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S09.E03: The Bachelor Party Corrosion

buffynut

By buffynut
in The Big Bang Theory [V]

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Homily

Homily

I liked this one a lot.  I was glad to see a call back to Penny's dad and to Amy's mother.  Agreeing with nottopbravo,  I liked the scientific theories approach to changing the tire as well. 

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ParadoxLost

ParadoxLost

Loved all the scientific theories used to loosen the lug nut and the payoff with the van.  Big Bang Theory might be getting its mojo back.  

 

I was disappointed that they went with setting the van on fire.  As they were testing their theories I kept thinking...this is going to work and then they are going to realize that you can't put a melted lug nut back on.

  • Love 4
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mojoween

mojoween

Loved the title card at the end.

Until the tire blew, I felt the guys interaction in the van was falling completely flat. I found it tedious to get through. But then the tire blew and it did a 180.

Loved all the girls stuff though. Especially "I pierced Amy's ears and her mother made me put her in my closet." Kaley's line delivery made me laugh.

  • Love 11
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TV Anonymous

TV Anonymous

Unless Leonard and Sheldon have their passport cards in their wallets all the time - passport book would be impractical - I can not see how this Mexico getaway can be done smoothly from the beginning. Reentering the United States without passport is a rather difficult ordeal and I think CBP Officers would not be too sympathetic with "bachelor party" excuse. 

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Homily

Homily

Penny packed for Leonard so she could have included his passport then or just given it to Howard or Raj.  Same goes for Sheldon, one of the guys could have retrieved his passport for him before they left.  We know the guys have all travelled internationally based on things said in past episodes so them having passports makes sense.

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Latverian Diplomat

Latverian Diplomat

I was disappointed that they went with setting the van on fire.  As they were testing their theories I kept thinking...this is going to work and then they are going to realize that you can't put a melted lug nut back on.

Well, I think you could drive on the spare mounted with only four lug nuts for a while, at least.

 

While thermite is a powerful reaction, it's not some super heat bomb. It's a useful pyrotechnic because the material stays in a liquid state and keeps the heat from the reaction concentrated in a small space instead of dispersed in fireball.

 

But the ending was telegraphed when Howard first said the van was a loan from a friend of an irreplaceable item. You knew it was a goner at that point.

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TrininisaScorp

TrininisaScorp

(edited)

Yay! I genuinely LOLed multiple times this episode. They always win when the girls & guys have seperate things (e.g. Bakersfield Comic Con, Girl's Night during Priya era, etc). The science was fun, especially the visual of Howard jumping up & down on the stop sign & Sheldon busting out Queen. On the girl side, I love the confessions & I giggled like an adolescent at "used gummy worms for the veins...jew & gentile". The rerun on another channel before the new episode was Lilita Gupta one & I realized again why I adore this show so.

Edited by TrininisaScorp
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possibilities

possibilities

No can of WD-40 stashed in the van? I would have liked them to find it after hours of trying all their experiments, instead of going the expected route of destroying the vehicle.

 

I guess Stuart stayed home alone while everyone else had the parties. It's weird that he's not part of the group, now that he actually lives with Howard and Bernadette. Maybe Stuart and Cinnamon were hanging out together.

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WickedTuna

WickedTuna

I might be too easy but the whole season was made for me hearing Sheldon sing that song no matter what else happens this year. That was the best!

I really liked Howard hanging on the stop sign. I love when he tries to do physical stuff.

I didn't have any big laughs but there were enough small ones to make the episode fun.

  • Love 7
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adhoc

adhoc

Okay, I stand alone as the one viewer who was super bored by this episode.

 

The only bright spot for me was the visual of Howard using the stop sign as a lever.  

 

Otherwise, I knew as soon as they got in the van that they would not make it to Mexico, that something would happen to the van, etc. The banter among the guys bored me, and in fact it felt a little stale. The women were marginally more interesting, but I hated the whole "you didn't invite us to the wedding and by the way I ran over your pig" plot point. Not to mention the un-funny jokes about eating the pig, etc. 

 

Worst episode this season, for me.

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wendyg

wendyg

(edited)

Early seasons Sheldon - the guy who saved his friends' lives when they blew up the elevator - would have known the effect of that amount of thermite. The fact that he didn't step in and protest because the showrunners liked the gag of the van on fire is everything that's gone wrong with this show for me. (Or that they got the factual effect of that amount of thermite wrong - either way...)

Edited by wendyg
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buffynut

buffynut

  • Author
(edited)

This is the first episode since I can't remember when that I actually wouldn't mind watching again. Loved all the scientific stuff with them trying to change the tire.  And Sheldon's singing came out of nowhere and was so funny!

 

I liked the guys' story better than the girls this time. The dead pig was not funny at all, and it ruined the surprise of seeing Penny's father. Surely there was something else they could have written as Penny's father's confession.

Edited by buffynut
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MissLucas

MissLucas

There was a certain vintage-vibe to this episode. I laughed at Penny and Bernadette's premature enthusiasm when Amy mentioned getting a new wardrobe. Howard hanging from the stop-sign, the scientific clue cards and the Queen song were other highlights. I'm glad we got a bit of a much needed break from all the relationship angst.

  • Love 11
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betsyboo

betsyboo

I fully admit I was off my "tv-game" so didn't see the van fire coming until it did. When they changed scenes and just showed the silhouettes of the guys against the fire i BUSTED out laughing. Then the slow scroll across all their expressions. I found it extremely funny.

 

I, too, thought this was a great ep - I remember thinking at the end that I hadn't laughed out loud like that at TBBT since I saw a repeat of "Big talk from a guy who was once treed by a chicken."  HAAAAA

 

I also enjoyed Penny's and Bernie's enthusiasm for a Amy makeover.

  • Love 5
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mojoween

mojoween

The only bright spot for me was the visual of Howard using the stop sign as a lever.

I loved the way they set it up where you saw the science card and then bam Howard was hanging from the Alto sign. I giggled just typing that out.

And incidentally I read that as "lee-ver" not "leh-ver" for what that's worth.

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Phebemarie

Phebemarie

I think the hair people are trying to disguise the fact that her hair grew out over the summer.  When Penny and Leonard eloped, her hair was still relatively short in the back, and her layers were still growing out.  Since it is only supposed to be several weeks since the wedding, I was a little impressed that they attempted to be consistent with the length of her hair.  A lot of shows would have just ignored it.

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ari333

ari333

(edited)

Our show is back! WOOT! What happened? Did different people write this? There was a huge difference in a great way. omg.... Keep it up, Show.

Well, I effing loved it and I was shocked and happy and surprised. I didn't want to get excited early, but when they were going to a destination I thought this might be good. Loved all the lines you guys mentioned above, but Sheldon busting out Queen was the best.

 

I wish the guys would try again and actually make it to Mexico because that sounds like it could be hilarious. I'm fond of sitcom bachelor party eppys in general. (King of Queens comes to mind... Til Death, some others.)

I wish Amy would reconsider the wardrobe thing and a makeover. Mayim is very lovely and I'd love to see her smokin' hot for a change.  

I thought Penny's dad was going to say that he had blown the wedding money or wedding gift money on something.  

I  missed Stuart and wish he'd been included. I don't find him creepy; I really enjoy him.  He is a friend and I thought he was part of the group. There was plenty of room in the van.

 

What was on the card at the end? My DVR cut off. TIA.

Edited by ari333
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benteen

benteen

I must be a little rusty too because I didn't expect the van to go up in flames.  It was pretty damn funny though, as was this episode.

 

Here's hopiong they do make it back to Mexico sometime.

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Indy

Indy

(edited)

I enjoyed the call-back to Archimedes and the lever (however you pronounce it) from season 1 with Sheldon & Leonard trying to get that big box of Penny's up the stairs. It's always a good time when the guys try to use brains over brawn (or try to be the brawn).

 

Another call-back I laughed at was Sheldon's "aye-yay-yay" ala James Earl Jones when he said he was going to take Sheldon to Tiajuana "aye-yay-yay bang bang!"

 

Sheldon singing "We will rock you" and saying how is idedic memory was a curse was also really funny.  There's probably a lot of random stuff up in that brain of his that he would rather not be there.

Edited by Indy
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LoneHaranguer

LoneHaranguer

 

Early seasons Sheldon - the guy who saved his friends' lives when they blew up the elevator - would have known the effect of that amount of thermite.

This is also the guy who got the units wrong in his calculations for synthesizing a new element, and gave a paper with a math error on page two to Stephen Hawking (who called it "quite the boner").

 

Did I miss something, or did none of the guys think of lubricating the threads with a little oil from the dipstick?

 

It looked to me like their primary problem was not having the wheel jacked up enough. Having too much weight on the last lug nut can jam it pretty tightly.

  • Love 4
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Homily

Homily

This is also the guy who got the units wrong in his calculations for synthesizing a new element, and gave a paper with a math error on page two to Stephen Hawking (who called it "quite the boner").

 

Sheldon has been pretty consistently shown as a smart guy who makes dumb mistakes.  I can think of a lot of examples, and I bet most of the rest of you can too, of times when Sheldon is wrong about stuff - in some ways I think this aspect of his character makes him a little more "human" (I bet he'd hate that) but it's also part of the humour of his character.  

 

With regard to this episode it didn't surprise me a bit that none of the guys really knew what the hell they were doing but thought their knowledge of science would save the day.  It reminded me, in a way, of one of the earliest episodes where they are going to put together the IKEA wall unit for Penny and make what was a simple job twenty times harder.

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Julie23

Julie23

For some reason I thought they might end up in a Mexican prison, but I did like the tire changing incident. That was one stubborn lug nut. Sheldon belting out Queen was the best and most unexpected treat.

  • Love 4
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hnygrl

hnygrl

I'm sorry.

 

I didn't like it. The Penny/Bernie/Amy stuff was good, but the guys were just pathetic and not at all funny. I kept thinking (like a lot of you I'm sure) "why don't they just call AAA?" They hadn't made it into Mexico yet!!!!! Geeze. NONE of these nerds thought  for ONE MOMENT to pull out their damn smart phones and GOOGLE HOW TO CHANGE A TIRE ON AN OLD VAN????

Damn...one YouTube video and they'd have it.

 

It pulled me right out of the story and it just was. Not. Funny to me. It frustrated me and pissed me off because it was deeply offensive to nerds everywhere. The first thing a nerd would do would be to call AAA. The next would be to google how to change a tire.

 

NOW THAT would've been funny! Them trying to follow the YouTube video but failing spectacularly because they're just not strong enough.

 

Then having to call Penny to change the tire for them.

 

Sorry guys...I didn't like it.

 

But Amy's mom making Penny put Amy in the closet was FUNNY!

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photo fox

photo fox

They were already in Mexico. Penny got a text from Leonard that they were crossing the border, and then the guys were cautioning Howard to slow down because of some rumor about Mexican police targeting tourists.

I've never been to Mexico. Do regular data plans still work down there? Because yes, the first thing I would do in a situation like that is call up google or youtube.

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SmithW6079

SmithW6079

Looked like they knew how to change the tire -- it was the lug nut that stymied them.

Loved the girls' story line. I liked the pig stuff because, well, it was a fictional pig, and pigs are good eating. Mmmm....bacon.

  • Love 5
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mojoween

mojoween

I'm actually glad they killed the pig (sorry piggy!) because I was so afraid Penny's dad was going to say her mother actually left him and I was like ugh we already did divorce with Raj's parents.

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Calamity Jane

Calamity Jane

They were already in Mexico. Penny got a text from Leonard that they were crossing the border, and then the guys were cautioning Howard to slow down because of some rumor about Mexican police targeting tourists.

I've never been to Mexico. Do regular data plans still work down there? Because yes, the first thing I would do in a situation like that is call up google or youtube.

Just spent a week in Baja with grandkids, and no, your phone will not work there unless you purchase a sim card.  It's all knds of frustrating.

  • Love 2
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LADreamr

LADreamr

I didn't understand why they needed to go to so much trouble with it. Any time I've had a difficult lug nut, I put more pressure on that side of the wrench with my foot (even jumping on it sometimes), and that usually does it. I get that they wanted to use science, but they might have tried torque.

  • Love 3
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mansonlamps

mansonlamps

Loved the title card at the end

 

 

Do other showrunners do these cards?  I honestly can't say I recall seeing them anywhere but on a Chuck Lorre series.

 

I thought it was just an okay episode with a few LOL moments.  One thing I really hate is Melissa's line readings when she's trying to make Bernadette...I don't know....edgy I guess?  Like when Penny was sad about the pig and Bernadette says something about good eating with that side eyed glance.  Can't describe it well, but I've seen it a lot and it drives me crazy. 

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kili

kili

Any time I've had a difficult lug nut, I put more pressure on that side of the wrench with my foot (even jumping on it sometimes), and that usually does it. I get that they wanted to use science, but they might have tried torque.

 

They tried that. They had all four of them on the wrench (it was a T-shaped one, so they had two pushing on one side and two pulling on the other). Then, they tried the lever with Howard on the end which would have provided a lot of torque (that was a long sign post - maybe the others should have hung off of it as well).

 

BTW this is one of the bad things of letting a shop change your tires. They'll use a torque wrench and that can make them pretty tough for a human to take off when they need to change a tire on the road.

 

I think LoneHaranguer was right and they should have jacked up the wheel and tried. Sometimes though, its nearly impossible no matter what. It's like the metal has fused.

 

IDK I don't think it was a slam on nerds because Howard knew what he was doing until that last lug nut.  Sheldon seemed like the only clueless one, but he tends not to have a lot of practical skills since he thinks they are beneath him.

  • Love 3
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ksb

ksb

(edited)

This episode mostly didn't work for me. The last two were much more fun.

I didn't care for the guys's storyline and found it rather boring.

The girls were okay, but also nothing to write home about.

Edited by ksb
  • Love 1
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QuelleC

QuelleC

I agree, Howard knew what he was doing.  I was wondering if they should try to stand on the wrench.  The key to this is, I think, this was a neglected van from the 70's and it was rusted on.  Probably all that could be done is to have it cut off and maybe the threads retooled.  Nerd shaming?  Had it been a newer van it probably would have been ok.  I can't imagine why they'd trust that hunk of junk but oh well.  Brilliant but no common sense.  I'd have expected Leonard to say something though.  Maybe he did, not sure.

 

Yes, it seemed like an old timey episode with the guys but I enjoyed the girls more.  I would love to see them take Amy out and have her try things on, she could do with a makeover.  But I'm glad they pierced her ears and it was so high schoolish to have Penny do it, so I enjoyed Amy getting to make up for experiences she missed.  Although it was just a piercing it's symbolic for Amy's changes, inside and out. 

 

I didn't have any big laughs but it was fun.  The initial comments here took me by surprise seeing as I almost quit this forum over so many complaints last week.  I considered starting a I Hate This Show and I'm Going to Stop Watching topic.

 

I think Kaley's hair is cute.  Yes it's growing out but it explains the awful thing they did for her wedding pretending it was still short. 

 

I used to do tech support for ATT.  They use sim cards for the very reason of international travel and security. I'm not sure about CDMA phones (Sprint) access to international data. Data out of the US is VERY expensive, $20 a mb. You should call ahead and set up a plan for the dates you'll be gone, you buy a set number of mb's.  Same for texting. Now that I think about it, the last time I looked into it ATT makes you buy a whole month's data but texting might still be prorated. What often happens, if people go over, billing will bring you up to a plan covering your use and you just pay the difference instead of hundreds of dollars. Imagine the calls I took from parents whose kids go over the border without telling them and rack up charges.  Or they have a friend in another country and send them hundreds of texts.  Then they argue about needing to set up international texting, ugh.

 

Although there is one carrier advertising no addl charges for Canada and Mexico now.  The reason is, so they say, your signal bounces off towers that ATT doesn't own, they get billed and add that onto your bill.  It can take 60 days for it to show up.  And no, I don't have the job anymore, they fired 250 of us. 

  • Love 3
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