7.16 The Table Polarization

[Tuesday Pajamas]

Its a sad day in the Shenny HQ world when our beloved Sheldon is being hated. How can tptb do this to him? And Penny for that matter. She is really starting to be intolerable. All this for the benefit for a couple of beta characters that wouldn't be missed if they disappeared. Now we get to watch AFF help him "mature" into a better person when he was already there.

They are making him boring. Removing all the lovely quirks like his honesty and lack of guile, and exaggerating the negative ones until they are no longer funny. A perfect character like Sheldon had to be handled with extreme caution but they have just taken a hacksaw to him.

[Moonbase]

What an incredibly…weird episode. On the one hand you had an aspect of Vintage Sheldon present in the form of Super Villain Sheldon (with a few extra Jiminy-isms thrown in)….but only the superficial mannerisms were there, because ultimately he was manipulated left right and centre, so it looked like a child playing Super Villain dress-up.

Another episode, also, which seems to demonstrate Sheldon’s complete lack of interest in Amy romantically, or even deeply emotionally. He sees her as someone ON HIS SIDE and as an intellectual playmate, but as soon as that balance is altered, he’s willing to jettison her, as he’s threatened several times before. He's FOND of her, but he's also fond of Trains and Wil Wheaton (and Gollum), it is not a romantic connection, no matter how many times he repeats the word "girlfriend". Bar that ridiculous moment last episode, it comes across as a pre-school friendship if anything. And what the hell is wrong with him merely having a friend? Why force these two poor (once unique) sods into such an arbitrary and conventional scenario?

They live in completely separate worlds. She understands enough of his to be able to predict and alter his behaviour, as is shown over and over again, but the fact that throughout all these alterations he thinks something quite different is going on, makes the relationship somewhat akin to one of those Interrogation Boxes with the two-way mirror. Sheldon lives in his own world, populated by reflected versions of himself (and the occasional intruder like Penny), and Amy stands outside watching him, and dicking around with the controls. Except that instead of merely changing the temperature, lighting and possibly oxygen content, until he’s more manageable, she’s levering the very delicate controls of his psyche.

What the hell does she get out of this? In some episodes she does seem genuinely fond of him, but in others she seems barely able to stand his “quirks”. There’s a fairly obvious dichotomy between her image of Sheldon and the actual Sheldon.

Is she in love with the concept of a “Boyfriend” in the same way that Sheldon has accepted the protocol of having a “Girlfriend”? Any groupie would have worked for him. He was delighted with Ramona until she started curtailing his funtime, which I’m sure Amy would love to do if she had the testicular fortitude. If I have to hear one more bloody comment about “stupid space movies”….

Sheldon signed the Relationship Agreement to gain exclusivity over her company, because he likes control, is jealous, and possessive of his “things”, which to him includes human beings. She’s just another object to order and structure around him (like the routines we see bugger all about nowadays), the fact that most of time she’s ordering and structuring HIM, doesn’t alter how it works in Sheldon’s head.

Sheldon frets terribly over perceived betrayals, allegiances, and time spent with anyone else other than Sheldon. This applies to everyone he knows. There is no distinction with how he treats Amy. If anything he seems to act like he’s in a relationship with LEONARD. Episode 7.2 was just a blatant, extended “lovers’ spat” for chrissake!

And at least he bought him a pretty hat!



Bah. I'm in a terrible mood. I'll go away and see if I can think of something positive to say. It probably won't be about this episode though. If I were a "Vintage Shamy" fan I'd be bloody furious as well. She was meant to be his equal, not the goddamn Puppet-Master! And as for PENNY...Jesus Mary and Joseph what have they DONE to her...! What a humourless bastard she's turning into!
NNRRGHH!

(Those blossoms are meant to be the equivalent of Naboo's kitten picture, if anyone knows what the hell I'm talking about)

In the mean, speaking of Praying Mantis Puppets....




DESTROY THE PUNY MORTALS SHELDON!

Yeah they tried to throw us off with the science quote in the beginning, which was great but then Leonard took the mickey out of him and what followed was dig after dig. To hear him say he'd become a more affectionate person because of Amy was unbearable. He's not affectionate tbh I wouldn't mind that so much but I just hate the way Amy is constantly being labelled as his great saviour.

Last season was saved for me by 43 but so far this season hasn't had a single great nerd episode. Guest stars don't count.

[Nutz]

Completely agree with everything you said Gripe, it was both thrilling and disheartening to see glimpses of vintage Sheldon. It makes me sick to see how Amy played him in this episode, talk about Stockholm syndrome. Our beautiful mined genius is almost totally brainwashed now and not a single person cared, not even his supposed "sister"

Plus side of the episode? No Howard's mothers voice from Bernie, no drunk jokes about Penny although her clothes were just terrible.

[Idle Miscreant]

You've GOT to post this in Orangeland just to see the heads explode!

My name's Major Gripe, not General Idiot or Captain Kamikaze...

[Toad]

I really need to watch the episode again (if I can stomach it) before I can assimilate any coherent thoughts. Honestly, my mind just seemed to waft away during the truly awful bits and, like Penny, I wasn't really listening, I only saw jaws moving up and down. So now it's like trying to remember a dream.

ANYway...small thing, but did everybody see where they were going as soon as Sheldon uttered "nary an argument?" Raise your hands if you knew Leonard's "suffered in silence" bit was about to be recycled. "NARY?"

[Nutz]

Sheldon mentioned Penny's genitals again in this episode, that's like the fourth time this season. He seems completely obsessed with her pink parts.

[FranEssi]

Everyone has said what was there to be said about this episode.
Just want to add that the desk and the rest of those stuff were Sheldon's (science) belongings and he had every right not to want others to make decisions about his belongings and about getting rid of or moving them.
I don't get how Amy has made Sheldon a more affectionate, open-minded person. I just don't see it.
Sheldon was too childish and dumb in this episode, but it was good to at least see him try to break up with Amy.
I didn't like Penny giving Amy 'heads up' about Sheldon wanting to break up with her. She shouldn't have interfered IMO. I wonder how Amy would have reacted to Sheldon trying to break up with her if she hadn't been 'warned' beforehand.
On the whole, the episode was quite boring and unfunny, and when I watch the show and the characters these days, I keep wondering why and how I became a fan in the first place. I think some of the members of this forum are absolutely right and the wise thing to do is to stick with the early seasons and to pretend that seasons 5-7 never happened, or are some sort of spin-off. *goes off to re-watch The Adhesive Duck Deficiency*

[Toad]

Ah Raj, if nothing else your Angry Indian Guy shtick still makes me laugh. A bit.

Okay, I finally got to see the episode a second time, and it really isn't that bad. It's all about puppets and furniture, right? I mean, I guess all fictional characters are puppets of a sort. The trick comes in convincing us (the audience) that there are no strings. Unfortunately for those of us here, we can all but see the writers' hands as the characters do a herky-jerky dance through one contrived and ham-fisted setup after another. It's then unsettling and mildly surrealistic to watch some of these puppet people assume the role of puppeteer themselves. (I wonder if I can find a gif representation of what I just wrote?)

This'll do...


Jedi Amy was the most blatant example of the M word, but let's face it, there was quite a bit of string-pulling going on all around, from Penny urging Leonard to get a table SHE liked, to Bernadette staging an intervention, and finally, even Sheldon getting in on the act when he starts tugging on the group's heartstrings. What *I* found particularly loathsome about all of it though was how each of the offenders decided THEY knew what was best and weren't above using sly trickery to get what THEY wanted. (I'm sure that sentence isn't grammatically correct, but I don't care.) The rampant me-ism of these people is very offputting to say the least.

So...a table. But WHAT a table, y'all! Before it was a lightly used return to Ikea it was the outward manifestation of one man's defiance, it was the catalyst for a discussion about change, it was the bridge for a man and a woman to unite against a common enemy, it was a threat to the mealtime camaraderie. AND...it comfortably seated seven people. All kidding aside though, it occurs to me that this is not the first time a piece of furniture has become a focal point - the paint-besmirched cushion, the Brobdingnagian desk, and Penny's chair of death have all inflamed Sheldon's various neuroses. And so now we have (or had rather) the, what?, table of change? Erm, good luck furnishing that three bedroom ranch, Amy. You're gonna need it.

[Trust No One]

Everyone has said what was there to be said about this episode.
Just want to add that the desk and the rest of those stuff were Sheldon's (science) belongings and he had every right not to want others to make decisions about his belongings and about getting rid of or moving them.
I don't get how Amy has made Sheldon a more affectionate, open-minded person. I just don't see it.
I didn't like Penny giving Amy 'heads up' about Sheldon wanting to break up with her. She shouldn't have interfered IMO. I wonder how Amy would have reacted to Sheldon trying to break up with her if she hadn't been 'warned' beforehand.
On the whole, the episode was quite boring and unfunny, and when I watch the show and the characters these days, I keep wondering why and how I became a fan in the first place. I think some of the members of this forum are quite right and the wise thing to do is to stick with the early seasons and to pretend that seasons 5-7 never happened, or are some sort of spin-off. *goes off to re-watch The Adhesive Duck Deficiency*

Pretty low for Penny to be a little sneak. Worry about your own lousy relationship.

---

Sheldon mentioned Penny's genitals again in this episode, that's like the fourth time this season. He seems completely obsessed with her pink parts.

Cannot be. He only thinks of Penny as a sister.

[FlyingMonkey]

Everyone has said what was there to be said about this episode.
Just want to add that the desk and the rest of those stuff were Sheldon's (science) belongings and he had every right not to want others to make decisions about his belongings and about getting rid of or moving them.
I don't get how Amy has made Sheldon a more affectionate, open-minded person. I just don't see it.
I didn't like Penny giving Amy 'heads up' about Sheldon wanting to break up with her. She shouldn't have interfered IMO. I wonder how Amy would have reacted to Sheldon trying to break up with her if she hadn't been 'warned' beforehand.
On the whole, the episode was quite boring and unfunny, and when I watch the show and the characters these days, I keep wondering why and how I became a fan in the first place. I think some of the members of this forum are quite right and the wise thing to do is to stick with the early seasons and to pretend that seasons 5-7 never happened, or are some sort of spin-off. *goes off to re-watch The Adhesive Duck Deficiency*

That's right out of Shamyland. In their view Sheldon was a "selfish prick" before Amy and she is now shaping him into a caring sensitive human being. Aside from the creepiness of Amy, my main problem with that is IT'S NOT FUNNY!!! Vintage Sheldon was funny, clever & witty, boyfriend Sheldon is boring and pathetic.


I wondered that too. If she hadn't had time to prepare it might have turned out different. Thank you Penny.