Episodes 6.06 The Extract Obliteration (Nov. 1)

[C-Trayne]

Yeah, you're probably right... It's just that I have a weak spot for the L/P relationship and I want it to go on

Haha u and me both! Here's to hoping for the best for them!

[Fruit Loop]

I think you all are missing the point Penny has grown by Crossing the TAKE LEONARD FOR GRANTED barrier. For the First time Penny is really trying to please Leonard instead of use him. Leonard has grown a little also, but he needs to go a lot more growth as does Penny.

As for using the girls instead of Leonard for Help on her school paper. I totally understand that. It is Leonard she is trying to impress by going back to school not the girls. She already feels insecure around Leonard, why would she want him to also see her poor spelling and grammar. I can Idenify here because of my own poor English grammar.

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[bigbangsheldon]

Naturally, unless he keeps his panties in the kitchen.

[LoveShamy]

Just loved this episode! Made me laugh so much!

[phantagrae]

Very weird episode I have to say... I liked it, and it was funny, but the L/P storyline continues to baffle me.

How do they move on from this? Apparently Leonard and Penny didn't speak in a couple of days, so they are surely having problems in their relationship, still... And when Penny mocked him in the end, did that move their relationship into even thinner ice?

I took that little break in speaking to be that she probably went to the girls immediately after the little fight with Leonard--and I think she was mad on a certain level, but not in a deal-breaker level--and had the girls help her redo the paper--remember she had to turn it in that day.

Then she probably wanted to wait until she got her paper back to see what grade she got before she went back to show Leonard. Not speaking to him was probably just to avoid having to talk about what she'd done about the paper, I would think, especially if she wasn't sure what the outcome was going to be.

But I also think it's healthy that they can laugh and fight and poke fun at each other without it being life-or-death for their relationship.

Leonard was concerned about offending her, breaking her trust, and hurting her feelings. He wasn't afraid that she was going to break up with him.

And as mad as she was about what he did, she wasn't kicking him out of her apartment or breaking up with him or anything like that.

[bigbangsheldon]

I think we are meant to assume they are OK now.

[Moonbase]

I liked this one, what a fun episode. I even enjoyed Penny yelling at Leonard, he did deserve it, the "punk-assed elf". Everyone was good in this. Sheldon having a man crush on Steven Hawking… talk about obsessive. So many funny lines. "…forget the wheelchair he should be in a stroller"

And Sheldon is well skinny again, welcome back Shelley. The chess clock chat was great! And I even thought Penny bullying the girls was funny, much more believable than her always being sweet to them.

[EddieTellerstory]

I just didn't like how the show glossed over the theme of academic dishonesty.

Leonard ought to have known better than to re-write a paper for another student. I wouldn't want to have someone like him marking my papers as a TA or Professor. .

[bigbangsheldon]

His hair is shorter now too! OoOoOo

[SRAM]

The episodes are very good this season. Penny making fun of Leonard is just like what one of the guys would do to another, so does she seem to be getting more nerdy? I would like to see the roles reversed in a future episode, where she does something wrong and has to get Leonard's forgiveness.

[Ayebee]

The episodes are very good this season. Penny making fun of Leonard is just like what one of the guys would do to another, so does she seem to be getting more nerdy? I would like to see the roles reversed in a future episode, where she does something wrong and has to get Leonard's forgiveness.

I totally agree with you mate. It has been some time since Penny was the one who wanted Leonard's forgiveness...

And indeed, the episodes this season so far have been dazzling. However, the episodes are probably being stuffed with too many plots in a too short time frame. What about increasing the episodes to 30 minutes instead of 20? We could have peaked so much deeper into the controversies and plots the writers are throwing in the episodes.

[DPK]

How do they move on from this? Apparently Leonard and Penny didn't speak in a couple of days, so they are surely having problems in their relationship, still... And when Penny mocked him in the end, did that move their relationship into even thinner ice?

I don't think so, if this was really a deal breaker she wouldn't have mocked him the way she did. As for the not speaking to him for a few days, I would think that would be normal. It happens in real life all the time between couples. One person does something that makes the other person mad as hell. They don't speak to the other person for a few days until they can cool down and then they go back.

[vasu]

How nice it would have been if we had seen Penny work harder (like spending a night re-writing her paper) and getting that grade on her own...a small 30-60 second serious scene....

But still I enjoyed this episode a lot...I laughed many times :)

Edited November 8, 2012 by vasu

[DPK]

Both Leonard and Penny came off badly in this episode. Just for different reasons.

Leonard for not respecting the boundaries that Penny laid out for him regarding this issue.

Penny for the blatant hypocrisy of throwing a grade in Leonard's face that she didn't earn on her own after the tantrum she threw at Leonard in the bedroom.

This is one of those times where I wish the writers would have taken the high ground, either shown briefly or simply mentioned that Penny rewrote that paper on her own and had that B- be something she really earned. That would have made the storyline worth it. The whole goal of the storyline was to get Leonard to back off and let Penny decide if she wants his help academically. A victory for Penny, but one stained with deceit.

[Fruit Loop]

I just didn't like how the show glossed over the theme of academic dishonesty.

Leonard ought to have known better than to re-write a paper for another student. I wouldn't want to have someone like him marking my papers as a TA or Professor. .

SADLY I think that is more of a national Moral issue than Chuck Lorre's problem. He was only following current excepted morals.

As for this episode I feel the writers were true to the characters of a Good Natured Simpleton and Up Tight Genius. Couples aren't perfect and they have fights. This episode is the start of Cementing the L/P relationship. Penny is crossing the TAKE LEONARD FOR GRANTED barrier if I may repeat myself.

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[SRAM]

The Penny taking Leonard for granted issue should be further addressed. It could be done really easy as a background to the main storyline to an episode. They could have an episode centered around S/A or H/B and Leonard is working a lot on some special project for a few weeeks and is gone all the time. Penny would understand his need to work but it is obvious she is really missing him when she is with the gang and especially when alone.

On episodes like this one I think the writers just follow a main theme and everything else is for laughts. i think the L/P theme was about their working out conflict in their relationship and setting boundaries, thats all. I really don't think the writers get into anything deeper than that because it is a comedy and needs to be funny.

[BazingaFan]

The Penny taking Leonard for granted issue should be further addressed. It could be done really easy as a background to the main storyline to an episode. They could have an episode centered around S/A or H/B and Leonard is working a lot on some special project for a few weeeks and is gone all the time. Penny would understand his need to work but it is obvious she is really missing him when she is with the gang and especially when alone.

On episodes like this one I think the writers just follow a main theme and everything else is for laughts. i think the L/P theme was about their working out conflict in their relationship and setting boundaries, thats all. I really don't think the writers get into anything deeper than that because it is a comedy and needs to be funny.

I agree. It's almost like, ok we will have this episode to address this about leonard and penny. And, now let's have this next one to address this other thing about leonard and penny. And, by the end of season 6, they will be perfect!

It needs to be more gradual, like you said, having more background scenes and less episodes centered around them would be less obvious.

[bigbangsheldon]

I dont think the next episode is LP at all ??

[Pomita]

This was a rather uneven episode for me, in that I hugely enjoyed it in parts, and felt confused or even a little put off in other parts. The Leonard/Sheldon chess-clock scene killed me, it was four stars - absolutely perfect chemistry and timing between Jim and Johnny. I think it will remain as one of my all-time favorite TBBT scenes. I found all the Raj/Howard scenes hilarious, and very old-school flavor - I had almost forgotten how good they were together. Howard's Indian accent, and that dialogue, about sitting on an elephant.

The girls' scene in the beginning was very good too. Both Mayim and Melissa delivered their lines superbly. The few Shamy moments were sweet. And Jim was brilliant throughout with Sheldon's delight at getting Hawking's 'friendship', then waiting around mournfully for him to reply, then waffling on whether to lose deliberately or not (I loved his finger-in-mouth expression, and not just in a comedic way).

I think what I'm iffy on is the Leonard/Penny aspect. I'm happy that Penny even decided to take a college course - just the fact that she thought of it was impressive and commendable - but did Leonard have to go the route he did? What he did was certainly unethical, even if it was done in a caring, well-meaning way, and could be looked on as a put-down of her capabilities. Penny's reaction was pretty violent, too. To be honest, I don't entirely blame either of them; I can understand the reference to Penny's academic insecurities and Leonard's overwhelming 'need to help out', which is an ongoing issue in their relationship. It's just that the storyline wasn't exactly a pleasant watch, to me. I suppose it wasn't meant to be.

What made it a little worse was Penny's bullying at the end, even if the scene itself was funny (Amy's delighted smile at 'it's finally working' was adorable!) It seemed to show Penny in somewhat of a bad light again, and while all the characters have their moments of weakness at times, this seems to be happening too often in her case lately.

Nevertheless, I'm still glad they thought of moving her forward by her choosing to take a college course, and I hope it's going to be helpful to Penny's growth as well as L/P in the long run.

The drama aspect aside, just Raj/Howard and Sheldon/Leonard made it a very enjoyable episode, for me. And oh, how could I forget Hawking? 'What do Sheldon Cooper and a black hole have in common? They both suck'. :icon_lol: that one kept me rolling for a long time. Science jokes FTW!

[SRAM]

You know this is interesting, what do the fans want to see concerning the L/P relationship?

Before the comments start, the L/P relationship is part of the foundation of the series from the very first episode, so commenting that you want them to break up and go away is unacceptable.

Here is the question, do you think that the L/P relationship is being handled well by the writers the way they are doing it now or do you think it woulf be handled better if it progressed in the background of each episode as a small part of certain storyline but not a storyline in itself, which would provide less drama. I have mixed feelings myself on this but I am interested what other people think.

I wonder if the writers read these fan sites?

[phantagrae]

First off, no, I don't think the writers read fan sites. And even if they did, I don't think they are going to decide how to proceed based on online griping or swooning.

I'm sure that they are aware to some degree of the general fan response to things, but I don't think it's on a moment by moment basis.

I think that they're handling the L/P relationship fine. I think that the thing that fans have to keep in mind is the bigger picture, and that's that TPTB intend for them to be together, and, as I stated elsewhere, they don't intend to make any of these characters into a bad person.

Now, I also don't think they intend the fans to fixate on one scene or on how many scenes or lines this or that character gets in any given episode.

As far as balancing the storylines, I think they've done a pretty good job of bringing one aspect or set of characters to the fore in one ep, then focusing on others in the next. I don't think that that means that any individual story has to take a permanent backseat, especially one involving two of the lead characters.

I don't really get the "there's too much drama!" reaction from some people. What I saw was an awkward moment between L&P because of their individual approaches, but I also saw that each of them dealt with it without it becoming a major relationship issue. They even seemed to have learned something.

There were no tears or break-ups or sad scenes. In the end it really was all played for laughs.

To me it wasn't any different, in terms of relationship drama, than the 1st season episode where Leonard and Sheldon fight about that paper that Leonard wants to present. They argue, they don't speak, they get into a physical fight, but in the end it's all okay.

BECAUSE IT'S A SITCOM!!!

Edited November 3, 2012 by phantagrae

[Pomita]

Actually, I didn't even like that season 1 episode (Cooper-Hofstadter Polarization) much, though I can recognize that it was funny. It was one of my least favorite season 1 episodes. Maybe because Sheldon came across as simply too much of a you-know-what (even more than usual), or maybe, like Sheldon, I just don't like to see fighting.

I agree with your assessment of the path they're trying to take with Leonard/Penny. It's definitely meant to be a slow, step-by-step process of personal growth for Penny and for their relationship, though in the process Penny really is coming off as annoying at times. But I think she's learning. Taking the initiative of joining a college course was a big step for her.

[DPK]

The big problem with the way that the writers are writing L/P(the conflict portion of their relationship)but really this is something that has been a problem from the the get go when it comes to these two. The problem isn't that there are "issues" in the relationship because all romantic relationships have bumps every once in awhile and if written well can be a good thing and add to the overall show.

This issue is that the writers have never really been able to make the conflicts between L/P entertaining. It usually makes one or both of the characters, such as in this last episode look badly and on the whole drags the episode down a bit. I've never spoken with a fan(who didn't have bias against the relationship)of the show who was like: "Man last night that fight between Leonard and Penny was awesome and we need to see more of that".

Contrast that to say Sheldon and Amy and when they have conflicts. The writers on the whole have done a good job with make those entertaining and funny to boot. So I don't mind watching those two in conflict whereas with L/P, I begin to cringe because I know the writers are going to drown those two in passive-agressive melodrama. I don't know who wants to watch that? I don't know who that is for? Not me I'll tell you.

Edited November 3, 2012 by DPK

[Kyzzx]

I wonder if the writers read these fan sites?

Unfortunately, they aren't allowed to, otherwise they'd know what we want to see.

[Pomita]

Unfortunately, they aren't allowed to, otherwise they'd know what we want to see.

I don't think there's any rule stopping them from lurking on these forums occasionally? Sometimes I think they do, because some small points or plot turns come up uncannily close to ideas being tossed around on the net.

Anyway, they might prefer to stay away simply because 'what we want to see' varies so unbelievably widely. They'd have to be pretty confused. From wanting Shamy together to wanting Shenny together to wanting Leonard/Penny together to wanting Leonard/Penny to break up to wanting no relationships at all, as just one example.

Edited November 3, 2012 by Pomita