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

[Idle Miscreant]

So Cooper-Hofstadter redux eh? Excellent news about the science angle!
And Leonard being appreciative of Sheldon. And Sheldon being Sheldon, not “I’m not a smart man, but I know what love is” Cooper.

So to the writers!

I’d very much like to watch this episode, but as sitting through Amy’s soft-porn scenarios would necessitate a set-up reminiscent of Clockwork Orange, I might just look for bits of the lads and Hawking on Youtube.

I’m trying to think if I’ve ever laughed at any of the “Girl Night” scenes since they were introduced in late Season 4….Er, no, I believe. But that’s probably just my sense of humour. The show has a very wide appeal now, as opposed to narrow and particular, so it probably has to throw in a variety of humours to appeal to all a little, rather than a few, a lot.
And other garbled sentences.

Unfortunately the downside of this, is that if the original show was exactly suited to your “particularities”, then these broader scenes are just dead air.

For example, mine:

INTERESTS & DELIGHTS
Sheldon and his obsession with his work
Sheldon’s routines, tics, passions, idiosyncrasies
Sheldon & Penny puzzling each other out (and general whatthefuckery)
Sheldon & Leonard’s marriage..sorry, friendship
Howard & Raj adventure scenes
Gadgetry and Howard’s ill-fated inventions
Intricate discussion of sci-fi/fantasy quandaries
Games, Kite-Fighting, Paintball
Clash of worlds (anytime a ‘straight’ wanders in)
University shenanigans
Kripke, Gablehauser, Zack, Leslie, Stuart, The Koothrapalis,
Dream sequences (of the surreal, non-porn variety)

DEAD AIR OR ABHORRENCES
Girls’ Nights
Amy manipulating and correcting her “sexy toddler”
Leonard and Penny’s eyeball-glazing relationship
Bernadette yelling at Howard and telling him what a useless putz he is
Raj & Whoever It Is This Week.
(The four relationships essentially. Although I could fix them in a jiffy, if you want a cranky misanthrope’s opinion on such matters…Unfortunate if you don’t – I’m listing them at the end. )

This episode evidently had:
Sheldon and his obsession with his work, Sheldon & Leonard’s friendship, & University shenanigans.
But:
Girls’ Nights, & Amy’s fantasy life.

The early seasons would only have had the first plots. If there were some program I could install that could edit out the latter plots automatically (or replace them with something soothing, like a lava lamp) then I genuinely think I’d be quite delighted with these later seasons.

I found it interesting that Sheldon is now into LOLcats. I wonder who he got that from. And Sheldon also no longer uses wipes. Twice.

Devil, Sheldon didn’t use hand-wipes because Sheldon doesn’t do anything Sheldon used to do before. When was the last time he searched for the acoustic sweet spot? Now at the cinema he just holds hand with his girlfriend. (Would Sherlock Holmes go to the cinema with his girlfriend? I ask you!) Sheldon doesn’t have routines, Sheldon doesn’t have germ phobia, Sheldon doesn’t disdain romantic relationships, Sheldon doesn’t sleep with his head away from the door, Sheldon likes bears, Sheldon likes Lolcats, Sheldon can understand sarcasm, Sheldon can tell lies, Sheldon can tell sex jokes, Sheldon is no longer a detached observer of humanity from an honourable and unusual alien planet, Sheldon is human and going to get married and have babies and that’s all you should care about.


Now. Speaking of such things...

CRANKY BASTARD'S RELATIONSHIP FIXES

Fix 1) Put Penny with Sheldon. The show then comes full circle with the joining forces of the antagonistic polar opposites. Sheldon needs someone warm to balance his reserve. Extro to his Intro. Chaos to his order. Penny needs someone challenging. A little complicated to write at this late stage, but artistically classic if they pulled it off.
Amy wants an easily affectionate, sexual, romantic genius? (3 things there the opposite of Sheldon) Hello Raj! (Thus also removing an extraneous 8th character) Leonard learns his own self-worth and is not thus dependent on a partner for validation. He begins to find true passion in science again. Bernie allows “Howie” to play with his goddamn toys a bit more.

Fix 2) Put Amy with Raj again, for same reasons (they’re both lonely and wanting affection, and Emily is amusing but extraneous). Penny and Leonard continue (zzzzzz) harmlessly, Bernie and Howard continue less shoutily, and Sheldon is allowed, once more, to be Sheldon. The solitary alien observer of humanities foibles and overall eccentric gimcrack. His character intact at the centre of the show, and not being bent out of shape around a tertiary character.

Fix 3) Sheldon & Penny, Raj & Howard, Leonard & Stephanie. And Stuart peering into the Existential Abyss, clutching his Wookie mug.

I have no hope of Fix 1 or 3 sadly, but I'm holding out for 2.

FREE THE SHELDON! SAVE HOMO NOVUS!