[smoguntia]

Originally Posted by Whimsical Elf (View Post) Honestly, with this latest episode there were a couple of hints that Emily might be getting tired of Raj. I hope Raj breaks up with her first.

Yes I recognizes those hints too. The way they were talking with each other when Sheldon tried to apologize and Sheldon saying "you can do better than Raj" gave me the impression the writers are trying to prepare us for an upcoming breakup

[IcyBerry]

We're also not really clear on Emily's feelings for Raj I mean in the S8 finale, we didn't really see her react or say anything after Raj's fake proclamation of love. It makes it all quite vague.

[FoxPhile]

If they do break up Raj and Emily, I really hope Raj is the instigator. If there is anything I want him to learn from this relationship it's that he doesn't have to settle for fear of being alone. And I kind of think that's where he's at right now. Two of the couples he's friends with are married, the third just survived a break-up and came back stronger than ever. Raj needs to realize that he can find the person who is right for him - but he needs to ditch the one who isn't and who doesn't appreciate him.

[ennaxor]

Originally Posted by FoxPhile (View Post) If they do break up Raj and Emily, I really hope Raj is the instigator. If there is anything I want him to learn from this relationship it's that he doesn't have to settle for fear of being alone. And I kind of think that's where he's at right now. Two of the couples he's friends with are married, the third just survived a break-up and came back stronger than ever. Raj needs to realize that he can find the person who is right for him - but he needs to ditch the one who isn't and who doesn't appreciate him.

Yesss. This is what I've wanted since he started dating Emily - that if/when they break up, Raj is the one to do it, because he really needs that growth.

[IcyBerry]

Interesting observation from the A.V Club guy about Raj's story

It’s a potentially fruitful area of conflict, but the complete absence of Emily throughout most of this season means that none of it feels important. In the span of one dinner with Howard and Bernadette, Raj considered breaking up with Emily, dating both women at once, proposing a threesome, or just calling Claire and telling her that he already has a girlfriend. The punchline, I guess, is that Raj falls in love with anyone who gives him the time of day and, despite his hopeless romantic nature, remains unsatisfied with what he’s found in his past relationships. For me though, the way in which Raj just cycles through these emotions rings false. If Emily is meant to be a big part of his life, especially with Laura Spencer being promoted to series regular, then why is their relationship so thoroughly underexplored? There’s no consistency to their story as a couple, no sense of depth or history. Part of that is the absence of Emily, but a lot of it comes down to the show choosing to ignore the dynamic of their relationship in order to trot out rote sitcom tropes and manufactured conflict.

[WeBuiltThePyramids]

Agreed agreed agreed. I don't understand, I didn't at the time and I don't know, why Laura was promoted.

This part especially.

There’s no consistency to their story as a couple, no sense of depth or history.

By Amy's third episode, there was more history and depth to Shamy than there is to Raj and Emily and they've literally been a couple for years now.

[IcyBerry]

Originally Posted by WeBuiltThePyramids (View Post) Agreed agreed agreed. I don't understand, I didn't at the time and I don't know, why Laura was promoted. By Amy's third episode, there was more history and depth to Shamy than there is to Raj and Emily and they've literally been a couple for years now.

IKR?!? It seems like in S7, the writers thought "Oh it might be time for Raj to experience a long-term relationship so let's bring in Emily and see where their relationship goes!" And then in S8, they seemed to have either completely lost interest in Raj's relationship or just didn't know how to progress it, giving Emily very little to do except for a few appearances here and there. Now, in S9, they seemed to have been too busy focusing on Shamy in the first half and lost all interest and ideas for Raj/Emily, leaving that relationship very under-developed and dissatisfying, as well as on the verge of an actual breakup.

[smoguntia]

Before they promoted Laura, was she listed under guest role or recurring role on the press releases?

[IcyBerry]

Originally Posted by smoguntia (View Post) Before they promoted Laura, was she listed under guest role or recurring role on the press releases?

Think it was guest star but not entirely sure

[WeBuiltThePyramids]

Originally Posted by IcyBerry (View Post) Think it was guest star but not entirely sure

I was gonna say I thought it was recurring, but I've never actually looked, I was just going off of how I would classify it.

[FileXxX]

Another girl? I'm not sure how to feel about that. I don't like Emily that much and I can't say that I'm fond of "Claire" either. There's just so little depth to Raj's relationships throughout the last couple of seasons that I don't really care anymore. Definitely won't agree with his way of dealing with these things. This is bad bad bad.

[SargeantFuzzyBoots]

Well, I don't think Claire seemed all that interested in a relationship with Raj either, if that's any help.

I've said this before, but I've never really minded Emily's not getting that much to do or screen time since I have shipper bias, so I can't really complain - but, I do see how, structurally, they've backed themselves into a corner with Emily. But it happens, I suppose. They tried to incorporate Leslie as pretty much a full-time cast member, but it just didn't end up working out story-wise, etc, and couldn't find enough for her to do.

[FoxPhile]

I think Claire could be a good fit for Raj and the show - but the writers will definitely have to do a better job of developing her character than they did with Emily for that to happen. At least Claire is a (struggling?) writer - and a sci-fi writer at that - which gives her some claim to the title of "nerd".

[WeBuiltThePyramids]

Originally Posted by FoxPhile (View Post) I think Claire could be a good fit for Raj and the show - but the writers will definitely have to do a better job of developing her character than they did with Emily for that to happen. At least Claire is a (struggling?) writer - and a sci-fi writer at that - which gives her some claim to the title of "nerd".

Yeah and she seemed like a pretty chill person. I did like her, but like...I've been saying I want Raj to be the one to end a relationship, but because he realizes sometimes it's better to be alone than to just take what he can get out of a relationship, not because he wants to run to someone else.

[IcyBerry]

So should Claire be added to the list of endgame candidates in the OP?