S10.E08: The Brain Bowl Incubation

[NYCFree]

My husband and I laughed more at this episode than we have in a long time.

 I agree that Raj was overly persistent, but not OOC.  I thought his cleaning the whole floor was a sign of growth.  I also liked the way Isabella gave it back to him with a jab.

i thought Sheldon's sudden desire to have a baby that would be a genius and be "his" was very in character for him as well.  He loves his toys, and all things Sheldon.  He hasn't a practical bone in his body, so I can see Amy demanding a baby contract, as stated above.

[Zahdii]

Sheldon didn't want a baby because of any of the 'accepted' reasons to procreate.  There was no talk of the baby as an expression of the love between he and Amy.  No indication of the wonder of creating a new life, or the joy and fulfillment of nurturing their child.  No mention of watching their offspring grow and learn, moving toward the goal of becoming an adult capable of living their own life, contributing to the human condition, and even having their own children someday.

No, Sheldon was excited that his skin cells mixed so well with Amy's that the resulting "whatever" was the best concoction in the lab, and he wanted a fully functioning human that he could point to so he could crow about being the man who made that happen.  It's all about Sheldon and his obsessive desire to prove that he's better than anyone else.  If he fathered a baby right now he'd be constantly trying to prove the baby is the best, because that would make Sheldon the best. 

God help that child if he or she wasn't the best.  Sheldon would probably blame Amy for any real or perceived imperfections attached to their child.  Amy would be forced to do what Leonard's father wouldn't do - take the child and keep him or her away from the toxic parent as much as possible.

Believe it or not, this might not be the worst thing.  This could be a sign that Sheldon is moving toward the idea of parenthood, but right now he's still seeing it all from his narcissistic viewpoint.  With time he might be able to dial it back and approach parenthood with a different view.  Sheldon consistently starts at the extreme end of things and then has to work backwards to neuraltypical standards.  And he only starts to work backwards when he's had multiple failures at doing things his way.

It would require a lot of work on his part, Amy's part, and on the part of his family and friends, and constant vigilance to make sure Sheldon doesn't backslide.  Frankly, I don't think it's worth the effort, but I'm not going to be in the group of people who have to devote all that time and effort to keeping Sheldon from ruining a kid's life.

[CleoCaesar]

Wait, what are the vanity cards? I never watch it live and end the episode after the last joke.

What was different about this one that got some people upset? I'm lost...

[ari333]

We always watch on DVR and have never seen vanity cards.

[green]

21 hours ago, theatremouse said:

@green I can't tell from your post if your questions regarding the living arrangements are rhetorical because you find their answers so preposterous, or if you're genuinely asking and missed the plot-based reasons presented in previous episodes.

I saw the early episodes and they didn't present any valid reason.  Two couples couple up and then bang Sheldon chooses Penny's place over his own?  There was no real "reason."  Just a bunch of gobbledygook that made no sense at all.  It was just the writers thinking it would be funny.  It wasn't. 

The whole show isn't funny anymore as far as I'm concern.  Changing Sheldon is ridiculous.  People watched the show for a unique individual character in Sheldon that had no need for the run of the mill stuff in life that maybe 95% of the population buys into.  Now he is just another herd animal. 

But then most shows try and either lower their originally constructed interesting characters into nobodies like Sheldon has ended up being or taken them off shark jumping.  The writers just don't have the talent to keep a good character interesting so they go off and have them sell out (Sheldon) or go off over the edge.  Seinfeld was one of the few shows that didn't go too way off track though Kramer did do some pretty weird stuff at times but that is about the only show that didn't screw it up that I can think of. 

Like I said, at least the early years are in the can to re-view so there is that.

[ExplainItAgain]

2 hours ago, CleoCaesar said:

Wait, what are the vanity cards? I never watch it live and end the episode after the last joke.

What was different about this one that got some people upset? I'm lost...

It's the screen that comes up that normally shows the production's logo. Chuck Lorre uses the space to write something. Sometimes it's a long paragraph with his "thoughts on life" or current events, sometimes he jokes about the censors, talks about an issue from the show, etc. This one simply said "Uh oh." I'm assuming it was in reference to the election since he has said choice words about Trump before. There's a website out there that lists every single one and what they say.

[AnnaRose]

5 hours ago, green said:

I saw the early episodes and they didn't present any valid reason.  Two couples couple up and then bang Sheldon chooses Penny's place over his own?  There was no real "reason."  Just a bunch of gobbledygook that made no sense at all.

Maybe you missed the episode when Amy and Sheldon decided to undertake a five week experiment on cohabitation, and decided that they would have to use a neutral location for it to be valid... hence they decided to use Penny's apartment since it wasn't Amy's or Sheldon's.  That was the 'reason' presented, and I thought it was pretty reasonable.  YMMV of course.

[CherryAmes]

19 minutes ago, AnnaRose said:

That was the 'reason' presented, and I thought it was pretty reasonable. 

I thought it made sense as well.  Sheldon a few years ago wouldn't have even suggested this but it was something I could see present day Sheldon offering as an alternative. 

[green]

3 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

Maybe you missed the episode when Amy and Sheldon decided to undertake a five week experiment on cohabitation, and decided that they would have to use a neutral location for it to be valid... hence they decided to use Penny's apartment since it wasn't Amy's or Sheldon's.  That was the 'reason' presented, and I thought it was pretty reasonable.  YMMV of course.

No I saw it.  I just said I saw the earlier episodes.  Sorry I didn't make it clear that meant all of them.  And to me the so called reason made no sense at all.  Give up the singularity of his couch spot?  Never.  Ridiculous.  The real Sheldon is dead.  This boring clone isn't worth watching.  The show is twaddle now.  Well it was for some time but this?  Geesh it makes jumping the shark look like something profound like a Tolstoy would write compared to the The Big Bang Theory this season.

Sorry I guess some of you are still fans.  I used to be and I'm pissed off how they destroyed the show is all.  I'll stop posting here now cause there is nothing positive left to say about this "romantic comedy" fluff or whatever the show morphed into the last few years.  It has become as bad as any other CBS comedy and that is pretty damn bad from my pov.  Again, Jim Parsons needs to take his talent elsewhere.

Edited November 15, 2016 by green

[wendyg]

The website for the vanity cards is www.chucklorre.com. He's been doing them all the way back to DHARMA AND GREG - basically, as soon as VCRs allowing freeze-frame came in.

Edited November 15, 2016 by wendyg

[MelinaBallerina]

I don't know - maybe that's what Raj actually needs?  A mature woman who will call him out on his BS?  Even if she's a transitional girlfriend, that kind of relationship could be good for him.  Someone who really can tell him when he's being creepy and when not.

[lh25]

10 hours ago, green said:

And to me the so called reason made no sense at all.  Give up the singularity of his couch spot?  Never.  Ridiculous.  The real Sheldon is dead. 

The problem is that when they don't show the characters changing, they are accused of being stuck in a rut.  When they do, they are accused of ruining the show.  No matter what they do, someone's not going to like it.

I personally like the characters changing, otherwise the shows get stale.  That's just my opinion.

[BlossomCulp]

23 minutes ago, lh25 said:

I personally like the characters changing, otherwise the shows get stale.  That's just my opinion.

I agree.  Show gets stale and as others have noted characters get pathetic.  Early seasons Sheldon was a hoot. He's the main reason I got hooked on the show but what was funny in a 20 something guy is just not funny at all in a guy knocking on 40s door.  If they're going to keep the show going and have any pretense that these people are "real" then they need to let them grow up and evolve.  The risk is it stops being funny of course.  But like others I am enjoying this season so they're doing something right!

[hnygrl]

Oh Raj...my all time favorite character on this show (I KNOW. But still...) is getting the shit edit.

He's smart, he's cute, he's shy, self-effacing, LOADED, exotically foreign, but he's the 5th wheel now.

The show has it's married and making a baby couple, it's married and making it work couple, it's making it work and WILL BE married by the show's finale couple...and Raj. Well hell. Kunal at this point, poor bastard, is collecting a paycheck and going home to his super-hot-wife.

I hate that.

This show has gone on long enough. 10 seasons is enough. Time to euthanise it. Enough. It's only funny sometimes and never never never ever ever ever smart anymore.

[BlossomCulp]

On 11/13/2016 at 10:24 PM, NYCFree said:

 

My husband and I laughed more at this episode than we have in a long time.

 I agree that Raj was overly persistent, but not OOC.  I thought his cleaning the whole floor was a sign of growth.  I also liked the way Isabella gave it back to him with a jab.

i thought Sheldon's sudden desire to have a baby that would be a genius and be "his" was very in character for him as well.  He loves his toys, and all things Sheldon.  He hasn't a practical bone in his body, so I can see Amy demanding a baby contract, as stated above.

 

Agreed on all points.  I just finished watching this episode and based on some of the comments was prepared to be underwhelmed but actually found it to be pretty good.  I like that they just had the two storylines going,  sometimes they try too hard to give all the characters their own story and it's just too much.  I'm expecting a little more Leonard and Penny next week to make up for no real story for them this week but I did like the way they were used this time around.

Edited November 15, 2016 by BlossomCulp

[Catlyn]

On 11/11/2016 at 4:31 AM, chocolatine said:

Surely all three of them must know that it's possible to have a child via artificial insemination or IVF (i.e., without sex)?

Penny told Sheldon if they tried this, she'd tell his mother on him.

[CherryAmes]

6 hours ago, MelinaBallerina said:

 

I don't know - maybe that's what Raj actually needs?  A mature woman who will call him out on his BS?  Even if she's a transitional girlfriend, that kind of relationship could be good for him.  Someone who really can tell him when he's being creepy and when not.

 

That's how I felt watching this episode.  I thought they were well matched and she didn't kowtow to him because he's a scientist and she's a cleaning lady.  He seems to genuinely like her and for a change it wasn't all about him.  I hope they keep them as a couple for awhile.