04-09-2015, 08:28 PM
This episode DOES have some great sub-plots, as PJ pointed out. The Sword of Azeroth is probably one of the greatest openings they've ever done.
And then there's this gem of a scene. Deceptively simple. Just the guys playing Jenga while the internet's down, heh heh, and Howard and Raj gently needling Sheldon. This is early days yet so scenes like this that establish Sheldon's alien-ness, his other-ness, are interesting.
It references Asimov, which made me want to READ Asimov. Interestingly I don't have the same inclination to listen to any of the pop songs that Sheldon is inexplicably familiar with these days.
But there's also something a bit deeper happening here. As scientists they're all no doubt aware of the philosophical underpinnings to their various disciplines, so it makes sense that they would have just these sorts of conversations. About being, awareness, ethics, etc. And they hit all the right notes too. The slow, measured way that they're speaking (because of the game) mixed with the not overtly intellectual way they're bandying about these concepts makes it a subtily funny bit.
Sigh.
I would be in absolute heaven if the show could still conjure up scenes like this one.
![[Image: 2rzeuxl.jpg]](http://i62.tinypic.com/2rzeuxl.jpg)
Howard: Sheldon, if you were a robot, and I knew and you didn’t, would you want me to tell you?
Sheldon: That depends. When I learn that I’m a robot, will I be able to handle it?
Howard: Maybe, although the history of science-fiction is not on your side.
Sheldon: Uh, let me ask you this. When I learn that I’m a robot, would I be bound by Asimov’s three laws of robotics?
Raj: You might be bound by them right now.
Howard: That’s true. Have you ever harmed a human being, or through inaction allowed a human being to come to harm?
Sheldon: Of course not.
Howard: Have you ever harmed yourself, or allowed yourself to be harmed except in cases where a human being would have been endangered?
Sheldon: Well, no.
Howard: I smell robot.
And then there's this gem of a scene. Deceptively simple. Just the guys playing Jenga while the internet's down, heh heh, and Howard and Raj gently needling Sheldon. This is early days yet so scenes like this that establish Sheldon's alien-ness, his other-ness, are interesting.
It references Asimov, which made me want to READ Asimov. Interestingly I don't have the same inclination to listen to any of the pop songs that Sheldon is inexplicably familiar with these days.
But there's also something a bit deeper happening here. As scientists they're all no doubt aware of the philosophical underpinnings to their various disciplines, so it makes sense that they would have just these sorts of conversations. About being, awareness, ethics, etc. And they hit all the right notes too. The slow, measured way that they're speaking (because of the game) mixed with the not overtly intellectual way they're bandying about these concepts makes it a subtily funny bit.
Sigh.
I would be in absolute heaven if the show could still conjure up scenes like this one.
Howard: Sheldon, if you were a robot, and I knew and you didn’t, would you want me to tell you?
Sheldon: That depends. When I learn that I’m a robot, will I be able to handle it?
Howard: Maybe, although the history of science-fiction is not on your side.
Sheldon: Uh, let me ask you this. When I learn that I’m a robot, would I be bound by Asimov’s three laws of robotics?
Raj: You might be bound by them right now.
Howard: That’s true. Have you ever harmed a human being, or through inaction allowed a human being to come to harm?
Sheldon: Of course not.
Howard: Have you ever harmed yourself, or allowed yourself to be harmed except in cases where a human being would have been endangered?
Sheldon: Well, no.
Howard: I smell robot.
OH PLEASE...