TBBT 6x16: The Tangible Affection Proof

Valentine's Day is approaching, and there are four couples on the show who need to show their love for each other. The first is Penny and Leonard. Penny's not terribly enthusiastic about V-Day because she's never had one go well. Leonard, on the other hand, is incredibly gung-ho about it. He promises her that it'll be a night to remember.

He's a romance ninja.

The second couple is Howard and Bernadette. Things have been a bit rough between them lately since she's been working really long hours, and he's been playing Assassin's Creed all day. Howard's actually a pretty romantic guy once you get past the creepiness, and he uses an atomic force microscope to make Bernie the world's smallest Valentine. Unfortunately, he's a bit clumsy and he drops it, so he and Bernadette just go to dinner with Leonard and Penny.

Dinner doesn't go smoothly. Bernadette has hidden Howard's Xbox because he's been lazy around the house and didn't do the laundry like she asked him to, and now she has no clean undies. Despite their friends' ongoing argument, Leonard and Penny try to have a romantic evening... until Penny notices that her ex-boyfriend is at the restaurant with her friend Gretchen, who he cheated on her with.

And he proposes.

The romance ninja tries to salvage things, but Penny's not into it. She's obsessed with what's going on at the other table, and she and Leonard get into a fight. Upon seeing how bad things are for their friends, Bernadette and Howard realize that their little squabble is no big deal. They agree to skip out on dessert so they can go home early and he can do the laundry.

Love means never having to say "I'm sorry I hid your Xbox in the washing machine."

When they get home, Leonard asks Penny what the deal is? He tried to give them a great evening, and she ruined it. She tells him that things have been going too well between them lately, and she's really happy. He keeps asking her to marry him, and eventually she's going to say yes, then they'll settle down and get married, and it all just freaks her out. To assuage her fears, he says that he'll never ask her again. If she ever wants to get married, she's just going to have to propose to him herself. Surprisingly, that makes her incredibly happy.

The Romance Ninja strikes again.

The third couple is Sheldon and Amy. Sheldon's not a big romance guy, but Amy is his girlfriend, and convention dictates that he get her some kind of gift. Fortunately, he has an assistant to handle all the little details like buying presents for his lady. He gives Alex two thousand dollars and tells her he thinks Amy likes monkeys.

Alex is a sane person, so he knows it's probably not a good idea to give someone a monkey for Valentine's Day. Instead, she comes up with three options. The first is a harp-shaped music box that plays one of Amy's favourite songs. Sheldon shoots that down because Amy already has a real harp, and it can play any song she wants. The second choice is a illustration of the course the characters took in The Cantebury Tales, one of Amy's favourite texts. Sheldon pooh-poohs that one because Amy has a smart phone equipped with Google Maps, and she can see any map she wants at any time. The final selection is an autographed print of a drawing by Santiago Ramón y Cajal, the father of modern neuroscience. It's absolutely perfect. So much so that Sheldon decides to keep it for himself.

To be fair, he did pay for it, and it's not technically a gift until he gives it to her.

When Amy arrives at the apartment that evening, she's not dressed for dinner. As her gift to Sheldon, she's cancelled all their plans. She knows he hates romance and gift-giving, so instead of going out for a traditional Valentine's Day, they're going to sit at home, order a pizza, and watch a sci-fi movie. She also tells him that he can return whatever gift he got for her. But, he's so touched by all the things she didn't do for him, that he decides he wants her to have it, anyway. He pulls a sheet of paper out of his jacket pocket and hands it to her. It's his employee information form from the university; he's made her his emergency contact. She's so touched that she forgets herself and grabs him in a big hug.

Valentine's Day is ruined.

The last couple is Raj and Stuart. Neither of them has a girlfriend, so they're planning to spend the evening moping around and trying not to kill themselves. That is, until Raj gets an idea: They'll throw a party at the comic book store for all the lonely people who can't get dates. The party's kind of a downer because everyone there is sad and hates themselves, but Raj gives a speech about how they have each other, so they're never truly alone. Then he calls everyone losers and ditches the party to go have coffee with Kate Micucci.

It'll be the most awkward date ever.

What I Liked
-Sheldon tries to avoid talking about Valentine's Day with Amy by proving that the rectum has a sense of taste. That's a good dodge, but I disagree. Otherwise I'd be tasting crap all day.
-Raj's perfect Valentine's Day involve pile driving a female version of Stuart. You only pile drive the ones you love.
-The phony expression Sheldon's been working on so he can pretend to enjoy Valentine's Day.

It's just the right combination of fake and sincere.

What I Hated
-It may have been an incredibly subtle way of saying he was playing more than one, but Howard says he's been playing Assassin's Creeds. Either it was a dumb way of phrasing what he meant to say, or the writers/producers/actors screwed up. I assume it's the latter, which is why you can tell this show isn't made by actual, serious nerds. I'm not a huge gaming guy, and even I know he should've said either Assassin's Creed or -more likely because it's new- Assassin's Creed III.

Final Thoughts
It looks like Kevin Sussman is out of the opening credits. That's a shame. I thought his character had a lot of growth potential. They seemed to want to keep him as the sad sack loser, though, and if they're doing that, having him in too many episodes would just be depressing.

Kate Micucci's character was named 'Lucy' in the credits, even though it was never mentioned in the episodes. That leads me to believe that she might become a recurring guest. Also, I've heard of her, and that's always a good indication of that sort of thing. If she winds up as Raj's girlfriend, they might finally reach a point where he can talk to women without having to be drunk first. They've gotten around it a lot in the past by just sticking a drink in his hand, so it's kind of a pointless concept at this point, anyway.

There were four stories this week, so there wasn't really enough time to develop any of them. However, the little romantic vignettes did a pretty good job of showing off the different kinds of love people can have, from Bernie and Howie's married love to the love the nerdy comic book friends have for each other. So, it wasn't a well-developed or memorable episode, but it was a nice episode, and, sometimes, that's good enough.