# The Big Bang Theory, Season 9, Episode 9 (November 19, 2015) -- "The Platonic Permutation" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 19, 2015, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-9-november-19-2015-the-platonic-permutation/737972 "2015-11-19T12:03:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2015, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-9-november-19-2015-the-platonic-permutation/737972/41 "2015-11-23T14:02:59Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I don’t think Amy has been hanging with the girls very much since the break-up. There’s a good chance Penny just hasn’t had the opportunity to tell her in passing, because it isn’t the type of information you make a special phone call for. That would just be cruel. The girls were drinking wine together just last episode, when Amy was telling them about her upcoming second date with Stephen Merchant. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-9-november-19-2015-the-platonic-permutation/737972/42 "2015-11-23T15:21:24Z")
Then was definitely not the time to tell her. “Oh, hey. Thanks for telling us about your new hot boyfriend. Did you know Sheldon was going to propose?” ---
**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:** [November 23, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-9-november-19-2015-the-platonic-permutation/737972/43 "2015-11-23T15:41:34Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I don’t think Amy has been hanging with the girls very much since the break-up. There’s a good chance Penny just hasn’t had the opportunity to tell her in passing, because it isn’t the type of information you make a special phone call for. That would just be cruel. It seems Penny should have taken Amy aside and said something like “you’ve been with Sheldon for a long time, maybe you should reconsider taking him back. Maybe he has a special surprise for you”. Then when Amy starts to ask about it say “You need to talk to him.” ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-9-november-19-2015-the-platonic-permutation/737972/44 "2015-11-23T17:15:03Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Well, then, take 110 to the Century Freeway, then take THAT to the Long Beach Fwy (or to the 405 South, then to the 710). …and drive to the Slauson cutoff, get out of your car, cut off your slauson. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-9-november-19-2015-the-platonic-permutation/737972/45 "2015-11-23T17:55:10Z")
Does a ring from one’s MeeMaw outrank a tiara? ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2015, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-9-november-19-2015-the-platonic-permutation/737972/46 "2015-11-23T19:34:18Z")
It might complement it. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-9-november-19-2015-the-platonic-permutation/737972/47 "2015-11-23T20:18:03Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > It seems Penny should have taken Amy aside and said something like “you’ve been with Sheldon for a long time, maybe you should reconsider taking him back. Maybe he has a special surprise for you”. Then when Amy starts to ask about it say “You need to talk to him.” Maybe a good plotline for sitcom scripting, but in real life I think a proposal is one thing that EVERYone should stay out of. If Sheldon doesn’t know Amy well enough (or doesn’t have the straight-up gumption) to tell Amy where his heart and mind are leading him, then they do not have what it takes to make it in a marriage. And I am still flummoxed by his “just be friends” thing. I’m afraid that he now feels he needs to date four other people in order to “win” the break-up before he gets back together with Amy. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-9-november-19-2015-the-platonic-permutation/737972/48 "2015-11-23T22:01:06Z")
The moment Leonard came in wearing the nightie, I KNEW, KNEW, KNEW the door would open and the rest of the crew would walk in! ---
**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:** [November 24, 2015, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-9-november-19-2015-the-platonic-permutation/737972/49 "2015-11-24T02:34:48Z")
That much was obvious. Especially since the apartment conforms to TV Law, which states that all apartment doors will remain unlocked when the occupants are home. Unless only some of the occupants are home, in which case the door will remain open or locked depending on which is most funny at the time. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2015, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-9-november-19-2015-the-platonic-permutation/737972/50 "2015-11-24T12:33:20Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Maybe a good plotline for sitcom scripting, but in real life I think a proposal is one thing that EVERYone should stay out of. If Sheldon doesn’t know Amy well enough (or doesn’t have the straight-up gumption) to tell Amy where his heart and mind are leading him, then they do not have what it takes to make it in a marriage. > > And I am still flummoxed by his “just be friends” thing. I’m afraid that he now feels he needs to date four other people in order to “win” the break-up before he gets back together with Amy. I’m not so sure what Penny’s moral choice should be. She knows that Amy loves Sheldon and that he wants to marry her. Should she sit and watch two people who should be a couple stay apart when a word to the wise might put them together? ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-9-november-19-2015-the-platonic-permutation/737972/51 "2015-11-24T13:48:32Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I’m not so sure what Penny’s moral choice should be. She knows that Amy loves Sheldon and that he wants to marry her. Should she sit and watch two people who should be a couple stay apart when a word to the wise might put them together? There’s also the question of whether Sheldon and Amy really _should_ be a couple. Just because Sheldon was prepared to propose doesn’t mean he would make a good husband. If we recall the way that he treated Amy over the previous season, I would say that he mostly behaved as a selfish ass toward her. She broke up with him for very good reasons, and “He hasn’t proposed” was the least of them. Trying to put myself in Penny’s position, it’s hard to know what she ought to do. If I were Amy’s friend, I would hope that she would think long and hard about whether Sheldon has really addressed any of the issues that led her to leave him in the first place. Is he able to treat her with respect, and give her the emotional intimacy that she wants and deserves? He seems to have matured a bit in that regard, but even as of the last episode, he was still saying that he wanted a new girlfriend so that he could ignore her and focus on his work, like he did with Amy. That’s not a man I would recommend to someone I cared about. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-season-9-episode-9-november-19-2015-the-platonic-permutation/737972.md?page=2)