# The Big Bang Theory, March 7, 2014 -- "The Friendship Turbulence" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 7, 2014, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112 "2014-03-07T14:59:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112/21 "2014-03-08T02:13:42Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Why exactly was Sheldon in the car with Penny when it broke down? She gave him a ride to the drug store to pick up anti-diarrheal meds in case Howard has him deported. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112/22 "2014-03-08T03:54:37Z")
For some inexplicable reason my DVR didn’t record this episode yesterday. From these reviews it sounds like it did me a favor. I loved _Community_ this week! ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112/23 "2014-03-08T04:53:44Z")
Was it just me, or did Amy seem a lot more “normal” in this episode? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112/24 "2014-03-08T05:12:37Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I will admit, Melissa Rauch’s facial expression when he delivered that line was priceless. This whole episode was about facial expressions, after unfunny insults. It felt like an anomaly of writing. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112/25 "2014-03-08T05:14:12Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Was it just me, or did Amy seem a lot more “normal” in this episode? She and Leonard are the only normal ones left ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112/26 "2014-03-08T06:21:39Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Was it just me, or did Amy seem a lot more “normal” in this episode? They’ve kind of rewritten history with her. She only met Sheldon because Raj and Howard created a fake profile for him and when they first met she was basically a female Sheldon with no interest in dating. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112/27 "2014-03-08T11:51:11Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > They’ve kind of rewritten history with her. She only met Sheldon because Raj and Howard created a fake profile for him and when they first met she was basically a female Sheldon with no interest in dating. Yeah, they’ve made Amy this sad, lonely girl, when her profile was simply so she could go out once a year to keep her family off her back about having no interest in dating. I could see the character working better if, as the first appearance indicated, Amy had found Sheldon to be the first person _worthy_ of a relationship and set about making that happen. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112/28 "2014-03-08T11:58:17Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > They’ve kind of rewritten history with her. She only met Sheldon because Raj and Howard created a fake profile for him and when they first met she was basically a female Sheldon with no interest in dating. Well, she was on the dating site in the first place, and very quickly within a few episodes of her becoming a recurring character it was established that she was sexually frustrated and personally experimental. It’s not a huge retro. They have completely eliminated her obsession with Penny, though, kind of suddenly. But it’s just a sitcom. Their approach seems to be to not expect close scrutiny, like back in the old days when nobody really cared all that much about consistent continuity. And I say fair enough, too. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112/29 "2014-03-08T12:56:44Z")
They almost went with the SDMB idea - cast Penny in a SyFy low budget move (“Serial Apist II”). Still possible they will go that route. They need to continue the Raj / veterinarian story line. Brian ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112/30 "2014-03-08T14:15:26Z")
Just too much “bad” in this episode to outweigh the “good”. Sheldon and Howard on the plane: blank video would have been funnier. Leonard and Penny just being losers. 20 years from now they’ll be alcoholic co-dependents living in a trailer outside Bakersfield yelling at each other all the time. And “worst of all”: Raj. How pathetic can they make this guy? They just keep flipping his character all over the place. This week he’s over effusive. But he was fine with the vet. Etc. At least he wasn’t paired up with Stuart this time. Bernadette and AFF were the main good points. Would have liked to see more interaction between AFF and her “date”. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112/31 "2014-03-08T14:29:18Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Was it just me, or did Amy seem a lot more “normal” in this episode? Not just in this episode. She seems pretty normal to me when Raj and/or Howard drop in on her when she’s in her lab. And she’s okay when she has some moments with Bernadette. Not when she’s around Sheldon. The writers seem to be dialing down her crush on Penny but they may be developing some jealous feelings toward Penny. She sort of reverts to early Amy when she’s with Leonard. I generally have to, in Amy’s case, agree with what that postman told Sheldon in reference to women generally several seasons ago; “Bitches be crazy.” > [@silenus](#): > > I will admit, Melissa Rauch’s facial expression when he delivered that line was priceless. Well, yeah. For a stand-up comic, she does good expressions. I’m biased, I have a bit of a crush on her. And the Boob Induced Reality Distortion Field is a real thing that merits occasional discussion/further studies. > [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > She and Leonard are the only normal ones left Yes, they’re getting there. He’s getting over his blind love for Penny and thinking a bit more practically since she began concentrating on her acting career. Ever since her drunken proposal. > [@N9IWP](#): > > They need to continue the Raj / veterinarian story line. Yvette the Vet. I agree. She’s a doctor so she’d fit in with the group intellectually yet she’s not an academic, so there’s more of a practical side to her. They could start off with a dog walking date. That reminds me… what kind of dog is Cinnamon anyway? ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112/32 "2014-03-08T14:49:54Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Well, she was on the dating site in the first place, and very quickly within a few episodes of her becoming a recurring character it was established that she was sexually frustrated and personally experimental. It’s not a huge retro. Only in the sense it’s a _complete_ retro. 🙂 AFF was introduced as a one-note character - as said above, a female Sheldon. She had no interest in sex or romance, and used the site solely to arrange one date/year to keep her parents off her case about not dating. She said all this during her first meeting with Sheldon - it’s _why_ they hit it off. When they decided to add her as a recurring character, they flushed pretty much all of that, and we got the sexually frustrated AFF we have now. An Amy that Sheldon would have run screaming from in that first appearance. Like you said, it’s a sitcom, no big deal - the character as written now has more plot opportunities, something they didn’t worry about when they had Bialik do a one-shot ep years ago. But the show’s become something of a tangled mess. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112/33 "2014-03-08T15:28:44Z")
Amy has changed a lot, but it’s natural that she would do so once she began socializing with relatively normal people (heavy emphasis on the “relatively”). All of the characters have evolved over the last seven years; unfortunately, I think they’ve reached the point where they’re getting sick of one another and are constantly bickering over things they would have let slide earlier. Howard and Bernie in particular need to spend more time together by themselves. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112/34 "2014-03-08T15:38:51Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > That reminds me… what kind of dog is Cinnamon anyway? Cinnamon is a Yorkie. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112/35 "2014-03-08T16:49:55Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > Losing your income while you still have to pay rent is financially impossible. Paying for an apartment the size of Sheldon’s and Leonard’s, with better furnishings too, isn’t possible on a waitress’ pay, either. Betcha Daddy, who we met once, is covering the rent and always has. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112/36 "2014-03-08T17:06:52Z")
Pretty sure Penny’s apartment is a 1BR. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112/37 "2014-03-12T16:56:39Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Paying for an apartment the size of Sheldon’s and Leonard’s, with better furnishings too, isn’t possible on a waitress’ pay, either. Betcha Daddy, who we met once, is covering the rent and always has. This was heavily implied in at least one episode. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112/38 "2014-03-12T17:27:35Z")
The BBT has been renewed for THREE more seasons! Wow. Have no idea how they’re going to come up with stories for that long. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112/39 "2014-03-12T18:07:19Z")
Maybe a completely new set of writers would be able to do something. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112/40 "2014-03-12T18:15:51Z")
I love “Big Bang Theory” - but 3 more seasons is too much. I guess if I were raking in tons of money, I wouldn’t want to stop either, but one could wish for a world where sometimes tv decisions were made on the quality of the show. where people learned to leave when you were still liked, still on top of your game. It’s been done. (How I wish Matt Smith had stayed longer…) As for future stories - if they read message boards like this they’d get plenty of good ideas for stories, but they probably don’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-march-7-2014-the-friendship-turbulence/683112.md?page=3)