The Inevitable

May the Fourth be with you.

Just keep your wits about for the Revenge of the Fifth.

Professor Proton, Sheldon and Leonard’s boyhood icon, passed away shortly before May Fourth. To Star Wars fans, the date creates a play-on-words they can only manipulate one day a year. See? Funny.

Instead of marathoning all six Star Wars films, however (in a few years, they’ll need to add a seventh to their programming), Leonard and Penny opt to go to Professor Proton’s funeral. They attend the wake and reflect during the service with respect, care, and sympathy. Then they make the event about themselves. Penny play-proposes to Leonard to “even their score” and Leonard “pretends” to wheedle over the decision. Methinks Penny doth protested too much. It’s also May—I smell a season finale on the horizon. Penny But we don’t know what reservations she still holds, and won’t until the end of the month draws to a close.

Sheldon, ever not the funeral kind, still took Professor Proton’s death hard. So hard, in fact, his brain buckled under the emotional turmoil and brought the man back to Sheldon in the form of his “Obi Wan,” the dream-sayer. Professor Proton didn’t seem jazzed about the wardrobe change…but he got a cool light saber!

He eventually imparted rather useful advice about appreciating those you have left on this Earth, while you can. Because everybody knows that everybody dies. And nobody knows it like the Doctor.

To be clear, the last two sentences were Doctor Who references, and the title character is called the Doctor, not the “Doctor Who.” Writers. Get it together friends.

Howard, Raj, Amy, and Bernadette’s roles paled in comparison, but they both tackle important current events of their own. Howard and Raj attempt the made-viral Star Wars order theory, a theory that advocates watching the franchise in the following order: 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 6.

Bernadette and Amy represent those poor unfortunate souls looped into movie marathons by their uncaring friends. But hey—we’ve all been there.

"That's true. You'd rust."

Professor Proton is back, Bill Nye tries to steal the show (let’s be real—he does), and Sheldon Cooper learns a little something about himself. This show addressed old problems from Season 1 and introduced brand-new dilemmas. Like Sheldon’s fresh restraining order.

Why doesn’t Arthur just get a restraining order?

Sheldon spies Arthur (AKA, Professor Proton) in the pharmacy, oblivious to how their last meeting ended, and forces himself upon him unceremoniously. After the encounter, Amy tries to ease Sheldon into the idea that he might be a little…annoying. She can’t say as much—Sheldon annoyingly tries to make her—but he doesn’t need to be told twice.

Arthur expounds the reality when he sidesteps Sheldon and asks Leonard to review his paper and conduct his experiment. Leonard, much to Sheldon’s dismay, happily agrees. Sheldon, pride bruised, seeks the only person that could remedy the situation: another model. Enter, Bill Nye the Science Guy, the only science show-host any of us really remember.

Sheldon misses his chance with "bowtie"—and earns a brand new legal document—but renews his ‘friendship’ with Professor Proton and, indirectly, might be the link between Arthur and a hot date with one of Penny’s grandmothers.

Howard and Raj, in the other court, butt heads when Howard invades on one of Raj’s Ladies Nights, only to learn that Raj took the opportunity to get away from him and air his feelings in private. Ouch. Although, the show made the issue present for some time now; they were bound to address it sooner or later.

Raj might maintain stereotypically feminine interests, but they don’t erase, nor negate, his other fine qualities. Or so Howard learns.

Howard also learns Raj lacks quite a bit of forethought, in the form of Star Wars apparel.

And so, on both fronts, I can summarize the episode as such:
“I’m not going to bother him…I’m going to talk to him!”

Proctor Proton

“Aww, it’s so cool when you use the word ‘cool’ wrong.”

Leonard and Sheldon discover they can realize their childhood dream when they find the host of their favorite science show online, Professor Proton! You might even say he’s a positive role model.
Ah I make myself laugh.

They hire him for a day of re-enacting children’s science tricks in their apartment, expecting the gloriousness and grandeur they watched from their TV sets as kids. What they find, however (besides guest star Bob Newhart), is a forlorn retiree with no life direction and a rather stony melancholy over the science world he knew.

Sheldon and Leonard do end up rekindling his spirits. Or maybe that was the beginning of the heart attack. Either way, Sheldon got to ride in an ambulance, so…best day ever! Right?

In an apartment building far, far away, Raj has Howard and Bernadette dog-sit Cinnamon, his Yorkshire terrier. Besides catering to Cinnamon’s rich (and perhaps outrageous) diet, the couple does all right. Even suppose having kids one day (um, we say yes).
Until, that is, they take Cinnamon out for her first park play-date.

When they forget to put her back in the stroller, Howard and Bernadette go on a wild dog-chase for the terrier, unaware Raj subsequently found her and brought her home much sooner. The joke is on him when he tries to guilt-trip them later. Bernadette, pulling another motherly card from the deck and scolding him for keeping them worried sick.
She’s going to be an amazing mom, Howard and I agree.

This episode, filler that I thought it might have been, still made me think of long ago 4pm children’s specials. These shows of my past inspired me to do lots of things, and were only even more prevalent generations before me. (My parents still bring up Captain Kangaroo on occasion).
Did you have any favorites? Or did they absolutely freak you out? Either way, to me, nostalgia is still “cool.”