11.12 The Matrimonial Metric When Amy reveals that she’s still in the process of choosing a maid of honour for the wedding, she asks Sheldon to change the subject should it come up in conversation with their friends. He somehow manages to throw them off the scent despite some close calls, and the couple later decide to use detailed metrics to decide who should be in the wedding party. This is of course pretty arbitrary because, as the audience, we know that Sheldon would never choose Raj or Howard to be his best man, and Amy has been in love with Penny for multiple seasons now. Poor Stuart gets to be best man for a whole day before he’s usurped, but wouldn’t a Monica Geller-esque headset and clipboard have looked great on him at the rehearsal dinner? Considering that the entire show has more or less become a way for the writers to throw a spotlight on their biggest cash cow character (to the point where an entire spin-off has been created), it’s been nice to have Sheldon paired with Amy for most of their storylines this year. There’s a reason the couple has been a hit with fans, and Amy balances him out very nicely at times. It goes uncommented upon in the episode itself, but it should also be noted that Raj and Howard’s friendship seems to have been repaired entirely. One small difference – the only cutting remark made between them this week was Raj towards Howard. A huge part of me wishes The Matrimonial Metric had been a bottle episode that began when Amy and Sheldon entered the gathering at the start. The concept would have provided huge potential for a great, farcical hour in which Sheldon kept tripping over his obligation not to reveal Amy’s indecision and, once revealed, the gang would voluntarily compete for the roles. Alas, was we got was still a fun instalment and, even if the results of the experiment where the obvious ones, it makes me hopeful for episodes centred on the remaining milestones. That’s before we get to the wedding itself, of course, and with the news that season 12 might be the last, we should expect fireworks.
