Spoilers Leonard And Penny Season 7 *spoiler* Discussion Thread

[Nogravitasatall]

Our local broadcaster's website carries the same story, with a preamble, "An interview with Kaley Cuoco for season six of The Big Bang Theory".

But I think if we pause to reflect, for maybe a couple of years, things will all become clearer. And as the rest of you economists know, in the long run...

But its nice that Raj is consistent. Even though he can talk now.

[eirwinrommel]

I was just throwing out ideas.

 

Tenure for Leonard? (most likely to happen) Inclusion on Nobel Prize? (less likely but barely possible) Knocked up scientist from boat after drunken party? (unlikely but they did show partying on boat so just barely possible, also could have gotten married while drunk and new wife shows up.) Stephen Hawking becoming Leonard's mentor and wanting him to move to England? (not bloody likely) Leonard's work on the trip disproving all of Sheldon's work and Sheldon being fired and moving back to Texas? (we should be so lucky. Though it would be funny if they gave Sheldon tenure and the next day all of his work was disproved and they were stuck with him for life.)

[Nogravitasatall]

Chiara just made me ponder about a scenario where Penny and Bernadette team up for some end. I just laughed at the "distract, then hit 'em hi and hit' em low" thought. But it would play best against an external threat as Sheldon or any other internal opponent would be left as a greasy spot on the ground or a silhouette against a wall.

[SRAM]

Okay Desert Fox, let's take them one at at time.

 

Tenure for Leonard? (most likely to happen):  I don't think this will happen because then it will reduce the amount of demeaning comments Sheldon can levy on him.

 

Inclusion on Nobel Prize? (less likely but barely possible):  Nope, that is for Sheldon only and after all it is the Sheldon show.

 

Knocked up scientist from boat after drunken party? (unlikely but they did show partying on boat so just barely possible, also could have gotten married while drunk and new wife shows up.):  Only if they run out of was to demean Leonard or they need to break him and Penny up again or they decide Sheldon isn't getting enough attention, so they create romantic Shenny. 

 

Stephen Hawking becoming Leonard's mentor and wanting him to move to England? (not bloody likely): Yes if the want to break up Leonard and Penny again or they feel they don't need Johnny's character as much as before, because after all they have Jim and he is a God (just look at the Jim Parsons topic, it is a real cult there).

 

 Leonard's work on the trip disproving all of Sheldon's work and Sheldon being fired and moving back to Texas?:  Nope the wiriters have already said he is Homo Novas, so he will always be smarter than everyone.

 

 (we should be so lucky. Though it would be funny if they gave Sheldon tenure and the next day all of his work was disproved and they were stuck with him for life.):  Possible, but his bad work will be blamed on Raj, Howard and Leonard, like in the North Pole trip, because after all he is Sheldon.

 

Okay I vented and now I feel better.

[Chrismo]

It appears to be alot of love for Sheldon on this forum. :D

My opinion of the first three episodes is this. The first episode shows how much Leonard keeps the group together. The P/S, A/B,and H/R pairings was I think to highlight A/B as much as to highlight L/S. If A/B was to be together what were the other pairings going to be? You obviously wanted the P/S moments showing them missing Leonard. The second episode showed L/P getting back together which is something everyone wanted to see. But it seems to me the a lot of the second and  third episodes was sort of others really not knowing Penny. Did Sheldon and Amy really think she had some guy other than Leonard in her apartment? Does she have a history of cheating? It's like they seem not to know her at all. Then the third episode with the scavenger hunt and neither Leonard and Amy wanting to be on her team.  Obviously Penny is not as smart as the others but it seems they should have realized she was not that much a liability. In regards to the rest of the season and what Leonard's trip really meant does it really matter? What effect did Howard's trip have on the show?

[Occam's Chainsaw]

Nope the wiriters have already said he is Homo Novas, so he will always be smarter than everyone.

No, no, no, no, no. Sheldon has said that Sheldon is a Homo Novus, so he will always think he is smarter than everyone. just because a character says something doesn't mean the writers think it, just that the writers think the character would think it. It is well established that Sheldon is arrogant and self-centered and will always believe that he is right and everyone else is  wrong, that doesn't mean he is. It has also been established that Sheldon isn't always right, we've already had Leslie Winkle, Dennis Kim, Steven Hawking, and Barry Kripke prove him wrong on something.

 

I really don't get all the Sheldon hate in this thread, I mean seriously "it's the 'Sheldon Show'"????? He is one of the three central characters, of course he gets screen time. His core character traits pretty much require that he insert himself into any situation he can as much as he can, and that is what makes the show work. Sheldon is a key part of the dynamic of the show, you can't remove him any more than you could remove Leonard or Penny. Hating Sheldon is hating the show, so cool your jets people. Sure Sheldon is not my favorite part of the show, but he is still crucial to how the show works.

[Nogravitasatall]

Sheldon takes up too much space to be Homo Novus. You need to be small to fit in the caverns - or the space ships.

[3ku11]

No, no, no, no, no. Sheldon has said that Sheldon is a Homo Novus, so he will always think he is smarter than everyone. just because a character says something doesn't mean the writers think it, just that the writers think the character would think it. It is well established that Sheldon is arrogant and self-centered and will always believe that he is right and everyone else is  wrong, that doesn't mean he is. It has also been established that Sheldon isn't always right, we've already had Leslie Winkle, Dennis Kim, Steven Hawking, and Barry Kripke prove him wrong on something.

 

I really don't get all the Sheldon hate in this thread, I mean seriously "it's the 'Sheldon Show'"????? He is one of the three central characters, of course he gets screen time. His core character traits pretty much require that he insert himself into any situation he can as much as he can, and that is what makes the show work. Sheldon is a key part of the dynamic of the show, you can't remove him any more than you could remove Leonard or Penny. Hating Sheldon is hating the show, so cool your jets people. Sure Sheldon is not my favorite part of the show, but he is still crucial to how the show works.

I don't get it either, that and it is the Penny show or the Leonard show or the Lenny show or the Shamy show. I'm sorry but once you define your enjoyment of the show based on how much air time a character or ship/relationship gets you need watch for the original reason because it is a very unique show and has a unique balance of Science and Romance, Obviousley in terms of the dialogue their has been less Science in recent years, but at the end of the day these are characters who are not only nerds but people with careers and relationships. I don't care if Leonard and Penny are not attached at the hip, they are both independent people who happen to be happy and in a relationship, it is a fun episode it has absoulotely nothing to do with the respective relationships. It's episode 3 in really? A show in it seventh season, they are obviousley building depth to sustain throughout the seasons, looking for more storylines now as most sitcoms that hit seventh seasons. Would it matter if the guys were at the comic book store, and Penny told Sheldon to go away lol, or if they are sitting on the couch and Penny had enough of Sheldon's antagonist condesending attitude towards her haha. Leonard, Penny, Sheldon, Howard, and Raj have sat on that couch a thousand times, that scene is prob one second of the entire episode. I also hear people say they are sick of the Sheldon and Penny thing give me a break, the writers no it is a prooven formula, and their pair up was purley circumstancial. And it well be funny you know Sheldon gets impatient with Penny, this reminds me of S3 when Penny got jelaous of Leonard and Bernadette, because she knows more about Leonard's job, Sheldon just diddn't have the attention span to deal with Penny' rate of pace at how she learns, Penny's not stupid but Sheldon's mind works differently to Penny. Same deal really. I am sure by next ep Leonard well do something sweet for penny, then Lenny feels well return

[Nogravitasatall]

I can get the Sheldon vibe, though it's rivalry, not necessarily hate all the time. But the Penny stuff spins my head. She's adorable. And I'm very hopeful that soon they will play over the the "Thank you" in a self conscious and funny way.

[eirwinrommel]

The problem is they throw him in where he's not needed. I get wanting to use him a lot, they pay him enough. But they need to consider the phrase 'Less is more'. Consider the airport scene at the end of last season. He added nothing to the scene and was an annoyance. I mean if they'd been at a train despot I could have understood his being there and interrupting but at the airport he just wasn't needed. 

[SRAM]

We just want less Sheldon!

 

We don't hate him, we just want less of him.  I don't hate any of the characters, they all make the show funny, but I want less Sheldon, there is too much of him.  The Airport scene was the most ridiculous of the 6th season, it was so forced and it was not funny, but is sums up what is happening perfectly, there is too much Sheldon.

[eirwinrommel]

They try to make him 'The corpse at every funeral and the bride at every wedding.'

[3ku11]

Basically they should just have an episode where Sheldon locks the door to his room and he is stuck in their the entire ep, and Leonard starts whistling just to annoy Sheldon "Leonard I heard that stop it!", and then decides to sit in Sheldon's spot haha.

[hamerman55]

My take on ep 3 in so far as we know from the taping report is that it is a very small snippet of these characters' lives. It is hard to visualize what the final episode will look like as they is obviously a lot of pre and post taping. Much of what we have read of is certainly going to be cut, as it sounds like a lot more material than can fit in 19-20 minutes. Still we can make some observations. It seems that no one wanted Sheldon or Penny as partners, for the obvious reasons. All the characters except Penhy are super competive, to the extent that Leonard didn't get thatit was more important tombe with Penny than win some trivial scavenger hunt. This is part of Leonard's growth yet to come. Penny will always be insecure about her intelligence in this group, so Leonard always has to keep that in mind. Note that Sheldon is not paired with Amy, which youwould think she would insist upon unless she knew he would cause her to lose. She knows him better than all of them, so the obvious win for her is to pair with Bernie. Bernie will be the most desirable partner due to her outstanding competitiveness (and ruthlessness) even in this group. I do not think this was intended to be a relationship episode. If I were writing it, I would have matched Penny with Howard, just to mix up the characters. Penny with Sheldon so soon after the events of the premiere isn't really all that funny, unless I'm missing something.

For some reason,TBBT seems to get off to a slow start every year. I can't think of a season where the first two or three episodes weren't weak relative to the rest of the season. Last year, they didn't really start a groove until the third episode, and that was only apparent with the subsequent episodes. This year, as has been pointed out several times, we have the apparently useless North Sea trip, where the core character was missing from the premiere. While reserving judgement until seeing the finished product, the premiere doesn't really do much. Leonard is gone. Sheldon and Penny miss him. Big surprise. Second episode. Leonard sneaks back early to spend time alone with Penny. Sheldon is weirded out that Penny is hiding from him, sort of, then insulted that Leonard didn't dash back to cater to his needs again. Now we have a scavenger hunt organized by Raj, where Penny and Sheldon are reluctantly paired up. Unless the editing produces something I'm not seeing, there isn't much interesting or clever here. I think they are marking time to sweeps, knowing that they have a few episodes of slack. I also think they don't have a plan going forward, yet.

As far as it being the Sheldon Show, it is the nature of the character as written to try and make it that way. This is in spite of the fact that it is clear Leonard is the central character. Chiara explained this rather well in the Season Six version of this thread. In spite of all of Sheldon's antics, Leonard is the hero-protagonist, and Sheldon is the plucky side kick. This is one thing this year's premiere made clear. The group falls apart without Leonard, and Amy proved it a couple of seasons ago.

I am sure the actors will improve the parts, and breathe life into them, but the basic plots so far are lame-o, to quote Amy.

[Squidley]

Without knowing what interview Lenny saw and all the L/P fans on this thread I could be wrong but it may have been an old interview. I would think if it was new everyone on here would be talking about it.

Definitely old I think I watched a new one provided by notyoda73 on YouTube electromagnetism Leonard & Penny.

[Chrismo]

We just want less Sheldon!

 

We don't hate him, we just want less of him.  I don't hate any of the characters, they all make the show funny, but I want less Sheldon, there is too much of him.  The Airport scene was the most ridiculous of the 6th season, it was so forced and it was not funny, but is sums up what is happening perfectly, there is too much Sheldon.

While I agree with you about the airport scene of last season to me it's too early to tell about this season. I have to disagree with @Hammerman a little bit. The first episode has an Amy/ Bernadette pairing and the third episode seems to have a Amy/Howard pairing which seems to be a different plot line(s). With Leonard gone obviously Sheldon/Penny was going to get some coverage. Even that seemed to have some things you didn't see coming. I don't know if seeing less of Sheldon makes things better. Where he doesn't belong is more the problem.

[I.Am.Molly]

I agree Sheldon probably wasn't needed during that airport scene, but you can't deny that even with Sheldon being there, it was a pretty brilliant. I still get feels from when he shouts 'they just love each other' out the window and im happy to have him there just for that! The pain apparent on Penny's face from both leaving Leonard and having to listen to Sheldon was something i also enjoyed. I dont take too much issue with him being there, maybe he interupted a little too much and I can see why some people hated that part of it, but with everything else we got in that scene im happy to let it slide. The 'I love you' from Penny was perfect and you might say it is extra special because she was willing to say it so heartfelt, even in front of Sheldon. A pretty big thing when you think about the fact that she was so scared of even admitting it to Leonard in the first place.

 

As for the North Sea trip being useless, I have to disagree. I think its main purpose was the mutual 'I love you' at the end of series 6. I vaguely recall being on this site and seeing it pointed out that since during the series there had been so many chances for them to say it to each other (Valentines day, the 'im passionate about you' episode, Egg Salad) that when they actually did say it, it had to be for a specific reason. Something big had to happen to show that on screen after dismissing it the other times, and this was the something big. While I would have actually liked Leonard to be gone for at least one more episode to explore how the gang coped without him a little more, i'm not surprised that they have him back so early. He is such a core character to the show that having him away, breaks up the gang as shown in the premiere. I imagine the writers wanted him back so that they could bring the gang back together as quickly as possible. We have gotten some good stuff out of it anyway. The scene where he surprises Penny is one I cannot wait to see! And just because he is back and it hasn't been mentioned in episode three, doesnt mean we will never hear of it again. The writers of this show do this. They have big things happen, leave them for a while as they make some episodes made specifically for syndication and then bring it back later on. Its far too early to say that it was a pointless plot, there is still so much that could be brought up because of it.

[Disgusted]

Sheldon =  Huge Dickensian.     And that's canon!!!

[Tensor]

Sheldon =  Huge Dickensian.     And that's canon!!!

Don't forget Dicktater. (Yes It was intentional.). BTW,thanks.

[Chiara]

He [Leonard] is such a core character to the show that having him away, breaks up the gang as shown in the premiere. I imagine the writers wanted him back so that they could bring the gang back together as quickly as possible.

 It is indeed always interesting to remove the protagonist and see how the others cope in his/her absence. 

 

What we see in the season premiere is a slight reshuffle of the cards : Bernadette and Amy socialise together (something they usually do only with Penny around) while Penny and Sheldon have to rely on each other without Leonard as their glue. Even after Leonard's return, the "reshuffling" theme continues with the third episode, in which all the "organic" pairs are dismantled and rearranged into "inorganic" duos. I wonder if the writers intend to take the idea further. It would be interesting to see the characters explore new grounds and possibly unveil hitherto unknown aspects of their personalities when associated with other characters they had not really bounded with. 

 

We have gotten some good stuff out of it anyway. The scene where he surprises Penny is one I cannot wait to see!

What interests me in this scene, aside from the very, glaringly obvious, is the fact that Leonard invites himself in Penny's apartment. Something he has very rarely done. He usually knocks (we even had a bit of a kerfuffle because of that after The Closure Alternative). He never assumes he is allowed in. The only exceptions I can think of are The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis (in which he did knock but let himself in without waiting for Penny's answer) and The Tangible Affection Proof (in which he just barged in) : on both occasions, he was so supremely frustrated he forewent (possibly even forgot) his normal "knock-and-wait" routine. 

Ordinarily, Sheldon is the one who does not mind (over)using his key when he feels he has something important to say to Penny (or when he really has to clean up her place when she sleeps). Leonard does not usually do that. This time, he is comfortable using his key to wait for Penny at her place, without fearing she will throw him out. It is such a breach of his protocol I cannot believe it is an innocent move on the writers' part. 

Leonard is getting confident. 

 

Now say it with me : Careful Icarus ! 

Edited September 7, 2013 by Chiara

[Tensor]

What interests me in this scene, aside from the very, glaringly obvious, is the fact that Leonard invites himself in Penny's apartment. Something he has very rarely done. He usually knocks (we even had a bit of a kerfuffle because of that after The Closure Alternative). He never assumes he is allowed in. The only exceptions I can think of are The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis (in which he did knock but let himself in without waiting for Penny's answer) and The Tangible Affection Proof (in which he just barged in) : on both occasions, he was so supremely frustrated he forewent (possibly even forgot) his normal "knock-and-wait" routine. 

Ordinarily, Sheldon is the one who does not mind (over)using his key when he feels he has something important to say to Penny (or when he really has to clean up her place when she sleeps). Leonard does not usually do that. This time, he is comfortable using his key to wait for Penny at her place, without fearing she will throw him out. It is such a breach of his protocol I cannot believe it is an innocent move on the writers' part. 

Leonard is getting confident. 

 

Now say it with me : Careful Icarus !

That does work both ways. At various times Penny is quite obviously uncomfortable, with any kind of movement forward with commitment. Here, reports indicate she seems to be quite happy with him living there, for several days. This is not to say that she would have let him move in permanently, but it gives her a chance to get used to the idea of her and Leonard living together.

[Disgusted]

Don't forget Dicktater. (Yes It was intentional.). BTW,thanks.

 

 

Mmmm, Taters.......   

Edited September 7, 2013 by Disgusted

[Nogravitasatall]

The problem is they throw him in where he's not needed. I get wanting to use him a lot, they pay him enough. But they need to consider the phrase 'Less is more'. Consider the airport scene at the end of last season. He added nothing to the scene and was an annoyance. I mean if they'd been at a train despot I could have understood his being there and interrupting but at the airport he just wasn't needed.

I get this. But part of him being there was that it made it more about Leonard going off on a business trip, not off to war. It did suck something out of the moment, but maybe in a good way. I would have been more worried over the hiatus if the farewell had been like all those other cliched train station good-byes, where the hero is off to certain or highly likely death.. They spoofed those kind of scenes by having him there and that told us that it wasn't going to be the end of the world. And our romantic leads just went ahead anyway and delivered concentrated goodness, in spite of the clown in the back seat. It wasn't a keystone moment, it was one of a series of normal-ish goodbyes that working couples may have to suffer through. But, if they shove him in something like an engagement at a later time, then they would be overstepping. That would be a major event and it should be private - because we know that Leonard has asked for "nothing on the Jumbotron".

[eirwinrommel]

I get this. But part of him being there was that it made it more about Leonard going off on a business trip, not off to war. It did suck something out of the moment, but maybe in a good way. I would have been more worried over the hiatus if the farewell had been like all those other cliched train station good-byes, where the hero is off to certain or highly likely death.. They spoofed those kind of scenes by having him there and that told us that it wasn't going to be the end of the world. And our romantic leads just went ahead anyway and delivered concentrated goodness, in spite of the clown in the back seat. It wasn't a keystone moment, it was one of a series of normal-ish goodbyes that working couples may have to suffer through. But, if they shove him in something like an engagement at a later time, then they would be overstepping. That would be a major event and it should be private - because we know that Leonard has asked for "nothing on the Jumbotron".

If they were going to include Sheldon I would have liked to have seen him out of the car (so they could have had fun moving and forced Sheldon to run alongside to bother them). Or be shown outside the car bothering them, and security comes up because Sheldon is throwing a fit because they aren't paying any attention to him. Then we see (from inside the car [no sound]) Sheldon arguing with security and being thrown to the pavement and arrested. At which point Leonard gets out, denies knowing him and walks off to his plane, while Penny drives away. Like Madeline Khan in 'What's Up Doc' Now that would have been a good use of Sheldon at the airport. It actually would have been funny.

 

http://movieclips.com/MF4Cu-whats-up-doc-movie-dangerously-unbalanced-woman/

Edited September 7, 2013 by eirwinrommel

[hamerman55]

I was watching a couple of episodes from Season 4 on TBS tonight (they were running a bunch of them back to back) and I found Sheldon was far less obnoxious compared to the past season. There was much less edge to his comments, sarcastic as many of them were. It is like they took the Season 4 Sheldon, and in Season 6 they made him a bit mean and a lot more intrusive. It still needed to be all about him then, but there was a more child-like quality to him.

One episode tonight was the Love Car Displacement, and I hadn't caught before that Penny asked Leonard's forgiveness for breaking up with him. She then suggested that they sleep together. Too bad Raj spoiled it. It was the first time Penny expressed regret for the break up.