S09.E03: The Bachelor Party Corrosion

[Homily]

I can't imagine why they'd trust that hunk of junk but oh well.

 

Mainly because it was once owned by Richard Feynman!  They'd have piggybacked on a scooter if it had been connected to a scientist they all revere - especially since they were heading down to a place where he had once lived. 

[QuelleC]

Yes, I recall that but I'm not sure who he is!

[jjj]

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.

And much more dramatically with Leonard's parents in the second appearance of Christine Baranski!   That's where I thought it was going, also. 

[LaChavalina]

No can of WD-40 stashed in the van?

I'm glad I'm not the only one whose mind went here immediately. :)

 

I love that it was actually the Feynman van! I was a bit disgruntled after last week that the show hadn't done any good physics humor in a while... but, well played.

[SmithW6079]

I was also glad that the ear piercing was drama-free. I had flashbacks to the scene in "Grease" when Frenchy screws up Sandy's ear piercing.

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

Of course, they also did the "Surprise! Your beloved childhood pet is dead!" thing with Leonard too, with his dog Mitzi, in one of his mother's visits. She sprung his Uncle Floyd's death on him on her other visit. Would've been nice had Penny's father been a little more compassionate--as well as her friends. My dog's death tore me apart, just finding out is too soon to joke.

[Homily]

  Penny had lived away from home for at least 10 years.  I'm sure she was sorry the pig died but it's not like she'd had much to do with it in a very long time so I can understand that her friends didn't feel the need to hold her hand over it.

[needschocolate]

I didn't see the van fire coming, I guess I was too busy waiting for Amy's ears to get infected (glad they stayed away from that well-worn plotline). 

 

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.

 

alternate roadtrip ending - Van is on fire and, as they watch it burn, there is a small explosion, then Sheldon calmly says, "oh, that must have been the box of WD-40 on the back seat". 

[terrymct]

They hadn't made it into Mexico yet!!!!! Geeze.

 

 

Yes, they had.  That's why the sign had the word "Alto" on it rather than "Stop".

[LucyEth]

Why is Leonard still living with Sheldon?  Amy's "in the closet" storyline sounded like abuse.  Really didn't like it.  

[needschocolate]

Why is Leonard still living with Sheldon?  .  

 

According to Penny, he is working up the courage to tell Sheldon that he is moving out.  Penny said that Leonard sleeps at her (their) apartment, but it was only a matter of time before Sheldon has a bad dream and run into Leonard's room and discovers the pile of pillows Leonard leaves in the bed to look like he is there. 

 

Of course, this is just another reminder that this is a sitcom, not real life -- There is no way that a 35ish year old who is a genius, could be so socially unaware that he would think that his newly married roommate wouldn't live with his wife.  He may possibly think that the new wife would move in with him and the roommate, but he would certainly think that the couple would live in the same place. 

[Homily]

Of course, this is just another reminder that this is a sitcom, not real life

 

Like an older episode that I saw recently where Sheldon complains to his friends "Apparently you can't hack into a government super computer and  try to buy uranium without the department of homeland security tattling to your mother."  It was funny, I laughed, but really, this is a 30 ish research scientist working at a prestigious university, why would homeland security be calling Sheldon's mother?  Answer: because it's a sitcom and this was a funny line.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Homily

[theatremouse]

According to Penny, he is working up the courage to tell Sheldon that he is moving out.

Yeah that line confused and bothered me since wasn't it a fairly large plot point last year that of course Sheldon knows once they were married they were going to live together? I don't understand why they're acting like this is some sort of secret they're keeping from him.

Regarding Amy, this wasn't the first time it was implied her mother was kind of....Dursley-esque.

Like an older episode that I saw recently where Sheldon complains to his friends "Apparently you can't hack into a government super computer and  try to buy uranium without the department of homeland security tattling to your mother."  It was funny, I laughed, but really, this is a 30 ish research scientist working at a prestigious university, why would homeland security be calling Sheldon's mother?

I'm pretty sure the incident you're referring to happened when he was a child. He was just recounting it as a 30-something. Edited October 7, 2015 by theatremouse

[Homily]

Nope that was a different episode (I know the one you mean, it's the one where Mary relates the story of little Sheldon trying to buy yellow cake uranium for the "small nuclear reactor" he built in the family shed).  This was  The Prestidigitation Approximation where Sheldon is trying to figure out how Howard is able to do a card trick. He thinks Howard may be using a radioactive tracer to do the trick and initially he goes on Craigslist to try and buy one of his own.  I guess when that doesn't work he tries to hack into the government supercomputer.

[LoneHaranguer]

Why did Sheldon think he might be sitting in Feynman's butt print? Why would Feynman be riding in the back seat of his own van?

[The Kings Foot]

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).

 

 

Still  a sharp kick is way more powerful than simply pulling on the nut. And not once did any try that.

Why did Sheldon think he might be sitting in Feynman's butt print? Why would Feynman be riding in the back seat of his own van?

 

 

Well it was a " hippie sex dungeon."

[Browncoat]

I kept yelling at the guys to jump on the lug wrench, but they couldn't hear me.  :)

 

Question about the lever (lee-ver!) -- Shouldn't they have set it up to be on the other side of the lug wrench?  I'll have to watch again, but as I recall, the way they had it, the lever would push up on the left side, thus turning the nut to the right and tightening it.  They should have pushed up on the left side of the wrench.

[Jobiska]

Still  a sharp kick is way more powerful than simply pulling on the nut. And not once did any try that.

 

They tried a different version of "percussive force."

My husband (physics undergrad degree) was delighted when they showed the van's exterior:  "It has Feynman diagrams all over it!"

[TV Diva Queen]

Like an older episode that I saw recently where Sheldon complains to his friends "Apparently you can't hack into a government super computer and  try to buy uranium without the department of homeland security tattling to your mother."  It was funny, I laughed, but really, this is a 30 ish research scientist working at a prestigious university, why would homeland security be calling Sheldon's mother?  Answer: because it's a sitcom and this was a funny line.

Maybe Homeland Security called his mother as a fact finding/gathering information call.  :)  

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

Or Homeland Security already has a file on Sheldon with procedures in place.

[anna0852]

Or Homeland Security already has a file on Sheldon with procedures in place.

Dingdingding! I think we have a winner.

[Bort]

I kept yelling at the guys to jump on the lug wrench, but they couldn't hear me.  :)

 

Question about the lever (lee-ver!) -- Shouldn't they have set it up to be on the other side of the lug wrench?  I'll have to watch again, but as I recall, the way they had it, the lever would push up on the left side, thus turning the nut to the right and tightening it.  They should have pushed up on the left side of the wrench.

It was right. They had put the pole of the Alto sign over the left arm of the lug wrench and Howard was hanging on it, thus attempting to move it in the counter-clockwise direction.

[Runningwild]

I was disappointed no one pointed out Penny's pig was like Schroedinger's cat.

[shapeshifter]

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.

I agree, but at least it wasn't her dog or cat. I know. Pigs are more intelligent than dogs. But I haven't seen commercials to save abused pigs, and I have seen a lot of sad pups and kitties, also:

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.

I thought that too for a moment.

I'll have to watch again, but as I recall, the way they had it, the lever would push up on the left side, thus turning the nut to the right and tightening it.  They should have pushed up on the left side of the wrench.

That's how it looked to me too on my tiny screen.

[LADreamr]

I was disappointed no one pointed out Penny's pig was like Schroedinger's cat.

Funny, I saw a quote from Stephen Hawking recently where he once said that whenever he hears about Schrodinger's cat, he reaches for his gun.

Edited October 8, 2015 by LADreamr

[kat165]

Runningwild, that's what I said to my mom who was watching with me. Schroedinger's Pig.

[Accidental Martyr]

Yeah, I was expecting a "Shroedinger's Pig" line.

[caligirl50]

Damn this show has gotten bad.  The only funny line this whole season (3 episodes in) was from the Mandy ("And your wife is worried about me?")!!!!!

[DrSpaceman73]

How long do pigs live? I don't see how penny could be that close to it. She's hasn't lived at home in 7-8 years.

I wish they would have Penny and Leonard visit Nebraska for an episode now that they are married. Was hoping for more of an appearance from Penny's dad than just a phone conversation.

I tire of watching those girls sit around penny's apartment drinking wine and just talking.

I do always like Amy's lines about how her mother feels about things......even though most of them involve women being whores. Earrings are for ....what was it, whores, gypsies and....something or other.

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.

I was in Roatan for a week and got a one month's plan. I think it was so many minutes and 100 texts for $40, which was plenty, I was just calling and texting home here and there, but I don't think it included any data, or it was much more expensive. I was sure not to use much date/internet there. Edited October 9, 2015 by DrSpaceman73

[shapeshifter]

How long do pigs live? I don't see how penny could be that close to it. She's hasn't lived at home in 7-8 years...

According to Ask.com, 5-10 years unless it's potbelly; they live up to 20 years. But that's just Ask.com. Maybe they don't live long because people kill them for food or because when they get middle aged, the younger ones kill them. And then there's accidents...

But, TBH, that didn't occur to me while watching. This show has been known to retcon for the sake of comedy.

But Howard hanging on the lever in what looked like a counter clockwise torque direction was troubling.

[Bort]

Howard hanging on the lever in what looked like a counter clockwise torque direction was troubling.

Counter clockwise IS the correct way to turn a lug nut to remove it.

[shapeshifter]

Counter clockwise IS the correct way to turn a lug nut to remove it.

Oh, right! Whoops. My lame excuse is that I'm left handed and often get things backwards.

[Homily]

How long do pigs live? I don't see how penny could be that close to it. She's hasn't lived at home in 7-8 years...

 

Pigs can live up to 20 years if allowed to live out their natural lifespan. - which usually of course they aren't - it does make sense that Penny would have had a pet pig and it could still have been living at this point in the story but it's actually longer than 7-8 years since she lived at home.  We know from the first few episodes that Penny has been in California for at least 4 years (if you assume the 4 years she lived with her BF were all spent in California)  when she meets the guys.  So 4 years + 8 years means at least 12 years since piggy has been part of Penny's life.  I guess it's the same as Leonard having his pet dog die but even with that, as you say, how close can you be?

Edited October 9, 2015 by Homily

[LoneHaranguer]

 

Counter clockwise IS the correct way to turn a lug nut to remove it.

It is these days, but back when the van was made it depended on the vehicle and sometimes which side of the vehicle. According to google, Feynman's van is a 1975 Dodge Tradesman Maxivan. Dodge is one of the makes that had the threads go the opposite way on that side of some of their vehicles in the '70's. Since Howard had already removed the other four nuts, he presumably knew which way to turn the last one, but it may have been technically incorrect.

[okerry]

Counter clockwise IS the correct way to turn a lug nut to remove it.

"Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey." At least, in the Western nations. Not sure about some of the others.

[vavera4ka]

I was disappointed no one pointed out Penny's pig was like Schroedinger's cat.

haha I thought the same thing.

But then judging by so many comments on that matter here, and on social media, maybe verbal parallel was intentionally omitted. Since everyone got it anyway lol

[LoneHaranguer]

 

"Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey." At least, in the Western nations. Not sure about some of the others.

That's normally true, but for a while, some car makers thought that it would help keep the lug nuts tight if which way they tightened depended on which side of the vehicle they were on. When going forwards the drivers-side wheels turn counter-clockwise, while the ones on the passenger side go clockwise, so they were technically correct, but it wasn't worth the problems caused by mechanics getting it wrong. The lug nuts they were using back then must have been a terrible fit if they thought it mattered.

[ari333]

I'm usually ok with hearing about Amy's weird, punishing mom; but if Amy actually went and sat in Penny's closet, then that takes me out of the whole bit.

[Bronzedog]

Homeland Security didn't exist when Sheldon was a child. It was created in 2002, Sheldon would have been at least 20.

[Homily]

In the episode from season one when Sheldon's mother tells the yellow cake uranium story she only says "a man from the government" came and told him "it's against the law to have yellow cake uranium in a shed".  Kudos to the writers for getting that right - or at least not getting it wrong!

[HouseofBeck]

Why is Leonard still living with Sheldon?  Amy's "in the closet" storyline sounded like abuse.  Really didn't like it.  

 

It bugged me that her so-called friends didn't attempt to stop it from happening, either. I miss the way Amy's mom used to seem--kind of bewildered by the "real world" and wanting Amy to have a boyfriend but not quite sure what that meant, and so forth. 

 

They tried a different version of "percussive force."

My husband (physics undergrad degree) was delighted when they showed the van's exterior:  "It has Feynman diagrams all over it!"

 

I totally missed those diagrams!

 

Pigs can live up to 20 years if allowed to live out their natural lifespan. - which usually of course they aren't - it does make sense that Penny would have had a pet pig and it could still have been living at this point in the story but it's actually longer than 7-8 years since she lived at home.  We know from the first few episodes that Penny has been in California for at least 4 years (if you assume the 4 years she lived with her BF were all spent in California)  when she meets the guys.  So 4 years + 8 years means at least 12 years since piggy has been part of Penny's life.  I guess it's the same as Leonard having his pet dog die but even with that, as you say, how close can you be?

 

I was thinking, she hasn't lived at home for quite awhile, plus it didn't sound like she's visited in quite awhile either. I love pigs, but she hasn't even seen her darling pet pig in ages...

 

Count me in as surprised the ear-piercing didn't turn into Grease.

[morgankobi]

I do always like Amy's lines about how her mother feels about things......even though most of them involve women being whores. Earrings are for ....what was it, whores, gypsies and....something or other.

 

...and genies.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

Of course, they also did the "Surprise! Your beloved childhood pet is dead!" thing with Leonard too, with his dog Mitzi, in one of his mother's visits. She sprung his Uncle Floyd's death on him on her other visit. Would've been nice had Penny's father been a little more compassionate--as well as her friends.

They reran the episode where Prof Proton dies and Penny mentions that she hadn't been to a funeral before because the only one close to her that had died was her pet pig (and they had a BBQ). So what Penny's father ran over, wasn't her "beloved childhood pet"; it was something she got later and probably wouldn't have gotten as close to before she left home.

[Ottis]

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

 

 

You're not alone. The entire thing felt like one big "been there, done that" episode. Laughed once. I think.

[Canada]

Why is Penny wearing such god-awful ugly blouses this season???  Amy looks better than her right now.

[John Potts]

Canada Why is Penny wearing such god-awful ugly blouses this season

 

While I'm the last person that should be commenting on other people's outfits, I thought so too. It was the sort of dowdy outfit I would expect Amy to wear.

 

What exactly did Penny expect would happen to her "Pet Pig"? She grew up on a farm - she knows cute little Baa-Lambs get turned into lamb chops and ickle piglets become pork chops and bacon - so how is it a surprise her family ate a dead pig?

 

I wondered why the guys didn't call a tow truck (they could easily have included a line - presumably from Sheldon - like "No cell phone coverage in this savage country") but it would be in character for them to go "We can solve this - we're scientists (and an engineer)!"

 

Still, easily the best episode of the Season so far.

[CherryAmes]

What exactly did Penny expect would happen to her "Pet Pig"? She grew up on a farm - she knows cute little Baa-Lambs get turned into lamb chops and ickle piglets become pork chops and bacon - so how is it a surprise her family ate a dead pig?

 

They must have had a new writer for this one because as was referenced upthread it was only last year that Penny talks about her pet pig dying and how they had a barbecue.  So at least in that episode she came off as much more of a realist about what happens to animals on a farm. Anyway I can accept that sometimes the writers change back stories (especially on a sitcom - and especially if it was stuff from the first season) but to change something that was referenced only the year before?  Annoying.