The Big Bang Theory: The Financial Permeability
By fred | February 3, 2009
(S02E14) This year started off relatively bad for The Big Bang Theory, with some pretty disappointing episodes that only looked worst because they just happened to follow probably the best one(s) of the series yet. But it seems that finally writers got it back, no more silly things that don’t make sense, cheap jokes that aren’t funny but mean, or laughing at the expense of the characters.
This week we were back to normal, with a pretty good and funny episode, and if you couldn’t necessarily tell that from the opening scene – which wasn’t that funny – there were no doubts possible once you saw the greatest duo of the show, for better or worse : Sheldon, of course, and Penny. There is no question that those two work just incredibly well, and whether they are friendly, caring and helping/supporting one another, or fighting to the death, it always feels right and makes us laughs. Always.
Now when I mentioned the opening scene, I’m saying it wasn’t very funny because, especially now that we’re well into the second season of the show, we knew exactly where this was going : the guys are working some heavily complex problems, with all sorts of equations and stuff, only to resolve a simple, daily, social situation. It’s been done before, and is now quite predictable and not so funny.
The only interesting bit was probably Sheldon’s reaction to it. Sheldon is a very odd individual, in many ways, but he obeys he rule of logic. When his friends decided to just go out and see a movie without him, because it was the only possible choice given Sheldon’s very specific requirements, he didn’t get mad at them the least. No, he just looked at the board and saw they were right, that was their only option.
One really surprising move from Sheldon, was when he decided to loan Penny money. Given all the different rules that exists and the many contracts I’m sure Leonard had to sign in order to be Sheldon’s roommates, one could have easily thought that in such a monetary exchange, Sheldon would calculate the ideal way at which Penny shall pay him back and establish all kinds of weird, complicated rules and whatnot.
And one would have been wrong, Sheldon trusts Penny - he truly does, more and more every day, and almost always turns to her for help or advices – and he’s got his whole situation worked out, he knows he doesn’t need the money right now, nor should he ever need it in the close future, so it’s no problem. He doesn’t even care how much Penny takes, he leaves it up to her, he trusts her judgment (which, when it comes to money, isn’t always the better thing to do…) and rolls with it.
I’m sure, being the genius mind that he is, that he counted very precisely how much she took, but as she kept taking more and more he really didn’t mind, and once it was done Penny of course had to overact and feel an unbearable pressure that wasn’t there, but Sheldon on the other hand wasn’t even thinking about it. In fact, after Penny acted weird, Sheldon – bless him – wasn’t even able to tell whether or not that had been awkward or not. And when Penny kept acting weird, he felt guilty, offering to loan her more money if she needed to. Sheldon is one odd individual for sure, and just as certain is how well he works with Penny.
Also happening this week was Leonard digging up Penny’s ex, who’s apparently making a come back. Two things about that : one, I really don’t think we need to see more of that guy, who’s clearly wrong (for Penny), and two, I’m surprised Leonard didn’t took his hat off when Penny completely misread the situation and was willing to fall back for that jerk.
Okay, couple of great quotes from the episode :
Penny: Shut the door, shut the door!
Sheldon: Why?
Penny: Just do it!
(Penny runs in, Sheldon shuts the door without walking in.)
Penny: Get inside and shut the door.
Sheldon: But you didn’t specify!
Sheldon: You know it occurs to me that you could solve all your problems by obtaining more money.
Penny: Wow, you’ve got a lot of money in there!
Sheldon: That’s why it’s guarded by snakes. Take some.
Penny: Don’t be silly!
Sheldon: I’m never silly.
Penny: No, I can’t. Sheldon, honey, I don’t want things to be weird between us.
Sheldon: Won’t it also be weird if I have to say hello to you every morning on my way to work, and you’re living in a refrigerator box and washing your hair with rain water ?
Penny: I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.
Sheldon: Of course you will! It’s impossible to pay me back sooner than you can. Assuming you subscribe to a linear understanding of time and causality.
Sheldon: You know, I’ve given the matter some thought, and… I think I’d be willing to be a house pet to a race of super-intelligent aliens.
Leonard: Interesting.
Sheldon: Ask me why.
Leonard: Do I have to ?
Sheldon: Of course, that’s how you move a conversation forward.
Leonard: Why ?
Sheldon: The learning opportunities would be abundant. Additionally, I like having my belly scratch.
Penny: I hope I’m a waitress as the cheese cake factory for my whole life!
Sheldon: Was that sarcasm?
Penny: No.
Sheldon: Was that sarcasm?
Penny: Yes!
Sheldon: Was that sarcasm?
Leonard: Stop it!
Leonard: Weird!
Sheldon: Ah, good! That was an unusual interaction. I wasn’t sure.
Leonard: You guys had an argument ?
Sheldon: No.
Leonard: You clearly did something to aggravate her.
Sheldon: I’m at a loss. If you like you can review my daily log of social interactions.
Leonard: What was the plan ?
Penny: Um, waitress for six months and then become a movie star.
Leonard: Uh uh… Was there a Plan B ?
Penny: TV star.
Penny: Sheldon, here is your money. Thank you very much, it helped a lot.
Sheldon: Sarcasm?
Penny: No!
Sheldon: Darn, I can’t seem to get the hang of that!
What did everybody else think?
Posted in Reviews
Shows: The Big Bang Theory
This episode was actually pretty funny to me. The opening might have been a bit predictable but still funny. I love how Sheldon is a creature of habit and as an engineer/nerd myself, I liked seeing the “complex” problem they had with the movie theater. Sheldon and Penny work well together and it was funny. As long as the episode has some Sheldon in it, it’s always good.