Sheldons Germ Phobia Is Starting To Fade

[rachelshamyfan]

So far this season we have seen him hold hands with amy with only a little complaint, shake leonards fist and high five him with no hesitation and he shook Levar Burtons hand without thinking about it

Also taking care of amy when she was sick and being comfortable enough to not use gloves with the vapo rub. It shows a lot of growth within the character and he's also happy to make compromises with amy.

Edited December 31, 2012 by rachygd

[pagrammie]

There are several "changes" I have noticed with Sheldon's character and I'm not sure I like the "growth within the character"'  What was wrong with the Sheldon we all fell in love with??

[Moonbase]

There are several "changes" I have noticed with Sheldon's character and I'm not sure I like the "growth within the character"'  What was wrong with the Sheldon we all fell in love with??

Not a thing, he was perfect! It would have been a stroke of genius if Sheldon had looked after Amy with a hazmat suit on. Or at least a mask and gloves. It would have made this rather so-so episode much stronger. They can make him love her, if they must... but making him more and more normal will kill this show eventually. 

[viddy9]

I too abhor the changes in Sheldon's character. He was the reason many people watched the show in the first place. Now they're changing many aspects of him, including his neurosis, hairstyle and his lines. His lines are now much shorter and often contain cliches in them. It all started at Season 5, and I must say it is getting increasingly irritable. Even his voice seems to be getting higher! I'm all for Shamy, as long as it's a relationship of pure intellect, as some of the scenes with Sheldon and Amy in Season 4 were great. Not so much in 5 or 6, however.

Edited January 2, 2013 by viddy9

[4ofN]

Here we go again....

 

Forum user: The show seems to have changed somewhat in one way or another.

 

1000 other forum users: WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

1000 other forum users: THE SHOW HASN'T CHANGED AT ALL SINCE IT STARTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1000 other forum users: EVERYTHING IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN.

1000 other forum users: REMEMBER IN EPISODE 1, WHEN CHARACTER X DID BLAH BLAH BLAH.

 

 

On the other hand, I heartily agree that there have been a lot of changes (or growth for those who like the changes) to all of the characters including Sheldon. While this seems to be in line with the desires of some fans, I think that it diminishes the uniqueness of the characters.

 

As for Sheldon and germs, I think the worst was his putting the train engine (that could never have been cleaned) in his mouth. Completely out of character.

[Pomita]

Why can't a train engine be cleaned? Just curious.

[4ofN]

Why can't a train engine be cleaned? Just curious.

 

N gage model train engines are small, made of plastic and various metals with lots of tiny moving parts and various lubricants. You could not put one in an autoclave as this would probably melt the plastic and the steam would ruin the electrical parts. You could not put it in any cleaning solution as this would ruin the electrical parts. If you cleaned the outside with something, it would not clean the inside or any of the external moving parts (wheels, springs, etc.). Model engines are not "sealed" in any way and there are multiple openings that could allow saliva to come into contact with the inside of the engine if inserted in one's mouth.

 

They are typically assembled in China or some other manufacturing location where the conditions are not similar to a "clean room" as is done when manufacturing things like integrated circuits.

 

When used (played with) the engine traverses a track that is in the open air and would accumulate particles of dust (read dead skin cells) on the wheels.

 

All in all, a small model train engine would not be clean enough for a germaphobe to put into their mouth.

 

This ignores the other problem that a scientist would not put a small electrical device into a wet environment anyway. The saliva in one's mouth could potentially get into the inside of the engine and could foul the electronics as well.

[phantagrae]

Oh, brother.

If he wanted to put the train in his mouth he would do it, no matter what.

Regardless of any kind of germaphobia, he doesn't obsess about e dry little thing. He eats with the wooden chopsticks that come with their takeout food, he touches doorknobs and other things without fear.

His germ issues are usually more connected to people--illnesses, saliva, etc.

While it's true that tending to Amy without any germ protection seems to be unusual for him, I do think that can be seen as an exception for Amy's sake.

While it might have been funnier to see him wearing a hazmat suit or a facemask and gloves, I think they were trying to stress the point that he was willing to take care of her because he cared about her, which was the main point of their interaction, not the issue of germs.

[vasu]

Well , in the episode prior to the one where he put a train in his mouth, we had an entire plot where Sheldon was not able to sit in Penny's Chair and we also had few jokes about Sheldon not wanting to sit in some part of the hospital in the howard's mom is taken to hospital episode

 

So him putting a train in his mouth was a pretty dumb move by the writers 

[phantagrae]

Well , in the episode prior to the one where he put a train in his mouth, we had an entire plot where Sheldon was not able to sit in Penny's Chair and we also had few jokes about Sheldon not wanting to sit in some part of the hospital in the howard's mom is taken to hospital episode

 

So him putting a train in his mouth was a pretty dumb move by the writers 

In the chair episode, he had no idea where the chair had been. It had been thrown out onto the street where any kind of bug or creature could contaminate it (and obviously had).

In the hospital episode, he was in a building that he knew to be full of sick people with all manner of illnesses and drug-resistant bacteria, etc.

The train he bought was something brand new, not something retrieved from the trash. While he can't know whether or not it was "clean", apparently he had had it in his own hands for some time.

Whether or not he chose to put it in his mouth would be up to his standards. If it was clean enough for him to be handling it and playing with it, then apparently he felt it was clean enough to put in his mouth. If he thought it was full of germs, then he wouldn't be touching it at all.

He's obviously never been that phobic because he touches all manner of things all the time without worrying about germs.

[Shamyfan]

The biggest things I've noticed is when Sheldon eat the cookie from Leonard's hand and when Sheldon takes care of Amy.

Idk if its growth or the writers slacking or think we won't notice

Edited January 3, 2013 by Shamyfan

[vasu]

In the chair episode, he had no idea where the chair had been. It had been thrown out onto the street where any kind of bug or creature could contaminate it (and obviously had).

In the hospital episode, he was in a building that he knew to be full of sick people with all manner of illnesses and drug-resistant bacteria, etc.

The train he bought was something brand new, not something retrieved from the trash. While he can't know whether or not it was "clean", apparently he had had it in his own hands for some time.

Whether or not he chose to put it in his mouth would be up to his standards. If it was clean enough for him to be handling it and playing with it, then apparently he felt it was clean enough to put in his mouth. If he thought it was full of germs, then he wouldn't be touching it at all.

He's obviously never been that phobic because he touches all manner of things all the time without worrying about germs.

 

See the thing is when a show establishes a character as germ phobic no matter how many explanations you give for him putting the train in his mouth it will always stand-out as a negative. And if I remember correctly he sprayed his own shoes in the bowling episode..so there is no way it would be believable that he would put a train in his mouth

Edited January 3, 2013 by vasu

[4ofN]

Well, how about this then?

 

Regardless of Sheldons' germophobia, putting a train engine in ones mouth is just plain stupid.

[Guest I'm not dead Cheryl]

Well, how about this then?

 

Regardless of Sheldons' germophobia, putting a train engine in ones mouth is just plain stupid.

People do stupid stuff, even mysophobic scientist characters.

 

But I dunno. Maybe I am the only one that things that The Engagement Reaction was the OOC episode, not the rest, since he had been in hospital many times before with no problem, and suddenly, he was in panic there? THAT was OOC.

Edited January 3, 2013 by Sursonica

[Moonbase]

Putting the train in his mouth was awful. It did not fit the character and shouldn't inspire such defending. Weak episode overall IMO. I don't mind a bit of shipping occasionally. I do it myself from time to time but with some of you lot, its ALL about the ship. Protect the ship, defend the ship!  All ship, no action.

[Guest I'm not dead Cheryl]

Putting the train in his mouth was awful. It did not fit the character and shouldn't inspire such defending. Weak episode overall IMO. I don't mind a bit of shipping occasionally. I do it myself from time to time but with some of you lot, its ALL about the ship. Protect the ship, defend the ship!  All ship, no action.

 

I don't know if you are talking about me, but I'm not talking about any ship here. I loved Pulled Groin but merely for the Leonard/Amy storyline. Sheldon's wasn't even a storyline, since the B storyline was Howard/Bernadette.

 

Sheldon playing with his trains was the writers giving him something to do until the last scene with Leonard, that was the only scene that mattered about his character on the episode, the trains stuff was a filler, nothing else. And it has nothing to do with any ship, it has to do with the storyline and it has to do with taking something small and stupid, like him putting a train on his mouth and blowing it out of proportion, forgetting that there are going to be inconsistencies, and there have always been inconsistencies. And that characters sometimes do stupid stuff-.

 

The Engagement Reaction was a terrible one at that, it was the major inconsistency to me, yet everyone is focused on a 2 second action? Ok, fair. I guess a whole OOC episode is less of an inconsitency than a 2 second action of Sheldon showing Leonard that the train was so small it could fit in his mouth. It was a throwaway line, nothing else.

Edited January 3, 2013 by Sursonica

[Moonbase]

I'm not talking about one person in particular. Sheldons OCD behaviour at the hospital was a bit exaggerated in that episode but it was more on character then a sudden removal altogether. So many people hated that 'train in mouth' scene yet it gets defended for no apparent reason I can see. 

[Guest I'm not dead Cheryl]

I'm not talking about one person in particular. Sheldons OCD behaviour at the hospital was a bit exaggerated in that episode but it was more on character then a sudden removal altogether. So many people hated that 'train in mouth' scene yet it gets defended for no apparent reason I can see. 

 

My opinion is that it was so short and stupid and is not worth either the hate nor the defending. It was a throwaway 2-second action that had no influence in anything. It's worthless. That's why I said that sometimes characters do stupid things for no reason, specially in an episode where Sheldon was just playing with trains in the background because he had nothing to do until the last scene.

Edited January 3, 2013 by Sursonica

[bostrich]

I think this episode was where the Lego Death Star was supposed to feature. Chuck said in an interview that it was meant to be in an earlier one than the isolation permutation but took so long to put together they had to cut it. Instead, we got a lot of silly jokes about trains probably written on the fly. It's just a guess, but seems reasonable to me.

ITA with Sursonica, it's short and stupid and not worth either hate or a defense.

Edited January 3, 2013 by bostrich

[phantagrae]

Well, how about this then?

 

Regardless of Sheldons' germophobia, putting a train engine in ones mouth is just plain stupid.

Why is it stupid?

He was fixating on the idea of small trains and by putting it in his mouth he was demonstrating how small it was.

In that whole episode he was just playing with trains, not contemplating their place in the grand scheme of the universe or anything.

I've heard people gripe about Sheldon in this episode, but as others have said, his role here wasn't that important until the end where he seems to be concerned that Leonard has done something with Amy and Sheldon pretty much stakes a claim on Amy.

People have said that Sheldon was acting like a child with his trains, but IMO, it's no different than any of his other game playing. In some ways he is still child-like, so I don't know why anyone would think his playing with trains, including putting a train in his mouth, would be unusual for him.

[phantagrae]

Putting the train in his mouth was awful. It did not fit the character and shouldn't inspire such defending. Weak episode overall IMO.

I don't mind a bit of shipping occasionally. I do it myself from time to time but with some of you lot, its ALL about the ship. Protect the ship, defend the ship! 

All ship, no action.

What did the train stuff have to do with any shipping?

The only aspect regarding any shipping was the very end when he karate-chops Leonard "to send a message". Sheldon's "message" that Amy is "not for you" is blatantly, purposefully about the Shamy, put there specifically by the writers, without any need for wanking by the fans.

Sheldon could have been doing anything while Leonard and Amy were out and it would have had nothing to do with shipping. But we know he loves trains and can play like a child, so how is it awful?

[4ofN]

Why is it stupid?

 

 

Why is putting a model train engine in ones mouth stupid?

 

Really?

 

Why is putting a model train engine in ones mouth stupid?

 

Sorry, I just had to write that down again.

 

Thats it. I'm out of here. I haven't been to this forum for a while and thought I'd poke my head in for a bit, but I just can't see the point of trying to justify my position on this one.

 

TTFN folks.

[Pomita]

Oh, I'm not even bothered to defend Sheldon's train/mouth paradigm. I just asked the question for the pleasure of this answer.

 

N gage model train engines are small, made of plastic and various metals with lots of tiny moving parts and various lubricants. You could not put one in an autoclave as this would probably melt the plastic and the steam would ruin the electrical parts. You could not put it in any cleaning solution as this would ruin the electrical parts. If you cleaned the outside with something, it would not clean the inside or any of the external moving parts (wheels, springs, etc.). Model engines are not "sealed" in any way and there are multiple openings that could allow saliva to come into contact with the inside of the engine if inserted in one's mouth.

 

They are typically assembled in China or some other manufacturing location where the conditions are not similar to a "clean room" as is done when manufacturing things like integrated circuits.

 

When used (played with) the engine traverses a track that is in the open air and would accumulate particles of dust (read dead skin cells) on the wheels.

 

All in all, a small model train engine would not be clean enough for a germaphobe to put into their mouth.

 

This ignores the other problem that a scientist would not put a small electrical device into a wet environment anyway. The saliva in one's mouth could potentially get into the inside of the engine and could..

 

You can't tell me this isn't seriously entertaining. I even had to 'like' it.

 

My honest view? If this complaint isn't the definition of nitpicking, I don't know what is. Sheldon and everyone else on this show (or any show for that matter) have done things far weirder, OOC etc than those 2 seconds.

 

For the record, I too loved Pulled Groin Extrapolation for the Leonard/Amy storyline. The dynamics was unexpectedly refreshing and funny.

[Superlovelexi]

I for one am glad.  I think they should do an episode where Sheldon has to mudwrestle someone, that would be so hilarious.

[Ar Diem]

How about this... since we know he likes to communicate with Leonard's mother why just assume that she is helping him with his phobias?