Episodes 7.08 "the Itchy Brain Simulation" (November 14)

[Guest]

Didn't enjoy this episode so much. After all what Leonard said about Sheldon in last weeks episode, this is just stupid. That's another proof of Sheldon's insanity and another good reason for Leonard to move out. Where is the bromance?! Yeah I know, a sitcom has to be funny... but it WASN'T at all, just a lack of humor.

The only thing that made me laugh was Raj's reaction on the text message from Lucy. By the way, the whole Raj/Lucy plot seemed so forced and weird in this episode, just horrible. I truly start thinking, that this is a bad try from the writers to prove Raj/Penny friendship. And AGAIN, they are making Penny dumber than she really is. What the hell?

 

Definetly the worst episode of S7 so far >IMO<.

Edited November 15, 2013 by FileXxX

[clarisse451]

I enjoyed most of this episode.  I am so very tired of the Penny as dumb and incapable of even doing her job.  But I am sure it will continue.

 

The plot with Leonard and Sheldon was funny, especially since Leonard did it to himself through sheer stubbornness.  As all of his friends pointed out he had plenty of opportunities to take off the sweater-Penny's line about getting his degree back was funny.  Then when he finally thought he had closure there is Howard egging the whole thing on.  Johnny did a really good job and it was nice seeing him be more the comedic focus rather than more of the straight man role he more usually plays.

[Carlos]

Sheldon has been taken down in many, many past episodes. I don't want to start a debate but I liked the episode tonight and found Sheldon to be in character as usual and it didn't bother me.

 

If Sheldon, according to you was in character, then he is a revengeful cruel prick, whcih I don't think he usually is. he wants to get his way, but usually is not as mean as this episode tried to make him look. I didn't like the episode overall. No real point to it. the Lucy parts were OK, but not too much of a point to them, except for a half-assed attempt at closure.

[Martin Pollard]

If Sheldon, according to you was in character, then he is a revengeful cruel prick, whcih I don't think he usually is. he wants to get his way, but usually is not as mean as this episode tried to make him look. I didn't like the episode overall. No real point to it. the Lucy parts were OK, but not too much of a point to them, except for a half-assed attempt at closure.

 

I agree that it's not going to be on anyone's list of "best episodes," but as others have stated, it's still leagues ahead of what many consider to be the worst episode, "The Speckerman Recurrence" (which is, to date, the only episode in the entire run of TBBT that I have refused to re-watch; that's how bad I think it is).

[Guest I'm not dead Cheryl]

Sheldon being so mean and cold is not IC (to me). But as I've noticed, what is "in character or out of character" varies from person to person and their pre-concepts of what the character should do according to their wishes/likes/dislike/(and I would dare say shipper agenda).

I have been reading comments all over the fandom this morning (slow day at work )

People who don't like Leonard at all (read as: despise him) and LOVE Sheldon took this episode as "back to vintage Sheldon, he was awesome and good to see him win" - when, objectively he was never a torturer, but in their minds, anything that makes Leonard suffer is always awesome awesome.

People who LOVE Leonard and have a dislike for Sheldon (I wouldn't go as far as despise for Sheldon with them, but they don't particularly like him either) took this episode as "Sheldon is a villain, a bully and had no right to do that. It was cruel. It was torture. Leonard would be totally justified if he killed him in his sleep". - I agree that Sheldon was kind of a bully, but Leonard also took part on it by refusing to take out the sweater out of "principles" even when Sheldon wasn't around.


People who don't particularly care or has any strong feelings for either Sheldon/Leonard: "It was funny at first but it went too far" . I subscribe to this view.



Please note that my observations were taken from too small of a sample to constitute a serious study but that I consider enough as an overview of what people are saying around the fandom. Feel free to disagree/conduct your own research.

[BazingaFan]

In response to above, I saw this episode to be like the episode from season 3 where Sheldon tried to get even with kripke. Now I agree last night the rash was over the top and hard to watch. But from a writer perspective, they were trying to get Leonard to a point at the end of the episode where he went bat crap crazy like Sheldon, which he did, which was the whole point of the experiment. Now Leonard could have easily stopped it but he kept it going because he was starting to act like Sheldon and become obsessed ... so I think the writers were going for a role reversal kind of thing.

Perhaps if the rash hadnt been so hard to see and sheldon had seemed less aware of what he was doing, it would have been received better. But it is true that the guys laugh and make fun of sheldon all the time when he is down ( remember the maid uniform ) but I suppose that is okay because of the way Sheldon is. Just some thoughts. I agree it could have been handled better especially after the bromance comment from Leonard last week.

[Oldnavy]

I did not find Sheldon to funny at all last night.  I thought he was cruel and vindictive, a real jerk. 

 

As for the Raj/Lucy story, I am glad that they finally ended it.  I liked the idea of Penny confronting Lucy but I thought it was not done that well.  I would have liked to have seen it in a different setting maybe.  I do agree with some of the others here that Raj's desperate attitude and actions is getting old. 

[bigbangsheldon]

I always thought it was a tie between "The Loobenfeld Decay" and "The Speckerman Recurrence" for the worst episode.

Bus Pants disagrees.

[Etienne]

I'm going to have to add my vote as being unsettled with this episode.  It's hard to find the "Whimsical Elf" here.  Sheldon voices his desire that Leonard (and others) should understand or emphasize with how he feels when there is an unresolved issue.  Then idea of the "hair shirt" is then taken to the point of physical distress of his best friend.    Additionally in the scene in Sheldon office, after Howard has previously expressed his feeling on having his career and accomplishments belittled, Shelton again treats his engineering degree and the functional equivalent somebody from building maintenance.  I realize that this is "Sheldon being Sheldon", but it's not a likeable image at the moment.  The expression they had Amy show after Sheldon revealed that this teachable moment was 7 years in the making certainly appeared to me to be one of unbelief at Sheldon's and her comment of "That's diabolical", while true, didn't seem to be said in admiration this time. 

[SRAM]

Sheldon being so mean and cold is not IC (to me). But as I've noticed, what is "in character or out of character" varies from person to person and their pre-concepts of what the character should do according to their wishes/likes/dislike/(and I would dare say shipper agenda).

I have been reading comments all over the fandom this morning (slow day at work )

People who don't like Leonard at all (read as: despise him) and LOVE Sheldon took this episode as "back to vintage Sheldon, he was awesome and good to see him win" - when, objectively he was never a torturer, but in their minds, anything that makes Leonard suffer is always awesome awesome.

People who LOVE Leonard and have a dislike for Sheldon (I wouldn't go as far as despise for Sheldon with them, but they don't particularly like him either) took this episode as "Sheldon is a villain, a bully and had no right to do that. It was cruel. It was torture. Leonard would be totally justified if he killed him in his sleep". - I agree that Sheldon was kind of a bully, but Leonard also took part on it by refusing to take out the sweater out of "principles" even when Sheldon wasn't around.

People who don't particularly care or has any strong feelings for either Sheldon/Leonard: "It was funny at first but it went too far" . I subscribe to this view.

Please note that my observations were taken from too small of a sample to constitute a serious study but that I consider enough as an overview of what people are saying around the fandom. Feel free to disagree/conduct your own research.

Good insight and I think Penny's trying to reason with Leonard, and Amy's expression at the end, shows that the girls knew it went too far.

I think Sheldon was cruel, because the guys usually understand when their pranks go too far and stop, however even to the end, even after seeing Leonard's rash, Sheldon wanted him to search more, he really didn't care if Leonard suffered, there was no remorse. He was more concerned that he had to wait over 7 years for his revenge. Was it OOC, maybe. Was Sheldon being cruel, I would say definitely yes.

[phantagrae]

I enjoyed the episode, even on a second watching.

 

I still don't get the "this episode is filler" idea.  Since there isn't any real mytharc to the show, and there's no requirement that any given episode be a point along a predetermined plot arc, how can anything be filler?

There was no movement on any of the ship fronts--is that what people mean?  Or that the show didn't hark back to some previous story idea?  I don't get it.

 

I think that this seasons we're getting more day-in-the-life kinds of episodes, like Scavenger Hunt, or Raiders, where we just see the gang interacting over stuff that comes up--a movie,an activity, and in this case, an old DVD.

 

I don't think that Sheldon was being cruel.  Leonard brought up Sheldon freaking out over stuff all the time, so Sheldon turned the tables on him.  And Leonard became his own "itchy brain" by not letting it go.  He could have just quit at any moment, but he had to "beat" Sheldon.  It's not Sheldon's fault if Leonard took the bait and wouldn't let it go.

 

I do like that they kind of did a role-reversal, with Sheldon being the calm one and Leonard spiralling downward over his obsession to figure out a way to settle the matter.  Doesn't he know that if you don't return a DVD you eventually get charged the price of buying it?

 

And while the Raj/Lucy plot was kind of thin, I'm glad they kind of got some closure on that.  I don't know if they'll ever try to bring her back in the future--I REALLY want Raj to find someone more interesting at some point--but I think it will be better for him in the long run now that he knows she has moved on.  Maybe he helped her, if she's able to be seeing someone else, and knowing that they won't be getting back together can help him to stop obsessing over her.

And of course, the failed date with Lizzy is typical Raj, so he still has a long way to go and they can still play with that storyline in the future.

 

I had also wondered, even back when I read the taping report and saw the promos for this one, why it was scheduled for Sweeps, since Kate Micucci isn't a big name guest star and there was no big development in the episode, etc.  But I wonder if the timing of the episode--when they could fit it into their rehearsal/taping schedule--might have had to do with when they could get Kate Micucci, since she has other projects or whatever.

If they wanted to do a Raj-gets-past-Lucy story (and maybe they thought it was an equal kind of relationship story to the other couples?), maybe this was the earliest or easiest time they could get Kate worked in there, or maybe they didn't have another BIG story for sweeps that they could do, given that they wanted to do a Thanksgiving episode for the 21st.

 

I think it may have had more to do with scheduling than with story-worthiness.

 

I still really enjoyed the episode, though.

[bigbangsheldon]

My opinion is that it was pretty lame, nothing exciting but nothing truly traumatic.

[phantagrae]

Here are a couple of reviews--they both are pretty favorable.  Thanks to "SargeantFuzzyBoots" on the other forum!

 

http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-itchy-brain-simulation,105607/

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-rabinowitz/big-bang-theory-recap-wha_b_4278393.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

[Kasey]

Last episode Leonard told Arthur that Sheldon didn't mean to be aggravating, that it was just the way he is.  This episode made me feel that quite possibly Sheldon knows more about what he's doing than others might think. 

 

Sorry I don't buy this Sheldon trying to get Leonard to walk a mile In his shoes as productive.

 

And Howard is getting to be quite an instigator.  Since when does he not like Leonard?  The jokes about Princeton and now egging Sheldon on?  Kinda weird...

[ArmyGirl]

Last episode Leonard told Arthur that Sheldon didn't mean to be aggravating, that it was just the way he is.  This episode made me feel that quite possibly Sheldon knows more about what he's doing than others might think. 

 

Sorry I don't buy this Sheldon trying to get Leonard to walk a mile In his shoes as productive.

 

And Howard is getting to be quite an instigator.  Since when does he not like Leonard?  The jokes about Princeton and now egging Sheldon on?  Kinda weird...

 

As I have stated more than once the so called Leonard/Sheldon friendship is one-sided and it's makes Leonard look like a fool for putting up with a bully aka Sheldon.  I know the writers want us to believe that Sheldon is this great friend to Leonard but where is the evidence?  Also why has never been an episode of Sheldon talking about how good of a friend Leonard is to him? So many loved Leonard carrying on about his friendship with Sheldon but I didn't buy into it because Leonard never get the same praise from Sheldon and that makes me feel Sheldon doesn't feel the same.

 

As for Howard he has been an instigator for a while and it's not funny or cute. I guess Howard feels he has to do to Leonard what Sheldon does to him and yes it is getting old.

[phantagrae]

Last episode Leonard told Arthur that Sheldon didn't mean to be aggravating, that it was just the way he is.  This episode made me feel that quite possibly Sheldon knows more about what he's doing than others might think. 

 

Sorry I don't buy this Sheldon trying to get Leonard to walk a mile In his shoes as productive.

 

And Howard is getting to be quite an instigator.  Since when does he not like Leonard?  The jokes about Princeton and now egging Sheldon on?  Kinda weird...

 

I don't think that poking fun at Leonard means that he doesn't like him.  They all tease and say such things to each other all the time, depending on who's doing the dumb/silly/foolish thing.

 

I think that Sheldon's response to Leonard about the DVD was a combination of Leonard's initial "promise me you won't freak out like you always do" statement and Sheldon knowing all along that Leonard had lied and hidden the DVD all this time.  I don't think that Sheldon had planned the exact way he would use the "teachable moment" of the hidden DVD, but Leonard assuming he would freak out and go nuts over it--and Leonard hauling out the old itchy sweater gave him his opportunity.

Sheldon was, I think, teaching Leonard something about why he "freaks out" and perhaps why he feels Leonard shouldn't make light of it or act like Sheldon does it for no reason.

By giving Leonard the equivalent "itch" to get an issue resolved, Sheldon is showing him that it bothers him in a way that he can't help.  Even as he was trying to explain how such things make him feel--like he has an itch in his brain that he can't scratch, Leonard was poking fun at him with the coat hanger thing.

 

While Leonard may not have taken to heart what Sheldon was showing him--how hard it is for him to deal with unresolved issues--I think that Leonard did create his own obsession with trying to resolve the issue and did it all to himself.

When Howard and Sheldon pointed out finding the next of kin, Leonard didn't have to take that bait.  He again did it to himself.  At any point he could have simply said, "I've looked into it as far as I can, this is the end," which is what he ultimately did.  Once he said he'd gone as far as he could go, Sheldon gave his explanation.  He could have done that at any point if Leonard had just stopped.

 

I think that Sheldon is aware of his quirks, is aware of how hard these things make it for him to function normally, whether it's obsessing over unresolved issues, dealing with social interactions, etc.  And he's also aware that other people tease him about how he is, that others find him annoying, etc.

And sometimes his friends aren't as understanding as they think they are because they don't really know what it's like for him.

[ArmyGirl]

Sheldon is an a$$ and nothing will change that!

[Lindy]

I think the show was okay but it wasnt the best show of the season thats for sure. 

[Chiany]

Sheldon is an a$$ and nothing will change that!

That's an opinion, not a fact.

[phantagrae]

Sheldon is an a$$ and nothing will change that!

 

That's a subjective assessment and not a fact.

[Chrismo]

That's a subjective assessment and not a fact.

Everythings subjective on here.

[Julie]

This episode was good - pretty unmemorable. I like the way the relationship is progressing for Bernadette and Amy.  Bernadette is my favorite - love her sarcasm.

 

Favorite season 7 episode is still The Scavenger Vortex.  

[Maddie]

I don't understand how Sheldon is getting so much hate for the sweater thing when all he did was suggest Leonard wear it as a way of "knowing what it feels like" to not have closure and having an itch you can't scratch. Sheldon didn't make him wear it. The only reason Leonard went along with it was because he wanted to prove a point to Sheldon and best him. That's his problem, not Sheldon's.

[phantagrae]

Everythings subjective on here.

 

Of course it is, but ArmyGirl's post was stated as if it was some kind of objective fact, which it is not.

 

I'm sure she would object if someone posted that Leonard is a dope.

 

I don't think he is, but if I made a post like that: "Leonard is a dope and nothing will change that!" I'm sure she'd have plenty to say about it.

I don't understand how Sheldon is getting so much hate for the sweater thing when all he did was suggest Leonard wear it as a way of "knowing what it feels like" to not have closure and having an itch you can't scratch. Sheldon didn't make him wear it. The only reason Leonard went along with it was because he wanted to prove a point to Sheldon and best him. That's his problem, not Sheldon's.

 

I totally agree.  Leonard chose to wear the sweater and even thought he was going to beat Sheldon at his own game--even mentioning the idea of making a fortune selling the sweaters if it would shut Sheldon up or whatever.

And once he found out the store was closed, he is the one who decided to go further and further with the obsession, the way he had assumed Sheldon would react.

 

He donned it out of pride and wore it out of pride--he didn't want Sheldon to "win".

[Chrismo]

I don't understand how Sheldon is getting so much hate for the sweater thing when all he did was suggest Leonard wear it as a way of "knowing what it feels like" to not have closure and having an itch you can't scratch. Sheldon didn't make him wear it. The only reason Leonard went along with it was because he wanted to prove a point to Sheldon and best him. That's his problem, not Sheldon's.

But there was point with most people that it went too far. At the end scene it was just not funny. IMO