# The Big Bang Theory, Season 9, Episode 2 (September 28, 2015) -- "The Separation Oscillation" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 28, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-2-september-28-2015-the-separation-oscillation/732854 "2015-09-28T18:14:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 5
**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 2, 2015, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-2-september-28-2015-the-separation-oscillation/732854/81 "2015-10-02T02:34:22Z")
Very much so. Sheldon and Penny’s boobs are the primary reason I watch the show. ---
**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 2, 2015, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-2-september-28-2015-the-separation-oscillation/732854/82 "2015-10-02T03:44:19Z")
Understandable. There used to be a ton of people who’d watch _Family Matters_ to see Urkel, too. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-2-september-28-2015-the-separation-oscillation/732854/83 "2015-10-02T13:28:20Z")
> [@Reluctant\_A](#): > > Understandable. There used to be a ton of people who’d watch _Family Matters_ to see Urkel, too. I love Sheldon, but Urkel was like nails down a chalkboard. Particularly after the actor had clearly grown up, but the writers/producers failed to let the character advance as he should have. Ditto that snarky little space puppet that everybody loved. What was his name again? He looked like a pile of feces with an aardvark nose tacked on. Anyway, I don’t get the attraction. Shrill isn’t funny to me. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-2-september-28-2015-the-separation-oscillation/732854/84 "2015-10-02T13:48:36Z")
Enough of Jerk Sheldon. Bring back Aspie Sheldon. ---
**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 2, 2015, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-2-september-28-2015-the-separation-oscillation/732854/85 "2015-10-02T13:50:16Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Ditto that snarky little space puppet that everybody loved. What was his name again? He looked like a pile of feces with an aardvark nose tacked on. ALF? If it’s any consolation, he got vivisected when he got back to Melmac. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-2-september-28-2015-the-separation-oscillation/732854/86 "2015-10-02T17:37:56Z")
I agree. It’s okay to be quirky and OCD, and even a bit of a jerkass… but Sheldon is fully capable of giving a rat about people he cares about, and of SHOWING it, and even of thinking through the rudiments of human relationships. Who remembers the episode where he was throwing down Long Island Iced Teas and was ready to go punch out Wil Wheaton for insultin’ his woman? But that was the Sheldon of long ago, who was apparently much harder to write. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-2-september-28-2015-the-separation-oscillation/732854/87 "2015-10-02T20:28:46Z")
Com’on, this show is not about character growth at all. It does not care about continuity if it gets in the way of a joke. Never has. The only consideration put into the next ‘sit’ in this sitcom is which can they fit in the most geek, sex or fart joke. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-2-september-28-2015-the-separation-oscillation/732854/88 "2015-10-02T21:16:24Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Com’on, this show is not about character growth at all. It does not care about continuity if it gets in the way of a joke. Never has. The only consideration put into the next ‘sit’ in this sitcom is which can they fit in the most geek, sex or fart joke. Your opinion is duly noted, and I don’t necessarily disagree with it… but they’re going to have to do better than that, considering the writing’s going downhill, and the characters HAVE developed; Howard’s not the creepiest thing on two feet any more, Raj has developed his sensitive side, Leonard… is… um… married, and no longer sleeping with North Korean spies, and Sheldon… …well, three out of four’s pretty good. But now instead of the wacky nerdy hijinks of four professional academic nerdboys, we’re branching out. The show’s growing whether we like it or not, and the impetus is simply no longer “Leonard’s unrequited crush on the pretty girl across the hall while his three wacky nerdy friends do wacky nerdy things wacky nerdy style. Wacky nerdy.” ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-2-september-28-2015-the-separation-oscillation/732854/89 "2015-10-02T21:26:27Z")
True, they are all different than they were in the beginning. But only because that’s where the jokes have taken them, not the need to drive any sort of narrative. The only real complaint I have about the difference between early BBT and later BBT is how the characters used to enjoy their geekhood. Now, not so much. I think the very worst episode was the one where they guys were going to ComiCom and the girls read Thor. I HATED that one because they ended up ashamed of the very thing that made them them. HATED, I tell you! ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-2-september-28-2015-the-separation-oscillation/732854/90 "2015-10-02T21:32:09Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > True, they are all different than they were in the beginning. But only because that’s where the jokes have taken them, not the need to drive any sort of narrative. > > The only real complaint I have about the difference between early BBT and later BBT is how the characters used to enjoy their geekhood. Now, not so much. I think the very worst episode was the one where they guys were going to ComiCom and the girls read Thor. I HATED that one because they ended up ashamed of the very thing that made them them. HATED, I tell you! I’d argue with that. We married off two of the characters. Did jokes lead us to this? And Howard is a very different guy than he was in the beginning, largely due to Bernadette’s influence. Your second point… mmm… actually, hadn’t considered that. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-2-september-28-2015-the-separation-oscillation/732854/91 "2015-10-02T22:33:30Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I think there were three penis jokes. So is that an all-time low? ---
**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 2, 2015, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-2-september-28-2015-the-separation-oscillation/732854/92 "2015-10-02T22:50:46Z")
To be fair to the guys, they’d had their car stolen, they were physically assaulted by passersby, they were dehydrated, tired, out of their element by about 150 miles and that would cause just about anybody to at least question their lifestyle choice. Besides, they dropped right back into it once they were home and comfortable. Besides, the interaction between the girls was hysterical! _You don’t **know** him!_ ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-2-september-28-2015-the-separation-oscillation/732854/93 "2015-10-02T23:03:14Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > I didn’t like the Emily character either. I wish they’d bring back Lucy; her oddball-ness made her a good fit with the group. > > I also didn’t like the Sheldon/Penny kiss. It made me wince and look away from the screen. Really? I thought it was hilarious. Especially when Penny put up her leg. That seemed like Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco having fun messing with their roles. I saw a clip from an awards show of Cuoco presenting Parsons with an award, that made it seem like they are very good friends. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-2-september-28-2015-the-separation-oscillation/732854/94 "2015-10-05T18:13:37Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > To be fair to the guys, they’d had their car stolen, they were physically assaulted by passersby, they were dehydrated, tired, out of their element by about 150 miles and that would cause just about anybody to at least question their lifestyle choice. Besides, they dropped right back into it once they were home and comfortable. > > Besides, the interaction between the girls was hysterical! > > _You don’t **know** him!_ “You don’t know his life!!” Yup, the girls were hilarious in that episode! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-2-september-28-2015-the-separation-oscillation/732854.md?page=4)