[Spoilers] Season 11 Discussion Thread

[April]

2 hours ago, djsurrey said:

Unexpected unpredictable stuff happens all the time.

LOL This! I mean, sitcoms as a genre deal with a ton of real life situations (including the repetitive nature of it) as a frame to hang their stories on but so far TBBT always found a way to do something unexpected of some sorts.

The thing is though, in the end you need to find a good balance between "predictable" and "unpredictable".

Predictability in writing is mostly relying on character development and consistency. So if you can predict what a character will do the writers did a great job establishing their personality and behavioural pattern. You can't just throw in any bullshit twist cause people won't buy it and complain about it being OOC (cause that's what "Out Of Character" means: the character is doing something unexpected that doesn't mesh with their established personality or development or past actions. It doesn't mean "the character does something I don't like!" like some people seem to use the term). Heck, the purpose of a cliffhanger is not to end in something unexpected, it's to keep people interested enough to watch the next episode even if one outcome is more likely than another.

So this all definitely was the case with the proposal: The cliffhanger was the question whether Amy would say yes or no. One of the answers was more likely but there was enough uncertainty that kept people guessing and discussing. (Heck, even among us Shamy fans here there were some people in the "Amy will say no" camp.) In the end the writers decided to go with the more likely answer cause it makes more sense for the character. And it paid off cause the premiere got the highest ratings since 9x11. For what it's worth the writers seem to know their target audience and this cliffhanger certainly got it to tune in.

[Jonny]

4 hours ago, djsurrey said:

Predictable you say. Like,  Amy hugging Ramona in the tag scene of 11.1?

Who would have expected Sheldon to sublet his old room to a bum? Unexpected unpredictable stuff happens all the time.

A favorite from 9.03

 

Yeah I would have thought sending trained monkeys with poison dart Blowpipes after her would have been more likely then Amy hugging Ramona lol. I may be no fan of the hug, but it sure was surprising.

Edited October 8, 2017 by Jonny

[joyceraye]

39 minutes ago, Jonny said:

Yeah I would have thought sending trained monkeys with poison dart Blowpipes after her would have been more likely then Amy hugging Ramona lol. I may be no fan of the hug, but it sure was surprising.

Amy'd had three months to think about it. She'd no doubt already read Ramona's work and figured out how her mind worked. As a tactic, if that's what the hug was, it worked. Ramona's look said, ' This woman has access to poison darts, she cuts up furry animals' brains and ye gods she's crazier than Sheldon. Now what ?' 

Edited October 8, 2017 by joyceraye
changing pronoun to noun for clarification

[Die Zimtzicke]

1 hour ago, joyceraye said:

Amy'd had three months to think about it. She'd no doubt already read Ramona's work and figured out how her mind worked. As a tactic, if that's what the hug was, it worked. Ramona's look said, ' This woman has access to poison darts, she cuts up furry animals' brains and ye gods she's crazier than Sheldon. Now what ?' 

THANK YOU! This is it exactly. You said this exactly the way I wished I could have and couldn't. The look on Ramona's face was priceless to me.

[Stephen Hawking]

24 minutes ago, Die Zimtzicke said:

The look on Ramona's face was priceless to me.

At first she thought she was in serious trouble.

Must admit, I thought Amy was going to go Junior Rodeo on her.

[bfm]

I just thought it was because Amy was so giddy about the engagement and wanted it so much. I think it goes with the character, remember her reaction to the news of Sheldon planning to have sex with her for the first time and previous gushing over him and also her behavior prior to Howardette's wedding. 

Edited October 8, 2017 by bfm

[Mario D.]

24 minutes ago, bfm said:

I just thought it was because Amy was so giddy about the engagement and wanted it so much. I think it goes with the character, remember her reaction to the news of Sheldon planning to have sex with her for the first time and previous gushing over him and also her behavior prior to Howardette's wedding. 

Just read an article in the newspaper that showed three scientists won the Nobel prize in physics:  two from Caltech and one from MIT.  Anyone see the irony in this?

 

[Capt. Hilts]

4 hours ago, joyceraye said:

Amy'd had three months to think about it. She'd no doubt already read Ramona's work and figured out how her mind worked. As a tactic, if that's what the hug was, it worked. Ramona's look said, ' This woman has access to poison darts, she cuts up furry animals' brains and ye gods she's crazier than Sheldon. Now what ?' 

If Amy were from The South, she'd a said, "Bless her heart..." about Ramona.

51 minutes ago, Mario D. said:

Just read an article in the newspaper that showed three scientists won the Nobel prize in physics:  two from Caltech and one from MIT.  Anyone see the irony in this?

 

Wondering what, if anything, the show will do - or they will do - in reference to this event.  Like which one's Sheldon and which one's Leonard.

I'd LOVE to see them pose with Sheldon and Leonard.

[Stephen Hawking]

1 hour ago, bfm said:

remember her reaction to the news of Sheldon planning to have sex with her for the first time

Oh I remember.

It's indelibly engraved on my mind.  

 

2 minutes ago, Capt. Hilts said:

Like which one's Sheldon and which one's Leonard.

And who's the third one?

[joyceraye]

1 hour ago, bfm said:

I just thought it was because Amy was so giddy about the engagement and wanted it so much. I think it goes with the character, remember her reaction to the news of Sheldon planning to have sex with her for the first time and previous gushing over him and also her behavior prior to Howardette's wedding. 

Could well be, bfm, what with the others welcoming her back. ('Phew' they all thought.) She might have been in one of her excited moods. An even simpler alternative explanation ocurred to me today. Suppose it's a possibility that the matter-of-fact way Sheldon mentioned the kiss was what tipped Amy over the edge to say 'Yes' as soon as she was really asked ?  She said 'Yes' instead of 'I'll think about it' or 'Why now ?' or 'What the Hell, Sheldon?' when she saw him at the door.  Shamy had each in their own way been thinking about marriage for years. We know,however, how close Amy comes to bottling when she's presented with the reality of her dreams : she teeters until Sheldon says the right thing.

Compared with the fiasco of Leonard's kiss story, Sheldon's opennness and his oh-so Sheldon-like way of presenting what was important to him could have been the clincher. Amy was very accepting of the kiss story and didn't even ask for the context. So, there's always the chance that when Amy thanked Ramona  she actually meant it because it motivated her too. Without Ramona Amy herself might still be dithering. Even in her tiara moments she doesn't often hug not-Sheldons.

Edited October 8, 2017 by joyceraye

[djsurrey]

7 hours ago, April said:

So this all definitely was the case with the proposal: The cliffhanger was the question whether Amy would say yes or no. One of the answers was more likely but there was enough uncertainty that kept people guessing and discussing. (Heck, even among us Shamy fans here there were some people in the "Amy will say no" camp.) In the end the writers decided to go with the more likely answer cause it makes more sense for the character. And it paid off cause the premiere got the highest ratings since 9x11. For what it's worth the writers seem to know their target audience and this cliffhanger certainly got it to tune in.

I expected her to say yes. I also expected Sheldon to do or say something unexpected. I think they got it just right but it was impossible to predict what it would be. 

[Capt. Hilts]

53 minutes ago, Stephen Hawking said:

And who's the third one?

Not from Cal Tech.

[Chrismo]

10 hours ago, djsurrey said:

Predictable you say. Like,  Amy hugging Ramona in the tag scene of 11.1?

Who would have expected Sheldon to sublet his old room to a bum? Unexpected unpredictable stuff happens all the time.

 

Yes. Because she knew the proposal happened because of Ramona.

yes. Subletting the room and getting even was more important. Who he sublted to wasn't the point. Thus very predictable 

[Stephen Hawking]

44 minutes ago, Capt. Hilts said:

Not from Cal Tech.

I know. The third one is from MIT.

If Sheldon and Leonard are the 2 physicist from Caltech, then who is the one from MIT?

There has been no mention of them knowing a physicist at MIT.

[Swedish Chef]

29 minutes ago, Stephen Hawking said:

I know. The third one is from MIT.

If Sheldon and Leonard are the 2 physicist from Caltech, then who is the one from MIT?

There has been no mention of them knowing a physicist at MIT.

Perhaps they doesn't know a physicist from MIT but they sure knows an engineer from MIT. 

Edited October 8, 2017 by Lagernisse

[Stephen Hawking]

4 minutes ago, Lagernisse said:

Perhaps they doesn't know a physicist from MIT but they sure knows an engineer from MIT. 

Yes but, according to the report, it's three physicist, two from Caltech and one from MIT.

[Swedish Chef]

3 minutes ago, Stephen Hawking said:

Yes but, according to the report, it's three physicist, two from Caltech and one from MIT.

Yes, I know, I was just joking. 

[Carm6773]

6 hours ago, Stephen Hawking said:

At first she thought she was in serious trouble.

Must admit, I thought Amy was going to go Junior Rodeo on her.

I was sooo hoping she would...

 

[Mario D.]

3 hours ago, Stephen Hawking said:

I know. The third one is from MIT.

If Sheldon and Leonard are the 2 physicist from Caltech, then who is the one from MIT?

There has been no mention of them knowing a physicist at MIT.

The irony was the schools.  Sheldon and Leonard are from CalTech and Howard is from MIT

[3ku11]

11 hours ago, Jonny said:

Yeah I would have thought sending trained monkeys with poison dart Blowpipes after her would have been more likely then Amy hugging Ramona lol. I may be no fan of the hug, but it sure was surprising.

How is that the show being unpredictable. Because we diddn't expect them to cast Christopher Lylod as a bum lol? Or Amy hugging Ramona. That means nothing. I am more refering to the constant recycling of cannon. Particularly last season. That contributes nothing new at all. 

[joyceraye]

1 hour ago, 3ku11 said:

How is that the show being unpredictable. Because we diddn't expect them to cast Christopher Lylod as a bum lol? Or Amy hugging Ramona. That means nothing. I am more refering to the constant recycling of cannon. Particularly last season. That contributes nothing new at all. 

Do you mean altering the canon ? Recycling would involve keeping it the same, which they should do, or  refer to it and announce any changes to it. What annoys me is when they forget it.

[djsurrey]

2 hours ago, 3ku11 said:

How is that the show being unpredictable. Because we diddn't expect them to cast Christopher Lylod as a bum lol? Or Amy hugging Ramona. That means nothing. I am more refering to the constant recycling of cannon. Particularly last season. That contributes nothing new at all. 

Wow.

Quote

un·pre·dict·a·ble

ˌənprəˈdiktəb(ə)l/

adjective

 

1. not able to be predicted.

 

[Jessicur]

14 hours ago, Jonny said:

Yeah I would have thought sending trained monkeys with poison dart Blowpipes after her would have been more likely then Amy hugging Ramona lol. I may be no fan of the hug, but it sure was surprising.

This might be one of those situations where watching the show as a woman gives a person a completely different take lol 

When Amy hugged Ramona instead of having some kind of confrontation it was such a "THANK YOU" moment. The whole 'jealous girlfriend fending off other women' stereotype is soooo tired. And just not true. Women don't really act like that in real life. I was so relieved the writers handled it this way. 

[djsurrey]

31 minutes ago, Jessicur said:

When Amy hugged Ramona instead of having some kind of confrontation it was such a "THANK YOU" moment. The whole 'jealous girlfriend fending off other women' stereotype is soooo tired. And just not true. Women don't really act like that in real life. I was so relieved the writers handled it this way. 

Amy has a history of reacting in surprising ways. Liking Sheldon for one thing. Some of the things she called romantic...

[Jessicur]

1 minute ago, djsurrey said:

Amy has a history of reacting in surprising ways. Liking Sheldon for one thing. Some of the things she called romantic...

But the thing is, I didn't find it surprising. I was literally like, pleaseee let her thank Ramona lol and then she did and it was such a relief. I found it to be the most logical reaction. If it weren't for Ramona, Amy wouldn't have gotten engaged.