S12.E19: The Inspiration Deprivation

[ProfCrash]

1 minute ago, Dani said:

We’ve never seen him advancing because he started the show already at the top of his field. He’s a NASA engineer and in the real world his salary would be low six figures. 

Bernadette’s actions make sense for the characters but I still hate that this is the direction the show decided to take for them. The Henpecked Husband trope is one of the least creative choices they could have made. 

Is Howard NASA engineer? I thought he was employeed by the University and he ended up working for NASA because he was needed for a specific project? Honestly, I never really had a clue as to who and where Howard worked. I do know that he has had some pretty huge screw ups which is why his whole space story line made no sense to me. 

I would rather the show allow Hoawrd to grow up and Bernadette to chill out some but they have not done that. 

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

Is Howard NASA engineer? I thought he was employeed by the University and he ended up working for NASA because he was needed for a specific project? Honestly, I never really had a clue as to who and where Howard worked. I do know that he has had some pretty huge screw ups which is why his whole space story line made no sense to me. 

I would rather the show allow Hoawrd to grow up and Bernadette to chill out some but they have not done that. 

They were vague about Howard’s employment until the guidance system storyline. When the guys were trying to get the patent Howard couldn’t be on it because he is a federal employee on loan from NASA. It is a bit of a retcon but it’s the most recent explanation. 

Edited April 23, 2019 by Guest

[Jessa]

On 4/19/2019 at 10:29 AM, Bronzedog said:

This show is going out like The Middle did.  Badly.  Weeks and weeks of repeats and then an occasional lousy new episode.  By the time it ends, no one is going to care.

Yes, we’re slowly limping toward the finish line. The nobel prize is exactly like Sue and Sean. We all know it’s going to happen and it will be anticlimactic when it does. 

What a snoozer of an episode.

[proserpina65]

23 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

I don't like the way that Bernadette treats Howard most of the time but there is no way in hell Howard should be buying a scooter without consulting Bernadette. Ignoring the safety issues, a scooter costs a good amount of money. Each family can figure out how they run their accounts, but Bernadette and Howard seem to have a joint account which means that larger purchases need to be coordinated.

I said he shouldn't have bought the scooter without discussing it first, but it was a used scooter, so not necessarily that expensive.  But even if it had been, the way Bernadette treated him afterwards was absolutely uncalled for, and it's no wonder he went behind her back.

I get that their dynamic mirrors his relationship with his mother a lot, but I don't find it enjoyable to watch.

[Wanda]

I always eagerly plan to buy the DVDs as soon as they are available. Season 12?   Nah. The perfect ending for this show was the wedding episode. Everyone would have been happy and the show would have left us wanting more. Now it’s a tortuous matter of watching because of all the years put into this show already. But it’s not a season I will rewatch like I do others, 2,6,8,9,10 are my favorites

[ProfCrash]

23 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

I said he shouldn't have bought the scooter without discussing it first, but it was a used scooter, so not necessarily that expensive.  But even if it had been, the way Bernadette treated him afterwards was absolutely uncalled for, and it's no wonder he went behind her back.

I get that their dynamic mirrors his relationship with his mother a lot, but I don't find it enjoyable to watch.

I don't like their dynamic either and wish that it would evolve. But they seem stuck in a rut, Howard acting like a teenager sneaking behind Mom's back and Bernadette over reacting to Howard's whatever.

[ForReal]

On 4/23/2019 at 12:30 PM, Dani said:

Bernadette’s actions make sense for the characters but I still hate that this is the direction the show decided to take for them. The Henpecked Husband trope is one of the least creative choices they could have made. 

I especially disliked that Howard actually called her out on being controlling and emasculating, and nothing changed. I was hoping for a moment where Bernadette would realize that she was crossing the line, that she was being as inappropriate in her way as Howard was/is in his. Could have been a moment for growth, but instead, it was the same old, same old.

[Homily]

2 minutes ago, ForReal said:

Could have been a moment for growth, but instead, it was the same old, same old.

Bernadette can be funny and caring but for some reason Lorre just has to have her also be overbearing and 'mean'.  She's so much like Judith from Two and a Half Men that I have to believe that Lorre knew a woman like that and can't resist skewering her symbolically in his shows.

[Snow Apple]

The worst thing is the times Howard calls her out, she acknowledges he's right but she doesn't care. She even seems proud of being a shrew.

[Friendly kitty]

How cute Sheldon cared for Amy. In your style!
So she is upset, because I calmed down and she can’t comfort me ...
So cute!😍
And the final song about the cat. Love her. And finally, Sheldon sings it himself to calm someone down ... Perfectly closed the circle!
Oh yeah, I was also pleased that another hero was given happiness. Now the old man has found his love. Thank you, Howard!

[axlmadonna]

Here's how I would have done it:

In the final (or penultimate) episode, it starts with Shamy losing the Nobel. Not losing to the other team, but losing to a different nominee. In a following scene, Leonard and Penny agree once and for all that they will never, ever have children. Next scene, Leonard and Sheldon have a conversation wherein they both actually listen to each other and give each other good advice. Leonard mourns the loss of having children of his own, and Sheldon mourns the loss of his lifelong dream of winning a Nobel. But they each console the other by pointing out that they have both gained something that they never expected... a life with women who truly love them. It helps them both come to terms with their life choices. Final scene... Sheldon comes home to find Amy distraught over the Nobel loss and afraid of how Sheldon is going to react to it. She's crying, and Sheldon goes to her. It is perfectly quiet around them. He holds her in his arms, strokes her hair, and sings Soft Kitty to her as the scene goes dark, finally realizing that he has everything he could ever need right there, thus completing the maturity of a character that no one ever expected to see mature, and beautifully closing out the story of one of tv's most interesting and beloved couples. The End.

Yeah, it's poignant rather than comedic, but when I saw him hold her and sing Soft Kitty in this episode, I was thinking that it would have been a great way to end the series. (If this needs to go in a different thread, please let me know and I'll move it.)