So I was watching a rerun of TBBT, and the episode was, interestingly enough, called “The Pirate Solution.” That is just coincidence. The part that stood out to me was what Sheldon said at the 8-second mark.
Sheldon: Never fear. Like the subordinate male protagonist in countless action movies who disappears half-way through the second reel, I have returned to save the day.
I’m going to take a page out of Sheldon’s book and fear not. Neal fits that archetype of the underdog who is absent yet returns to put things right. The writers are just following a set film and television trope by making it seem like things are bad for Neal, but by facing trials, Neal will overcome adversity and triumph. After all, that is tale of the unlikely hero, is it not? The synopsis for 3×15 uses negative sounding words like “anguish” and “yearns for” to trigger deep pathos for Neal’s struggle. Yet, all real heroes must struggle with the climb in order to reach the summit. That’s just how this is supposed to go.
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy