How To Make Sheldon Fall In Love

Big Bang Theory, S05E23

Howard was delighted to find out his mission to space had been cancelled, but he panicked later when they told him it had been rescheduled for an earlier date that conflicted with his wedding.  He hoped that Bernadette's father would bully him out of going to space, but he instead encouraged him and made it seem that his respect of Howard was dependent upon him becoming an astronaut.  Amy started using very effective techniques to get Sheldon to love her by making him incredibly happy.  Leonard mistakenly asked Penny to marry him during sex, ruining the good place their relationship was in.

It was funny to see how happy Howard was to not go to space.  I thought he was really excited about going, so it came as a surprise to me.  What was even funnier was that he continued to brag to his friends that he was an astronaut even when he thought he wasn't going to go to space.  I liked when Leonard and Raj told him that they were relieved he wasn't going to space, considering that he would be on a Russian-made rocket.  Raj' using the Russians' inability to capture Rocky and Bullwinkle to discredit their intelligence was great.  Nice cultural reference, Raj.

I found it weird that Howard couldn't admit to his fiancee or his friends that he was terrified of going to space, but he could admit it to his scary father-in-law-to-be.  Bernadette would have surely understood.  His friends would have surely made fun of him, but they would have encouraged him to go where none of them may go.  Then again, sometimes it's easier to tell some truths to people you hardly know than those who know you the best and can hurt your feelings with their reactions.

The best thing in the episode hands down was Amy's experiment to make Sheldon like her better.  The date she set up with Mario theme music, strawberry Quik, and spaghetti is scarily one that I would thoroughly enjoy myself!  Who knew that I had so much in common with Sheldon?  It was just a perfect scene of her pleasing Sheldon and him quickly realizing that Amy was indeed winning his heart as she predicted she would.  You can see that wonderful video below:

It was a bit adorable how Sheldon was bitching to Leonard how it was just awful that Amy was making him so happy, and he had started thinking about Amy during inappropriate times.  I also enjoyed them mentioning this book on women Leonard had given Sheldon, which had given him nightmares.  I would love to see his reactions as he read said book.  Amy was pretty cute too when she was dressed in Star Trek gear, examining Sheldon as if she were a doctor.  Sheldon claimed he was in hell, but he looked like he was having fun (probably not as much as Amy who was probably thrilled at having his full attention for once).

Leonard and Penny, on the other hand, were just annoying to watch.  I had just wished that Leonard's proposal had convinced her to break up with him, so I wouldn't have to see them as a couple again.  There's nothing too interesting about their off-and-on relationship for the most part.

This episode definitely goes down in one of my favorites for this show.  I can't wait to see what Amy does next to keep Sheldon thinking about her.  I wonder if Sheldon will be crazy enough to try to stop her "experiment," so that he can go back to seeming indifferent to his girlfriend?  I love that they are becoming closer with Amy making him happier, and yet Sheldon makes it seem like he's becoming more miserable.  Amy really is the best girlfriend I could imagine Sheldon with ever.

Spaghetti and Murder Ball

 Archer, S03E05

This week's Archer was a murder mystery.  There was little spy action this time, but it was still a good story.  Mallory has a dead Italian prime minister in her apartment and calls Archer and Lana to help.

Although the circumstances of the dead body in the room are bizarre and freaky (in a sexual way), I think it's interesting that Archer can't concentrate on anything but the sexual oddity of it all.  He can't seem to get the idea of the guy having a dildo up his ass out of his mind.  Frankly, if he didn't talk about it so much, they all might have forgotten about it (us too, since we couldn't see that).  Archer has some real psychological problem concerning his mother and sex.  Not that anyone really wants to think about their parents having sex, but they all have or obviously we wouldn't be here.  You'd think after all the endless trysts that Mallory has been involved in over the years that Archer would be a little numb to it.  At least he didn't throw up this time.

Things take an unexpected turn when Archer has the hankering for spaghetti and meatballs (his racism never ceases to amaze me).  They all go into the kitchen and start cooking up some, very casual about the dead man in the "zentai" (must be Japanese from "zen" meaning "entire" and "tai" for "the body").  Mallory also shows us that Archer's racism is probably genetic with her dislike of the Irish.  Last Christmas she refused to give the super a bonus and slammed the door in his face.  I liked this because it was such a Christmas Carol moment.  This was reinforced by the super's son hobbling next to him on crutches and saying,

[Son] Will I get the operation now, Da?
[Super] No, Son.  You're gonna die.

Damn.  She is cold-hearted.  She continues to express her prejudice against the Irish when Archer asks her if she has a potato and she remarks that it isn't Christmas (which is what she gave the Super).  The detective who shows up later of Irish-decent receives her instant repulsion.  What exactly did the Irish ever do to her??

Archer and Lana don't buy her story, but she asks them to cut up and dispose of the body.  They both refuse.  It's good that they have some kind of standards, despite that they do some crazy stuff sometime.  Instead, after Mallory sobs (who cares, but I guess they do), they get Krieger to come.  Not only does he seem to have a handle on the problem, he is actually excited about doing it (in a way that Archer suggests is slightly sexual in nature--eww).  The others at ISIS show up after Kreiger tricks them into thinking they will be attending a surprise party.  Uh...how dumb are these people? 

The best is when the cops show up, and everyone jumps into character as her dinner guests, enjoying spaghetti and dressed in Mallory's clothes.  I find it offensive that Lana has to be the maid, and it's the whore-iest maid outfit ever!  We have no idea why Mallory has that; there's no way that it looks as good on Lana as it does on her.  Eww...  Concerning the ISIS crew playing the part as dinner guests, they barely get by as not suspicious.  Carol, however, risks them being discovered with her horrible, over-the-top acting.  You'd think a bitch from a rich family would know how to imitate them a little more naturally.  Before this scene is over, Cyril complains about being dragged into yet another unsavory situation:

[Cyril] I hate you all so much.
[Ray] No one cares, Figgis.  You're only invited to round out the numbers.

I liked Ray with his accent and cigarette holder.  He should keep those while he remains in his wheelchair.  However, I'm about ready for him to be out of it.  Cyril is such a whiney, little bitch.  At least with Ray he's got attitude, but can actually perform like a decent spy.

Krieger successfully divides up the body and prepares it for all the others to transport out of the house before the detective can find out what happened.  However, Lana smartly realizes that it makes sense that Mallory intentionally had everyone come over and called the cops so that she would have a cover for the murder.  We're not entirely sure, but it looks like Mallory killed the prime minister to get revenge for someone who might have been Archer's father!  Huh.  I wonder if this will ever come up again.  The mystery of Archer's father is something I'm pretty interested in.  I wonder if he was an asshole like his son or if Archer is just a product of a fatherless life and a screwed-up mother.

If I could have asked for anything else in this episode, it might have been for that fake dinner party to have a little more screen time.  However, that is not much of a complaint to me.  It was good that in the end Mallory seemed to be a bigger mastermind than any of them gave her credit for.  She may be kind of a whore, but she's a smart whore.