9.05 The Perspiration Implementation

[Toad]

'The Perspiration Implementation' - Season 9, Episode 5

Airs Monday, October 19 at 8/7c on CBS.

The guys take a fencing lesson from Barry Kripke and Sheldon finds himself in an awkward position when Kripke expresses interest in Amy. Also, when Stuart struggles to get female customers at the Comic Book Store, Penny, Amy and Bernadette come by to help him out.

[Nutz]

Sheldon with a sword in his hand, looking like he knows how to use it? Damn, someone's going to be reading Paladin again tonight. 

Raj also looks pretty hot! and is it just me or is Leonard looking a little Oompa Loompaish in this pic?


Hello. My name is Doctor Sheldon Lee Cooper, you killed my Chance for a Nobel Prize. Prepare to die.

[Toad]

[Tuesday Pajamas]

Sneak peeks are out:










Then there's this one and I'm sorry but Amy's voice just irritates me. Mayim tries way too hard. It's like she sitting there being Amy and then she gets a line and she overcooks it. She's supposed to be making suggestions to a clueless Stuart but she's too annoyed. Mild distaste would have worked better.

[Idle Miscreant]

Who wants to bet Vintage Sheldon could fence the Forrest out of Sheldon 2.0's Gump?

[Nutz]

So it looks like Sheldumb is back. God help this episode if all the jokes are like the preview clips they've given us. (Which are usually the best) not even Sheldons dominate "peeing" leg will be able to save it (sigh)

[Idle Miscreant]

Shall we have a sword theme this week, in support of this fencing episode?

This can be Toad's contribution.  (remember this Toad? Eh, EH?)
   

[A.D.A.]

Well, this was an okay episode up until the relationship drama came back. The fencing part, at least. I do like that they acknowledged many women are into comic books these days, but the creepification of Stuart is really wearing on me. It's a bit like Raj's descent into total douchebaggery ("Talk to normal people? You mean like fatties and uggos?"). If, as Sheldon put it, comedy is tragedy plus time, there really isn't much tragi-comedy in seeing these characters fail anymore. They just deserve it, but then, they don't really fail hard enough for it to count as a comeuppance, as the show usually still supplies them with what they want anyway (Raj obviously got a superhot girlfriend, we wouldn't want any man to date anything less than a perfect 10, Gods beware). Stuart is a bit of a different case since the joke is that he fails all the time, but then, I have a hard time believing anyone will end this show without a designated heterosexual partner.

Bernadette is babying her husband some more checking his fitness page. Is she doing any sort of exercise herself? If yes, it hasn't been mentioned. Anyway, same procedure as every year.

Having lurked around the Shamies for a while, I thought the general feeling from the taping report was that she would date other guys than Sheldon after he told her that he had asked out other women. However, I think she was pretty ready to move on even before that. I don't really get this break-up story if it (as it inevitably will) is supposed to go towards reconciliation. Amy says she wants to date guys that aren't like Sheldon, which I suppose makes sense from an exploration point of view, but I really do think that there's just no reason for her to date Sheldon anymore. She's completely outgrown (if you want to call it growth) his type of affection. Which is actually kind of sad also for the Amy character; it would have been fun to see her earlier persona with a normal man and maybe get a reversal on the usual weird guy/sensible girl relationship dynamic. But I suppose that would have been too out of the norm.

Anyway, the major complaint I have with this break-up story is that it's just not fun anymore. Mayim Balik was doing a real good job showing that Amy is devastated about Sheldon hitting on women, I won't begrudge her that, but the whole scene just belonged in a soap opera, not a comedy. Which isn't to say they can't do a serious moment here and there, but this storyline is getting really stale. At this point, I'd rather see literally anything, including Sheldon and Kripke "touching", than any more Shamy. At least that relationship would have some humour to it.

[Idle Miscreant]

OH GOD MUST THERE BE ROMANCE EVERYWHERE.

*inserts Kim's Sheldon rage scream*


And not just ANY romance...THIS ONE. This bloody awful, naff kindergarten one. 5 years of it! FIVE YEARS. OY VEY!

Why can't we just have some fencing and comic book shop renovation? Or a romance where Sheldon didn't have to be eviscerated in order for it to exist?

I don't know whether to watch this one or not.
On the one hand; fencing, Kripke, Stuart, comic book shop  
On the other; mawkish Sheldon/Amy scene, Amy calling Stuart creepy (...how..even?), and apparently Sheldumb, not Sheldon.  

I could also just watch the fencing bits on youtube, and reread Paladin...

[A.D.A.]

Oh man, the frustration with Shamy is real. Btw, did you notice they slipped a standard Shamy fan quote in there when Leonard told Sheldon that Amy "deserves to be happy"? (I didn't actually think that was out of character, he was trying to make Sheldon understand interpersonal post-dating etiquette and being the generally friendly guy he's theoretically supposed to be, but the wording was just so... I've read it a lot).