Episodes 6.24 The Bon Voyage Reaction (May 16)

[SRAM]

Liked the episode, only thing I disliked was Sheldon was too much at the airport.

[KrYPtON]

Did anyone happen to catch what was on the screen during the credits? It mentioned something about a special episode. Ideas?

[ajond]

Liked the episode, only thing I disliked was Sheldon was too much at the airport.

Have to agree with this. Sheldon's presence and ramblings ruined what could have been a touching (more touching) moment and he wasn't even funny.

[BangerMain]

They really laid on thick the Sheldon as child template in this episode:

 

- Leonard asking Penny to take care of him and Penny equating this to her taking care of Leonard's goldfish.

- Sheldon acting like a clueless kid at the airport completely oblivious of the significance of Leonard and Penny's need for a loving farewell. He did at least know that they were in love with each other.

- Penny leaving Sheldon in the car with the window cracked and an activity book while she went to comfort Raj.

 

Wow, they really don't think of Sheldon as a fully functioning adult.

[Oldnavy]

I liked tonight's episode.  I thought the farewell with L/P was good but I did think that Sheldon was a little much.  Penny's I love you was well done.  Great interaction. 

 

I thought the story with Raj was pretty good.  The last scene when Amy wondered if he would ever stop talking was great.

Edited May 17, 2013 by Oldnavy

[AdorkablyMe]

I liked it!

[Kasey]

The mutual ILYs were awesome and so real.  Made me feel all gooey inside...

[Nogravitasatall]

I liked the tonight's episode.  I thought the farewell with L/P was good but I did think that Sheldon was a little much.  Penny's I love you was well done.  Great interaction. 

 

I thought the story with Raj was pretty good.  The last scene when Amy wondered if he would ever stop talking was great.

I just noticed Raj is in 3D. That really made that scene better. They must have faith in that segment.

 

But seriously, a nice little coda... then he's back and still babbling over the credits. Well done.

Edited May 17, 2013 by Nogravitasatall

[JoeSal90]

Grade: A+

Great episode tonight, it was a very sweet and funny episode. With everyone in character and loving the interaction that Penny had with Leonard, Raj, and Sheldon

Yay for Raj... he finally got over his problem, long overdue and who knows if it will be only with the girls or with all women in Season 7.

Also great seeing that CBS also showed Raj talking through the closing credits.

And seriously, Bill Prady, Steve Molaro and company are very brilliant. There was so much heart this season. So much laughter. So much perfection, and I have to say this Season 6 has become my favorite season of the show.

Edited May 17, 2013 by JoeSal90

[Chrismo]

To me it would have been the best episode of the season if not for Sheldon at the airport. Like others pointed out it could have been a more touching L/P moment without him. Should have let Sheldon go out on high note with his speech at the party.

I know I'm in the minority but Lucy breaking up with Raj was a good thing. She would have never fit in with the group. Hope Raj's cure is permanent because there would be many different plotlines he could be in.(Alex maybe?)

 

To me the star of the episode was Penny. She had to deal with Leonard, Raj and Sheldon(twice) and handled them wonderfully.

 

Got a kick of Howard being jealous of Leonard.

 

Bernadette suggesting to Penny that maybe L/P should get married before Leonard's trip cracked me up.

 

Loved Amy touching reason why she should be the one to meet Lucy.

[luke]

After seeing the headlines of a major cliffhanger I was a little let down by the season finale - I don't think Leonard leaving for the summer qualifies as a cliffhanger as there is no question of whether he will be back and they already did that season ending when the gang went to the North Pole - I would have liked something involving Sheldon, as he is the main reason I watch the show - I did like Raj finally talked to Penny without drinking first, although it didn't make a lot of sense that having his heart broken by a woman would result in his overcoming the fear of talking to women.

[Superlovelexi]

Very Mixed Emotions for me tonight with this Finale. 

 

Let's start with the GOOD STUFF!

 

1.  RAJ SPOKE!!  Yay for him and its cool that it was Penny since he's known her the longest out of all girls, the whole only talking to girls when I'm drunk thing was getting really old.   I hope they don't have him just relapse next season.  I like idea of him hanging out with the girls more and sort of going back and forth between his guy friends and his girl friends now that he can talk to them all should add for some funny moments.  I can't wait to see how Howard and especially Sheldon react to Raj talking in front of their women next season, should be pretty funny.

 

2.  Love that Penny said "I love you" to Leonard tonight and Leonard said it back, no hesistation, no doing it out of anger or frustration, just real sweet emotion.        Even cuter that sheldon was there to witness it and yell out the window to the cops like he's their annoying kid in the backseat.   I like it when Penny acts like Sheldon is her little brother/son because it totally the way it should be.  Leonard and Penny belong together and Sheldon's relationship with the both of them tonight reminded me of earlier seasons so its good to see not much has changed yet still LOT has changed!  Good character development going on.

 

3.  I really liked that Amy said about them taking her in and making her feel loved.    i wish Sheldon had looked at her when she said that and smiled back, but at least the rest of them did.   Its great that Amy and Bernadette are so comfortable and so part of the crew now its like I honestly can't imagine this show without them in it anymore and I hope they never ever leave.   I like that Amy wanted to help Raj out and that its so obvious he considers her one of his friends now that he choose her over Leonard, Bernadette, Penny or HOWARD!  THough I do kind of wonder what it would have been like if Sheldon met Lucy couldn't have been even funnier outcome that way LOL

 

4. I like when Penny told both SHeldon and Bernadette to "SWEETIE!  SHUT UP!"    Haha I like that she uses sweetie for all of her friends now not just Sheldon or Leonard it just goes to show how close they've all gotten over the years.

 

Now for a few things I wasn't too fond of about this finale...

 

1.  I didn't like it that Raj said he only has SIX friends (obviously meaning, Howard, Bernie, Penny, Leonard, Amy and Sheldon)  What the HELL HAPPENED TO your other BFF STUART!!!    I mean Raj and Stuart were like Super tight at begining of the season, but once Howard came back it really was like so long sucker!  How rude!  I mean I'm not saying they have to add Stuart to their main group or Lucy but the writers should have at least acknowledge that Raj has more than just six friends.  Lucy actually met Stuart at comic book store and spoke to him she might have felt more comfortable around him, but its like writers totally forgot Stuart exists for last half of the season.  Thats not very nice imo.

 

2.  Now I don't mind Sheldon being SHELDONY towards Leonard about going away I expected it and found it funny.  But I was hoping they have at least one moment where Leonard got out of car and SHeldon too and have them have a small heart to heart moment and not just his lame speech where he pretended to be happy for Leonard leaving, but obviously wasn't.   Sheldon has known Leonard longer than any one else in their group he is his best friend, and this is first time they're spending this long amount of time apart in what seven, eight years???    Thats a BIG DEAL!   Leonard told Penny to keep an eye on him, but what about their roommate agreement.   I'm surprised Sheldon didn't throw that in his face tonight too, surely Sheldon needs Leonard for so many things, this is a big change for him.  I actually think sheldon took it too calmly.  I wanted him to freak out even more over it.  Fake being sick or dying to keep Leonard from leaving or try to blackmail him then have that heart to heart moment where we see how much Sheldon really loves Leonard and will actually miss him too.  I just don't buy it that Sheldon would just suck it up as much as he did and go along with this so easily.  Not very in character for Sheldon at all and yes I guess I should be happy he's maturing, but if he was truly maturing I feel he would have then said something to Leonard in private that really showed he was willing to put Leonard's needs above his own, like SHeldon did for Amy last week, instead we got that silly pretend to be happy for you speech thats not true growth in my opinion thats just a cop out.  The whole thing felt too rushed.  Damn I wish this show was an hour long especially for finales you need a little more time to really make these kind of BIG moments happen.

 

3.  NOT NEARLY ENOUGH SHAMY IN THIS ONE AT ALL!     i knew after last week's big epic sex game scene it be more sparse this week with the Shamy, but i wish they had at least one scene alone together I mean its finale for crying out loud.  It would have been so cute to see Sheldon complaining to Amy about Leonard leaving and have Amy offer to fill in the gaps and have Sheldon finally show some appreciation to her for wanting to help him through what he should have considered a CRISIS situation.  He was just too calm and silly about the whole situation for me and when Amy gave her big speech about feeling loved and like part of their family, Sheldon should have said something nice and funny to her then.  Again must have a been a time issue, but still.  *pout*

 

But, besides those few issues I'm enjoy this episode quite a lot and still found it funny, but I thought Season 5 finale was MUCH BETTER as an episode closer!   Overall, I've enjoyed this season quite a lot though.  This was my first FULL season watching the show week to week like a regular viewere instead of on DVD trying to catch up with five seasons like I had to last year when I first started watching it so yeah Season six will always hold a special place in my     because of that and I'm very much looking forward to number SEVEN!  Ugh the summer hiatus is going to feel so long!! 

[CaitAmber]

This finale wasn't my cup of tea. I liked certain parts, and didn't care for others. Sheldon frustrated me at times, especially during the Lenny goodbye scene at the airport, there's was too much of him there. I'm disappointed that he seemed to overpower that scene since it was so emotional. Amy was great though, I loved the moment where she volunteered to meet Lucy. 

 

Looking forward to what Season 7 has in store for us. 

[Guest DroneInTheSun]

The Ramy feelings when Raj arrives late and Amy is the only one to greet him omg! 

It was so touching to hear how much the gang has done for Amy without even realising it. I loved Penny's face when Amy said it. Their friendhip sometimes feels forced but then moments like this happen and it's just great.

I think I'm back on the L/P ship. I left it after the S3 catastrophe but ever since Penny's ILY they've been in the best of places and it really shone tonight.

Sheldon is sadly back to mean, annoying Sheldon. I wish they wouldn't force it so much.

I did love the airport scene as it was. I felt like Sheldon of all people saying "They're in love with each other" speaks volume of both L/P's hppiness and S's character growth over the course of this sixth season.

Re: Lucy. I like her, so I kind of hope we'll see more of her and if we don't, thank you for curing Raj!

Re: Raj. FINALLY OMG.

 

A very solid episode. I hope S7 uses the repercussions of Leonard going away to the max.

Edited May 17, 2013 by LostInTheSun

[koops]

I am going to wait to gather my thoughts before commenting properly but at first impression I think the Raj storyline felt more like a season finale than the Leonard storyline, it just felt a bit rushed. I was expecting a *little* bit more emotion from Lenny at first about him leaving and I thought the resolution over Sheldon's "jealousy" was a bit rushed and glossed over. He was a bit too much in the car at the end, I thought it came across a little less annoying from the promo. 

 

I know that they were trying to show that Lenny are solid and so the idea of Leonard going away isn't as daunting as it might have been in the past, but, still, if all they can do to communicate for 4 months is emails and MAYBE phone calls, it should have been a bit more emotional, IMO. I know they only have 20 minutes, but I would have liked there to be a bit of a "whoa, hang in there" moment, followed by Lenny reinforcing that they can do it because they are solid and 4 months apart isn't going to break them, rather than sorting it all out over dinner. And yes, it would have been nice to have a little display of emotion from Sheldon about Leonard going other than being annoying about the red zone. I do agree that the ILYs were very real though and it was a great touch to have Penny say it first. And I loved how caring Penny was of Leonard ("Do you have all your inhalers?"). 

 

The writers kind of reverted to annoying Sheldon as a comedic relief once again in the last scene, kind of like in Closet. It kind of irks me that it wasn't really clear whether he didn't want Leonard to go because he would miss him, or because he was jealous, or what. They built up this whole "Sheldon is nervous about me leaving" but he didn't seem all *that* nervous. The toast was nice but it just seemed like Sheldon got over his "nervousness" quite quickly.

 

I actually liked Lucy for the first time in this one, oh the irony! When she did that stunned face on Skype and Raj was like "Did the screen freeze again?" it was hysterical. And I thought it was a nice touch the way they got him to talk to Penny and then the tag scene with the girls. I'm hoping that with all the talk about family he did in this episode we will find out that the reason he can talk to the girls now is because they are like sisters to him now, and that's going to be a building block for him to overcome his issues, rather than suddenly being able to talk to all women. In any case, so long selective mutism, thank God. It was SO old by this stage. Raj gained some major points with me in this one as a character.

 

Howard and Bernadette were very much in the background, but I guess it's fair enough since last year's finale was all about them. 

 

Anyway, I'm more interested in the repercussions of this episode next season than the episode itself. Bring on S7!

Edited May 17, 2013 by koops

[rachelshamyfan]

I didn't like how they made Sheldon in this ep, the writers could of done something else with him, he's had a lot of growth this season and its disappointing to see them make him be in the way at the airport. I did like his little speech though. Funniest moment was raj and penny

Edited May 17, 2013 by rachygd

[eirwinrommel]

I liked tonight's episode.  I thought the farewell with L/P was good but I did think that Sheldon was a little much.  Penny's I love you was well done.  Great interaction. 

 

I thought the story with Raj was pretty good.  The last scene when Amy wondered if he would ever stop talking was great.

This year Amy has been getting some great lines.

Edited May 17, 2013 by eirwinrommel

[koops]

I just noticed Penny was wearing the necklace in the last scene and Bernadette was wearing the star. Cute parallel there.

 

And I didn't notice at first that Raj keeps talking over the credits. LOL!

Edited May 17, 2013 by koops

[tmp]

R.I.P. Selective Mutism. 

 

Loved him talking over the credits.

[Grasshopper]

 A Really good episode.  I am glad I am not one to look at any spoilers before the show. As a mater of fact I never even watch the previews, I love to see complete surprises and in this episode I got a VERY fair share of that in the end. I was completely caught off guard with Raj. The talking through the credits was hilarious.

 

 After reading the comments I would most definitely agree with some of the cons in this episode.  There were two good plots going on at once here and everything seemed rushed with all the quick scene shifting.

 

  Number 2, Sheldon, Sheldon Sheldon. What are we going to do with you. I know you are a very funny character but there are some moments where you need to grow up. Let me tell you something (I don't know why I'm talking to you in the second person, but anyways) You are hanging on a limb with Amy so maybe you could pay attention and learn something from Leonard and Penny when you are in situations like being temporarily parked at the airport with them.

 

 Speaking of Penny and Leonard, they were very classy in this one. Great job Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady and the cast of directors.Have a wonderful off season. I am really going to miss the Big Bang Theory.

 

 It was sad to see Lucy break up with Raj. This one looked pretty serious, but as some others mentioned here, let's hope she returns.

Edited May 17, 2013 by Grasshopper

[eirwinrommel]

Just re-watched the airport scene. PENNY said ILY FIRST! Big change from season 3.

[tmp]

I'm re-watching the episode and, about the scene when Sheldon and Leonard were in the car, was Johnny sitting on a stack of phone books or something?  He was definitely somehow sitting at a higher level than Jim.

[eirwinrommel]

I'm re-watching the episode and, about the scene when Sheldon and Leonard were in the car, was Johnny sitting on a stack of phone books or something?  He was definitely somehow sitting at a higher level than Jim.

Most of the time Jim was leaning forward. Though Johnny seemed slightly higher than Kaley, so maybe they had him elevated.

[Nogravitasatall]

Most of the time Jim was leaning forward. Though Johnny seemed slightly higher than Kaley, so maybe they had him elevated.

I suspect tmp is referring to the earlier scene in the cold open, when Sheldon goes the low blow about Penny. Leonard was driving and looks to be sitting high.

[Spaced_up]

Haven't seen this yet. Some members are pointing out that Sheldon was annoying, I really don't like what they are doing with his character this season. He's irritating and I used to love this character.