Warning: Spoilers ahead for the most recent episode of The Big Bang Theory. Feel free to come back once you've caught up!
As we're nearing Shamy's wedding on The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon has had a major revelation about his life, and it's really a doozy. The dedicated scientist has finally realized that he's currently not as committed to his work as he thought he was or as committed as he used to be, but, even better than that, he's realized that he's actually cool with the change. Here's what happened.
Sheldon came home to find a letter from Dr. Wolcott (Peter MacNicol), a scientist he's been talking to about some of his work, inviting Sheldon to work with him at his cabin out in the middle of nowhere. Sheldon thinks Dr. Wolcott is brilliant, but Leonard, Howard and Raj consider him to be a reclusive, paranoid nut. While Sheldon is excited to visit with Wolcott, the guys make lots of jokes about Sheldon going off into the woods to hang out with a stranger and maybe not coming back. Amy hears this, and since she, Penny and Bernadette are planning to spend a bulk of the coming weekend by having Amy's bachelorette party, she asks that Leonard go with him and stay to protect him. When Leonard agrees, Bernadette tells Howard that he has to go to protect Leonard, which prompts Raj to volunteer to tag along to look out for Howard.
When the guys get to Wolcott's place, everyone is immediately creeped out except for Sheldon. After he knocks on the door, it's clear that Wolcott is unlocking at least 15 different locks just so he can get the damn thing open. Once inside, everything Wolcott says, and much of what they see inside, only validates the fact that he's a bit unstable. Wolcott admits to having a special chair where he sits just to think about people who've wronged him, he fertilizes his garden with his own manure, and makes the guys put their phones in a bag so he can lock them up so they can't steal his ideas. When he shows Sheldon a notebook with some research and Sheldon says he doesn't understand it, Wolcott tells him that not only are all his equations written backwards, but all the letters are actually numbers and the numbers are really letters.
When Sheldon decodes Wolcott's work, Leonard, Raj and Howard can finally see that the man really is a genius. Sheldon marvels at how much he's been able to get done by locking himself away, even from his wife, who lives in Munich and only communicates with twice every few years when they send birthday cards to each other. Sheldon asks the group "What's wrong with me?" when he realizes how dedicated Wolcott is to his work and how much progress he could be missing out on by not doing the same thing. Howard steps up and tells Sheldon that nothing's wrong, he just has friends, a fiancee and people who care about him and whom he cares about in return.
And that was when it hit Sheldon that he just wasn't as driven by his work and academic pursuits as he used to be or as he still thought he was. Sheldon got a weird look on his face and then told the guys he wanted to go home instead of staying for dinner, and when he got home he had a nice chat with Amy. He asked her if she'd still love him if she found out he wasn't the single-minded scientist completely devoted to his work that she fell in love with, which prompts her to ask if he'd still love her if he found out she wasn't exactly the quiet quilter that he fell for. Obviously, they both said they would still love the other and shared a kiss.
This, of course, means that Sheldon is totally OK with not having work as his number one love, making his relationship with Amy even stronger than it had already become. Yay for nerd love!
To see what other changes are in store for Sheldon, Amy and the rest of the gang, be sure to watch The Big Bang Theory when it airs Thursdays on CBS at 8 p.m. EST. To get a refresher on how dedicated Sheldon has been to his work over the years, head on to the next page!
Sheldon has always been about the work. His academic pursuits, especially in his chosen field of theoretical physics, have been something that he's devoted much of his life to, even when weird obstacles like sex talk try to get in the way.
And, he never let a little thing like trying to work closely with a friend or getting stuck on a problem he couldn't solve stop his commitment to getting the job done.
Of course, Sheldon has always been completely convinced of his superior intellect, but this sometimes leads to professional jealously, especially when he realizes that someone he sees as inferior actually has their scientific ducks in a row.
Well, I guess we can look forward to a slightly more relaxed Sheldon when it comes to work from now on! For everything else you can catch on the small screen in the coming weeks, check out our midseason premiere guide and summer premiere guide.
