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Big Bang Theory 6: The Suffering of Being Unable to Love


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I can't decide if this episode was touching or annoying.



Probably a mix of both. I guess it depends on how damaged you think Amy is, that she can't find someone else to be happy with.



Something I go and forth on...


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All the train noises and stuff were nails-on-blackboard annoying.



I'm ok with Sheldon and Amy at this point - there's some evidence that for all her bluster, in practice she's all of a snail-length ahead of him, really. Of course, the ambivalence is what makes it interesting. Who knows if he's good for her, really?



Although, stupid show seems to be going soft on me. At least there was that nice moment with Sheldon and the brain damaged UPS guy, confronted with the notion that even a brain damaged UPS guy has some ambivalent feelings about a life of nothing but trains.


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I feel terrible for Amy. Each time she starts to get up the nerve to strike out on her own Sheldon does just enough to hold her in the weird stasis that is their relationship. Amy has changed tremendously since she was introduced. Sheldon, not so much. I seriously doubt he is capable of the relationship Amy now desires. If she were a real person and a friend I'd suggest she think about her options.

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I'm not sure.

In other episodes I felt she was being the "mean girl" because she was more of an outsider. Now, being she is with Leonard and has been for a while, it felt like she should be more understanding. Or some such thing.

It was just a vibe I got from the scene for some reason.

I think she does have more understanding, and sitting there watching them hammer away at the keys to get into the queue was a little sad. Friends make fun of each other all the time for the things they do - that's all I saw her doing. She cares about all of them, but that doesn't mean she isn't gonna take the piss out on them once in a while for, well, nerdly behavior.

She gets it, she understands it...doesn't mean she isn't going to mock them for it.

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I feel terrible for Amy. Each time she starts to get up the nerve to strike out on her own Sheldon does just enough to hold her in the weird stasis that is their relationship. Amy has changed tremendously since shenwas introduced. Sheldon, not so much. I seriously doubt he is capable of the relationship Amy now desires. If she were a real person and a friend I'd suggest she think about her options.

The kiss didn't strike you as a genuine step forward on his part? I agree some of the stuff he's done to her, particularly asking her to be his girlfriend in the first place was a manipulative, controlling little stunt based on nothing more than wanting to keep her around and as stunted as he is, but this seemed more honest, especially since he actually got mad at her for manipulating him.

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Amy has changed tremendously since shenwas introduced. Sheldon, not so much.

And I think I've finally nailed one of the things that mightily bugs me with the show these last seasons.

Amy was introduced as basically a male version of Sheldon. Instead, these geniuses managed to turn her into a needy weak woman that needs the comfort of a man and is so pitiful she sticks to an oaf like Sheldon.

That's quite an awful bastardization of what we could've hoped for at first - not necessarily a copy of Sheldon, but at least a female character who wouldn't give a damn about romantic relationship, sex, and all the usual cliches of sitcom. Instead, it looks like they're trying to turn TBBT into some weird rom-com.

I wouldn't have as much issue with Amy's character, had she not been introduced with such awesome potential. (I would still have a lot of issues with how they stupidly try to "develop" the show, which just doesn't need development since it's not BSG or HIMYM, with a beginning and an end)

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CN,

You are missing my point. I use "Sheldon, not so much" not as idiomatic speech but to say Sheldon hasn't changed as much as Amy. Sheldon has changed but at a rate more slowly than Amy. It seems unfair to Amy to stay with Sheldon.

DP,

That Amy manipulated Sheldon is a fair point, but, that's the only way she can get Sheldon to do anything out of his normal comfort zone. Hence, I think it is time for her to cut her losses. That said I'm also very curious to see how Sheldon would react to Amy asserting herself at this point and walking away.

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All the train noises and stuff were nails-on-blackboard annoying.

Wasn't that kinda the point? I was climbing the walls, like Amy, and I really thought it was going to result in the whole thing blowing up.

I feel terrible for Amy. Each time she starts to get up the nerve to strike out on her own Sheldon does just enough to hold her in the weird stasis that is their relationship. Amy has changed tremendously since she was introduced. Sheldon, not so much. I seriously doubt he is capable of the relationship Amy now desires. If she were a real person and a friend I'd suggest she think about her options.

I waffled so much on this episode. I knew there was going to be something "big" happening. We'd mentioned here. First I thought it was going to be the "accidental kiss" when the train lurches and they suddenly find themselves lip locked. Then, after the train noises, I was certain they were going to blow it all up. Take an entirely new dynamic with the relationships after a Sheldon/Amy break up (for a while at least, this is sit-com land after all). Then when it looked like they were going to go for it, Amy gets up in Sheldon's grill and admits she was trying to manipulate him the anger he showed...and BAM!

The kiss didn't strike you as a genuine step forward on his part? I agree some of the stuff he's done to her, particularly asking her to be his girlfriend in the first place was a manipulative, controlling little stunt based on nothing more than wanting to keep her around and as stunted as he is, but this seemed more honest, especially since he actually got mad at her for manipulating him.

The important thing about the fact that they kissed wasn't that he started doing it out of anger, it was that once he did it, there was an obvious, unexpected reaction on his part, and he stepped into it...

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The important thing about the fact that they kissed wasn't that he started doing it out of anger, it was that once he did it, there was an obvious, unexpected reaction on his part, and he stepped into it...

DP,

That Amy manipulated Sheldon is a fair point, but, that's the only way she can get Sheldon to do anything out of his normal comfort zone. Hence, I think it is time for her to cut her losses. That said I'm also very curious to see how Sheldon would react to Amy asserting herself at this point and walking away.

I thought the anger was interesting because it sort of breaks their usual pattern of relative emotional moments - Amy does something manipulative/that takes advantage to cobble together a pretend-relationship she can live with for a little while more, Sheldon either goes with it or is genuinely oblivious. This time he actually recognized what she doing, refused to go along, got mad...and presumably more physical than he has in his entire life, and precisely what Amy wanted.

Their awkward moment after the kiss ("good" is a nicely muted and nuanced reaction, I think) and Sheldon's gleeful babbling about it to Leonard kind of sold me.

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DP,

I raised my arms and cheered when they kissed and the kiss became genuine. I just think its always two steps forward one step back with Sheldon while Amy's walking at a normal pace. He can't keep up and she ought to let him go, who knows what happens then.

In Sit-Com Land, the only way Sheldon and Amy don't end up together at this point is if one of them leaves the show before the run is concluded. They've come to far with these two.

I'm not saying it's right. I'm not saying it's wrong. But, in its own way, it's Ross and Rachel all over again...just with smarter people...

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DP,

I raised my arms and cheered when they kissed and the kiss became genuine. I just think its always two steps forward one step back with Sheldon while Amy's walking at a normal pace. He can't keep up and she ought to let him go, who knows what happens then.

If she was really walking at a normal pace, she would have let him go a long time ago though. Well, I guess it's a matter of where they go from here - I was impressed that he made no effort to take it back or pretend it didn't happen and happily told Leonard all about it.

In Sit-Com Land, the only way Sheldon and Amy don't end up together at this point is if one of them leaves the show before the run is concluded. They've come to far with these two.

I'm not saying it's right. I'm not saying it's wrong. But, in its own way, it's Ross and Rachel all over again...just with smarter people...

Unless it's actually going to be Sheldon/Penny as some maintain with fervor...ick.

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But he did drop the shockingly - for Sheldon - sensual detail that her lips tasted like brownies...



And yeah, I definitely cheered a bit when he stepped into the kiss, but I don't think it would ever have gone to him kissing Amy and hating it. I mean, the whole thing does labour under the assumption he's got the more-or-less usual capacity for this kind of thing, he's just messed up, repressed and adolescent about it, not actually inherently and changelessly averse, deep down. There have been other times when he's participated in stuff, but always hedged it - she hugs him and he says he hates it, but tells her not to stop, that kind of thing. This one was honest. I doubt it's smooth sailing from here on for them, but this did feel like a breakthrough.


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In Sit-Com Land, the only way Sheldon and Amy don't end up together at this point is if one of them leaves the show before the run is concluded. They've come to far with these two.

I'm not saying it's right. I'm not saying it's wrong. But, in its own way, it's Ross and Rachel all over again...just with smarter people...

I'll be honest, these two I do in the end want to see together as they grow - Rachel I thought should never have gotten together with him in the end. But that's for another thread on Shit That Annoyed Me About Friends. Or Characters You Hate Everyone Else Loves.

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Do you hate Rachel or Ross? I finally watched the last season of Friends a while back, and she totally should have gone to Paris and dumped his ass. Growing past him should totally have been her arc. For Amy...dunno. I do kind of want Sheldon to come through for her, because they do have this...you know, something, weird, unique connection that they - particularly Sheldon - are very bad at turning into a more satisfying romance. With Ross/Rachel I just thought it was him pining after Rachel because of stupid highschool revenge-of-the-nerds fantasies and her panicking.


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And I think I've finally nailed one of the things that mightily bugs me with the show these last seasons.

Amy was introduced as basically a male version of Sheldon. Instead, these geniuses managed to turn her into a needy weak woman that needs the comfort of a man and is so pitiful she sticks to an oaf like Sheldon.

That's quite an awful bastardization of what we could've hoped for at first - not necessarily a copy of Sheldon, but at least a female character who wouldn't give a damn about romantic relationship, sex, and all the usual cliches of sitcom. Instead, it looks like they're trying to turn TBBT into some weird rom-com.

I wouldn't have as much issue with Amy's character, had she not been introduced with such awesome potential. (I would still have a lot of issues with how they stupidly try to "develop" the show, which just doesn't need development since it's not BSG or HIMYM, with a beginning and an end)

You know, I love that Amy is such a wreck. I think that original character - the brilliant, rude, above-it-all Sheldon clone is kind of a fantasy. She's fun but totally hollow. Peeling her back to show those more conventional desires - boring, typical, girly, unflattering, embrassing desires - and letting her pay the price for not having what it takes to easily achieve them is much more compelling. I don't want every female character on TV to be Amy and I like a kickass, strong female character who does everything on her own terms with nary a touch or an influence of the outside worls as much as anyone, but Amy is fascinating.

ETA - I am amused by the AV Club review analyzing the kiss blow-by-blow like a sqeeing fangirl. "And then...and then...he touched her waist!"

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How do they follow this up? By that, I mean the reaction. Leonard came acorss as more impressed than stunned. Would that Penny had been in the room. Or do they start the next episode with Amy coming to Penny? This isn't something they can just let drift off without exploring more can they? I mean, the whole Leonard/Penny fight from a few weeks ago just seemed to peter out without any kind of actual resolution...


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How do they follow this up? By that, I mean the reaction. Leonard came acorss as more impressed than stunned. Would that Penny had been in the room. Or do they start the next episode with Amy coming to Penny?

That could be interesting, or maybe Amy's instinct is to keep things private, while for Sheldon it's all of a piece with banjo players. If Penny had been in the room she wouldn't have let it go that easily. Her reaction to finding out, one way or another, had better make it on screen. Her gleeful, silent OH MY GOD at Sheldon confessing he's thinking about it is up there as one of the show's funniest, cutest moments.

ETA - Tumblr comes through with something interesting, for once: Jim Parsons on The Kiss: "It's undeniable that there's been change and there's been growth."

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