5.08: The Isolation Permutation - Nov 3rd

[phantagrae 13,664]

Resurrecting an old thread because I've just rewatched this ep.

I know everyone squeals over the snuggling, but, to me, the part that is even cuter and more telling about how Sheldon is starting to feel about Amy (and how they were paving the way for where they would be going in the second half of the season), is the bit immediately before that. How he is actually making an effort to figure out what upsets her and to make her feel better. It's hilariously sweet because he comes up with stuff that only he would come up with ("When they were over here, did you fail to offer them a beverage?") but you can tell he does that because he really wants to help and say something, he just doesn't grasp normal human behavior. When he asks her if it made her feel sad and she says yes and he gets all excited that he got it right, it makes my heart melt. Jim did such a wonderful job there. With anyone else Sheldon would have probably just brushed them off and told them to suck it up (like he was kind of doing with Leonard in the Hawking episode this season, where he couldn't care less about his problems).

So yeah, I think that's my favorite part of the episode.

I also love that scene--from the minute he stands in the door and decides to stay and talk to her.

When he and Leonard first arrive and he hears her playing the harp and singing sadly, he doesn't want to stay, but when Leonard tells him to stay, he is a little reluctant, yet goes through with it.

So when Amy opens the door, you can see the conflicting feelings pass over his face as he decides to ask her if she wants to talk about it.

I love what Jim does in that moment, the subtlety and nuance as Sheldon is deciding to be a real friend despite his own initial discomfort (and offering her the opportunity to decline )

In many ways it is similar to that moment in the vacation episode when he comes to the door to apologize. We're seeing Sheldon with his defenses down, without his usual veneer of superiority or carelessness.

Edited November 23, 2012 by phantagrae

[Pomita 942]

I completely agree. The entire scene leading up to the cuddle (and including it) is one of my all-time favorites - Sheldon getting all worried and upset about Amy and rushing off to make sure she's okay, then staying on with that very Sheldonesque mix of reluctance and concern, and trying so hard (in his usual clueless way) to understand her and say something that would make her feel better - and the negotiation was just priceless, no less than the cuddle itself.

The whole thing is such a masterpiece of acting by both of them, and especially Jim - when he holds her, very gingerly, and then slowly relaxes into it, it's hard to tell from his expression whether it's mysophobic hesitation he's feeling or a certain kind of chivalry. It feels like a mix of both. And that is the sentiment they were going for.

[rachelshamyfan 17,504]

i noticed how amy/mayim just as shes about to cuddle sheldon her arms are shaking a bit and she looks very nervous

[MizJill 0]

My comment relates to the following line of dialogue from Amy Farrah-Fowler:  "Come on, tumour. Come on, tumour, Mama needs an aggressive little glioblastoma. Yay, brain tumour! Probably not the same reaction you had when you got the news."

 

You are in the business of writing comedy.  I understand that.  However, please inform yourselves on the condition of 'GBM', (Glioblastoma Multiforme), which is the most aggressive and deadly form of brain cancer.  It is, quite simply, a death sentence to all who are afflicted.  It does not discriminate as to gender, age, or race.

 

Maybe you could have selected a less vulnerable population or milder, more curable form of tumour to make fun of.  Believe me, if you had a family member suffering from this disease, you would not have found that line humorous at all.

[rachelshamyfan 17,504]

This is one of my favorite s5 episodes in many ways

Sheldon goes out of his comfort zone to comfort Amy, the negotiations over the hug are brilliant and his "I am a man of science not someones snugglebunny" line is brilliant

And the whole bobcat conversation with Leonard has me cracking up

[Hillo 56]

This is one of my favorite s5 episodes in many ways

Sheldon goes out of his comfort zone to comfort Amy, the negotiations over the hug are brilliant and his "I am a man of science not someones snugglebunny" line is brilliant

And the whole bobcat conversation with Leonard has me cracking up

 

I actually think that there's TBBT before this episode and TBBT after it.

 

It's in this ep that we see:

 

- That Leonard has broken it off with Priya but that he's not moping or depressed, even though he would have been at least as justified in being so as with his split with Penny.  Priya, after all, seemed to respect his intellect, appreciate his appearance (enough to try dressing him up and getting him to show off his pretty eyes), and his skill and creativity as a lover much more than we ever saw with Penny.  Yet, when Priya cheats on him, he seems to come through it with more, rather than less, self-esteem, which comes through later in the season. (Though I don't think the writers did nearly enough with it!)

 

- That Bernie (especially) and Penny don't just tolerate Amy, but really feel connected with her; enough so that they try not once but twice to patch things up, in spite of Amy's passive-aggressive whining.

 

- That at this point, Sheldon actually shows more of a connection with Amy than she does with him.  It's Sheldon who freaks when she goes silent for what looks like a single evening.  It's Sheldon who seeks her out and consents to her, rather callus, negotiating tactics, even though it's not at all clear how she would back up her ultimatum.  I think of it this way:  What would have happened if Sheldon had refused to play along?  He would have been forced to abandon her in her misery in spite of him knowing he could have helped her.  But the only way this could have affected Sheldon would have been if he actually cared about his connection to her, if he cared about her well-being, and if he accepted some responsibility for it.  Up to this point, I don't think we've ever seen anything like this from Sheldon.

 

-  That Amy is, initially, so focused on self-pity that she's actually annoyed to see Sheldon at her door.  It's not until she sees that he's committed to helping her that she, apparently, sees him as a partner and furthermore as someone who has something to lose if her needs aren't met.  I see this as an extension of, "The Zazzy Substitution", in S4, when we, and Amy, saw Sheldon fall apart without her.  Now we see her exploiting Sheldon's dependence upon her, while at the same time, and really, I think, for the first time, reaching out to him, and perhaps beginning to re-focus her desires and hopes for emotional growth on a more suitable target than Penny.

 

I really see this ep as the one in which all these things are brought to the surface, in spite of the feeble attempt in the tag to do a reset by having Amy revert to being an obnoxious, arrogant pest.  (Sorry, writers; I didn't buy it!)

[Stephen Hawking 6,725]

For someone who, just 13 episodes ago, considered putting coffee liqueur on her ice cream to be "the alcohol and drug peer pressure mother warned me about", Amy has suddenly become quite adventurous, to suggest they all take peyote.

[Stephen Hawking 6,725]

I'm amazed that two highly intelligent people, could overlook the fact that "At this moment, I find myself craving human intimacy and physical contact" isn't a question.

[Stephen Hawking 6,725]

I'm surprised at Sheldon Cooper not knowing, that Alexander Graham Bell didn't invented the telephone.

Like Edison with the light bulb (which Sheldon knew about), Bell stole the idea.

[mjc45 1,393]

nice to see amy be maid of honor,

sheldon it is not any ones snuggle bunny.

[Stephen Hawking 6,725]

51 minutes ago, mjc45 said:

Nice to see Amy be maid of honor,

At least this time, the Bride and her family lived to see the wedding day.