Episodes 7.08 "the Itchy Brain Simulation" (November 14)

[SRAM]

Pennys waaaay hotter then Priya just put it out their, just about to watch it and all your posts about worst episode ever is ruining the mood so stop haha. 

 

 

Believe me it was no where near the real worst episode  "The Speckerman Recurrence".

[ArmyGirl]

Believe me it was no where near the real worst episode  "The Speckerman Recurrence".

 

 

I always thought it was a tie between "The Loobenfeld Decay" and "The Speckerman Recurrence" for the worst episode.

[Guest I'm not dead Cheryl]

Sorry, but you're all wrong. There is no worst episode than Crucible Vegetable, that was a real stinker in every sense of the word. The only episode I have never watched again.

 

 

this one was funny at some parts, especially the girl's and Sheldon trying to make Amy fall into his pranks. His punishment to Leonard.. not so much.

[3ku11]

Okay just watched the episode thought it was very good, I laughed out loud the entire time. It was a bit vague this whole idea of Sheldon teaching Leonard a lesson from seven years ago, and it prob wont go down as TBBT best episode ever, but thats why TBBT is so good, even at its worst its arguably better then most comedies on the air right now. Johnny stole the episode, his comedic timing was brilliant, he was hilarous. I think the shows at its best when Plot A is the whole cast like Scavenger Hunt, it wasent the best episode but it definately was not the worst episode ever. However I can see why people are saying they are dumbing down Penny, this episode was a prime example, the implication she is not very good at her job, when she has worked their for seven years, and has prooven she is a good waitress is a bit short sighted. Bernadette and Amy made her seem like some dumb blonde, when she is more then that. Although loved the line from Penny when she took a photo of Leonard, "I am sending it to Prinstin to get your money back" haha. 

[BangerMain]

Even a mediocre episode of the series is funnier than most sitcoms but this would definitely qualify as "filler". This was surprisingly weak for a November sweep.

[Morpheus99]

Annoying? Perhaps she is not for Raj but Sheldon has to win when it comes to being annoying and yet many still like the character. Even Raj is more annoying than Lucy.

I agree, honestly other than Sheldon being annoying (but that is needed to make the show) there really isn't anyone I've found annoying, be it main characters, b characters/Moms or Dad, or the complete one off characters with maybe the exception of Sheldon's sister Missy but even that is a stretch.

They let Lucy too far out of her shell to work now but I would have liked her and Raj to have been together for at least awhile.

[Shamyfan]

Wasn't a great. Eh. Filler ep.

I didn't get why Sheldon needed to be tht mean to Leonard.

My daughter said Leonard chunky when he took his sweater off.

Hopefully next wk better

[Chiany]

Just watched it, here are my thoughts

It's a filler episode.

Leonard/Johnny was the best part of this episode.

I disliked Raj shouting love you/hate you at Penny, this could have been done differentely.

I understand Sheldon pulling the prank on Leonard, but why try to pull a prank on Amy? That made no sense.

So overal, it's an ok episode, but hopefully one of the worst this season.

[djvang]

Barely rates an OK.  Sheldon's putdown of Howard by asking him about the squeaky chair was funny.

 

And of course they couldn't leave out this season's required-in-every-episode "Amy's frustrated because Sheldon won't "satisfy" her" bit.

[clarisse451]

Just watched it, here are my thoughts

It's a filler episode.

Leonard/Johnny was the best part of this episode.

I disliked Raj shouting love you/hate you at Penny, this could have been done differentely.

I understand Sheldon pulling the prank on Leonard, but why try to pull a prank on Amy? That made no sense.

So overal, it's an ok episode, but hopefully one of the worst this season.

But that is the way Sheldon works.  He can plan these elaborate and/or diabolical pranks on one hand but still has the appreciation for low tech pranks that any 8 year old boy would.  He did basically the same thing in the Vengeance Formulation.  He planned and executed this elaborate prank on Kripke but still pullled the whoopee cushion prank on Leonard.  As for it being Amy, well what fun would it have been to try it on Leonard, and he forewarned Penny that he would try it on her.

[Superlovelexi]

Cute silly little episode tonight.   It was just okay.  I liked that we finally got closure on Raj/Lucy relationship and that Penny tried to look out for him and have his back.  But, I do wish Raj would stop meeting nice girls and ruining his dates, I mean I get it he's desperate, but come on if Sheldon Cooper can have a stable relationship and not ruin it I don't see how Raj can't.  Its just a little bit over the top and a turn off that they keep making Raj act unbelievably pathetic around girls even more so than Sheldon Cooper, but I guess now he's got go through what Howard was like at the beginning of the series totally desperate and annoying to women until he found Bernadette.  But, he found her through penny and now Penny finally sets Raj up with a girl too and he blows it.

 

Sheldon tricking Leonard storyline was mildly funny.  I always like to see Leonard have to put up with Sheldon's craziness it just reminds me of the early days of the show and its so ridiculous that Leonard kept that sweater on the whole time.  He was never going to prove anything to Sheldon, Sheldon will always be Sheldon, childish, and diabolical like Amy said.  I sometimes wonder why any of them put up with him at all, but then I remember oh yeah because even when he's being a jerk he's still hilarious and adorable.

 

The way he kept trying to get Amy to smell that flower and that she was willing to still lean in and sniff it even though she obviously knew what he was trying to do to her, just shows what a terrific sweet girlfriend she is to put up with his shenanigans.   

 

Sheldon says it makes him feel uncomfortable not to have closure on things, yet he has no problem making other people feel uncomfortable all the time.  A part of me wants to feel sorry for them, but then another part of me realizes hey they are willing to put up with his nonsense so they all deserve what they get. LOL  Most girls would never put up with the no sex or kissing like Amy for as many years as she has and most friends wouldn't wear an itchy sweater or do all the other million crazy things Leonard has to do just to keep Sheldon happy, but that's what makes them Awesome!    Its like they all have super powers and their super power is the ability to put up with a super villain like Sheldon and not suffocate him in his sleep or abandon him for good.  I would never have the strength to deal with him myself i'd have left years ago like after the first week of knowing him or killed him.

 

Not a lot of real development this week so not my favorite episode, but not the worst.  Its one of those episodes that is sort of just adorable filler really.  I'm more so looking forward to next week.  YEAH Zach is back and WHAT??   He married Penny!??  That is crazy!  I bet Leonard is going be  all this time he has been wanting to marry her and she secretly married Zach?  Was it one of those drunken nights in Vegas things?  If so Leonard should make Penny wear that sweater til she agrees to propose to him cause that's messed up.  Even if they were broken up during the time its still messed up she kept it a secret all this time.  I mean is she really dumb enough to think he'd never find out.   Poor Leonard he really just can't catch a break can he?

 

Either way the Thanksgiving episode looks like it'll be lots of fun drama  and a pretty memorable one so I'm looking forward to it.  Sheldon must be drunk or something when he slaps Amy's behind in the promo.  LOL  But Oh My he really does like smacking that Ass doesn't he!?   Amy needs to get spanking/buttsmacking added to the agreement since its becoming a more regular thing for them.  And yes whenever Sheldon touches Amy no matter how he touches her its Epicness for Shamy fans

 

I hope there is at least one or two heartfelt Thanksgiving moments though, like Penny and Leonard making up after Zach finally agrees to annul the relationship which he better do!!   And maybe they will all go around the table and say what they are thankful for this Thanksgiving and how glad they are to still be together. 

Edited November 16, 2013 by Superlovelexi

[Dracones]

Terrible episode. Everything was forced. Worst in a while for me.

[Lionne]

Sorry, but you're all wrong. There is no worst episode than Crucible Vegetable, that was a real stinker in every sense of the word. The only episode I have never watched again.

 

 

this one was funny at some parts, especially the girl's and Sheldon trying to make Amy fall into his pranks. His punishment to Leonard.. not so much.

 

You mean Cruciferous Vegetable Amplification, where Sheldon turns himself into a robot for awhile? I agree, that one was flat for me as well. Although I still rate Speckerman lower; I agree with those who think that one was the worst.

 

Apparently, reading people's reactions to this one lowered my expectations enough that I didn't hate it. I laughed in parts. But like Cruciferous, something about it just felt kinda flat. I didn't think it was awful, and there were parts in it that made me laugh and it certainly went by quickly, but overall it didn't do much for me. While technically Lucy and Raj were part of continuity, I suppose I was never into them enough to care to see her back. She broke up with him over an email, he was devastated, but it broke the spell of his inability to talk to women and that was fixed. Honestly, that was enough for me. I really didn't need to see her again or revisit the issue; it was months ago and I thought he was over it?

 

Although, considering how badly his date went and his reaction, it's not and we learned Raj still has issues. Ha ha ha - meh. Like we don't know Raj has issues. We've seen his mess ups with women before - why can't we start something sweet and more interesting with him, like he meets the right person and their relationship starts off in an interesting way, or something happens with his career and he gets into it? Something to MOVE ON with his life, not rehash the same stuff over and over?

 

Although, talk about rehashing things over and over....the whole episode almost felt like a set up for Amy's worn out look at the end. Have we had a single episode yet where it's not pointed out to us that Amy has been waiting years and years for some physical affection from Sheldon and she's still not getting any? God.

 

If this was just a sweet filler episode coming after one with a lot of drama and not coming during November sweeps, I might have been fine with it. It's not horrific, but it's definitely....meh. I didn't hate it, and I did laugh out loud when Penny kept turning around to go back to Lucy, when Bernadette and Amy were fixing themselves their drinks or scarfing down food because they were so hungry, and definitely when Leonard came back down the hall to scream "WHAT?!?!?!," but overall I'm shocked this is what they decided to put out for sweeps. It was really not sweeps material.

[MJistheBOMB]

Filler or not, I enjoyed the episode. In fact, if I had to rank it above any of the previous episodes, I'd rank it above Raiders.

[3ku11]

You mean Cruciferous Vegetable Amplification, where Sheldon turns himself into a robot for awhile? I agree, that one was flat for me as well. Although I still rate Speckerman lower; I agree with those who think that one was the worst.

 

Apparently, reading people's reactions to this one lowered my expectations enough that I didn't hate it. I laughed in parts. But like Cruciferous, something about it just felt kinda flat. I didn't think it was awful, and there were parts in it that made me laugh and it certainly went by quickly, but overall it didn't do much for me. While technically Lucy and Raj were part of continuity, I suppose I was never into them enough to care to see her back. She broke up with him over an email, he was devastated, but it broke the spell of his inability to talk to women and that was fixed. Honestly, that was enough for me. I really didn't need to see her again or revisit the issue; it was months ago and I thought he was over it?

 

Although, considering how badly his date went and his reaction, it's not and we learned Raj still has issues. Ha ha ha - meh. Like we don't know Raj has issues. We've seen his mess ups with women before - why can't we start something sweet and more interesting with him, like he meets the right person and their relationship starts off in an interesting way, or something happens with his career and he gets into it? Something to MOVE ON with his life, not rehash the same stuff over and over?

 

Although, talk about rehashing things over and over....the whole episode almost felt like a set up for Amy's worn out look at the end. Have we had a single episode yet where it's not pointed out to us that Amy has been waiting years and years for some physical affection from Sheldon and she's still not getting any? God.

 

If this was just a sweet filler episode coming after one with a lot of drama and not coming during November sweeps, I might have been fine with it. It's not horrific, but it's definitely....meh. I didn't hate it, and I did laugh out loud when Penny kept turning around to go back to Lucy, when Bernadette and Amy were fixing themselves their drinks or scarfing down food because they were so hungry, and definitely when Leonard came back down the hall to scream "WHAT?!?!?!," but overall I'm shocked this is what they decided to put out for sweeps. It was really not sweeps material.

From the sounds of it Thanksgiving episode looks like to be a good one, with the drama of the wedding and everything, the whole cast is involved too TBBT tends to be at its best when Story A is the whole cast. I agree with everyone saying it was a cute filler type episode, but I wouldent go as far and say worst episode ever. Their was definately a lack of continuity, and the whole Penny and her uniform at the cheesecake factory, is so Season 3 haha, guess I want Penny to do other things. I get she works their to get through with her acting, and now obviousley her studying, but good too see her doing other things. That said though it was good seeing Leonard and Sheldon being the forefront of the show again, reminded me of Season One. So yes it was a filler episode, its not an episode you would think should be representative of a sweeps episode, thanksgiving decoupling looks like that, maybe this should have been earlier on, its a random has no effect on the show at all episode. 

[koops]

Skull! Coddammit you're giving away spoilers in a spoiler free thread! Delete!

 

Anyway, I enjoyed the episode and laughed in parts. It was a bit random, and Lucy is still just as boring as she ever was, but it was ok. Raj and Penny were funny, I wonder if the whole thing with Sheldon "don't sweating the small stuff" is building to something, although I wonder what the heck was up with his random pranks. Maybe it will make sense later on. Most definitely not sweeps worthy though, and weakest of the season, by far. I think they were bound to have one falling flat after so many good ones, it just surprises me *this* is what they went for for sweeps. I mean, 6x08 was SO freaking good, this doesn't even come anywhere within restraining-order distance of 6x08.

 

eta: Sorry Skull! LOL! I didn't realize they gave that away in the promo! My bad  

Edited November 15, 2013 by koops

[djsurrey]

It appeared to me that Leonard mostly caused his own problem in this episode. He really was an incredible stooge. Even Penny thought he should get his "money back from Princeton" That was funny and a line that would more typically have come from Sheldon. I'd say Leonard set himself up and then Sheldon just went along. Sheldon could have simply just told the truth from the beginning but if Leonard was going to keep emphasizing that Sheldon needed to stay calm why not watch Leonard contort himself. Perhaps Leonard and Penny have something in common after all. Kind of makes it a breakthrough episode for me.

 

Sheldon was so hopeless at trying to do practical jokes. As I see it this put emphasis on Leonard's self inflicted misery. Sheldon could not actually pull off even a simple practical joke.

 

Penny calling Lucy a bad person was just odd. The reaction of the others on the show was  essentially shock.

 

The writers had said during the hiatus that just because Raj could now talk to women it did not mean he would be any good at it. We see Lizzy reacting to Raj and giving Penny a hard time. Funny because Penny had actually expected Bernadette to sort of react like that to being set up with Howard.

 

I had actually liked Lucy in season 6 episodes. I found her charming last season. She actually did not say much in this episode.

Edited November 15, 2013 by djsurrey

[Lionne]

Sounds like the episode finally united many of us who are usually divided. In a sad party kind of way. Which obviously means we need an open bar.

 

I'm making White Russians - come 'n get 'em.

[BlackWhiteRose]

Poor Leonard. Bad Sheldon *LOL*

Oh and Raj was on fire! I loved it when he shouted" I love you Penny" *LOL* and then the end where he looked at himself in the mirror and shouted whats wrong with him.

If I should vote for the episode I would say it was an okay episode.

[silverangel]

I really enjoyed this episode. Johnny was really brilliant... and may I say ...Does this sweater was made of nettles...poor Leonard. It was really big that he wanted to wear this sweater even if he tried to prove the point. He did it for him also... Devilish Sheldon was really intriguing and little scary.... hahaha LOL. Raj.. so hilarious, and yeah on fire, and "I love you Penny" was the best, and o course "what is wrong with you.. " but I feel little sorry for him, I really would like to see him happy.

[Nogravitasatall]

More madcappedness and bubbles. Was Raj's scenario at dinner with Bernie and Howard about sharing the girl and putting it on YouTube but surviving it and being stronger not a poke at Leonard and Penny and Raj? Enjoyed Leonard's stubborn stupidity. Penny has Sheldon's number , but she loses it most of the time. And I think Loobenfield is the worsest, just for Penny's Madonna look and the faux leopard print that I vaguely recall.

[koops]

I watched it again and I have some more thoughts. This is actually the only episode in a long time that got worse on second viewing. Other than the Raj/Penny scenes at Penny's door and the Shamy flower thing, which I thought was cute.

 

I think the problem with this episode, and the reason it fell flat, is that Molaro and co. really seriously overestimate how much people care about Raj and Lucy, so they thought that bringing her back for sweeps would be a big move. However, I do hope this is setting up a nice arc of character development for Raj now that he got his closure. Raj works so much better as a character when he organizes parties for his friends and has bromance with Stuart or Howard or even the girls now! Let the man be the soul of the party. I actually think one great character development for Raj wouldn't be for him to finally find someone to be with, but to realize that he doesn't need to find someone to be happy and fulfilled. Now that would be a change! And then maybe make him accidentally stumble onto a nice girl a season or two down the line, and let him have a proper relationship once he has learned to be happy on his own instead of being so desperate for companionship and needy. Learn a thing or two from Sheldon about that. 

 

Johnny had an amazing performance in this one, but at the same time if it weren't for the lovely Shelnard explanation he gave to Proton last week, I'd seriously wonder lately if Leonard is about to snap with Sheldon and really kill him in his sleep. He's been making a lot of comments about how hard it is to live with him an awful lot recently and this whole plot drove him literally nuts. I think we need an episode where he gets Sheldon to walk a mile in his shoes, now that would be a funny one to watch.

 

Other than that, things have been stalling and kind of predictable every since February sweeps last year. But I understand that they are trying to draw out a plan to drag things out, and I'd rather watch funny, old school fluff like Proton than artificial drama. The only thing I'm asking is some imagination when it comes to the jokes at least. That is really the one thing is bothering me the most about this season, which I think is pretty flawless otherwise: the reactions of the characters are often so predictable that they really ruin the scenes sometimes. You can still write plots that don't advance the characters' lives, while making them fresh and new so that you see advancement in the smalls things. Instead, we have the compulsory "Amy is waiting on Sheldon" joke every single episode (even though they have had a heart-to-heart in 6x23 which, you would hope, should have helped placating her a little and Sheldon is more smitten than ever), the compulsory Penny drinks/is a terrible waitress/is dumb joke (even though we have been shown that she keeps going to school and that she's not that dumb, like in the Scavenger hunt), Raj being pathetic and lonely jokes (even though he has been an amazing entertainer all season long). And so on. They're recycling almost the same lines over and over and over again. All season I've been all smiles until it gets to THAT one joke and I just want to groan in exasperation. All I want to tell them is "Here's my socks. Knock them off!". Instead I feel like Sheldon and his fake flower. I'm all giddy and then notice it has fallen off and it's soaking my jacket and I'm like "Oh, darn it!".

 

It's really lazy writing. I mean, take this episode for example, and I'll take Shamy as an example because I pay more attention to them. Why, instead of putting in another, boring as hell, Closure-recycled Amy sex-joke (btw, is it just me or the audience laughed a lot less than usual this time?), not have her be impressed by how diabolical Sheldon was and build the humor about how they both have a really messed up sense of humor? I also thought there was a line in the report about Sheldon asking her to watch Super Mario Brothers saying "It's terrible. You'll love it." Why did they cut that? Is it really Molaro's tendency to delegate jokes that's causing this? I don't remember off the top of my head if in pre-Molaro seasons, we had the same kind of endlessly recycled jokes or not. They're one-liners, and might not impact the overall story as much, but they've gotten old.

Edited November 15, 2013 by koops

[Convict13]

Yep, it was OK.  

[Chrismo]

I

 

It's really lazy writing. I mean, take this episode for example, and I'll take Shamy as an example because I pay more attention to them. Why, instead of putting in another, boring as hell, Closure-recycled Amy sex-joke (btw, is it just me or the audience laughed a lot less than usual this time?), not have her be impressed by how diabolical Sheldon was and build the humor about how they both have a really messed up sense of humor? I also thought there was a line in the report about Sheldon asking her to watch Super Mario Brothers saying "It's terrible. You'll love it." Why did they cut that? Is it really Molaro's tendency to delegate jokes that's causing this? I don't remember off the top of my head if in pre-Molaro seasons, we had the same kind of endlessly recycled jokes or not. They're one-liners, and might not impact the overall story as much, but they've gotten old.

The sex jokes need to stop. my SO was convinced that the Shamy was breaking up at the end. she is not a Lenny or Shamy fan. her reasoning was that maybe on paper she is "diabolical"in reality she never would have done what Sheldon did.

[SodidIwin?]

Sheldon has been taken down in many, many past episodes. I don't want to start a debate but I liked the episode tonight and found Sheldon to be in character as usual and it didn't bother me.

I was waiting to see how the Sheldonettes would be able to spin his behavior in this episode. If Sheldon would have stopped after a short period of Leonard agony then you could say it was a cute joke. However, what he did by letting it go on so long and seeing what Leonard's torso looked like, well, he just went from practical joker to just a very mean spirited bully IMO. It was cruel and mean and just another example that he really should be checked out by that doctor in Houston!

Edited November 15, 2013 by SodidIwin?