8.16 The Intimacy Acceleration (Feb 26)

[Tuesday Pajamas]

I have to say that I'm not looking forward to this episode - I haven't been able to watch any Shenny scenes since season 6 (and there haven't been that many) without cringing because of JP's voice. Damn him!

But I also think that a large part of my disappointment comes from the fact that these types of scenes (there have been two so far) just fall flat because the writers are just too chicken to do anything daring with them. For pit's sake, it's an AU type scenario so anything can and should happen. At this stage, I'm not so blinkered to think that Shenny will be endgame - but I would have been satisfied with scenarios like this if they were done better.

You'd think that scenes like this would be bolder/more daring because they would have no repercussions beyond the very episodes in which they are played out. Take for instance the imaginary laundry room scene from season 7, would it have killed the writers to have the kiss actually play out on screen? Seriously, it baffles me how tame (a word which coincidentally rhymes with lame) these writers have been with this. Speaking of dream sequences, the one is season 4 of BTVS involving Buffy and Spike springs to mind. Joss Whedon is a man who knows his stuff. Even if Spuffy didn't actually happen in the show, I was completely happy with the nuggets of fun and the possibilities explored in episodes like Something Blue et al.

Alas, TBBT writers/producers are a different breed entirely. And it seems that they suffer from a lack of imagination just like the rest of the fandom. It would please me more if they just stop with this nonsense and get back to the bog standard Shenny scenes they are so used to churning out recently.

You've pretty much captured how I feel about this episode. The writers are terrified of the Shenny and they just don't have the courage to do anything with them.

[MilleniumRing]

They're just scared of the hate that they'll get for it. It's not the 'norm' so they won't follow through, I suppose.

[spuffyfan]

You've pretty much captured how I feel about this episode. The writers are terrified of the Shenny and they just don't have the courage to do anything with them.

You're right. Coincidently, I do like your avatar. To me, this is the hottest scene that the show has ever done - don't think it was what the writers/director intended but it was certainly the way JP and KC played it. Boy oh boy! the looks, the innuendos, and I especially like the way she got nervous half way through it. It was just lovely to watch and I must confess that I do spend ages looking at gifs of this scene whenever I see them on Tumblr. Come to think of it, their entire dynamic in this episode (when they interacted) had this underlying sexual tension that was palpable. Makes me wonder how the tag scene involving the re-enactment of A Streetcar Named Desire would have played out if it had been included in the episode - but then again if it was anything like the other scenes in this episode then I can see why it was left out. SIGH - what wasted potential!

Perhaps I would say that I'm slightly curious to see how JP and KC interact in 8.16 (because its quite probable that the script would say one thing and they would act it differently). But I realise that it would be miracle if JP goes back to the original way he portrayed Sheldon. I can already see in the photos the hand placement and slightly ajar mouth. I can only imagine the slack-jawed way he would deliver his lines and my interest dies- seriously he opens his mouth so widely these days you'd think he is trying to catch flies.

[Tuesday Pajamas]

You're right. Coincidently, I do like your avatar. To me, this is the hottest scene that the show has ever done - don't think it was what the writers/director intended but it was certainly the way JP and KC played it. Boy oh boy! the looks, the innuendos, and I especially like the way she got nervous half way through it. It was just lovely to watch and I must confess that I do spend ages looking at gifs of this scene whenever I see them on Tumblr. Come to think of it, their entire dynamic in this episode (when they interacted) had this underlying sexual tension that was palpable. Makes me wonder how the tag scene involving the re-enactment of A Streetcar Named Desire would have played out if it had been included in the episode - but then again if it was anything like the other scenes in this episode then I can see why it was left out. SIGH - what wasted potential!

Perhaps I would say that I'm slightly curious to see how JP and KC interact in 8.16 (because its quite probable that the script would say one thing and they would act it differently). But I realise that it would be miracle if JP goes back to the original way he portrayed Sheldon. I can already see in the photos the hand placement and slightly ajar mouth. I can only imagine the slack-jawed way he would deliver his lines and my interest dies- seriously he opens his mouth so widely these days you'd think he is trying to catch flies.

Jim was really pouring on the FLIRT in this episode and yeah I agree, I think they took out Streetcar because it was too hot. Never noticed the slack jaw thing, now it's going to be all I'm looking for

[Idle Miscreant]

I just wanted to see "A Streetcar Named Desire, and Other Streetcars" because it sounded ludicrous. I suspected others had somewhat more prurient reasons for wanting to see it though...*COUGH* singlet *COUGH* Must have been the only time some Shenny and Shamy fans agreed with each other...

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As requested.









Continue at your leisure...

[Tuesday Pajamas]

As supplied by Dev, here is an article about the experiment Sheldon and Penny conduct in this weeks episode.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/fashio...-this.html

"The questions reminded me of the infamous boiling frog experiment in which the frog doesn’t feel the water getting hotter until it’s too late. With us, because the level of vulnerability increased gradually, I didn’t notice we had entered intimate territory until we were already there, a process that can typically take weeks or months."

This frog boiling quote Sheldon used last season to complain about how he had changed.

Those images above are so poignant....

Whether the writers choose to acknowledge the natural chemistry between Sheldon and Penny or not, makes no difference. It's their decision to ignore it but it's not going to change anything because that something special there, regardless of whether they use it or not.

________________________________________

I've seen a lot of posts over the last week, claiming THIS episode 'puts a nail' in the coffin of Shenny. Which leads me to ask, "What Shenny?" There is and has never been a Sheldon and Penny relationship concept pursued on this show. The writers have done nothing but push the canon relationships, quite hard, for more than two years. So to suggest that they are in the mind to deliberately create an episode to 'kill' a fandom is absurd. And to suggest that TPTB, who write the most popular show on TV, need to pander in this way, would suggest they have no control over their own show. There was no reason for them to explore this episode with Sheldon and Penny other than the fact they wanted to do so.

[Idle Miscreant]

Indeed. As Lorre said, each character brings out a different element of the other characters. They enjoy the freedom and challenge of this.

The Sheldon and Penny relationship has been around for eight years, and embodies the premise of the show in a way no other TBBT relationship does. The meeting of very different worlds, the learning from one another.
Leonard is essentially normalised now, so he no longer represents the world of intellect (he only vaguely did to begin with anyway). Sheldon was always the figure to embody the Apollonian to Penny's Dionysian, reason to intuition, order to chaos. Sheldon's almost normalised himself now, unfortunately, but Penny is still the only person who is his equal opposite, whom he learns from, and who represents (to him) that unfathomable aspect of the hedonistic, irrational "human" world.

Regarding "the Shenny"...for a "ridiculous/delusional/non-existent" (etc) relationship, it certainly gets talked about a lot. I think the canons talk about it more than Shenny fans do...

It's just a theoretical concept. Why all the fear and hysteria? And violence, rudeness etc...

That's rhetorical, don't answer that.

[Tuesday Pajamas]

Exactly! Shenny is a theoretical concept, not a question mark hanging over the show. There are 17-19 million viewers per episode and how many are crying out for reassurance that Sheldon and Penny aren’t going to end up together? I’m sure most of the 17million viewers never even thought of it.... until this Thursday.

[Idle Miscreant]

Aye, and of those that contemplate it, there's certainly VASTLY more that expect Sheldon and Penny to end up together or consider the possibility in a positive light, than those that worry about it...

Me, I don't see the hassle either way. Who the devil wants to see one's romances acted out? To paraphrase the eminent scholar "Lol Cat" - Can I haz imagination?

[Jomi25]

A little wave of sadness came over me when I saw the old Shenny pics. I miss their interactions so much.

Hopefully 8.16 would bring us a bit of the old Shenny back. Teaser pics are teeming with chemistry! Thankfully that's one thing the TPTB can never take away from these two.