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S08.E01: The Locomotion Interruption

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By photo fox
in The Big Bang Theory [V]

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BooksRule

BooksRule

Rats!  I was watching a 'Castle' re-run on TNT and forgot to change the channel.  I missed the first five minutes.  Did they explain why Penny cut her hair?  I think it looks great.  I also missed half-naked Sheldon, so I'll have to try to catch the episode online (whenever CBS makes it available--if they even do).

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Crucial

Crucial

Great first episode back for a show.  Would love to know why Penny cut the hair.  Love that Amy was upset with Sheldon and the drive home I found so funny.  Especially when Amy covered her ears and Sheldon mentioned sex, lol.  Loved it.

 

I have to say though I did feel sorry for Sheldon and I would have helped him in the train station.  I felt bad :(  He needed help and I would have helped him.

 

Loved the new episode.  Go Stewart and Mom!!

  • Love 1
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Pippin

Pippin

On a totally shallow note, love Penny's new hairdo.  Makes her look like a grown-up.

 

If a guy in his underwear came up to me in a train station (where, let's face it, a lot of differently-sane people have been known to hang out) I would book, too.  Wish I were nobler but I'm not.

 

Sheldon says once that he wants to have coitus with Amy, and then the topic is dropped like the proverbial hot potato.  Why?

 

I realize living with Howard would exasperate even a stone statue, but I hope crabby Bernadette isn't a constant feature this season.  Her screaming, yelling and bitching gets old real fast.

 

Also love Stuart and Debbie.  Wouldn't even object if they got together.  (Offscreen, of course)  Debbie is one of those characters (like Maris, or Vera) that the audience should never see.  I don't even want her to lose weight or get a makeover.  Let Stuart love her for who she is.  Make Howard rethink his attitudes.

  • Love 5
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chitowngirl

chitowngirl

(edited)

Sheldon says once that he wants to have coitus with Amy, and then the topic is dropped like the proverbial hot potato.  Why?

 

 

Didn't he tell Leonard that just to see if Amy could hear him?

Edited by chitowngirl
  • Love 22
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NYCFree

NYCFree

(edited)

Sheldon says once that he wants to have coitus with Amy, and then the topic is dropped like the proverbial hot potato. Why?

.

I think Sheldon said that as a provocative test sentence to see if Amy could hear him. When she didn't respond in any way, Sheldon said something along the lines of "good, she can't hear" and then when on to discuss his true secret with Leonard.

ETA triple jinx.

Edited by NYCFree
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ParadoxLost

ParadoxLost

(edited)

I'm not watching this until tomorrow, but I'm curious have they made an inside joke over the horror of being on opposite of Gotham yet?  That would be the reason I'm not watching until tomorrow.

Edited by ParadoxLost
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CMH1981

CMH1981

I thought the topic of Sheldon being able to see his pics even though his phone was stolen due to photos being sent directly to the "cloud" was timely based off of Kaley Cuoco's picture scandal from the past few weekends.

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jjj

jjj

I do not think that *Penny* cut her hair, but *Kaley* cut her hair, so they had to write in that Penny did also.  I think that is all there is to it.  And yes, it does look great.

 

I am so thrilled to see the "smart" side of the show come back -- and all of them sounded like grownups instead of caricatures at various points in the two episodes. 

 

Show us the million-dollar performances, guys!  (well, 2 guys and gal) 

  • Love 2
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CleoCaesar

CleoCaesar

I thought the topic of Sheldon being able to see his pics even though his phone was stolen due to photos being sent directly to the "cloud" was timely based off of Kaley Cuoco's picture scandal from the past few weekends.

 

That's where my mind immediately went. Seems like a tasteless joke to make (haha our lead actress got dozens of nude photos leaked via an iCloud hack so let's make a joke about storing pictures in the iCloud!), but it is Chuck Lorre, so yeah. Also I wonder if this episode was shot way before the picture leak scandal.

 

Not a fan of Kaley's new hair. It makes me think of that awful Kate on Jon and Kate Plus Eight show (which I never watched but had to see in the news all the time).

 

These two episodes felt a bit forced to me. Like literally the same jokes being played out again and again. I didn't even get a sense that the actors were having fun. Kunal in particular seemed tired.

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hnygrl

hnygrl

Eh....not seeing that million an episode. First one sucked ass completely,second one only sucked ass like 80%of the time. I missed hour one of the VOICE for this crap. Was not worth it. From now on, I DVR this crapshoot if a show.

It is not getting better with age. Just. No.

  • Love 2
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Rhetorica

Rhetorica

Some smiles, but for the most part an average sitcom. Where's my Big Bang? They even recycled the Fig Newton joke! It's bad when the guest actors outshine the million dollar babies.

A rerun was on right before. The one when Sheldon drove Penny to the hospital and the guys got high on brownies. So funny and creative!

  • Love 3
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tominboston

tominboston

I'm another longtime fan of this show who felt that something was a little off last night. Sheldon's train adventure story was perfect (why should he leave the stations in each new city... "that's where the trains are"), and the Stuart/Debbie story line is both funny and weirdly sweet. But Screaming Bernadette and Obnoxious Amy will get really annoying if the characters continue in that vein all season, and Sheldon's mean put-downs of Howard was just nasty. The group trivia session at the end of the second kind of smoothed things over, but between the two episodes there was a little too much bad-spirited competition within the gang. Let's play nice, guys and gals. OK?

 

Not a fan of Penny's new hairdo, BTW. She looks more LA and less Nebraska now.

  • Love 1
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ari333

ari333

I may have a low threshold, but I enjoyed the season 8 opening - for the most part. I still hate Howard's, "Mom's fat neck" jokes - if you can call them jokes. I like spunky Bernie, but bitchy Bernie is a little much for me.

 

Sheldon in his undies is funny, but I'm not sure I need to see a whole lot of that. Hope it doesn't reach the undies status of Alan Harper in TaaHM.

 

Amy is still one of my fav characters and so are Howard and Raj. Odd (to me) that they don't qualify for the big bucks.

 

I'll weigh in. I like Kaley's hair. 

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CofCinci

CofCinci

I love Kaley's hair because it's "fuck you" hair. She cut her hair as a negotiation tactic for the new $$$$$ contracts. Brilliant. I'd like to see some of that confidence transfer over to Penny though. Would have been nice to see her do well in the interview.

I'm bored by Sheldon and Amy. Why should she settle for so little?

  • Love 3
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andromeda331

andromeda331

Why should she settle for so little?

 

 

Maybe she loves Sheldon or thinks if she breaks up with him she'll never get another boyfriend. Either way he treats her like crap and I would love to see her stand up for herself. She deserves more and I keep hoping each episode this will be the one she tells him off and breaks up with him. Maybe that'll make him see the light on how badly he treats her but if not she'd be much happier then she is now. 

  • Love 5
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ChipBach

ChipBach

Eh....not seeing that million an episode. First one sucked ass completely,second one only sucked ass like 80%of the time. I missed hour one of the VOICE for this crap. Was not worth it. From now on, I DVR this crapshoot if a show.

It is not getting better with age. Just. No.

 

I'm totally with ya.  Seems like they might have jumped the shark...  I couldn't find a good laugh at most of it.  Penny getting a job she didn't deserve, Sheldon is a dick.  He should have a little awareness by now instead of being a insensitive wad.  He is close to emotionally abusive to Amy.  Everything just seems tired.  Too bad, but they had a good run...

 

Was the guy doing Penny's interview Stephen Root? Sounded like him, but did not really look like him all that much. And imdb.com does not have anyone listed in that role.

 

Yep.  

  • Love 1
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MaiSoCalled

MaiSoCalled

I do not think that *Penny* cut her hair, but *Kaley* cut her hair, so they had to write in that Penny did also.  I think that is all there is to it.  And yes, it does look great.

 

I agree. That said it makes sense for the character. She had her long hair for years because that's what an "actress" would have. After last season, she was ready to change something. It's like the cliche of a girl changing her hair after a breakup. 

 

I really like the idea of Penny having a new job. I think sales is a good fit for Penny. She stumbled during the interview, but she was right that she's a people person. I like to imagine that after she and Jimmy James bonded over their fear of Bernadette, she was able to show her natural people skills. I hope the writers allow her to be successful. 

  • Love 6
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SmithW6079

SmithW6079

She looks more LA and less Nebraska now.

 

She has lived in LA for eight years.

 

Sheldon in his undies is funny, but I'm not sure I need to see a whole lot of that.

 

I did't need to see any of it. I don't think Jim Parsons is attractive (or at least as Sheldon), so it's kind of creepy when they show him in underwear or being sexual in any way. (And did he refer to his genitals as "boy parts"?)

 

Sheldon is tied, with Raj, as my least favorite character. He was a dick to Amy, and has been for years (he's been a dick to his "friends" for even longer). Maybe someone should start asking her why she stays in an emotionally abusive relationship.

 

I liked that Penny owned up to it being a lousy interview and apologized for wasting the interviewer's time.

  • Love 1
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CherryAmes

CherryAmes

(edited)

Not a fan of Penny's new hairdo, BTW. She looks more LA and less Nebraska now.

 

I agree it does make her look less small town - which isn't a bad thing IMO.  Also as others have mentioned it also makes her look more grown up.   Kaley cut her own hair for her own reasons but it really does work for Penny at this stage of her life on the show.

Edited by CherryAmes
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MadyGirl1987

MadyGirl1987

(edited)

Liked this episode. Liked how Amy called Sheldon out on just up and leaving and then calling Leonard for help. Loved the interaction between Howard, Debbie and Stewart. Loved the "that's right sucker!" line from Stewart.

Edited by Bazinga1987
  • Love 3
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msani19

msani19

Amy and Sheldon have an extremely unhealthy relationship, beyond ridiculous to me at this point. I can't stand it. But I did have a hollow laugh at the absurdity of them. She expects him to treat her like a GF and he's like "shotgun". Haha. She's laughably silly for sticking around.

He’s so emotionally manipulative and a complete egomaniac, and she continues to be with him. Why should he change? Even if she does break up with him, would he even notice? I wouldn't enjoy a breakup anymore than I enjoy their "relationship". We'd have to put up with an episode or 3 of the hijinks from a breakup. With Amy as a regular cast member she's going nowhere, so their dynamic is here to stay. I've been on record saying please sweet TV gods, do not have them have sex. Gross. Not sex, that's cool, but Amy/Sheldon sex? *shudders*

Penny did nothing to deserve that job, but naturally she'll be super successful at it cause being a pharma rep is just that easy. /sarcasm

Howard reacting to Stuart and his mom was lame. He says nothing nice about his mother and acts like she's a huge burden but wants to begrudge her a friend. What a childish little boy.

3 more seasons and $1 million per episode for the main 3? Good for them, but the show is circling the drain. Hoping for some improvements.

  • Love 6
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DrSpaceman

DrSpaceman

Out of all the sneak previews for the show I never ran across the one I like the most, Stephen Root appearing. I hope they have him as a reocurring character.

Don't care about Penny's hair one way or another as long as they keep showing her in yoga pants.

I actually do think Penny could be good as a pharmaceutical rep.

I don't care either how much the characters earn. Its not just them that determine how funny it is. Million an episode or not, much of it depends on the writing. At least they are trying to take Penny and some of the characters in a new direction.

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Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac

(edited)

Not a bad episode, but MAN is Penny's hair HORRIBLE. It makes her look old and reduces her 'hotness' quotient by at least 75%.

 

 

I actually do think Penny could be good as a pharmaceutical rep.

 

Only in sitcom land. Real pharma reps are whip smart and know a tonne about the drugs they peddle. All of them have university degrees.

Edited by Jack Kerouac
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ChipBach

ChipBach

Not a bad episode, but MAN is Penny's hair HORRIBLE. It makes her look old and reduces her 'hotness' quotient by at least 75%.

 

I guess I am in the minority with Kaley, outside of the first few episodes, I never thought of her a really hot.  Pretty no doubt, but I liked that she had a "real" feel to her looks and she was not crazy overboard model hot.  New haircut? why not...

  • Love 4
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Chit Chat

Chit Chat

(edited)

(And did he refer to his genitals as "boy parts"?)

I believe he refers to them as "bathing suit parts."  He has used that term before.  Please correct if me if I'm wrong on that, but that's how I remember the line.

 

Real pharma reps are whip smart and know a tonne about the drugs they peddle. All of them have university degrees.

 

With all due respect to pharmaceutical reps, I do think Penny could be good at this job.  I figured that Bernadette would've reassured her by saying something like "look at the drug information as a script and memorize it."  I think Penny is capable of learning the basics on the job, and with some guidance and experience, the rest will fall into place.  More than likely she will go tandem on her office calls until she is able to go out on her own.  The flirting aspect will definitely be realistic too.  I work in a dental office and I've seen plenty of female reps come in with short skirts and tops showing lots of cleavage!  One even tried to buddy up to the dentist, with his wife standing there!  It was embarrassing.  Her flaunting it didn't influence him in any way!  Some of the male reps try to use their good looks on us too. Seriously, we're not impressed.  

Edited by ChitChat
  • Love 5
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OakGoblinFly

OakGoblinFly

I guess I am in the minority with Kaley, outside of the first few episodes, I never thought of her a really hot.  Pretty no doubt, but I liked that she had a "real" feel to her looks and she was not crazy overboard model hot.  New haircut? why not...

 

I completely agree .... I thought what made the show work is that Penny/Kaley is very pretty in that approachable girl-next-door sort of way.

  • Love 1
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LoneHaranguer

LoneHaranguer

 

With all due respect to pharmaceutical reps, I do think Penny could be good at this job.  I figured that Bernadette would've reassured her by saying something like "look at the drug information as a script and memorize it."

As Penny once told Raj after surprising him with something nerdy, she listens even if she doesn't know what it means. And we've sometimes seen things click for her. If Sheldon can teach her a technical put-down of Leonard's work, she can handle the drug information, and eventually she'll know what she's talking about.

  • Love 5
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Bort

Bort

As Penny once told Raj after surprising him with something nerdy, she listens even if she doesn't know what it means. And we've sometimes seen things click for her. If Sheldon can teach her a technical put-down of Leonard's work, she can handle the drug information, and eventually she'll know what she's talking about.

Several seasons after Penny first heard Sheldon's speech about why he likes that spot on the couch, she repeated it nearly verbatim to someone else that asked. It's been established that Penny has good memorization skills, so I also buy that she can do this rep job.
  • Love 4
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LoneHaranguer

LoneHaranguer

 

Several seasons after Penny first heard Sheldon's speech about why he likes that spot on the couch, she repeated it nearly verbatim to someone else that asked.

She was explaining it to Bernadette when Howard first brought her to the apartment, so it was only the middle of the third season, but everybody was astounded that she rattled that off; she even got what passes as a compliment from Sheldon.

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CherryAmes

CherryAmes

I'm just happy she finally got a job and can finally stop free-loading, now if they want to show a few scenes of her buying dinner for everyone, I'll be even happier.

 

Penny does freeload, no question, but when she has money she is generous with it (eg: the episode where she buys the guys those collectible Star Trek toys).  Unless the writers plan to continue on their path of destroying Penny's character I'd expect her to be more than happy to treat her friends.

  • Love 3
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3 is enough

3 is enough

I am not a fan of short hair, probably because I was forced to have an awful pixie cut as a child.  That being said, I think Penny/Kaley's haircut looks nice.  The long bangs make all the difference. Truth be told, her hair was not looking great in the most recent episodes- it was greasy looking, the roots were way too visible, and the tightly pulled back from the forehead with the odd looking skinny headband look did nothing for her. Her hair was much more attractive in the earlier episodes.

 

The new cut, with the darker hair in the back is slightly reminiscent of Robin Wright in House of Cards, but a little less severe.  

 

I did see pictures over the summer of Kaley with a bob, so the shorter hair came in stages, evidently.  The bob was really cute.

  • Love 1
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Mountainair

Mountainair

(edited)

I don't really see a problem with Penny's transformation into her new job. Even in real life getting a job can depend upon who you know just as much or equal to the amount of education you have.

My own personal life choices led me down a similar path. Held a job since I was 14. Did not attend college, got a job at a great bank as a teller at 18, stayed with the same company for 10 years finally resigning as bank manager to be able to stay at home with my babies. Granted, had I a college degree I could have performed the same job for double the pay as I think is the case with Penny. Sure she may be making a lot of money now but she could probably make more if she had the degree. Still, she'll make enough and that all because of who she knew.

Edited by Mountainair
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DrSpaceman

DrSpaceman

I know plenty of drug reps as a doctor myself. I have nothing against them, they serve a purpose, don't really want to make this into a discussion of good/bad of them and the pharmaceutical industry. Yes, most pharmaceutical reps do have undergrad degrees, but they are also taught 90%+ of the info they use on a daily basis in training after they are hired. THey are very focused on usually 2-3 drugs along with probably the competitors they are going against. Its a pretty focused set of data and info that can be taught to most reasonably intelligent people.

Most of the job is knowing how to read and deal with people,sometimes people you don't like or agree with and that can be difficult. Penny can do that. Its how she has managed to be friends with Sheldon and really most of this group of the past several years.

The best pharmaceutical sells reps are not coming in with a hard sell and spouting off a bunch of info about the drugs. They get to know the doctors slowly and create a working relationship with them, figuring out what they can offer and how they can convince the physicians of that without coming across as a total sales job. The bad ones are totally tone deaf about how others view them and oblivious to how they come across to the doctors.

Penny can do the job. She wouldn't normally be hired based on her background, the just happened to know the right person. But I don't think its unbelievable to think she can do the job with a decent product. And it doesn't hurt she is an attractive young female, no denying that either or that it would play a role. Much of it depends on the product though as well.

  • Love 7
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sinkwriter

sinkwriter

I liked that Stuart was still living with Howard's mom. I thought that was a terrific twist at the end of last year, and I like that Stuart seems happy at long last. He'd been having such a crappy time of it; he deserves some fun and laughs. It's a little odd that it's with Howard's mom, I can see why Howard would find that weird, but at the same time I think Howard's just jealous deep down because he can't (or doesn't know how to) have that kind of relationship with his mom. It's also nice that Howard's mom sounds like she's having fun hanging out with Stuart. That phone message was funny, as was Howard's stunned silence about it.

 

I liked Stephen Root as the pharmaceutical boss. I've missed him since News Radio. And I liked how his character and Penny began to bond over their collective fear of Bernadette, who IS scary sometimes.

  • Love 5
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sinkwriter

sinkwriter

One thing I didn't like AT ALL was the opening sequence. Seeing Sheldon vulnerable, half-naked, scared, upset and begging for help was not funny to me. Not at all. It was disturbing that not one person would help him, or (if they were too freaked out by him) at the very least offer to get security to help him.

 

I also wish he was gone longer. A little over a month doesn't give him much time to learn anything, especially with the revelation that he didn't leave the train station at any location he landed. (Though that was at least very believably Sheldon, loving trains as he does.) I suppose he did learn something, that he may not be cut out for venturing far on his own, that he's not smart/capable in that way, but I guess I was hoping he would have a bigger revelation or change in his life given how distraught he was at the end of last season. Instead it feels like they just brought him home and he's back to his usual self, the end. Where's the character development in that? What's interesting about that?

 

I also didn't like the way he treated Amy. I expect he would trust Leonard more under the difficult and embarrassing circumstances (and I loved how he immediately hugged Leonard, something he ordinarily struggles with), but I also expected he'd at least tell Amy he did somehow miss her, in his own "special" (rude) Sheldon way. For him to say nothing "I missed you"-related at all makes me again think that his absence wasn't long enough apart from her for him to get it into his thick skull that he missed her presence. Or maybe the bigger reveal would have been that he found he didn't miss her presence and truly thinks it would be best for both their sakes if he breaks up with her.

 

I did think it was funny when Sheldon used the "I want to have coitus with Amy" as a test to make sure she couldn't hear him with her fingers in her ears. She definitely wouldn't have been able to keep a poker face at that point if she truly had been able to hear him. But the beat of seriousness between the statement and Sheldon's "Good, she can't hear me" was spot on. Heeee.

  • Love 1
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