(S03E23) Well, we sure didn't end the season with a big Leonard/Penny moment. There was no tearful reconciliation or bitter fight: just drunken sex and a reaffirmation that their relationship is over. Leonard and Penny ended not with a bang, but with a whimper (and then with a bang, but still).

Instead we get Mayim Bialik as a possible love interest for... Sheldon. When Raj and Wolowitz signed Sheldon up for a dating service in the beginning of the episode, I dreaded this storyline. I love the fact that Sheldon gets to be asexual, and everybody treats him like a general loon because he is one-- not because he doesn't have a girlfriend. It's a nice dynamic and I was afraid that this episode was going to ruin it, since everyone on television has to be in love with someone all the time.

Even after Amy Farrah Fowler showed up, I wasn't too excited (well, except for the fact that I'm kind of obsessed with Mayim Bialik). However, once she took all forms of human contact, including coitus, off the table, then I was sold. Some of the best scenes on this show involve Penny and Sheldon's awkward friendship, so having Sheldon have another female friend is a very intriguing idea to me.

Since it was the big season finale reveal, we haven't really gotten to see it in action yet, but I have high hopes for this. What I'm afraid of is that she's going to go the way of other love interests and just sort of fade away. She'll be a big part of the story for a week or two, and then all the sudden she's dismissed with a casual, "oh, we broke up weeks ago," never to be mentioned again.

What do you think about this latest plot twist? Is it a good idea, or should they just leave Sheldon alone?

Some of my favorite lines from this episode:

Sheldon: "I should have brought an umbrella."
Leonard: "What for? It's not gonna rain."
Sheldon: "I know that, but with skin as fair as mine, moon burn is a real possibility."

"Don't worry about the moon. We set our laser to 'stun.'" - Leonard

"I'm telling you, dude. The only way to feel better about Penny going out with other guys is for you to get back on the whores." - Raj

Sheldon: "As a native Texan, I must say that I've never heard the phrase 'yee haw' used in quite that context."
Penny: "Oh God."
Sheldon: "'Oh God.' That I've heard on multiple occasions."

Wolowitz: "Okay, what if I were to tell you, tomorrow at 4:30, you could meet a woman who has been scientifically chosen to be your perfect mate."
Sheldon: "I would snort with derision and throw my arms in the air, exhausted by your constant tomfoolery."

Sheldon: "Hello, Amy Farrah Fowler. I'm sorry to inform you that you've been taken in by unsupportable mathematics designed to prey upon the gullible and the lonely. Additionally, I am being blackmailed with a hidden dirty sock."
Amy: "If that was slang, I'm unfamiliar with it. If it was literal, I share your aversion to soiled hosiery."