the show was on and missed half the episode and what I did see was absolute fluff. It was just so OOC it was almost surreal. Like there was so much wrong if there was actually something right it came across as a 'moment of surprise' like inadvertently spotting the scroll or book in a 'Where's Waldo' page.

Our particular moment was between Penny and Sheldon in the waiting room with their discussing his refusal to say the word 'ass'. Now before you register a pulse let me assure you that you're not missing much. It was an exchange of four sentences. If this was the extent of the Shenny scene Jim mentioned during his speech at Kaley's walk of fame ceremony let me be the first to remind him that four lines of connection in an otherwise forgettable sequence isn't something to crow about.

As for the Shamy, I missed their exchange in the car so I can't comment on that. What I did see in the waiting room was Sheldon snuggling a bear (weren't bears supposed to be terrifying, continuity people?) bought by Amy because he stubbed his toe. Okay, OOC but not weird. Then we find out that the man who can discern 26 dimensions and can sharp shoot a raccoon can't tell the difference between inside and outside of a building when he's using a turn stile. More than a little demeaning but it's not like Sheldon's a child. Then Amy comments that his doubling his baby powder (it's talc damn it!) had her distracted. Welcome to the creep zone kiddies!

I imagine people will say that Sheldon is a man-child and so Amy's merely catering to that aspect of Sheldon. Teddy bears and baby powder are okay. Comic books are lame-o. Nice to see she can draw a line in the sand somewhere. Through Amy's actions and words it's obvious she does have a problem with Sheldon's man-child persona--the man part. While Sheldon is an adult with two doctorates who lived and taught abroad and functioned on his own in Pasadena before meeting Leonard, Amy sees him as a 'sexy toddler'. What the hell happened to the 'relationship of the mind'? The ShAmy--and it really does have to be written with a capital 'A' since it is ultimately Amy's agenda that runs the relationship--is written with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer as the writers choose to express Sheldon's 'softer side' by infantilizing him.

Yes, Sheldon and Amy are different--that doesn't mean they should conduct a kink meme of mother/infant. Apparently the writers don't get that this continued portrayal really undermines the 'adult' moments between them like the horribly over the top Sheldon 'milestones'; they feel about as natural to their everyday rapport as watching a preview for Rambo II at a viewing of The Manchurian Candidate.

While there might be grumbles at the lack of Shenny, the level of writing this season has been so deplorable and amateurish it might be a blessing that Shenny is off to the sideline. I suppose the only positive thing I can say is at least no one can blame Shenny for ruining the episode and the season's momentum. After all, who'd want to add humour to an otherwise dull story line?

Thanks for the review WPP! I saw a couple of minutes of the episode. Enough to see Penny place her hand over Sheldon's. I'm good now and no longer need to see anymore Shenny. Good point that at least the Shenny will not be blamed. Then again, if the ratings continue to go down, Shenny's will be blamed for no longer watching. I'll happily take the blame for that.

[devilbk]

More of the OOC: Sheldon eats in the car, makes a mess and doesn't use a wipe on his hands afterwards, hence his sticky hands. Leonard has been snoring for 6 1/2 years. Loudly. Who knew? There was also the bear thing WPP mentioned. Obviously this show is being created on the fly, week-to-week and nobody bloody cares. Everyone is collecting a paycheck and the reason that MB/AFF's agenda is being realized is because she is apparently the only one paying attention mainly because she wants what the actor's who are past caring already have and are throwing away..