# The Big Bang Theory, Season 10, Episode 6 (October 27, 2016) -- "The Fetal Kick Catalyst" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 27, 2016, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882 "2016-10-27T20:51:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882/41 "2016-10-29T09:25:14Z")
Well I just watched the episode. I couldn’t get back to sleep so I got up to watch some TV. But I liked this episode. Howard wanted kids and then he was as scared as a carp on Sunday but now that he felt the kick he is all in. And I agree with **Annie-Xmas** that drunk Sheldon, and in my case drunk Stuart as well, is fun. ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882/42 "2016-10-29T10:52:35Z")
> [@JacobSwan](#): > > Good episode, but 18 mins 10 seconds including the opening credits. How long until they are less than 15 mins per episode? That’s exactly what I was thinking. I watched online and expected a few more minutes and then BAM, it was over. I don’t like mopey Stewart. I was hoping he and the immigrant lady would have some sparks between them. I like BobLibDem’s idea of Leonard being god of the nerds, but king of the nerds is better, as it would cause less nerd arguments over which god Leonard was! 😃 Sheldon is becoming his dad. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882/43 "2016-10-29T13:37:35Z")
I think it’s more likely that they would set up Bert from the geology department (Brian Posehn) and the Romanian lady Mrs. Petrescu (Michelle Arthur) than that they would pair her with Stuart. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882/44 "2016-10-29T13:44:17Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Hey now! You missed **Serial Ape-ist 2: Monkey See, Monkey Kill** and…well, okay, that is all you missed. But still! 😉 Did Serial Ape-ist II ever get completed? I thought Penny and Wil Wheaton quit before filming was complete. > [@TruCelt](#): > > Stuart used to be the cool, self-confident one, remember? Not really. He lucked into a date with Penny when she took his self-pitying attitude for amusing self-depreciation, but he had no idea how to act on a date (and had to ask Leonard for advice), suggesting that he was just as pathetic then as now. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882/45 "2016-10-29T13:46:46Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I think it’s more likely that they would set up Bert from the geology department (Brian Posehn) and the Romanian lady Mrs. Petrescu (Michelle Arthur) than that they would pair her with Stuart. Brian Posehn isn’t a nobody. He may have signed a “_n_ number of episodes” contract, and they stuck him here to check one of them off. But I like him, and I’d like it if he hit it off with Mrs. Petrescu-- albeit, I hope she’s a widow, and doesn’t have a husband still in Romania or something. ETA: How does Sheldon even know Bert, given that he hates geologists, and Bert has a crush on Amy? ---
**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:** [October 29, 2016, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882/46 "2016-10-29T14:01:08Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Did Serial Ape-ist II ever get completed? I thought Penny and Wil Wheaton quit before filming was complete. They did. But as the director pointed out, all of Penny’s scenes that still had to be filmed were “full ape,” so her face would never be shown and they could use a stand-in. Wil’s scenes were all done, too, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882/47 "2016-10-29T14:05:48Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Brian Posehn isn’t a nobody. He may have signed a “_n_ number of episodes” contract, and they stuck him here to check one of them off. But I like him, and I’d like it if he hit it off with Mrs. Petrescu-- albeit, I hope she’s a widow, and doesn’t have a husband still in Romania or something. I consider Brian a sign of a show on decline. He always does that character, not bad in a guest spot but I get tired of it quickly as a recurring character. They could have had Mrs. Petrescu without the absurd quoting of lines from commercial. I don’t recall Bert and Sheldon meeting before but I suppose he’s heard of him, and doesn’t feel threatened by a geologist, probably can’t even comprehend that a geologist could be a romantic rival. They’re well below engineers on the academic scale. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882/48 "2016-10-29T14:08:35Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > They did. But as the director pointed out, all of Penny’s scenes that still had to be filmed were “full ape,” so her face would never be shown and they could use a stand-in. Wil’s scenes were all done, too, IIRC. Thanks. It’s not surprising that Penny doesn’t consider that movie to be one of her credits. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882/49 "2016-10-29T15:04:27Z")
I liked that Stewart won one. I never liked how they turned him into a loser. Is it weird I kind of got a little crush on the foreign neighbor? ---
**Author:** ![Vicsage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e68b1a/32.png) [@Vicsage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicsage)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882/50 "2016-10-29T15:15:14Z")
They’ve got to find someone for Raj that adds something different to the group. Maybe someone even more religious than Sheldon’s mother. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882/51 "2016-10-29T15:25:41Z")
> [@Vicsage](#): > > They’ve got to find someone for Raj that adds something different to the group. Maybe someone even more religious than Sheldon’s mother. If he were feeling that desperate, he’d ask his parents to arrange something, like he did that one other time. I really have a strong suspicion they’re setting him up to be Howard and Bernadette’s nanny. Bernadette doesn’t want to stay home, and is up for some big project. Howard once half-heartedly promised to, but now he’s locked into a government contract with Leonard and Sheldon-- but NOT Raj, and Raj needs a way to stay in the US now that he’s not working for Sheldon anymore. Plus, he’s way more psyched about the pregnancy than Howard and Bernadette put together. And there’s been the running “Raj is effeminate” joke. He’ll probably be good at it. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882/52 "2016-10-29T15:37:05Z")
Will Wheaton should have invited to the brunch and the immigrant lady could quoted one of his Television lines ---
**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:** [October 29, 2016, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882/53 "2016-10-29T19:07:32Z")
Wil is nerd “A” List. This was just a practice brunch. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882/54 "2016-10-29T22:55:04Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Is it weird I kind of got a little crush on the foreign neighbor? No weirder than my little crush on Stuart … or my BIG one on Howard. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882/55 "2016-10-29T23:29:49Z")
> [@Reluctant\_A](#): > > We do? > > I do. YMMV > > He is? Without Sheldon this show might not have made it to a second season. Without Leonard nobody would have cared. Or I guess except for you. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882/56 "2016-10-30T01:27:14Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Without Sheldon this show might not have made it to a second season. Without Leonard nobody would have cared. Or I guess except for you. Sheldon is the breakout character, and I think more people identify with his feelings of being different than the producers originally realized. However, in order to make Sheldon’s quirkiness qualitatively, not just quantitatively, different from Leonard’s, he had to be pretty thoughtless and even a little mean sometimes. He doesn’t do it on purpose, but he needs Leonard to be there to agree with the audience’s reaction to a lot of Sheldon’s behavior, and also to be a buffer between Sheldon and the rest of the world. In fact, for a lot of the first two seasons, Penny was “the rest of the world,” and really didn’t like Sheldon. If she’d lived across the hall from him without Leonard, all it would have been was a lot of mean-spirited feuding. But they’ve both grown, BECAUSE of Leonard. Almost every group comedy has an “anchor” character. He is the audience, so he doesn’t change as much throughout the run as the other characters. On _Taxi_ it was Alex. On _WKRP_ it was Andy. On _Ellen_, it was supposed to be Ellen, which is why, once she came out, it became The Lesbian Show, and Ellen had to go through a lot of personal growth in just a couple of episodes-- also why the pacing was off, and it spite of its novelty, and some really great writing, the show got pretty awkward sometimes. They sort of tried to make Peter the anchor, but didn’t fully commit. If the show had been conceived as a coming-out mini-series, where the main character is the one who grows and changes, it could have been truly great. Anyway, Leonard is supposed to be the anchor on TBBT. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882/57 "2016-10-30T02:27:36Z")
He’s a weak anchor. That can work, and it does in this case, but he’s not bringing much special to the show. He’s not even that good as a nerd, just nerdy looking. The show could have rotated around any of the other characters with a little change in their circumstances. They could have Leonard absent from shows and it wouldn’t make much difference. It’s not unusual for an anchor role to be unimportant but you can’t say he’s adding much to the show except a point for plots to rotate around him. There’s no doubt about it though, Sheldon is far funnier than Leonard. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882/58 "2016-10-30T03:54:49Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > It needed more people, but I agree. In my experience, even the worst attended con would have more people than that wandering around. Although I _have_ heard stories… I just went to a con recently (billed as a decent-sized one, too) where I had a table to sell books. The setup looked almost identical to the one in the show…including the number of people in the area at any given time. Maybe there were more people at the “main” part of the show’s con, and they shuffled the signature tables off to some remote corner. That’s what happened to us. The whole time I was watching the Leonard/Penny scenes in that episode, I was having flashbacks to a few weeks ago… So yeah, it does happen. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882/59 "2016-10-30T04:13:54Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > . The show could have rotated around any of the other characters with a little change in their circumstances. I’d have to disagree. He is the most “normal” of the nerd characters and therefore the most reasonably relatable. A romantic or even buddy relationship between Penny and Howard ( who Penny flat-out disliked for multiple seasons ) or Raj would have been simply out of the question. Despite the chemistry between the actors, so would have been one with Sheldon - sorry 'shippers :). No Leonard, no plausible connection with Penny, no show. IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882/60 "2016-10-30T04:57:57Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Without Sheldon this show might not have made it to a second season. Without Leonard nobody would have cared. Or I guess except for you. I’ll bee dat. I don’t find Sheldon to be funny at all. In fact, not only do I not find him funny, but he’s a character whom, if I met him in real life, I’d have thrown him out a window by now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-10-episode-6-october-27-2016-the-fetal-kick-catalyst/769882.md?page=4)