TBBT 6x14: The Cooper/Kripke Inversion

Two plots this week. It's hard to say which is the A-plot and which is the B-plot, so instead I shall refer to them by codenames.

Operation Infinite Barbie
Raj finds a website that will take photos you send them and turn them into a personalized action figure of yourself. For the low, low price of just $500 you get your very own miniature version of yourself and the ability to re-enact your favourite scenes from Spaceballs.

Leonard thinks it's a cool idea and wants to get one, but Penny passive-aggressively talks him out of it, leaving just Raj and Howard. They're totally psyched when the package containing their figures arrives some time later, but the end results leave them less than enthused.

To be fair, they did get the outfits right.

After some disappointed playing, Raj comes up with a great idea: they'll buy a 3D printer and print their tiny doppelgangers themselves. At first, Howard is hesitant because they're so expensive, but his friend quickly convinces him that Bernadette makes enough money that the cost of a 3D printer is chump change.

When it arrives, they test it out by printing a whistle, and when that works to their satisfaction, Raj busts out his best superhero pose, and Howard scans a 3D model of him with a Kinect. Which is something you can actually do at home if you have the right software.

A few hours later, Wolowitz goes home and whips out his mini Howard so his wife can handle it.

Fortunately, that's not a euphemism.

She thinks it's really cute, and when he shows her the matching mini Bernadette, she's totally in love with them. That is, of course, until she finds out that the printer cost $5000. Despite the fact that they're married and it's supposed to be a partnership, Bernie's not cool with Howie dropping that kind of cash on a whistle-building machine, so she cuts him off sexually until he returns it.

The next day he gets Raj to cut him a cheque for his half of the printer, and tells him that he's been removed from the joint accounts and can't eat lunch because he spent his allowance on Pokemon cards.

Operation Sexual Fusion
Sheldon and Kripke are both working on grant proposals for a new fusion reactor. Since the university is only allowed to submit one proposal, the physics department forces them to work together. This is unthinkable to Sheldon since not only does he not want his nemesis to see his work, he doesn't even want him to see his picture of a really cool train.

It has jet engines and everything!

Nevertheless, they're forced into an alliance, and, after some trickery on Sheldon's part, they exchange copies of their research. Later that day, Amy tries to talk to Sheldon about his day, but he seems really depressed. As it turns out, Barry's research is leaps and bounds ahead of his own. With nothing left to lose, he allows Amy to console him with a hug.

In their terms, that's like third base.

The next day, Sheldon feigns illness so he won't have to go to work, but Leonard doesn't buy it and forces him to face the music. Kripke recognizes that Sheldon's work isn't as good as his own, but he thinks the reason for it is that Sheldon and Amy have been knocking boots so often that it's been distracting him from doing physics. To avoid embarrassment, Sheldon tells Barry he's right: Amy enjoys his genitals and he gives them to her on a nightly basis.

At dinner, when Sheldon tells Leonard and Penny what happened, she's finally had enough and asks him if he's ever going to sleep with Amy. At first, Leonard's not cool with going down that rabbit hole, but his lady friend is insistent, and soon he wants to know what the deal is, too. Sheldon explains to them that he's always been uncomfortable with physical human contact, but he's working on it and has made great strides over the past two years as evidenced by his ability to put Vapo rub on Amy's chest. When asked point blank, he admits that it's a possibility that he and Amy might get physical in the future. This causes Penny to flip out.

And physically assault her boyfriend for some reason.

At work the next day, Kripke's not interested in physics. All he wants to know is how freaky Sheldon's sex life is. It may not be real, but it's some of the hottest coitus anyone will ever have.

What I Liked
-Sheldon doesn't want an action figure of himself unless it comes with kung-fu grip. He may be an insane weirdo, but he has his action figure priorities straight.
-When Sheldon joined the Dark Side, they lit Jim Parsons' face so it would reveal when he turned towards the camera. Subtle, but quite effective.

If only you knew the power of the Dork Side.

-Kripke gets wise to Sheldon's tricks and realizes that the second envelope he gives him is also full of blank paper. A few shows would've gone for the trifecta and had the third one filled with blank pages, too. I'm so glad they didn't do that.
-Bernadette didn't think there could be a smaller version of Howard. It's amazing what science can do these days.

What I Hated
-Something weird was up with Kaley Cuoco's skin at the end of the episode. Either her makeup was off, or she needs to cut down on the spray tans.

It's the forehead line that gives it away.

-Bernadette's reaction to Howard's excessive spending. I'll get into that later.

Final Thoughts
This was a reasonably funny episode and it had some good gags and a bit of of character development to boot. So, normally it would've received a fairly high rating. However, the way they resolved Howard's portion of Operation Infinite Barbie was so offensive that I just can't give it one.

I don't want to get too deep into it because it'll make me seem like I'm taking the goofy three-camera sitcom too seriously, and that's certainly not the case; I know it's just a show, and I shouldn't let it affect me. Nevertheless, I feel like I'd be abdicating my responsibility as a reviewer (I do too have some) if I just ignored it.

In today's business world many women make more money than their spouses. That's just reality, and it's not going to go away. So a role reversal of the standard 'Oh my god, you spent how much on what?!?' sitcom trope is to be expected and even applauded. However, in ye olden times, the man would generally realize that it was wrong for him to completely lose his shit and the woman would realize that it was wrong of her to make such a large purchase without consulting him first. Hugs would be exchanged, and make up sex would be had. That's not what happened in this episode. Shit was lost and realizations were made, but instead of coming together and growing as a couple, Bernadette took Howard's name off the joint chequeing account and gave him an allowance, which he subsequently spent on trading cards. He's not her husband anymore, he's her child.

Were their genders reversed, that sort of thing wouldn't fly these days, but my problem isn't that Howard's being emasculated. That happens a lot on this show, and it's actually kinda funny sometimes. My problem is that their relationship is now completely disconnected from reality. In the real world, your wealthy spouse denying you food because you made an ill-considered purchase would be grounds for divorce, no matter how short and nerdy you were. We've seen the put-upon husband before in other sitcoms, but at least Al Bundy got a win every now and then, and when he had to, he could still rock Peg's world. Howard no longer has any power whatsoever in the relationship, and it's starting to cross the line from funny to just plain sad.

Plus, it's always bothered me how little money the guys apparently make. Sure, they buy a lot of take-out and waste money going to conventions, but they're respected scientists. Howard has a masters in engineering from MIT, and he's been to space; he should easily be pulling down something in the low six-figures. Combined with the fact that he lived rent-free until just recently, he should be pretty loaded. Yet the show acts as if he's making a pittance and none of the other guys are doing particularly well, either. They shouldn't be rich, but the occasional $5000 purchase shouldn't be too much of an issue, either. Howard and Bernadette are DINKs who live in a one-bedroom apartment. He should have solid gold spinners on that RAV4 he just bought.