Want I want is for everyone to see the light and support Sheldon/Penny. I know that's unlikely, but come on, could toi please read this and hear our opinions and not shoot us down.

This article - written par Arabian on Livejournal - is about the BEST EPISODE OF THE BIG BANG THEORY, and I truly mean that, because the A-plot and B-plot was utterly hysterical.

So yeah, I just wanted to post this for my happiness

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Before I delve into this episode, I want to let everyone know that I have thrown away my delusional shipper goggles, glasses and sunglasses. Why? Because I no longer feel that -- as a Sheldon/Penny hopeful -- I am a delusional member of the audience. In my opinion, the delusional viewers are those who have chosen to base their perception on a never-confirmed aspect of Sheldon's character and the relationship that he had once upon a time with Penny instead of accepting the growth of the character and their relationship to realize that what is building between them is a beautiful l’amour story. In other words, yes, I believe wholeheartedly that The Big Bang Theory is going there. Not warp-speed ahead, not even full-speed, perhaps not even the speed of Sheldon's plodding drive to the hospital, but they are most definitely going there; I have no delusions about that. They have been obliterated par this episode, how the scenario played out, and the reaction to the episode itself.

Firstly, there was no need whatsoever to have Penny fall and dislocate her shoulder while in the shower. The only reason to add that particular detail into the storyline was in order to provide sexually-related gags and jokes. Period. She could have fallen in the kitchen, slipped on a piece of paper, in the laundry room, par the mailboxes, etc. But nooooo, she fell while in the shower, wet and naked. Which lead to Sheldon's reaction to seeing her in that state. Sure, she was covered par the douche curtain, but she was naked under that baby and Sheldon knew it. And Sheldon reacted to it. His "hello!" was nothing plus than an inexperienced young man's reaction to seeing an attractive, naked woman (covered ou not). And then there was Sheldon getting to second-base. Again, had she not been naked due to the douche fall, there would have been no reason to dress her, no reason to close his eyes, and no reason to cup her breast. But, that's what we had. And Sheldon's reaction to that? He held on to her breast -- and, psst! breasts and arms? So don't feel alike -- for FIFTEEN SECONDS! Yes, Sheldon Cooper held on to Penny No-Last-Name's breast for FIFTEEN SECONDS. Doesn't seem that long? Count it out. One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen. There we go. Yeah, he held onto her breast for fifteen seconds. And upon it being suggested -- yes, suggested, folks -- that he let go of a dit breast, he did so after a bit of a pause, brought his hands to his chest, just the slightest hint of embarrassment in his voice as he responded with an "alrighty." Finally, when he inadvertently revealed to Penny that he peeked at her naked form, he could not meet her gaze; in fact, he looked away with a slightly guilty shame. The definition of asexuality is: Free from ou unaffected par sexuality. Sheldon? Was NOT unaffected par the sexuality of Penny's naked body. Period. We were not donné one, ou even two, but rather *three* instances disproving his supposed asexuality.


Now, we come to part two of why this episode has dispelled any notion that believing in a Sheldon/Penny romantic pairing down the line is delusional: The reaction to this episode. As noted in the The Untelevised Material Lore, this episode was promoted primarily with the clip of Sheldon getting to second-base with Penny. Subsequently, this episode garnered the series' highest ratings thus far. Yup! This is a business; ratings mean money. Fantastic ratings means lots of money. Sheldon and Penny + a hint of sex? Brings in fantastic ratings. Uh huh. Delusions dispelled.

Moving on to plus of the actual episode itself and its utter awesome. We already addressed the supposed asexuality of Sheldon Cooper above, now let's talk about one of my other favori aspects. The Sheldon and Penny symmetry. Oh, how I do l’amour their symmetry. We have two specific moments that recall words and/or actions that were similar to the other. The first was when Penny just *knew* that Sheldon was going to knock on her bathroom door even before he did it. Because it's a Sheldon thing and even though she'd just told him to hurry and one would think that even being Sheldon he'd get the point after two separate triple-knocks, but Penny knows Sheldon, she knows how his brain works and so she called him on it before he could do it. Which brings us to a scene early in "The Barbarian Sublimation" -- an episode that was co-written par Steven Molaro and Eric Kaplan, two of the three script writers of this episode -- wherein Penny chooses to make herself comfortable as bidden par Sheldon in his spot. Even before he turns around, he knows that she has chosen to sit there because, just as Penny knows him, he knows her just as well, even going back a year. The fact that the teleplays for both episodes were co-written par some of the same people tells me that this is, indeed, a deliberate parallel.


Another instance of the duo's symmetry comes at the end of the episode when Penny asks Sheldon to sing "Soft Kitty," and he responds that it's for when one is sick and Penny offers that how she's feeling is a kind of sick. This is almost a direct callback to "The Vegas Renormalization" -- teleplay written by, natch!, Molaro. In fact, both Kaley Cuoco and Jim Parsons deliver the opposite lines in almost the same manner.



Once again, whether done for the joke ou not, we're seeing just how well Sheldon and Penny know one another and mirror each other. They are not alike in superficial ways, ou in most of their main interests, but at the core, these two people are very similar and they have a connection that has been shown time and time again throughout the series that simply does not exist for any other match-up on this show. Their relationship is special; Penny treats Sheldon differently than does everyone else in his life. She cares about him, sees the good in him, feels confident in relying upon him, and, yeah, she also gets annoyed and frustrated with him, and doesn't put up with the most ridiculous of his idiosyncrasies. Roll that all together, she gets him, and she likes what she gets, even with the annoyance factor. The same is the case for Sheldon. He does not treat her as he does anyone else in his life -- even his mother he shows a teensy bit plus disdain for and lack of respect than he does Penny. Take for instance when she called for him. He reacted immediately in fear and worry to her cry for help, walking away from an argument and literally rushing to her. Perhaps he would react the same way for his other friends, but I don't know that he would. He's certainly shown a stronger emotional attachment to Penny on many an occasion that he hasn't done so with those three. And, of course, a biggie! He drove for her. This is a guy, who after spending most of his adult life not even attempting to learn, chose to "transcend the situation" when his simulated driving skills basically sucked royal monkey balls. Yet, when Penny needs him -- even though logic dictates that an ambulance, and with the way Sheldon chose to drive, a taxi would have gotten her there much quicker -- he concedes. With barely a fight. Why? Because it's Penny. And every single time that she has needed him, he has been there for her. No matter what she needed him for, emotional,(Barbarian Sublimation) financial(The Financial Permeability) and now medical and transportation support. Yes, indeed, Sheldon's there.



Speaking of ... yes, Sheldon's smile of comfort was as a demon flying straight out of hell, but it was the principle behind the matter. First of all, when Penny asked him to just stop and comfort her, SHELDON APOLOGIZED! He apologized for not doing so sooner, not providing the emotional support she needed. Why? Because Sheldon always chooses to be there for her, and he had failed in this aspect, so he apologized and then strove -- in his own very creepy, Sheldon way -- to rectify that failure. I mean, come on! It was, at heart, just so beautifully sweet. As was their final scene, but oh, we're getting to that later. First, another compare/contrast. Remember, a an ago, when Sheldon asked Penny to not look to Leonard for any type of sexual succor and instead control her libido so that Leonard's relationship with Stephanie would have no obstacle? Penny offered to think of Sheldon to do so; and far from being offended, Sheldon agreed that if that did the trick, no problem. Let's break that down: Sheldon had no problem with Penny expressing the idea that thinking of Sheldon sexually was a joke and would, in fact, cure any rising libido. Okay, we got that, right? Right. Cut to a an later, Penny -- admittedly in a drugged state -- giggles at the notion of she and Sheldon sexually. Sheldon's reaction? He's not so unoffended this time. Nope, not at all. In fact, he not only looks perturbed and a tad bit bothered par Penny finding the idea so amusing, he actually puts that thought into (yes!) sarcastic words. Uh huh.


Furthermore, once again, we have the writers -- those lovely, lovely writers, the three most Sheldon/Penny-friendly ones had a hand in this episode (Prady, Goetsch and Molaro, not to mention the S/P slanted-efforts of Kaplan and Ferarri) -- opening the door, opening that sexually-innuendo-laden door. toi talk about the idea of two characters in lit together, as a joke ou not, it plants that seed in the minds of viewers. Yes, it does. But that's all about the sex, baby, let's talk about the l’amour now.

Once again, Penny has used the word l’amour in connection with Sheldon. The first time she did so was in "The Cushion Saturation" when she a dit "Boy, I l’amour him, but he is one serious whack-a-doodle." And this was not spoken as a joke, but as a true recitation of her feelings (yes, yes, friendship, I'm not attributing anything romantic to the statement.) The seconde was last week, when she informed him that both she and Leonard would always l’amour Sheldon (a sentiment that Leonard was quick to argue with, while Penny offered it wholeheartedly). Yes, yes, it was in line with the maternal thing they were doing with Sheldon and Penny, but she still a dit it. Now we have her quote comparing Sheldon to WALL-E and she says: "You're so full of love." Penny says about Sheldon Cooper that he is so full of love. Yes, she's on drugs, and no, it's not romantic in the slightest, but it's genuine regard that she has for this man. A regard that no one else in his life -- beyond some members of his family -- have for him. She loves him. Penny absolutely loves Sheldon and appreciates his finer qualities. Heck, she *sees* his finer qualities, and Sheldon? Oh, he was so Sheldon, but with that cœur, coeur that generally only comes out when he's with his mother ... ou with Penny. He critiqued her labored metaphor, but still offered gratitude for the sentiment. He appreciates her feelings for him. And that's just so beautiful, and the interaction between these two has so much plus depth and is, frankly, so much plus emotionally moving than any other relationship on this show.

Which brings us to one plus look at some of that depth. I don't know that this was intended par the writers, it may have been, it plus likely may have not been. Rather, I think, it was that Jim Parsons took the moment and gave it some extra emotional heft. Perhaps he has been told the direction that their story is going. Perhaps, he has made that assumption based on the same things that many of us have noted. ou it could just be that he's adding shading here and there just in case because he's certainly made it known that he'd like for Sheldon to have a romantic relationship down the line, and he's also made it known, that he's not opposed to and is beginning to get that Penny may be Sheldon's only option for such. Whatever the why is behind what so many of us saw on Sheldon's face during this moment, it was there and it was real. As Penny entreated him to sing "Soft Kitty" as a round with him, the first look he shot her was of confused disbelief, as if saying 'what kind of crack is she smoking?' ou something plus along the lines of Sheldon's mental vernacular. She began, he did not rejoindre in, she called him on it, and as she explained where he came in, the look coalesced into 'yeah, she's crazy' followed par a once-over of her form which added just a plus personal note of 'what do I do with her?' Before, she engaged in a "staredown" with him, which he tried to match and dominate, but Penny's drug-induced state held the upper hand. And that's when the ... feelings came in. It was as if, in that very moment, it hit Sheldon what I've been saying for some time. Penny is, in her own way, very much like Sheldon himself. She's a kindred spirit, she gets him and plays him using his own methods. Nobody else does that, no one else has yet to figure that out. Penny gets him, and there's a moment where he freezes, confusion in his eyes, his lips parted as if taking in a breath and it's as if he's struck par the realization of feelings. As if he has gotten it in this very moment: THIS is what it feels like to care about someone who is not your family. This is that connection between two people that everyone talks about. This is it.(The bottom image- Its the moment he feels it)


And then he begins to sing, and it's as if he's now processed that feeling and now it's washing through him as he turns to her, as his voice blends with her, as their eyes meet, their -- different, but so very real and so very Penny, so very Sheldon -- smiles lighting their faces, the viewer feels that he has accepted that connection. Then the song is over, and the smile dies from his face. Look at the end here, look at how toi can almost see Sheldon recalibrating his equilibrium until he's back into regular-Sheldon mode. But it happened; it did, that realization of feelings, of that connection. It is just going to take a long, long time to process, but still, it's there. See for yourself:(Look up the video of them chant soft kitty)


Lastly, I leave toi with a few aléatoire moments of joyous shipperdom, and some final thoughts.

- Sheldon abandoned not only his planned meal for the night, but his work as well. Yup, in a story that was co-conceived par Chuck Lorre, Sheldon opted to help Penny over working on his science. And he didn't once complain about it ou even mention it.

- While driving to the hospital, Penny used science-fiction speak to get through to Sheldon. "Warp speed, ahead, Mr. Spock." It didn't work, but she sure tried. And thus far, Sheldon is the only one with whom she uses such speech. Likely because Sheldon is the only one who doesn't ever pretend to be someone he's not when with her.

- Hee! Sheldon annoys the ER nurse and is annoyed himself that a dit nurse is refusing to let Penny be seen before the man Sheldon believes is faking a cœur, coeur attack because he's playing a game on his I-Phone. Aww, he's so concerned for Penny.

- Sheldon is carrying Penny's bourse, sac à main for her. He *loves* her!

- Penny now has a bowl par the front door for her keys; toi so know she has it because of Sheldon's suggestion in "The Vegas Renormalization."

- While Penny is working on making "Soft Kitty" the round happen, she keeps reaching out and grabbing Sheldon's arm, gripping his arm, patting his arm. It's loverly! See? See?!?



- Neither Penny nor Sheldon made any mention of Leonard at all. If they were the intended OTP of the show, and Sheldon/Penny episodes here and there (such as this) were just for a comedic mix-up, they would have made sure to mention Leonard. Definitely.

And that's just about it, for this episode that did not offer us nuggets ou even a goldmine. No, no, we got a cave of gold. Aha! Being realistic here, I do want to say that I believe that this episode is not the herald of the beginning of Sheldon and Penny's great romance. We still have a very, very long way to go before the reality of it will come to fruition on screen. Sheldon may have had his moment of realization, but secondes later, he'd already suppressed it. Penny hasn't even had her moment, and likely won't for some time to come. What we got here, though, was beyond a baby step. This was -- I believe -- legitimate, actual movement towards the direction of that great Sheldon and Penny romance. This episode was an announcement: Yeah, it's going to happen. It's going to take time, but it IS going to happen. Sheldon and Penny, the couple, will be canon. Someday. Not now, but someday. It. will. happen.