The Human side of Sheldon

[Tuesday Pajamas]

There's been a lot of talk about the humanization of Sheldon Cooper over the recent years, so I thought I'd create a thread to discuss his inner nature from an early season perspective. I'm concentrating on his beginnings because this period is almost completely absent from the discussion. Sheldon Cooper was an already fully formed creation which required only minor tweaking. He was hilariously arrogant, cocksure and perfectly autonomous. Being factual to a fault made him funny and his inability to comprehend the inner workings of others gave him an innocence which made him utterly charming.

There is a belief amongst those who prefer the later seasons that the humanization of Sheldon is a recent event but this is an extremely selective viewpoint. Sheldon was a solitary creature pre-S5, his reliance on others appeared to be little more than convenience but his emotions ran deep. From as early as the third episode, it is revealed that his relationships are infinitely more emotive than any other character on the show.

Sheldon was never a robot. This thread is for early sightings of this complex human side...

[Tuesday Pajamas]

To get the ball rolling... lovely bit of Shenny here

Example one:

"PUT DOWN THE LETTERS!"

"Nobody calls me moopie, but meemaw!!"

[Tuesday Pajamas]

The whole "Please don't hurt my friend" argument is put forward as proof that Sheldon grew but it felt so contrived. When you compare it to the original character of Sheldon who spent his days being dismissive of Leonard but then finds it impossible to lie to his face. This is a more honest and funny way to show us that Sheldon cares.

[wellplayedpenny]

What I always liked about the Sheldon/Penny dynamic was her ability to force Sheldon out of his calculated demeanor. For me Panty Pinata is the penultimate as Penny really runs Sheldon through the gamut of emotions.

First there is his rush down the stairs to the laundry room. Penny had used his own penchant for order to effectively trap him and that unnerves him. As they converse he's looking over the machines and is doing his best to remain rational but once Penny gives him that last push the physicist turns around and we get a glare of the century.



That isn't indifference. Sheldon is pissed. His voice is the most animated I can remember as he threatens her. There's passion in it unlike his higher pitched Texas twangy voice he usually uses with Leonard. In a nut shell, for me this is *the* moment when Sheldon Lee Cooper saw Penny as more than just his neighbor and Leonard's love interest. She was an Adversary. Someone who dared to challenge him.

More importantly, this was the moment Sheldon's passion boiled to the surface and the reason why I don't buy that Shamy ILY moment. It was dull. Lifeless. And given that this dreary delivery came from the same man who looked ready to commit murder over a ruined laundry night it either says Amy doesn't 'reach him' the way Penny did or else the writers have forgotten what the hell it was they wrote in the earlier seasons.

Then there was the moment when Penny and he were looking over her laundry on the telephone wire. His response to her anger was delivered in his frustratingly even-toned delivery--and then came his "muah ha ha". How smug. Childish. Infuriating. Taunting. And perfect.

The only other person we see who gets his mojo going is his 'kryptonite', Mary. In a few words she blows the bluster out of Sheldon and gets him to apologize.





While I disagree that Sheldon should be the only one to apologize for the battle Penny is right to acknowledge how big of him it was to do so. The final exchange between them, with Sheldon's 'well played', is awesome as he's speaking to someone worth his respect. How he sees Penny is forever transformed. And his "with great power comes great responsibility" acknowledges in his own Sheldony way that Penny has him by the balls and to carry them lightly.

It says a lot that Leonard had Mary's number and yet continued to knuckle under to Sheldon's demands. Penny had the balls to pull the trigger. It was ruthless. Out of bounds. And impressed Sheldon. "Well played" indeed.

[Tuesday Pajamas]

What a great post.

And yes, I don't buy the Shamy ILY either. It was too tepid. This is a man who is utterly passionate about everything in his life and Shamy are just too wet.

[devilbk]

What a great post.

And yes, I don't buy the Shamy ILY either. It was too tepid. This is a man who is utterly passionate about everything in his life and Shamy are just too wet.

The Shamy aspires for tepidity in all things. Well, most things.

[ricardo shillyshally]

I think that was when both of them met their match. Penny was used to having power through her looks, and sexuality. Sheldon through knowing everything, will power, and persistence. It would have been a great match, if slug boy hadn't intervened. Why stop them?

[Tuesday Pajamas]

I think that was when both of them met their match. Penny was used to having power through her looks, and sexuality. Sheldon through knowing everything, will power, and persistence. It would have been a great match, if slug boy hadn't intervened. Why stop them?

Oh absolutely, Sheldon was the only man who was never going to pander to her because she was pretty. He treated her like everyone else, was brutality honest and never lied to her.

I love the scene in the pilot when she breaks down and cries and under normal circumstances everyone would flock around her, offering comfort to a woman like that...

Penny: You want to know the most pathetic part? Even though I hate his lying, cheating guts, I still love him. Is that crazy?

Sheldon: Yes.

When Sheldon said YES I thought he was the coolest character ever. This wasn't his HUMAN side but it was funny.

[FlyingMonkey]

Oh absolutely, Sheldon was the only man who was never going to pander to her because she was pretty. He treated her like everyone else, was brutality honest and never lied to her.

I love the scene in the pilot when she breaks down and cries and under normal circumstances everyone would flock around her, offering comfort to a woman like that...

Penny: You want to know the most pathetic part? Even though I hate his lying, cheating guts, I still love him. Is that crazy?

Sheldon: Yes.

When Sheldon said YES I thought he was the coolest character ever. This wasn't his HUMAN side but it was funny.

And in a better show:

Sheldon: You want to know the most pathetic part? Even though she manipulates, stalks, tricks, pressures, belittles and yells at me, I still said I love her. Is that crazy?

Penny: Yes.

[wellplayedpenny]

Granted yes, Ricardo, but I took this thread to mean from Sheldon's perspective and while we, the audience, see the Sheldon/Penny battle as of equals it takes Sheldon until the laundry scene to really clue into the fact that he's in a real grudge match. As for Leonard intervening, it was a quick way to settle things and as they only had 23 minutes to do it all in I think they did a pretty good job. (But Penny should have apologized too. *ahem* )